Just to say hi

[Laser]

Hi, i'm Laser and pretty obviously i'm new here!

Two weeks ago at work i bumped into an old "museum" IBM keyboard attached to a 286 computer and hit the keys. Instantly i was transported back to another epoch, were i was typing my first document on a Robotron machine. Click, click, clickety click.

Last week i started asking left and right for old keyboards, which nobody would use, ready to be thrown out, or gathering all the dust in some forgotten corners of office memory.

So far, i saved these four:

- Two Acer 6012 keyboards, branded "Datapoint" (UK 102 layout, white Alps) - one with PS/2 cable, one with DIN 5 (AT)

- A Dah Young / Unitek K-160 keyboard with PCB-mounted Cherry MX Blue switches:





- A Chicony 5161, made for Samsung, with blue Alps / Monterey switches (need your help here), plate-mounted and (correct me if i'm wrong) double shot-injection moulding keycaps:





So far i cleaned them up and for the ones with blue switches, i changed the cable from DIN 5 to PS/2. The Chicony had a loose Escape key, i had to resolder one pin and now both work perfectly Both are quite yellowish, so far i prefer the Cherries, but the Chicony looks much more solid and classy.

So, are those blue Alps, or Monterey switches on the 5161? And sorry for the crappy (webcam shot) images.

[rowie]

Hi Laser! I am also new. I just bought two kinds of model M keyboards after I had just retired my model M 2 keyboard due to the constant fixing of its capacitors.  I definitely love vintage keyboards. I'm kind of afraid that one of the model I just bought is the terminal kind. I'm still debating whether or not I'll get involved with it, since I've seen a thread on how to make it work for the modern PC and it is a little involved for me. Still, I thought I'd say hello to you! I also wanted to tell you that you have a nice collection going.

[Laser]

Thanks for the welcome One of the nice things with these keyboards was that they made me learn new things. For example, i never knew that PS/2 and the  AT (DIN 5) cables use the same protocol and wires; now i know it, and i saw that changing them practically works - which gives me quite a bit of satisfaction I haven't soldered a pin in years, now i had to, and "saving" a keyboard - even cleaning it and restoring it a little is great. So i say, go for it, i think the gain is way bigger than any loss.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Thanks for the welcome One of the nice things with these keyboards was that they made me learn new things. For example, i never knew that PS/2 and the  AT (DIN 5) cables use the same protocol and wires; now i know it, and i saw that changing them practically works - which gives me quite a bit of satisfaction I haven't soldered a pin in years, now i had to, and "saving" a keyboard - even cleaning it and restoring it a little is great. So i say, go for it, i think the gain is way bigger than any loss.

Yes, AT and PS/2 use the same protocol. However, be weary of XT, which despite being the exact same DIN 5 pinout, does NOT use the same protocol.

Oh, and:

[Laser]

Thanks! Haven't met with an XT only keyboard so far, i hope to always  see an XT->AT switch on its back

Between the rows: