One other thing, I want to disable the num lock, scroll, lock caps lock leds because I find them annyoing. What is best way to do that? Just desolder the leds from the pcb and throw them in the trash?
you can desolder the LEDs or the LED resistor or cut the trace. I recommend desoldering the LEDs as you can resolder them if you want to sell it to someone who likes LEDs there.
Is there any difference between the keycaps currently produced by Unicomp and the keycaps used for old IBM Model F keyboards? I want to replace the filthy keycaps on my 122 key terminal board and Unicomp seems like the best place to go. The keys on my Unicomp keyboard feel basically the same as the keys on my barely used Model M, which are themselves very nice. Unfortunately my Unicomp is at work and my Model F is at home and I can't be bothered to lug the thing home on the bus just to test if the keycaps are compatible. Does anyone know?
I recently read a post by dorkvader, in which he mentioned that the keycaps are compatible but the legends are different. Perhaps he'll explain further.
OK so IBM has changed legending techniques (dyesub equipment) a few times over the course of buckling spring history. You can see small differences like the colour of the sublegends on the tenkey, and huge differences like the change of font between the AT model F and model M keyboards. Later on the legends got thinner and more precise.
Unicomp bought lexmark's tooling so they have similar lines to lexmark. However, as fohat has said their accuracy is sometimes not as good.
So: old IBM: high accuracy, low precision (legends are thick and can get "fuzzy") Later IBM: sometimes better. Very late IBM and lexmark: thin lines, decent accuracy, they stuck to one colour usually (so no green alt) Unicomp: thin lines, multiple colours, high precision, lower accuracy (offset or crooked letting is not uncommon)
as to the keys themselves: I believe they changed moulds a few times over production history: you can tell there are some differences in surface roughness of the keycap itself. Unicomp is just fine.
to sum up: they are basically the same but can have tiny differences.
besides the one piece vs two piece contruction, nope
Both IBM and unicomp have 1 piece and 2 piece keycaps.