Alps Appreciation Thread

[fohat.digs]

The W is the black variant.

W means with windows keys.

AT101 and AT102 do not have Windows keys, and all but the very very earliest ones have black Alps, but there are those with salmon Alps which are rare. Some of the very early ones have PBT key caps, but I don't think that there is a consistent relationship between those and the ones with the salmon switches. You can't really go by "old logo" either, although those were more likely to have the early components.

"1" means ANSI and "2" means ISO.

AT101W and AT102W do have Windows keys, have black Alps, and are also available with black cases, which while not rare, they are uncommon.

Last, there were AT101R and AT102R which had rubber domes.

[hanslau]

Does replacing the keycaps risk "dirtying" the switches?

Just got a modified blue Alps keyboard, so crisp and smooth. I switched only the numpad and arrow keycaps with TaiHao Dolch keycaps.

Now when using I realize the keys with the new keycaps feel scratchy, unsmooth. I knew alps were not dust tolerant but just from a keycaps switch? However the keys on the Home, Insert and Scroll Lock sections also feel kinda scratchy, but not to the extent of the TaiHao keys.

So is it just some major coincidence, or did I fck up by changing the keycaps?

[toniwonkanobi]

Anyone know of a 3D-printing (or laser cutting) service which can do custom plates @ 1.2mm (for Alps) in either ABS or POM? I'm having a hard time finding a service :/

[nevin]

both would probably be pretty flimsy at that thickness.
you can sift through the materials ponoko has.
another vendor that's used is big blue saw, check their materials here

[toniwonkanobi]

both would probably be pretty flimsy at that thickness.
you can sift through the materials ponoko has.
another vendor that's used is big blue saw, check their materials here

Totally agree they'd be flimsy. But that's kind of the point weaston offered ABS (in that 1.2mm 1.5mm thickness) for GSKT-00, and with a flex PCB, the more flexible "plate" (lol) makes medium-heavy tactile Alps feel a lot nicer than they would otherwise feel on aluminum (or steel/brass) plates.

[toniwonkanobi]

Not sure if this is the correct place for this, but I have a quandary. I have a line on a Mekanisk Klippe S, which is basically a TOFU60 with sandwich mount. Mekanisk has released `.step` files for the plate, but plate file only accommodates MX switches :/

Is there someone who would be able/willing to take that step file and somehow create a dxf, but with the AT101 layout and Alps switch cutouts instead of MX?

[nevin]

yeah, just wasn't sure if you were planning a one off handwire. soft plates do come in handy for alignment as alps have no fixing pins like pcb-mount mx. there are a bunch of pcbs that are alps/mx but using alps without plate on these type of pcbs is not ideal, unless you want to spend days adjusting alignment of switches.

.... oh, just remembered, there was a comb thing that someone came up with for aligning alps without plate.
... ah, here in this thread https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=99552

as long as you have their plate dimensions, mounting positions, you could add your own layout in the plate with a combination of keyboard layout editor and the swill plate builder...
http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/
http://builder.swillkb.com/

[toniwonkanobi]

as long as you have their plate dimensions, mounting positions, you could add your own layout in the plate with a combination of keyboard layout editor and the swill plate builder...

Yeah, that's the hard part, though. I was hoping someone smarter than me could somehow superimpose, say, the file of a regular 60% AT101 layout on top of the Mekanisk sandwich plate file and then have everything work out. But this may not be possible without some trial and error.

[nevin]

will look at the file conversions then.
shouldn't be too difficult to match up, alps is only slightly different than mx

search around and see if you can find an online converter for  .step to dxf, dwg, ...some other more cross compatible file format

[toniwonkanobi]

will look at the file conversions then.
shouldn't be too difficult to match up, alps is only slightly different than mx

search around and see if you can find an online converter for  .step to dxf, dwg, ...some other more cross compatible file format

Sorry, I don't want to misunderstand you. When you say "will look at the file conversions then," are you saying that you'll look at the file conversions, or did you mean to say "Well, look at the file conversions then?" Not sure if you're offering to help, or just advising me to look into myself.

[chyros]

My girlfriend and a friend of us both got me a Dell AT101W for my birthday, I unwrapped it yesterday. I must admit that I like the soft feeling even when compared to my two Buckling Spring  keyboards. I might or might not use it as a daily driver on one of my laptops... hmm. 

If you like linear switches, try linearising a part of it and seeing if you like it. Personally I think linearised black Alps are excellent   (also great for if you get them in bad condition; linearising takes off most of the scratchiness).

[nevin]

will look at the file conversions then.
shouldn't be too difficult to match up, alps is only slightly different than mx

search around and see if you can find an online converter for  .step to dxf, dwg, ...some other more cross compatible file format

Sorry, I don't want to misunderstand you. When you say "will look at the file conversions then," are you saying that you'll look at the file conversions, or did you mean to say "Well, look at the file conversions then?" Not sure if you're offering to help, or just advising me to look into myself.

yes. i'll help. if we can get the step converted, it shouldn't be hard to do.

[toniwonkanobi]

will look at the file conversions then.
shouldn't be too difficult to match up, alps is only slightly different than mx

search around and see if you can find an online converter for  .step to dxf, dwg, ...some other more cross compatible file format

Sorry, I don't want to misunderstand you. When you say "will look at the file conversions then," are you saying that you'll look at the file conversions, or did you mean to say "Well, look at the file conversions then?" Not sure if you're offering to help, or just advising me to look into myself.

yes. i'll help. if we can get the step converted, it shouldn't be hard to do.

Seems like there are some paid applications which allow the conversion. I didn't see a way to do it in AutoCAD Viewer at least.

[nevin]

yeah, i did some initial digging, nothing straight forward in the little time i was looking.

[toniwonkanobi]

yeah, i did some initial digging, nothing straight forward in the little time i was looking.

Sent you a PM. Didn't want to clutter the thread.

[siggie0815]

I do appreciate...



I like the M0118 with salmons the best. Both, keyfeel and sound are just amazing.

The AEK with oranges disappointed me a bit with its pingy reverberant sound, but the keyfeel is amazing as well. However, I'll need a bigger desk if I want to use this one on a regular basis.

The AEK II is also very nice although it cannot compete with the others. The switches are also a bit strange as it has somewhat cream-white dampened hybrid switches. The sliders are definitely white while the top housings and the tactile leafs are from creams.

[nevin]

some of the later variants of the AEKII had dampened white sliders.

.... the elusive M0118... i'm a little jealous.

[siggie0815]

.... the elusive M0118... i'm a little jealous.

There are quite a few of them on eBay (Europe) at the moment...