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Author Topic: Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.  (Read 4039 times)

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Offline chimera15

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Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 14:05:10 »






I confirmed that this is an xt board.  I plugged it in with a converter and it was a no go.  Chaulk this board up to needing another mythical xt converter like the old xt f.  This board is super nice if it could be used as it is.  

It could be just my imagination, but the blues seem to be really super nice feeling.  It's possible that it's just because they've been well used and broken in, but any minor sense of hesitance that my complicated whites have at high speed typing seems non existent in these switches.  I think it may be that the blue plastic is a little more waxy than the white material, so it has less resistance.

So my original intention was to convert another one of my siigs.  But right now I'm not 100% sure I want to do that, since the other kb1903 I have is the last one I have left with original keys, although I still have two kb1948's with originals which feel still really good.  I really don't want to do an unnecessary conversion on an already good alps board, even if it would be a significant upgrade to it.  My thoughts right now are either to wait for a battered mini with worn switches I can get cheap, or make an entirely new board.  

 I was thinking the ultimate board for me would be something like a blue alps Japanese hhk lite 2.  Since I completely rigged the matrix for my wireless mini hack, I was considering how difficult it would be to do it again using the hhk2 chip......
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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline chimera15

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Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #1 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 14:21:52 »
It's interesting.  I just noticed that none of the switches have alps printed on them, but they're definitely complicated alps.
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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline itlnstln

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Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #2 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 14:32:53 »
The older ALPS switches don't have "ALPS" printed on the top.  If you were to desolder one, you would see it on the bottom, though.
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Offline chimera15

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Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 14:36:36 »
Quote from: itlnstln;134642
The older ALPS switches don't have "ALPS" printed on the top.  If you were to desolder one, you would see it on the bottom, though.


cool, working on the them right now.
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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline lowpoly

  • Posts: 1749
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 14:48:27 »
That's an original Alps assembly sticker there on the pcb.

The Leading Edge 'boards were $$$ on ebay, IIRC.
« Last Edit: Fri, 20 November 2009, 14:51:54 by lowpoly »
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Miniguru thread at GH // The Apple M0110 Today

Offline bitflipper

  • Posts: 122
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:01:18 »
Quote from: ripster;134649


Oh man, dust bunny H1N1 alert.

Run!


Nice find. You might want to take it outside for the first stage of cleaning.
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Offline chimera15

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  • Posts: 1441
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #6 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:03:15 »
Done, took me about 30 minutes, or less.


bag-o-blue alps.



Yeah you were right, the alps logo was underneath.

I think I can fit the layout of the hhk lite 2 on this metal holder.  I need to cut a few spaces though.  I might end up using a shift key for a spacebar...


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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline chimera15

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  • Posts: 1441
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:05:58 »
Quote from: lowpoly;134657
That's an original Alps assembly sticker there on the pcb.

The Leading Edge 'boards were $$$ on ebay, IIRC.


Oh thats cool, I didn't notice you till you pointed it out.  Thanks!
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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline chimera15

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  • Posts: 1441
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:17:45 »
Quote from: lowpoly;134657
That's an original Alps assembly sticker there on the pcb.

The Leading Edge 'boards were $$$ on ebay, IIRC.

Yeah I got this one for around $60.  The only two left are about $100 right now.  That's a lot considering they don't work with a modern system.  Blue alps really bring the price up, no matter what they are in, considering there's a Northgate with blues for $400 right now which is the only other for sure real blue alps slider board on ebay right now, I think it was worth the price.
« Last Edit: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:21:14 by chimera15 »
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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline itlnstln

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Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #9 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:18:52 »
I don't even remember Leading Edge being all that great (I could be wrong, though). Are both of those 'boards XT?
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Offline chimera15

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  • Posts: 1441
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #10 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:27:08 »
Quote from: itlnstln;134684
I don't even remember Leading Edge being all that great (I could be wrong, though). Are both of those 'boards XT?

Leading edge made a lot of different boards for their systems apparently, not all are alps.  Yeah, if they're the same model number they're xt.  In the other post I found though Sandy and someone else mentioned a 3014 or 3015 which was AT and had alps too.

See like this one, who knows what that is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-LEADING-EDGE-KEYBOARD-eat-1010_W0QQitemZ260226261305QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item3c96b1a139

Here are the other two:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Leading-Edge-DC-2014-Keyboard-Blue-Sliders_W0QQitemZ280400985276QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4149337cbc

http://cgi.ebay.com/Leading-Edge-Keyboard-DC-2014_W0QQitemZ280400985302QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4149337cd6

I asked one of these sellers, whichever states that they "tested it" and he confirmed that he tested it on an xt system.
« Last Edit: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:33:40 by chimera15 »
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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline chimera15

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  • Posts: 1441
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #11 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 15:57:55 »
The hhk2 lite's matrix is extremely easy to trace relative to the strange one of the igo mini I did.  I think I'll be able to rig the matrix from it very easily and make a nice board if I can physically work out a good way to position the switches.
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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline chimera15

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  • Posts: 1441
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 20 November 2009, 16:11:41 »
I have an idea, I may go along the line of the steampunk board I did, where I cut off the tops of the Japanese hhk keys, and glue them on top of cut down alps stems.  That would also expose the blue alps switches. heh.
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Alps boards:
white real complicated: 1x modified siiig minitouch kb1903,  hhkb light2 english steampunk hack, wireless siig minitouch hack
white with rubber damper(cream)+clicky springs: 2x modified siig minitouch kb1903 1x modified siig minitouch kb1948
white fake simplified:   1x white smk-85, 1x Steampunk compact board hack
white real simplified: 1x unitek k-258
low profile: 1x mint m1242 in box
black: ultra mini wrist keyboard hack
blue: Japanese hhk2 lite hack, 1x siig minitouch pcb/doubleshot dc-2014 caps. kb1903, 1x modified kb1948 Siig minitouch
rainbow test boards:  mck-84sx

Offline twokatmew

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Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #13 on: Sat, 05 December 2009, 14:40:15 »
I had a Leading Edge 286....

The other night I was thinking about that Leading Edge keyboard and wondering what switch it used.  Looking at those Ebay pics reminded me that it had a nice pen rest at the top, but I don't recall it having a large Enter key.

Can't remember anything more about it.  I never occurred to me to hang onto that keyboard, nor to abscond with any of the many IBM XT, AT or PC jr keyboards I used at work way back when....

I also used one of those very first Macs that were beige and had one internal and one external floppy.  What switches are in those old Mac keyboards?  Mine survived a good dousing with Coke as well as the resulting washing it took to get the sugar out!
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Filco Blue Cherry NKRO, Unicomp SpaceSaver, Filco Brown Cherry NKRO, Rocketfish Wireless Numeric Keypad, MS Comfort Mouse 4500, Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch, MS Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000, 1960s Olympia SM 3.

Offline PRISONER 24601

  • Posts: 383
Leading edge dc-2104 83 keys of dust bunny covered useless heaven.
« Reply #14 on: Sat, 05 December 2009, 14:45:54 »
my first home computer was a leading edge fortiva 5000 (486 w/8mb ram +800mb hdd iirc)

I was really young, but I wish I could find another one of those. Don't remember much about the keyboard, except what it looked like.
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Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.
G80-3000LSCRC-2 (MX), "Ricercar" G86-6241OEUAGSA (MX), MX11800 (MX), AEKII (ALPS), AEK (ALPS) Apple Keyboard A9M0330 (ALPS), IBM Model F XT (Bucking Spring), IBM Space Saver 1391472 (Bucking Spring).
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