Broken Siig Minitouch KB-1903

[elbowglue]

http://cgi.ebay.com/SIIG-Model-1903-MiniTouch-Enhanced-Keyboard-/260695486487?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item3cb2a97017#ht_500wt_950

Good for keycaps for those of you who have the GHSS.  I had asked this seller earlier, he said this was made in China, so it is probably white clicky alps.  However the RJ-11 connector makes me think it could potentially be monterey switches?

[chimera15]

Awesome find, thanks.  Wish it was bin.

[TexasFlood]

Awesome find, thanks.  Wish it was bin.

Me to since it might end up going for a silly price even broken.

[TexasFlood]

Sold for $31 + $10 shipping.  Bit of a gamble but good deal if easily fixed.

[Soarer]

Do all the Minitouches have that RJ11 connector on the back?  That was for a numpad IIRC.

Nope. But... on mine you can see the outline of where the hole would be. Same mould I guess, but with options.

[didjamatic]

Montereys:
Blue letters on sides of keys for numpad layer and some of the other key printing is blue.
Made in Taiwan

ALPS:
Gray letters on sides of keys for numpad layer
Made in China

Some Minitouch models have RJ11/12 some don't.  Some have DB-15 serial connector.  I believe either connector can be used for a barcode scanner or I suppose a numpad.  Since these devices input text like a keyboard does, you can have them use the same parent interface as the keyboard (the AT/PS2 connector) it definitely couldn't be a mouse because that would require it's own connection to the PC (unless using USB which in this case you wouldn't be)

[elbowglue]

Montereys:
Blue letters on sides of keys for numpad layer and some of the other key printing is blue.
Made in Taiwan

ALPS:
Gray letters on sides of keys for numpad layer
Made in China

Some Minitouch models have RJ11/12 some don't.

Whats odd is the Monterey Minitouch I got from aegroratio dosen't have any blue lettering on the keys.  It is made in Taiwan however, which in my opinion is the most reliable way of telling them apart.

My monterey minitouch has an RJ11 connector.  I wonder if i could daisy chain a dolch keyboard onto it, use it as an expensive dolch to AT adapter..

[elbowglue]

And I don't envy webwit for finding great cheap deals on rare keyboards.  Not one bit.

[elbowglue]

He probably did.

I won the imbecile world championships to get mine.

[didjamatic]

Dang, i thought the blue lettering was fail-safe on identifying Montereys.  I still think it's generally correct, but apparently there was some crossover.

I tried daisy chaining an ADB keyboard off of a Northgate UltraPlus that has PS/2 and ADB connectors on it, but no dice.  I had to buy a Griffin Imate.

[Infinite north]

So you don't envy him on picking up a fingerworks touchstream for $27 bucks a few months back? it's good to know that I am not the only one who doesn"t envy things like that.

[ricercar]

I decided to pick up the OP board. $31 gives me a chance to dye the keys without ruining my primary Minitouch.

Maybe with the whole board in GeekHack green won't be a headache to type on a SiiG Minitouch. With only G and H green, the color of my migraine aura, typing on a Minitouch feels like my blind spot is in the center of the board and it's really unpleasant.

[aegrotatio]

SIIG always felt, to me, like a reckless reseller or reckless OEM.  You can't really know from Monterey or regular ALPS on these things.  Even the recent BTC-5xxx keyboards and stuff, different feel, different keyboards, same model number.  Ugh.

[ricercar]

I always thought that if your SiiG was broken you'd have to go into preferences to fix it.

<-- preferring that my broken SiiG arrives sooner, rather than later

[ricercar]

The $30 broken MiniTouch isn't working--through a blue cube it's an unrecognized USB device, which I find very interesting. Upon opening it up, the plate is bent; from the bend angle it was likely dropped on the front left corner from a significant height. There's no visible damage to the PCB or solder joints.

The RJ11 is not connected inside the case. Matter of fact, the RJ11 jack doesn't even have the metal wires installed, and there are NO PADS inside the case to which one might assume a number pad was attached. It appears that the RJ11 was intended as a removable cable for the MiniTouch itself, since the only thing within a solder splash of the empty RJ11 jack is the jack for the AT cable to attach.

I've harvested the key caps. I'm likely to harvest the switches when I have an afternoon full of patience and motivation. If anyone has need of SiiG MiniTouch key caps or a MiniTouch case, let me know in PM.

[chimera15]

Um, so... wait... Did it turn out to be a Monterey?  I didn't bid cause I wasn't sure. Are you going to sell the plate/pcb?  It's a Monterey version?  I can probably fix it with a standard one even if the chip is dead, as I have replacement parts I would fix a Monterey with.  I'll buy the thing from you.

Don't destroy it if it's a Monterey, it's a loss to the keyboard community for sure.  Sell it to someone who can fix it if you can't.

[ricercar]

During the auction I asked the seller <<China or [strike]Taiwan[/strike]>>, so I knew it was complicated whites.

If you're serious about wanting the PCB/switches, Chimera, PM me? Harvesting the switches is not high on my to-do list, so offer me $20+ shipping (probably $3) and it's yours.

[chimera15]

Ah so it's alps?  $20?  I'll take it.  I can use the case/plate to fix my pcb which is without one because I used it to make a wireless one, even if I can't fix it.