New guy, and a Model F XT

[arfink]

Hi, I'm new here. I have recently begun thinking about getting myself a real keyboard again, after foolishly chucking my old Model M years and years ago, and found this place. I found a nice IBM Model F XT locally which I nabbed for only $10. I was wondering, is there a way to convert this to AT? I have heard of the kbdbabel project and was thinking of building one of those. Does anyone here have any experience making that kind of thing?

Also, what's the general consensus on IBM model F keyabord, are they good? As good as Model M's? I like the looks of mine, though I think it'll be getting a good scrubbing and an oxi-peroxide bath to remove the hideous brown-ness. And the feel is nice too, but I haven't had it hooked up to really try it out.

[microsoft windows]

Model F keyboards are very good products. However, they are a little harder to find than Model M's.

[arfink]

Alright, that's great news! I have been looking over the schematics from the kbdbabel and it certainly looks doable.

[ch_123]

Check this out.

[arfink]

Cool I did notice that one too. But IMO, unless I absolutely can't make head or tail out of the kbdbabel one, I'll probably stick with that one because I already have a device programmer which I can use for the project at the Atmel device is considerably cheaper than the Teensy.

[JBert]

If you can get a converter, they're probably the most crisp tactile keyboard to type on. They are also lighter than a model M so they feel quite nice.

The only thing you might have to do is to clean it as they are quite old. Optionally, you may also want to mod the spacebar (not a simple task, but doable) so it is lighter.

[arfink]

I can post instructions, for sure. I just found some cool stuff here which will help me immensely with building this:

http://kbdbabel.sourceforge.net/pix/html/index.html

Yup, actual photos of all his prototypes. Kinda hidden away, but certainly very useful for me. This is looking more and more doable every time I look at it.