New double-shot, mechanical assembly, $60?

[ander]

Hey guys,

I just found something interesting: It appears to be an unused mechanical keyboard assembly, with visibly individual switches and what look
like double-shot, Selectric-style caps, for just $60.40 U.S.

NA KY-3030-C KEYBOARD ASSEMBLY

NRI Indulstrial – Surplus Industrial Equipment





Love the caps—but as it has what looks like a floppy-drive connector, I wouldn't know what to do with it, so I thought I'd pass it along.

The page says it's new. I don't know how old it is, though, or what the actual technology is, or how many they have. The page also says it's "on
sale"; the same company has the same item on eBay for over $100.

[E TwentyNine]

The ebay listing does have a "best offer" option at least:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-KY-3030-C-KEYBOARD-ASSEMBLY-D464429-/291268522438

So if you're more comfortable buying through ebay you could likely get the same price.

I like the look of the keys but they look like they're kinda flat-topped, and don't look like the quality of selectric or beamspring keys.

[fohat.digs]

Weird-ass Enter key for sure.

[nubbinator]

Looks like linear Futaba switches.

[Snarfangel]

Hey guys,

I just found something interesting: It appears to be an unused mechanical keyboard assembly, with visibly individual switches and what look
like double-shot, Selectric-style caps, for just $60.40 U.S.

NA KY-3030-C KEYBOARD ASSEMBLY

NRI Indulstrial � Surplus Industrial Equipment

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Love the caps�but as it has what looks like a floppy-drive connector, I wouldn't know what to do with it, so I thought I'd pass it along.

The page says it's new. I don't know how old it is, though, or what the actual technology is, or how many they have. The page also says it's "on
sale"; the same company has the same item on eBay for over $100.

Looking at other keyboards on that site, I saw this:


Are those the famous Hall-effect switches? (Seriously, I can't tell. I thought Micro Switch was the company that started making them, but I don't know if they made other types. These could be another beast entirely.  )).

Here's the full link: https://www.nriparts.com/electrical/controls/honeywell/101sw1-4-h-micro-switch-keyboard-assembly-pcb-circuit-board/

/There were several different Honeywell keyboards on the site, but too much money and work for me to make usable. I know others are much handier with such things, assuming the switches are nice.

[ander]

Looks like linear Futaba switches.

I love the description on that Deskthority page: "Despite the cheapness of the simplified switch, it proved itself as a robust and durable product, standing up the wear and tear of the United Kingdom's schoolchildren in the 1980s."

Weird-ass Enter key for sure.

Man, it is! Maybe they thought that making it full-size big-ass would draw too much attention from those rampaging English schoolkids. I think I would've just avoided it and used the normal-shaped LINE FEED key above it. When you're trying to be productive, the last thing you need is to be weirded out by strange-feeling keys. I'm sure we've all been there.

[ed_avis]

According to Deskthority the only known use of linear Futaba switches was in the BBC Microcomputer - hence the comment about schoolchildren.  This Honeywell board doesn't come from anything used in British schools AFAIK, but it may be an unknown-until-now additional use of those switches.

[ander]

Really! Maybe that's why it's so cheap—maybe you have to hire an English schoolchild to operate it.

[andCoffee]

I've very recently become obsessed with these vintage terminal-type keyboards and I've been thinking of rewiring one for USB using a Teensy. 

Does anyone have any insight on if most boards are connected in the standard row*column way?  It's hard to tell from the back of the PCB on this one if the leads out of the cable could simply be connected to a Teensy or if I'd need to desolder the whole PCB and manually wire the switch array. 

[nubbinator]

According to Deskthority the only known use of linear Futaba switches was in the BBC Microcomputer - hence the comment about schoolchildren.  This Honeywell board doesn't come from anything used in British schools AFAIK, but it may be an unknown-until-now additional use of those switches.

The board in the OP is the one that looks like Futaba, not the Honeywell.

[andCoffee]

If anyone else was curious, I asked them for pictures of the switches:

[andCoffee]

What do you think the odds are of these caps fitting on my NovaTouch stems?  They look pretty spot on, but even a millimeter would be enough to waste a lot of money...

[nubbinator]

What do you think the odds are of these caps fitting on my NovaTouch stems?  They look pretty spot on, but even a millimeter would be enough to waste a lot of money...

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They're Futaba switches and not compatible.  From what I remember, the stems are larger and the stem is massively round.

[ander]

I think I'd get one just so I could say "Futaba" every time I saw it. No matter how you feel about the switch itself, you have to admit, it's one of the more fun-sounding switch names.

[ander]

Since I was the OP, I figured I could add this update without too much "necro" abuse...

As far as I can tell, the switches in the assembly I posted about are actually Bar-Mount Futaba Complicated Linears. The examples of Futaba Simplified Linears I've seen have the clips face the short sides of the rectangular base below the stem:



...while in Complicated the clips face the rectangle's long sides:



Also notice the distinctive notches in the non-clip sides of the Complicated's enclosure. (Thanks to Deskpedia for the images.)

[SamirD]

Nice update.  Pretty interesting keycaps.

[ander]

Nice update.  Pretty interesting keycaps.

You'll also notice I ridiculed myself for posting to an old  thread, to save the rest of you the trouble. I'm so considerate.

[SamirD]

Nice update.  Pretty interesting keycaps.

You'll also notice I ridiculed myself for posting to an old  thread, to save the rest of you the trouble. I'm so considerate.

Nah, I wouldn't dream of such--I've never seen the need to create a new thread when an old one can be picked up right where it was left off. 

I actually have years shut off on my site for this reason.  No one knows if it's May 15 of 2010 or 2015, lol!

[ander]

Wow, another sane voice in the wilderness! I'm impressed.