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Author Topic: Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001  (Read 8287 times)

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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 09:18:18 »
I was at a thrift store looking for an Atari mouse to use with my emulation machine (original xbox) and I happened across a pile of keyboards.
I really had no interest in keyboards, but I rattled the keys on a few, and one of them was different.
I liked the feel of it so much that I bought it for the $4 sticker price and brought it home.

After a couple of minutes research, I discovered that I had a Focus FK-2001, and that the reason it felt so satisfying was because it has mechanical switches.
I also learned that I got an incredible bargain, because I haven't found one for sale for less than $50, and mine is in fantastic condition.
The cover is missing, but apart from that it looks brand new, and I was astonished to discover when I opened the case that it was manufactured in February of 1989, so it's 23 years old this month!

It has an AT style connector, so I ordered it an AT- PS/2 converter as a 23rd birthday present.
It arrived last night, and I was finally able to test the keyboard. It works perfectly, and now I'm hooked!

Thing is, part of the thrill for me was the fact that I found the keyboard in a thrift store for $4. If I had paid $50 for it, I don't think I would have got so much pleasure from it (although it is definitely worth $50)

It seems that mechanical keyboards aren't available on the internet for ridiculously low prices like I paid, because people selling them on the 'net know what they are selling.
I'm going to trawl thrift stores, but what other types of places should I try if I want to find, say, an IBM industrial SSK for $1?

Also, please feel free to turn this thread into a place to boast about bargain keyboards that you bought from a thrift store, I'd love some encouragement :)
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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 09:34:40 »
See? I told you I was a noob...
I thought that 'SSK' was a recognised abbreviation for 'space saver keyboard', ie the tenkeyless one.

I think if I was to pick a lock to obtain a keyboard, paying $1 for it might be a bad idea as I would just be leaving evidence at the scene...
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Offline Magna224

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  • Location: Tempe, Arizona
Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 11:50:21 »
White switches on your keyboard? Here are some pictures of my Focus 2001's, enjoy my pillow/floor. =)

From 1988:


From 1992:
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If you live in AZ you can try my keyboards. I usually keep plenty of different ALPS and MX and buckling springs.

Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 12:14:36 »
The switches have black bodies and white stems and I couldn't find any 'alps' markings on them, so I'm guessing they are fake alps.

The keycaps are double shot, which is fantastic.

The only thing I don't really like about the aesthetics of the keyboard is the weird font on the 2001 logo in the top left corner.
I discovered that this logo is a separate piece of plastic. If you press the top edge with your thumb, this piece pops out, and can be reversed and popped back in again.
I presume this is so that resellers could use their own logo, as the flip side looks like it's designed to hold a sticker/decal.


Incidentally, talking of switches, I ordered a red Esc key (which, when you factor in shipping, cost more than I paid for the keyboard :D)
Can someone explain to me what the fuss is about red Esc keys?
They seem to be very popular, and I've found plenty of posts about them, but I can't seem to find what the original reason for them is?

Personally, I bought one because I liked the way they look. They reminded me of the Amstrad CPC464 I had when I was a kid:


...but what's the historical reason for them?
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Offline Magna224

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  • Location: Tempe, Arizona
Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 14:00:27 »
I would guess they are real ALPS just because of the date. Some of the older ALPS didn't have the logo on the top of the switch housing. You could take the switch apart and be for sure but you risk breaking a switchplate or leaf if you aren't careful, I did the first time I opened one up.
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If you live in AZ you can try my keyboards. I usually keep plenty of different ALPS and MX and buckling springs.

Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 14:01:12 »
Red Esc keycap arrived :)
Also, note the reversed 2001 logo. Trying to think of a suitable sticker/logo/whatever to go on the blank panel...

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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 14:13:32 »
I would try to post a photo of the switches, but for some reason my posts seem to require moderation on a completely arbitrary basis.
I guess it must be an anti-spam system picking on me because I registered recently, but there seems to be no logic to which posts it decides to block.
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Offline Aardwolf

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 14:38:35 »
Wow, why did they put the | and \ keys THERE?
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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #8 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 15:01:45 »
Quote from: Aardwolf;525808
Wow, why did they put the | and \ keys THERE?

Weird huh? The unmarked key on the other side is also a  | and \ key.
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Offline Ascaii

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 15:04:16 »
some older alps have the logo on the bottom.
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"Mechanical keyboards are like pokemon:
you start with one, and then you wanna catch em all."

Offline kps

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 15:23:39 »
Quote from: Aardwolf;525808
Wow, why did they put the | and \ keys THERE?

So they could have both a bigass (apparently this is the correct technical term) Return and a full-size backspace — desirable for those who learned to type on keyboards like the Selectric.
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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 15:48:35 »
I like the bigass Return and full-size backspace, I think it's an ok tradeoff, at least for how I use a keyboard, which is with two fingers...
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Offline fohat.digs

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #12 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 18:03:06 »
That Focus is a nice keyboard. My experience is that Alps switches do not always age well, so a new one is a great find.

If you did not get the smoked plexiglas cover, I will sell you one. It will cost you more than the board, however!

Thrift stores can be OK, if you pass by you should stop in from time to time, just in case. Be prepared to buy a significant proportion of non-working junk, however. If more than half work and more than 1 in 4 still feel good after an hour of use, you have done well.
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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #13 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 20:41:40 »
Thanks for the offer, but to be honest, if it had come with the cover, it would be in a closet by now anyway!
I guess I lucked out on my first thrift store keyboard, but I'll certainly keep looking.
I'm certainly not against the idea of a 'fixer upper' or keyboards that will be useful for parts or experimentation.
I enjoy taking things apart (and sometimes getting them back together), so my FK-2001 hasn't really been much of a 'project' for me.

I have an idea for a project that would be ideal for a non working or substandard board.
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Offline laffindude

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #14 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 21:06:35 »
Quote from: Jamesbeat;525444
See? I told you I was a noob...
I thought that 'SSK' was a recognised abbreviation for 'space saver keyboard', ie the tenkeyless one.


Careful there. Spacing SavING Keyboard is different than Space SavER Keyboard.
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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #15 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 21:27:27 »
Quote from: laffindude;526208
Careful there. Spacing SavING Keyboard is different than Space SavER Keyboard.

Is it? Would you mind telling me what the difference is? Is one an IBM trade name and the other a generic term or something?
I don't want to look like a foolish noob, because the number one keyboard expert on the planet visits these forums...
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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #16 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 21:38:27 »
Ohhh...
IBM sure are imaginative when it comes to naming their keyboards huh.
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Offline laffindude

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #17 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 21:41:46 »
Add more to the confusion is the Unicomp Spacesaver.
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Offline obijohn

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #18 on: Sun, 26 February 2012, 05:56:58 »
Quote from: Jamesbeat;525658

Incidentally, talking of switches, I ordered a red Esc key (which, when you factor in shipping, cost more than I paid for the keyboard :D)
Can someone explain to me what the fuss is about red Esc keys?
They seem to be very popular, and I've found plenty of posts about them, but I can't seem to find what the original reason for them is?

Personally, I bought one because I liked the way they look. They reminded me of the Amstrad CPC464 I had when I was a kid
...but what's the historical reason for them?


Funny, I did a bit of research on this myself. The first instance I can find is the IBM PCjr Chiclet keyboard. It didn't have a red ESC key, but there was a red line under it on the frame. You can see it here. That keyboard was awful, reportedly almost impossible to touch-type on, and the PCjr died a very quick death, but for a lot of people it was their first computer.

The first true red ESC key I believe was, as you mentioned, the Amstrad CPC 464, which came out a few months after the PCjr. I'm not sure which one influenced the other, maybe neither. The Amstrad CPC464 was not sold in the U.S.A., we waited for the CPC6128 which did not have the red ESC key.

Anyway, that's all the history I could find. Maybe someone else has more info?
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Offline Jamesbeat

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #19 on: Sun, 26 February 2012, 08:20:14 »
Interesting...
I had no idea the Amstrad was the first true red escape key, I had thought that maybe they were a holdover from TTY machines or something.
I remember thinking at the time that the colored keys looked a bit goofy, but looking back, the CPC464 was quite a handsome machine.
My first computer was a BBC Micro (Model B) which was a computer commissioned by the BBC and made by Acorn (of RISC fame) in the UK to be sold in conjunction with a TV show about computers.
That machine had a black (or possibly very dark brown) keyboard with orange function keys. No red escape key though.



My folks back home in the UK probably still have it, but since it weighs exactly 5000lbs, it would be impractical to have it sent here to the States.

I'm kinda tempted to build a keyboard with a beige case, black keys, and orange function keys now...
« Last Edit: Sun, 26 February 2012, 08:47:48 by Jamesbeat »
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Offline kps

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Accidentally became a keyboard geek... Thrift store Focus FK-2001
« Reply #20 on: Sun, 26 February 2012, 12:10:11 »
I think the current red ESC is relatively new, and derives from the use of ESC as a shortcut for 'Cancel' in modal dialogs on Mac, Windows, etc.

None of the older multicolour keyboards I have give ESC a highlight. Of the six that highlight a single key, two highlight RETURN, three BREAK, and one PF1.

The last version of the TRS-80 Color Computer had a red key labelled ESC / BREAK, where the previous models just had BREAK.
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