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Author Topic: Christmas came early  (Read 3760 times)

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Offline andb

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 69
Christmas came early
« on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 11:06:59 »
I just got the best Christmas present, a couple weeks early. I posted in a local linux users asking if anyone had any mechanical keyboards sitting around that they might want to sell. One response seemed worth checking out. After visiting his garage, I ended up buying half of what he had for about 30USD. The other half were mostly for serial terminal boards (rj-45 connectors), but would have been good for parts. However, I decided enough was enough. See the photos below...

Amongst all the 'boards was an IBM M, which I gave him an extra 10USD for. Was I surprised when I got it home to find out its a 1986 1390120...

The Zeniths are amazing, there's a full rainbow of switch colors on these things. They are even heavier than the M.

It'll take me some time to clean everything up and figure out what I want to keep, but I hope soon I can offer some of the extra boards or parts to others here.
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Offline wellington1869

  • Posts: 2885
Christmas came early
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 11:55:06 »
nice, what switch does the zenith have? bs?
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"Blah blah blah grade school blah blah blah IBM PS/2s blah blah blah I like Model Ms." -- Kishy

using: ms 7000/Das 3

Offline alpslover

  • Posts: 321
Christmas came early
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 12:05:12 »
Quote from: wellington1869;14587
nice, what switch does the zenith have? bs?


early ones have alps linears.
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Offline wellington1869

  • Posts: 2885
Christmas came early
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 12:20:43 »
that picture looks like contraband seized by the feds  ;)
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"Blah blah blah grade school blah blah blah IBM PS/2s blah blah blah I like Model Ms." -- Kishy

using: ms 7000/Das 3

Offline lexicon

  • Posts: 53
    • http://www.word-detective.com
Christmas came early
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 12:25:50 »
Authorities said the keyboards seized had a street value of between ... OMG!
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IBM Model M 1391401 (1989)
IBM Model M 52G9658 (1993) x2
Unicomp Customizer 101 (black)
Solidtek ASK-6600U
Dell AT101W (way too many)
Dell AT101W (black)
Silicon Graphics AT-101 (1993)
Cherry G84-4100

Offline andb

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  • Posts: 69
Switches - Alps Green and Yellow
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 12:56:01 »
Quote from: alpslover;14590
early ones have alps linears.

Exactly. Looks like there are two types of Zeniths that I got, pictures as attachments. The zenith type 2 switches will be in the next post. The Zeniths have a really nice, solid chassis. I got two flimsy 'boards with blue alps and one with browns, I'll probably transplant these to modern layout zenith chassis later when I have time.
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Offline andb

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  • Posts: 69
Zenith type 2 switch
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 12:57:01 »
A close up of the green switches on type 2
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Offline lowpoly

  • Posts: 1749
Christmas came early
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 14:01:45 »
Well, merry Christmas. :) Nice find.

I have a Zenith with green Alps. It beeps when you press a key.

On the overview pic the one in the 2nd row from top, 2nd from right with the rounded case. What is that?
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Offline andb

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  • Posts: 69
Christmas came early
« Reply #8 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 14:20:46 »
Quote from: lowpoly;14603

I have a Zenith with green Alps. It beeps when you press a key.

I hope to get a converter to ps/2 and try some of these out tomorrow, perhaps some of the zeniths will be beepy, though I'd probably get tired of this fast...
Quote from: lowpoly;14603

On the overview pic the one in the 2nd row from top, 2nd from right with the rounded case. What is that?

Its definitely an odd one, I'm not sure what it is. My girlfriend really likes it too, so it will be sure to be one of the first to be restored. Its written that its XT only, so either I'll swap out the whole controller with a normal AT and connect it to the existing switches, or maybe look into getting some XT -> AT converters made. Visually, it really is something else.

I'll be sure to take photos when I take it apart, Im not even sure what kind of switches it has yet.
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Offline lowpoly

  • Posts: 1749
Christmas came early
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 14:56:03 »
Thanks for the pics.

Don't you hate it when people write with permanent marker on your vintage keyboard. I had such a case lately and got it off with glass cleaner and a lot of rubbing. Almost.

Looking forward to the internals.
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Miniguru thread at GH // The Apple M0110 Today

Offline skriefal

  • Posts: 235
  • Location: Utah, USA
Christmas came early
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 16:53:59 »
Quote from: lowpoly;14603
Well, merry Christmas. :) Nice find.

I have a Zenith with green Alps. It beeps when you press a key.


You can turn off the speaker if you don't like the synthesized beep.  I can attempt to rediscover the key sequence to do that if you're interested.
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Offline Chloe

  • Posts: 679
  • Switch Kitten
Christmas came early
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 17:14:06 »
Quote from: lowpoly;14611
Don't you hate it when people write with permanent marker on your vintage keyboard.


I hate this! I haven't found anything that can clean it off without leaving some kind of stain. Turpentine is good for oil based stuff. Isopropyl alcohol just seems to make it worse. Lighter fluid can mar the finish.
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Offline lowpoly

  • Posts: 1749
Christmas came early
« Reply #12 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 17:17:34 »
Quote from: skriefal;14639
You can turn off the speaker if you don't like the synthesized beep.  I can attempt to rediscover the key sequence to do that if you're interested.

I don't think I will use this board at all so only do it if you don't have to spend much time or want to know yourself.

Thanks for offering this.
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Miniguru thread at GH // The Apple M0110 Today

Offline skriefal

  • Posts: 235
  • Location: Utah, USA
Christmas came early
« Reply #13 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 21:58:14 »
Quote from: lowpoly;14649
I don't think I will use this board at all so only do it if you don't have to spend much time or want to know yourself.

Thanks for offering this.


As it happens, I correctly remembered which keys to press.  Alt+Esc toggles the speaker on/off.
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Offline D-EJ915

  • Posts: 489
  • Location: USA
Christmas came early
« Reply #14 on: Sat, 13 December 2008, 22:15:58 »
That one looks like a terminal keyboard, very cool.
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Offline lowpoly

  • Posts: 1749
Christmas came early
« Reply #15 on: Sun, 14 December 2008, 14:04:21 »
Quote from: skriefal;14695
As it happens, I correctly remembered which keys to press.  Alt+Esc toggles the speaker on/off.

Great, thanks. :)
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Miniguru thread at GH // The Apple M0110 Today

Offline itlnstln

  • Posts: 7048
Christmas came early
« Reply #16 on: Mon, 15 December 2008, 07:29:26 »
Quote from: wellington1869;14593
that picture looks like contraband seized by the feds  ;)


"Dope on the table."

For any The Wire fans out there.
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