keyboard ID help?

[Jixr]

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/sop/4811343228.html

Found this on my local CL, seems kinda interesting, anyone know what it is?

[hwood34]

Not really sure at all, but I can tell you it's certainly worth the $15

[RoflCopter4]

That thing would be worth more than $15 just for the novelty of it. I say go for it and report back here with details! you might get lucky. Could be plain old domes or it could be Alps or who knows what else.

[Puddsy]

If it's $15 just buy it

What could possibly go wrong

[Jixr]

well its an hour drive away, so thats my issue.

[Snowdog993]

Reminds me of the old Packard-Bell 84-key AT keyboard.  But that one is newer.  It's trying to look like the old IBM 84 Key AT keyboard.  (Not the SSK model M)
The case is hinged to itself.  Generic whatever it is.  No screws?  Unicomp special deal?  (the rectangle on the upper left?)  Maybe it is a buckling spring?
Another oddity is the opposite color keycaps!

[Snowdog993]

It can't be Unicomp.  Most likely a NEW manufacture by some generic company.  Probably rubberdome and has a cutout for the "product name" of whatever it is.
If it is old stock, the only other company I can think of is KeyTronic.  But those are different than these.  The BTC generic is different than that too.

[jacobolus]

It can't be Unicomp.  Most likely a NEW manufacture by some generic company.  Probably rubberdom

Every bit of this speculation is way off base.

This is clearly a mechanical keyboard from the late 1980s. Nothing made anytime recently has an AT layout. I’m guessing Cherry MX, but it could be something else.

[Snowdog993]

You got me.  I was just guessing.

Edit: I KNOW Unicomp became a company in 1999.  That isn't what I meant.  What I said was it "Could Be" an XT keyboard made by Unicomp because they DO make them.  And the design seems to make me think that the keyboard was not made in the 80's at all.

[Snowdog993]

Actually it DOES look like something Unicomp would make.  I might just be that.  A Unicomp AT keyboard.

[Photekq]

Stop making wild guesses. It doesn't contribute anything but confusion. What on Earth makes you think it's a Unicomp? It doesn't even slightly resemble anything they've ever made.

[Snowdog993]

One way to know for sure is to get the keyboard!

[Snowdog993]

Stop making wild guesses. It doesn't contribute anything but confusion. What on Earth makes you think it's a Unicomp? It doesn't even slightly resemble anything they've ever made.

I wouldn't make this assumption without comparison.
The back side of that keyboard STRONGLY resembles my Unicomp Model M 103.  Let me show you.  Top is Unicomp 103.  Bottom is Craig's List Seller.

[Photekq]

It really doesn't resemble it much at all. It doesn't resemble it any more than it resembles the back of.. say.. A Cherry G80-3000.

[nubbinator]

It really doesn't resemble it much at all. It doesn't resemble it any more than it resembles the back of.. say.. A Cherry G80-3000.

Yeah, I'm not seeing it at all either.

[Snowdog993]

Okay.  Like I said.  It is a guess and I believe I am right.  But that's fine.  If anything, Jixr, (or anyone for that matter) can ask the seller to look under a keycap and confirm it.  I hope I am.  Or just get the thing and find out.  If it's vintage, great!  If it's a Unicomp, I was right.  It's a win-win!

Edit: What makes me so dang convinced is where the label goes.  That looks VERY familiar among Unicomp keyboards.

[Photekq]

I will bet you $500 right now it's not a Unicomp.

[Snowdog993]

I won't take that bet.  But for 15 bucks, it's a good bet, ya think?

[Photekq]

Go big or go home.

[Snowdog993]

No thank you.  I am pretty sure I am right.  I'm going home with my tail between my legs.

However, when and if Jixr gets the keyboard, I would like to know if it is as well as everyone else.  This is really fun!

The odds of me being right are probably more than 500 to 1 anyway.

It would be really cool if I were.

[opensecret]

I'm with jacobolus -- mechanical keyboard that goes back 25 years or so.  The din cable, function keys on the left, caps lock down lower right, and esc key on the num pad all make it look like a clone of the IBM Model F.  My guess (or wild speculation) is that it came packaged with a no-name, IBM-clone PC. 

[Snowdog993]

There is one thing that bothers me about that theory.  Wouldn't the plastic have yellowed by now?  Every generic IBM keyboard I have from that time period has yellowed!  That's what makes me so convinced it is a "new" keyboard made in 2000 something rather than 1983-1989 something.

[berserkfan]

There is one thing that bothers me about that theory.  Wouldn't the plastic have yellowed by now?  Every generic IBM keyboard I have from that time period has yellowed!  That's what makes me so convinced it is a "new" keyboard made in 2000 something rather than 1983-1989 something.

I have IBM Model Fs from that era, used and dirty and still not yellowed.

Yellowing is partly due to the material. Many beam spring keyboards will never yellow because they are painted white!

[Snowdog993]

I understand that more than you think.  I have IBM keyboards too.  They haven't yellowed at all.  The generic ones do.  They are your basket bin $15 specials at your local computer shop back then.  What's kinda strange is the seller saying it has a Steel Backplate.  Interestingly, there were quite a few keyboards like that.  Keytronic and IBM had the PC keyboard "curve" and the generics (some of them) had it too.
It's really hard to say but what makes me doubtful is that even the generic keyboards packaged at the time, ALL yellowed except for the ones that were painted.  How many generic keyboards at that time period were painted?  I don't think there were many.  Especially at that price point.
I know some of the high-end KeyTronic and some BTC's at that time were painted.  (But the price wasn't generic and they didn't look like that at all.  They were also built very well.)
This doesn't fit the picture.  It has to be something new like an AT generic keyboard made recently.  If it is old, it must be painted, but looking at that picture doesn't fit.  It seems that it is a unicolor mold.  Not painted over.
So where does this leave me?  It IS most likely a generic AT keyboard recently made by some obscure company.  It could be a custom Unicomp 84 key AT keyboard made for someone.  You can custom order them from Unicomp if you so desire.
Something about the look of the front (on Unicomps) and on the back (on Unicomps) makes me very suspicious that this could be a Unicomp 84 key AT keyboard.
What other generic keyboards in your collections from that time period haven't yellowed?  I don't have any.

[hwood34]

Did Unicomp even make boards in that layout? And with a metal backplate? There's always the chance that it's one of those Alps boards in a BS layout

[Snowdog993]

Yes you can order them from them.  http://pckeyboard.com/page/category/IBMKBD  Anyway, like I said here is the BTC AT keyboard.  The keycaps are opposite the ones the seller has.  It is a close match but not quite.

[Puddsy]

NEC something. Saw exactly this in the window of a thrift shop for much more money than I wanted to pay today.

[hwood34]

Who in the world even want to order something like this in that layout?

[jacobolus]

There is zero chance this was made by Unicomp. It is not a buckling spring keyboard.

Judging from the keycaps, my guess is Cherry MX, but it could well be something else.

This does not look like the NEC boards with AT layout. For reference:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151093015376


vs. this board:


It’s also entirely different from the BTC board, beyond both being AT layout. That BTC board looks like KeyTronic switches.

Keep in mind everyone, there were dozens of different types of keyboards with AT layout.

[Snowdog993]

I hope Jixr checks it out at least and lets us all know for sure.  I gotta go to bed.  Have a good night.

[RoflCopter4]

I bet it was made by the ancient Romans. I can tell because it clearly uses the Latin alphabet.

[Touch_It]

Plz buy it!

[Jixr]

well, I emailed the seller, and she will be free on sunday to meet.
I asked her if there are any model numbers or branding on it, and she said there was none.


The price is worth the gamble, but the thing is its 2 hours of driving for me to go get it, and I'm not convinced its not a rubber dome.

[Photekq]

Ask her if she'll box it up it if you pay for/organise collection.

[Snowdog993]

I am wondering why you didn't ask her to remove a key and check for you?  Like, just take a butter knife and remove one to see?  That would be an easy request.

Edit: On second thought, bad idea.

[Touch_It]

I am wondering why you didn't ask her to remove a key and check for you?  Like, just take a butter knife and remove one to see?  That would be an easy request.

Edit: On second thought, bad idea.

Yeah, it sounds simple but it is easy to overestimate people's ability to be incompetent when it comes to anything related to electronics, lol.

[Jixr]

from what I understand she is a pregnant lady, so I doubt she would even know what i'm talking aobut, but i'll ask.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Hm, inverted colour scheme. The only company I've seen do that is Commodore. It's not anything I recognise.

[RoflCopter4]

from what I understand she is a pregnant lady, so I doubt she would even know what i'm talking aobut, but i'll ask.

No need to be sexist here. You might be surprised.

[Findecanor]

While Commodore's PC keyboards had an inverted colour scheme Commodore chose beige on purpose and that keyboard looks too white. The seller could have fiddled with the white balance, but I find that unlikely because the wooden table is so yellow by contrast.
It probably hasn't yellowed because it is unused. The auction says so, and the cable is still in a plastic hose. Yellowing occurs because of exposure to yellow light.

That could be anything. Alps, NMB Hi-Tek "Space Invader" switches or Mitsumi hybrid switches are what I find the most likely.

I bet it was made by the ancient Romans. I can tell because it clearly uses the Latin alphabet.

[Findecanor]

from what I understand she is a pregnant lady, so I doubt she would even know what i'm talking aobut, but i'll ask.

I think you shouldn't. You have already committed to going there, haven't you?

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Yellowing occurs because of exposure to yellow light.

…?

OK, looks like I need to drum up funding to test bromine-mixed-ABS under the light of an alien sun.

[Xonar]

It's not a Unicomp, that's for sure. They only have the Model M molds, not the Model F AFAIK. It's some sort of AT Model F clone, but I wouldn't know specifically which one.

[jacobolus]

Yellowing occurs because of exposure to yellow light.

That’s wrong.

Yellowing occurs when the bromine in the plastic has access to oxygen and gets hit with ultraviolet light. Yellow light has no effect.

That could be anything. Alps, NMB Hi-Tek "Space Invader" switches or Mitsumi hybrid switches are what I find the most likely.

I’m positive sure these are not Hi Tek space invaders, and pretty sure they’re not Mitsumi switches.

It’s possible they’re Alps, though I’ve never seen any Alps keycaps with shapes and legends quite like that. I wouldn’t rule it out though.

As I said before, my guess is Cherry MX, but it could be something else.

[hwood34]

That could be anything. Alps, NMB Hi-Tek "Space Invader" switches or Mitsumi hybrid switches are what I find the most likely.

I’m positive sure these are not Hi Tek space invaders, and pretty sure they’re not Mitsumi switches.

It’s possible they’re Alps, though I’ve never seen any Alps keycaps with shapes and legends quite like that. I wouldn’t rule it out though.

As I said before, my guess is Cherry MX, but it could be something else.

The only reason I think these might be alps is that it seems many of these Model F clone layout boards have alps switches. It obviously doesn't have much solid information to back it up, but that's certainly my guess at this point

[jacobolus]

Well if it is Alps switches, then that’s the time frame for blue or green Alps switches and dyesub/doubleshot caps, though those keycaps don’t have the same shape as the caps made by Alps themselves.

[Jixr]

Just an update for those who were interested, I found another keyboard that matches this one online, and it has blue alps. so there ya go.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Interesting that you found two of something so rare — the second one, how close is it geographically to the first?

[Jixr]

http://austin.craigslist.org/sys/4833539791.html

probably 10 mins from my place, but is asking 10x as much as the other seller.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Those two are really quite different, silly :-P

Ignoring that the original one has that inverted colour scheme, the mystery keyboard is modelled on the Model F AT (notice the gap beside the numeric keypad) while the Leading Edge DC-2014 copied the earlier Model F XT (no gap before the numeric keypad). The DC-2014 (which is a documented keyboard) is supposedly XT, which that figures since it has no status LEDs (not supported in XT) while the mystery keyboard—based on the F AT—has the normal status LEDs that you'd expect from an AT keyboard.