Westinghouse W1642 KeyTronic foam and foil, xwhatsit Model F to USB conversion

[OldIsNew]

I picked up this board purely based on looks and (of course) it  turned out to be a KeyTronic foam and foil.  I actually like these old KeyTronic boards, however, and have been wanting to try converting one with the xwhatsit Model F to USB board. This is a smaller board and the matrix mapped out to 8 x 12 which made it a candidate.

               


         


The foam and foil was in not good shape, but enough looked ok that I decided to try it.




After tracing out the matrix, I desoldered the appropriate ICs and wired the rows, columns and ground to the xwhatsit.




Plugged it in and it worked! Seems pretty good with the voltage threshold set between 180 - 190.

          

Most of the keys worked, but a fair number with really bad foam didn't.  I've started replacing the foam and foil on the non-functioning keys and those I've replaced so far are working well now. Ultimately, none of the foam is in very good shape  really needs to be replaced. Now that I know the xwhatsit works, I'm going to just go ahead and do it. I'm reusing the plastic disks from the switches and using an "Emergency Blanket" from WalMart for the foil and cushion foam from Michael's. It's working well so far but does anyone have any other suggestions?

[FSTP]

Very cool and amazing job.

I love the look of that board and especially the keycaps. I seem to remember seeing a board like this that was a airport flight booking terminal.