Help for my Cherry G80-1000! USB connect and others Q'S

[lorenzobrak]

Hello everybody!  I'm new to this forum and I hope to find some help with my Cherry G80-1000 HAI!
I found this keyboard some days ago searching for a mechanical old one after I discovered their benefits (apart from the lovely sound) on the net, and after a good cleaning with compressed air, because there was a lot of 80's dust inside ( it was built in 1987!) , and happily i checked it connecting to a pc with an old 5-pin to PS2 connector, and it worked!
down here you can find all the infos I could discover about this lovely keyboard:
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CHERRY G80-1000 HAI (don't know what HAI means.. )
Italian layout
producted in 1987 in West Germany
mounts Cherry MX Black
it have behind a switch for chaning the protocol ( I think after a research that it's for change from AT to AXprotocol, don't know what this means too .. LOL)
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Questions:
1- How can I make it work with my win 8 PC? do i need just a mini adapter from PS/2 to USB like this http://www.cablesdirect.com/prodimages/USB-PS2F_LR.jpg, or i need an active converter which interprets the ps/2 signal and turn it into the usb one like this http://www.clickykeyboard.com/_ebay/modelm_usb/modelm_usb-001.jpg ?

2- can I in some way change EASILY the switches swapping from MX black to MX blue ?

3- Can I change the Keycaps to buy some others that can fit for me? (first of all because this ones are quite yellow 'cause they're old)
4- can I change the chassis with a new one (same model)?  i ate the yellow-looking old plastic..

That's it.. i hope you can understand tha i'm a newbie with old-mechanic keyboards.. sorry for flooding you with questions.. and thanks in advance if someone can help me..  see ya!

[CPTBadAss]

If you don't like all the yellowing, you can look into the retr0bright process to clean it up. You can retr0bright both case and caps. And you'll probably have to desolder the switches to swap them from Blacks to Blues.

[jabar]

1: Yes you need a PS/2 -> USB adapter if you don't have a PS/2 port. Going with an active PS/2 -> USB adapter gives your best chance of getting the keyboard to work.
2: Since the G80-1000 is PCB mounted, you can use an allen wrench or pliers to carefully pop the upper housing and replace the slide and spring.
3: Yes, you can change keycaps. You will need 1.5 mods (Control, Alt) and a 7 unit spacebar (called a Tsangan kit here at GH), as well as an ISO layout. ISO is not popular among modern keycap sets so you will need to look into either vintage Cherry replacements or group buys here which have the ISO option available.
4: You can retrobright the case to permanently remove the yellowing agent in the ABS case plastic.

[IvanIvanovich]

Nice find. I would definitely go with some retrobright. No reason to replace what is not needed to be. You especially don't want to replace those great doubleshot Cherry keys with anything else. Since you were wondering about the model code that is what the H is for doubleshots (Hochdruck Spritzguss). The only models that Cherry made that can be considered to be better are S models with dyesublimation PBT keycap.
I recommend these ID Innovations adapter I am not sure or not if there is really any still available, but you can follow up on that...

A couple interesting things about yours. It has the older pre1000 model sticker, from older 0hundereds models and even has 01000 which is amusing. It has super old school extra large math operator keys on the numpad which I haven't seen on any post 0hundreds model before.

[lorenzobrak]

wow, thanks guys,, this community is super-active and really ALIVE! i'm soo impressed that in less than 1 hours i solved the rpoblem that made me wondering all day long! 
congrats to ya all!
by the way..just for curiosity..  how much would you think this keyboard can value?  I've no idea about that..
I DON'T WANT TO TRY SELL IT (i'm afraid of this post being closed cause mods can think i want to sell this..  no selling ..  i have read the rules xD )

aand..  what is  n-key rollover ? does this keyboard have it ?

[IvanIvanovich]

It's a nice 1000, and has some things going for it that makes it on the rarer end. It's harder to find IT layout, and those other things I mentioned along with the earlier production year. Looks to be in good shape, though mild yellowing can be taken care of. Depending on how is the keycap texture I would say market value for collector something between $75 and $100.

[lorenzobrak]

niice   it seems I luckily found something really special!
just to let people know..  this version of Keyboard wasn't even listed in wiki of the keyboard http://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_G80-1000!!
i reviewed the page and putted some other infos about the G80-1000
you said that it uses the "old version"  fo the botton sticker..  do you know when the production of G80-1000 startes?  cause this keyboard has been build in the 5ft may of 1987!  there's the date inside the abs chassis..
and just a curiosity.. it mounts a AMD chip!  you can Recognize it by the logo! 

[IvanIvanovich]

Interesting. Every other G80 I have ever seen used intel or Phillips controller. Not totally sure when the 1000 was introduced but I am pretty sure it was not before 1986.

[lorenzobrak]

well. let's see if someone can recognize this strange and fascinating version..