Atari PC keyboard help?

[Half-Saint]

Being an Atari fan, I'm thinking of buying this keyboard but first I'd like to ask does anyone know what kind of switches it uses? Looks like a rebranded Cherry board... as long as it's not a rubber dome, I want it! The seller doesn't want to remove a keycap to check for me.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260576939450&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[hyperlinked]

I wouldn't know, but I can contribute what I remember of Atari history around the time that they were trying to save their fading business by producing PC clones. If you remember their motto was "Power without the Price" and at that time the low end PC market was very suspect.

At no time during their prime in the US was Atari known for having good keyboards and with their attempt to win a share of the budget PC market, I wouldn't be surprised if they considered the keyboard an unnecessary expense. Now, I specifically referred to their prime in the US because the Atari ST computer was a lot more popular in Europe and their products in their twilight years were hard to find in the States.

If I remember correctly, they were particularly popular in the UK and Germany so maybe there's hope because of their connection to Kevin Bacon.

• Cherry is now owned by a UK company
• Cherry was a Germany owned company
• Atari's were popular in Germany
• Atari Teenage Riot is a German techno group
• who influenced the Kevin Bacon Experience, a UK based electronica group

Only 5 degrees of separation. There's hope.

[Mental Hobbit]

I can help adding some confusion. I still have an old Atari ST keyboard (and the computer it belongs to). It's a very heavy board and it has black Cherry switches. Oh, and it's made in Taiwan. ;P

[hyperlinked]

I can help adding some confusion. I still have an old Atari ST keyboard (and the computer it belongs to). It's a very heavy board and it has black Cherry switches. Oh, and it's made in Taiwan. ;P

Are they really Black Cherry switches? I've never had to take any of the keys off of my ST. I gotta go pull my ST out of its storage container in the garage and check.

[Half-Saint]

I actually own an Atari 1040STFM, a 520STF and a 130XE

SainT

[Rajagra]

Hmm. I have a Mega ST tucked away. The one with the external keyboard. I better check it out.

[Mental Hobbit]

Are they really Black Cherry switches?

They have the Cherry logo and the perfectly smooth Cherry black feel. That keyboard came with a Mega ST, Atari's high end machines in the late 80s. My very first computer was a 1040STFM in 1987, but I don't remember what switches it had.

[hyperlinked]

They have the Cherry logo and the perfectly smooth Cherry black feel. That keyboard came with a Mega ST, Atari's high end machines in the late 80s. My very first computer was a 1040STFM in 1987, but I don't remember what switches it had.

I think I have the same one. The 1040STfm was the first edition, right? I never had occasion to check those switches.

[Half-Saint]

That's good to know. I'll just buy that keyboard and see what happens

[Mental Hobbit]

That's good to know. I'll just buy that keyboard and see what happens

Do it. I've been eyeballing it myself, but those keyboard piles around my desk are already growing to threatening heights.

[Half-Saint]

I've come to the point where I have to smuggle new keyboards in the apartment so my girlfriend doesn't see me bring them in! She better not find out how many I actually own

[itlnstln]

Reminds me of playing on my 2600 with a black and white TV.  Y'all youngin's don't know nuthin' 'bout that.*




* Unless you live in MW's and Comp. Lab in Basement's home town of BF, CT where it's still considered "next gen."

[kishy]

Reminds me of playing on my 2600 with a black and white TV.  Y'all youngin's don't know nuthin' 'bout that.*




* Unless you live in MW's and Comp. Lab in Basement's home town of BF, CT where it's still considered "next gen."

I've got a mint NES, two Zappers, two regular controllers, two Maxx controllers and something like 40 games. Does that count for anything in geek points?

[itlnstln]

I've got 2 Saitek controllers, a NES emulator and about 2000 games.  I had the real thing when I was a kid, too, minus the 2000 games part.

[itlnstln]

What?  It's Harwinton, CT.  Burlington Road, not BF.

iMav really needs to fix the firewalls at Geekhack.org.   It's leakier than a sieve.

They changed their name for the Google competition.  My subtle "BFE" reference was, apparently, a complete swing-and-a-miss.

[itlnstln]

Oh yeah.   Egypt.

So is it BFA, with A being America, if you live in Egypt?

No, it's HCT - Harwinton, CT.  Although, I prefer pretty much anywhere in West Virginia.

I got in a small tiff here about WV being bass-ackwards a little over a year ago, IIRC.  Turns out I was right.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Reminds me of playing on my 2600 with a black and white TV.  Y'all youngin's don't know nuthin' 'bout that.*




* Unless you live in MW's and Comp. Lab in Basement's home town of BF, CT where it's still considered "next gen."

What the hell is a 2600? That must be the crem de le crem of computing technology, so I would never have such a thing.

I should't go on this forum, too many people hacking my IP address or something, now everyone knows where I live.  Oh God I don't want Ripster showing up at my door...

But be warned:  I have multiple residences.  You guys should try to find them out next... this could be a competition.  Winner gets the admiration of the entire geek community for being the creepiest stalker.  Good luck!

[itlnstln]

Here's a pic.  It should go well with your mom's console TV:



That walnut veneer is classy.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Here's a pic.  It should go well with your mom's console TV:

Show Image

That walnut veneer is classy.

It matches the TV in our garage, the fake-wood style.

[Mental Hobbit]

Oh God I don't want Ripster showing up at my door...

Too late.

>

[kohan69]

That looks like a keyboard from the ATW800
Only 350 stations were ever made

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Transputer_Workstation

[kishy]

It matches the TV in our garage, the fake-wood style.

Fake-wood?

How about a real wood cabinet TV?

I dunno what it is, but the (yes, mono) sound from a good wooden cabinet TV is hard to beat as far as integrated speakers in TVs go. The cabinet must function as some kind of resonance chamber.

[itlnstln]

My aunt had something like this years ago.  That ***** (the TV) must have weight about 900 lbs.

[Half-Saint]

That looks like a keyboard from the ATW800
Only 350 stations were ever made

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Transputer_Workstation

I don't think so. If you look closely at those ATW800 pictures, you should notice tilted function keys. The same as Atari ST, for example. The Atari PC keyboard doesn't have those. It looks pretty much like a certain Cherry keyboard we know.

SainT

[JBert]

I have an Atari keyboard around, similar but not exactly the same. It has a bad case of yellowing and comes with rubber sleeve switches. I'd say that's worse than rubber dome - on a rubber dome the dome softens the landing whereas rubber sleeves just collapse and crash. I'll post pictures on request, but it ain't a pretty sight.

This keyboard might or might not be one of those, but be warned.

[Rajagra]

I don't think so. If you look closely at those ATW800 pictures, you should notice tilted function keys. The same as Atari ST, for example. The Atari PC keyboard doesn't have those. It looks pretty much like a certain Cherry keyboard we know.

SainT

But look closely at those LEDs...

[Half-Saint]

The seller replied that the keyboard doesn't click. Could be anything, really...

Rajagra: I noticed the LEDs the first time I looked at the picture. However, it doesn't prove anything except that it's ATARI

[Half-Saint]

Got outbid... oh well... better luck next time!

[microsoft windows]

Reminds me of playing on my 2600 with a black and white TV.  Y'all youngin's don't know nuthin' 'bout that.*




* Unless you live in MW's and Comp. Lab in Basement's home town of BF, CT where it's still considered "next gen."

It just so turns out that my television's black-and-white.

[Hak Foo]

It just so turns out that my television's black-and-white.

I bought a 12" B&W set from the Goodwill a few years ago. ca. 1975

With a stub antenna, it was still a better reciever than a new set.

[Findecanor]

I saw an Atari Mega ST keyboard on an auction site recently, and started looking for info.
This keyboard had narrow rectangular function keys, not the rhombus-shaped ones. Eventually, I managed to find a picture of its internals. It is a membrane keyboard.

I just though that it should be mentioned, for those who will look for this info in the future.

[msiegel]

the 520ST had a truly horrible keyboard; an average rubber dome board would have been much better. i wonder how it compares to cherry MY.

[Findecanor]

I dug out my old Atari 520 STE to find out if there was the slightest chance that it would have some interesting switches... It does not!
The switches feel mechanical, but very mushy.
I removed a key cap. They are double-shot, grey with brown text, but the top of the keys are very wide, which hurts precision. Mushiness and wide key caps makes for a bad typing experience (just as I remember it to have been back in the day.)
The key switch has a cross-shaped stem which looks very much like a Cherry MY, except it isn't. I tested a cap with a Cherry MX switch. The key caps are NOT compatible with Cherry MX or MY switches.