Tenkeyless Trackball keyboards

[didjamatic]

I've been going back and forth on whether to buy these or not.  I have so many projects going that I figure I will wait and pass it on to someone else.

Here is what I've researched.  At a glance they look like Terminal Boards, but I don't think they are.

4x keyboards with built in trackballs.  2 cables come out of the board and merge into 1 connector.  The manufacturer IBI no longer makes or supports these keyboards and didn't really have anything to say about them, but after multiple emails I did manage to get them to tell me that the trackballs are serial devices.  They connect to PC systems, so the other cable should be AT/PS2 compatible, it's just a matter of figuring out the wires on each cable and changing out the connectors.  

As far as getting info from the ebay seller, they did tell me that the keys don't click when slowly pressed but didn't offer any additional information.

This could be a fun project, I may even be interested in buying one of them from someone if you decide to take it on.

Auction Link





Manufacturer link

[spolia optima]

Nice. Good layout, too. What switches do they use?

[ricercar]

The keys and square trackball buttons look the same as the key caps on my Cherry white trackball buttons and Cherry black Maltron board. However, the "missing key" area is nothing I recognize.

[sethstorm]

Magnifying it a bit, it looks like there's some circular area at the switch where that "missing key" should be.