Author Topic: Rare SSK Feature? (Read 5407 times)

fuus · « **on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:14:06 »

Hey guys, quick question.

I received an SSK today of which the 'numpad' layer is all in blue font? All the other SSKs I've found online of the same model number seem to have a grey font? Is the google fu not with me today or is it genuinely rare?

Any help appreciated! Thanks, Fuus

snoopy · « **Reply #1 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:15:16 »

The later ones unicomp did often had that blue numpad. from which year is it? 200x?

fuus · « **Reply #2 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:18:12 »

04 June '87.

EDIT: I guess the caps must be a replacement!

snoopy · « **Reply #3 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:24:42 »

afaik there is grey, light grey (with kind of silver in it), very dark grey, light blue and a very intensive blue (what unicomp did)

you should post pics. Pics are always good

fuus · « **Reply #4 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:27:12 »

I'll get some up right away! brb

EDIT: Uploading. I think there's a grey shade difference in the caps!

fuus · « **Reply #5 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:54:02 »

tada!

fuus · « **Reply #6 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:55:05 »

ignore

fohat.digs · « **Reply #7 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:56:10 »

According to clicky keyboards, they refer to the numpad sub-legends as light-gray, dark-gray, light-brown, dark-brown, and black.

The majority of mine have been light-gray.

I have a set of blue that I really like, and seem to vaguely remember orange but I may be wrong.

oTurtlez · « **Reply #8 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:56:40 »

That looks really nice actually. Interesting...

snoopy · « **Reply #9 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:59:28 »

I'm not 100% sure, but my bet is, that it is a replacement set. I personally don't own a ssk from 87, but the ones I saw mostly had a kind of grey embedded numpad. But maybe somebody knows more...

Also that right shift looks like it belongs to another set.

But that blue is very cool.

fuus · « **Reply #10 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 16:01:52 »

All pics finally uploaded, PC having a shocker

I would agree with you about the right shift and slightly different shaded keycaps. It's a franken-board! Too bad about the scratches under the space..

snoopy · « **Reply #11 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 16:03:17 »

Quote from: fuus on Tue, 10 December 2013, 16:01:52

All pics finally uploaded, PC having a shocker

I would agree with you about the right shift and slightly different shaded keycaps. It's a franken-board! Too bad about the scratches under the space..

don't worry about the scratches. Scratches give a ssk character

fuus · « **Reply #12 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 16:05:32 »

all I need is a replacement key for the key left of enter from unicomp and the board will be complete. Perhaps some bolt modding after that!

blueSmoke · « **Reply #13 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 16:59:32 »

Quote from: fohat.digs on Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:56:10

According to clicky keyboards, they refer to the numpad sub-legends as light-gray, dark-gray, light-brown, dark-brown, and black.

The majority of mine have been light-gray.

I have a set of blue that I really like, and seem to vaguely remember orange but I may be wrong.

"The majority of mine have been light-gray."
Do you have too many? Do you have any intention of letting one go? I promise I will handle her with care. I have hacked a regular to ssk, but would love to have the the real one with numpad.

fohat.digs · « **Reply #14 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 17:37:26 »

Quote from: blueSmoke on Tue, 10 December 2013, 16:59:32

"The majority of mine have been light-gray."
Do you have too many? Do you have any intention of letting one go?

I was referring in general terms to the couple of dozen M/Fs that have passed through my hands in recent years. I have never owned an actual SSK.

dorkvader · « **Reply #15 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 21:50:34 »

I've been studying the quality of IBM's dyesubbing for a while now. I would say some of those caps are likely replaced, as I've yet to see a known example of IBM keycaps from that age with the "thin" process. This is especially noticeable between the [?/] key and the nearby [enter]

Linkbane · « **Reply #16 on:** Tue, 10 December 2013, 21:55:02 »

Quote from: fuus on Tue, 10 December 2013, 15:54:02

tada!

It's so pretty.

fuus · « **Reply #17 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 01:34:14 »

If I bought a 104 key replacement cap set from Unicomp, would there be enough caps in there to make a full set of reasonably same looking caps?

terran5992 · « **Reply #18 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 01:47:05 »

Quote from: fuus on Wed, 11 December 2013, 01:34:14

If I bought a 104 key replacement cap set from Unicomp, would there be enough caps in there to make a full set of reasonably same looking caps?

I think so

fuus · « **Reply #19 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 02:57:15 »

I'd keep the new SSK caps and ditch the originals, to hopefully make it mono tone in the alphas

snoopy · « **Reply #20 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 03:06:34 »

You can also order a set of ssk keycaps at unicomp with silver-grey numpad legends

fuus · « **Reply #21 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 03:56:41 »

I'm quite fond of the blue now

Edit: how do I order the SSK caps?!

snoopy · « **Reply #22 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 04:07:45 »

Quote from: fuus on Wed, 11 December 2013, 03:56:41

I'm quite fond of the blue now

Edit: how do I order the SSK caps?!

You have to email them and do something like a custom order. Tell them you want keycaps for the classic ibm spacesaver with the numpad legends.

fuus · « **Reply #23 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 04:18:18 »

How much will they set me back?

snoopy · « **Reply #24 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 04:41:15 »

http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/CPSET

30$

You can also order over the form above and specify what you want in the comments section. But make sure that they 100% understand what you want... if not, you end with something you didn't want. The unicomp guys do sometimes strange things. lol

If you only order up to two keysets, then shipping should be somewhere around 20-25$ iirc

fuus · « **Reply #25 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 05:05:10 »

Thanks for the info snoopy, much appreciated

fuus · « **Reply #26 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 09:34:49 »

The mystery deepens today! The SSK has been 'glue' modded

and has a weird arrangement of two and one piece caps! the last pic is with ALL one piece caps removed except caps, and all of the top half of two piece caps gone. Weird eh?

snoopy · « **Reply #27 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 09:40:17 »

I saw that little white/green sticker on the back of the board on the pics you posted earlier... seems like it came from HK or china and was "refurbished" there...?

fuus · « **Reply #28 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 09:42:01 »

perhaps, to me it looked like an electrical safety sticker

)

kmiller8 · « **Reply #29 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 09:44:04 »

Have you checked the crystal yet? Maybe it's uber-rare!

snoopy · « **Reply #30 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 09:48:11 »

to me it looks like one of those typical HK quality check stickers, that certain companies put on their cleaned/refurbished products. there should be some funny symbols on it and maybe some numbers. I also got ssks with those, but in white/red

But as long as everything works and the price was ok... but you should definitely think about bolt mod, that glue stuff is not ideal.

fuus · « **Reply #31 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 09:51:24 »

Sounds about the same as what the sticker was!

I'll definitely consider a bolt mod. All the keys work absolutely perfectly!

Crystals, what?

smknjoe · « **Reply #32 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 10:26:03 »

Those are definitely not the original keycaps. The SSKs have one piece keycaps not two piece like a full size M. Still a nice board though! I have 2 from 1987.

snoopy · « **Reply #33 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 10:37:20 »

One-piece caps are more common on SSKs, but there are some with two-piece caps (pre-unicomp).

smknjoe · « **Reply #34 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 10:49:13 »

If the board is from 1987 they should be one piece.

fuus · « **Reply #35 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 10:53:28 »

Well I've given the case and keycaps a good clean and the cap tones are much closer so all in all I'm pretty happy!

JimByr · « **Reply #36 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 11:23:24 »

Whether the SSK has one- or two- part keys doesn't depend on the date. Boards with special keycaps such as the 1392464 will have two-part keys irregardless of the date. And SSKs with one-part keys can have two-part "F" and "J" keys. Otherwise, all of the SSKs that I've seen ranging from 1987 to 1992 have one-part keys.

fuus · « **Reply #37 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 11:47:08 »

Is it possible to order more of the 'under' parts from unicomp?

smknjoe · « **Reply #38 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 14:13:07 »

Quote from: fuus on Wed, 11 December 2013, 11:47:08

Is it possible to order more of the 'under' parts from unicomp?

Yes and clickykeyboards.com.

Quote from: JimByr on Wed, 11 December 2013, 11:23:24

Whether the SSK has one- or two- part keys doesn't depend on the date. Boards with special keycaps such as the 1392464 will have two-part keys irregardless of the date. And SSKs with one-part keys can have two-part "F" and "J" keys. Otherwise, all of the SSKs that I've seen ranging from 1987 to 1992 have one-part keys.

The date does matter because the only ones I have are from 1987

I don't know about newer ones. All of the 1391472's (the model in question) from 1987 have one piece keycaps. Some do have two part F and J keys. The pictures provided by the OP show almost all of the keycaps as two piece which is not correct for the model that it's supposed to be according to the sticker on the back.

fuus · « **Reply #39 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 14:18:48 »

Thanks smknjoe! Your help is much appreciated

smknjoe · « **Reply #40 on:** Wed, 11 December 2013, 23:06:42 »

No problem fuus. It's still a great board. A famous movie quote to sum it up: "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

fuus · « **Reply #41 on:** Thu, 12 December 2013, 10:52:48 »

One of the feet slips in the central most upright position, any advice on a fix?

smknjoe · « **Reply #42 on:** Thu, 12 December 2013, 22:27:44 »

My boards are so heavy they don't budge on a smooth desk. Do you mean the board slides around or the foot/leg won't stay stationary in one position?

fuus · « **Reply #43 on:** Fri, 13 December 2013, 03:52:39 »

One leg doesn't stay in the central position, it slides down to closed

smknjoe · « **Reply #44 on:** Fri, 13 December 2013, 16:56:56 »

It sounds like it's not opening up completely. It should open to form an obtuse angle not a right or acute angle. Check to see what is causing an obstruction.

fuus · « **Reply #45 on:** Fri, 13 December 2013, 17:57:00 »

both will open to form obtuse angle, however one foot will also form a right angle which the second won't?

smknjoe · « **Reply #46 on:** Fri, 13 December 2013, 19:04:25 »

Mine only open fully. There is some resistance right around the 90 degree point, but that's not a position to be used. It's either fully open or closed.

fuus · « **Reply #47 on:** Sun, 15 December 2013, 08:42:32 »

ah okay, that makes sense. I shall give them a good clean out! Thanks again smknjoe

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Author Topic: Rare SSK Feature? (Read 5407 times)