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Author Topic: Does this keyboard have ALPS?  (Read 2469 times)

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Offline p_blaze

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Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 13:46:52 »
I found a keyboard on ebay that seems to be a AEK clone but it is made in China. I did some digging and this keyboard happens to be the Adesso AEK-305, and the Adesso AEK-105 has ALPS. When I looked up the FCC ID of each, the AEK-105 was registered in Taiwan in 1988, and the AEK-305 in the US in 1994. Is there any chance that this has ALPS?
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Offline p_blaze

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 13:48:00 »
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Offline DALExSNAIL

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 14:18:11 »
Seems like a personal question imho.
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Offline p_blaze

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 14:39:17 »
Quote from: DALExSNAIL on Wed, 07 February 2018, 14:18:11
Seems like a personal question imho.

Should I be posting this somewhere else?
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Offline atarione

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 17:20:25 »
according to this seems like it has white alps on most of the keys and then some ??? wtf thing going on with the larger keys something with MX compatible stems..

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=83384.0
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Offline p_blaze

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 17:33:46 »
Quote from: atarione on Wed, 07 February 2018, 17:20:25
according to this seems like it has white alps on most of the keys and then some ??? wtf thing going on with the larger keys something with MX compatible stems..

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=83384.0

Yep, this was my reference in looking at the keyboard. I think I'm gonna pass on it, none of the manufacturing details indicate that it has ALPS :-[
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Offline sncbraxsc2

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 20:16:07 »
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Offline p_blaze

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 20:53:43 »
Quote from: sncbraxsc2 on Wed, 07 February 2018, 20:16:07
Might be clones

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Xiang_Min_KSB_series

from here

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=13099.0#top

I didn't see that one, thanks for digging that up
You're definitely correct. The FCC ID is the same on both, so they switches are very likely to be the same  :(
I guess I'll have to settle for matias
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Offline sncbraxsc2

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 21:02:27 »
Quote from: p_blaze on Wed, 07 February 2018, 20:53:43
Quote from: sncbraxsc2 on Wed, 07 February 2018, 20:16:07
Might be clones

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Xiang_Min_KSB_series

from here

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=13099.0#top

I didn't see that one, thanks for digging that up
You're definitely correct. The FCC ID is the same on both, so they switches are very likely to be the same  :(
I guess I'll have to settle for matias

Why settle? Are you building a board or looking for one prebuilt?
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Offline p_blaze

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 21:29:25 »
Quote from: sncbraxsc2 on Wed, 07 February 2018, 21:02:27
Quote from: p_blaze on Wed, 07 February 2018, 20:53:43
Quote from: sncbraxsc2 on Wed, 07 February 2018, 20:16:07
Might be clones

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Xiang_Min_KSB_series

from here

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=13099.0#top

I didn't see that one, thanks for digging that up
You're definitely correct. The FCC ID is the same on both, so they switches are very likely to be the same  :(
I guess I'll have to settle for matias

Why settle? Are you building a board or looking for one prebuilt?

I don't NEED ALPS, but I was going to see if I could harvest some for cheap and save them for a future project. By the time I actually get the money to make a good ALPS build they will be too expensive compared to Matias.
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Offline sncbraxsc2

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 22:40:08 »
Matias has very good options and alps springs are pretty affordable too if you wanted to change the weight down the line.
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Offline p_blaze

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 07 February 2018, 22:48:13 »
Quote from: sncbraxsc2 on Wed, 07 February 2018, 22:40:08
Matias has very good options and alps springs are pretty affordable too if you wanted to change the weight down the line.

Yeah, I'm considering messing around with modded switches when I am building my endgame board. Hopefully by then there's a dedicated matias to mx keycap mod.
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Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 09 February 2018, 02:27:41 »
Quote from: atarione on Wed, 07 February 2018, 17:20:25
according to this seems like it has white alps on most of the keys and then some ??? wtf thing going on with the larger keys something with MX compatible stems..

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=83384.0

All examples of those Ortek-made Macintosh keyboards discovered to date use white Alps, so you should be OK. I see that the pictures show scrawly switches, the same as mine.

The switch under Caps Lock is Futaba MA series alternate action, which is a bit odd, as Alps made their own alternate action switch as late as 1994. The Caps Lock switch has a unique keycap mount, too.
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Offline rich1051414

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #13 on: Fri, 09 February 2018, 03:55:41 »
I have a keyboard with what I think are Ortek made alps clones, and they aren't bad clones. They have a punch through the table kind of feel to them, a good sound, but they are kind of cheap and inconsistent feeling.

Beyond those negatives though, they feel and sound great, but the negatives are pretty harsh.

However, by looking at the wiki, it appears that the alps in this board, if they are clones, would probably be complicated clones. They couldn't be that bad.
« Last Edit: Fri, 09 February 2018, 04:00:06 by rich1051414 »
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Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Re: Does this keyboard have ALPS?
« Reply #14 on: Fri, 09 February 2018, 06:53:44 »
Ortek used both Alps switches and what I still assume are Himake AK series Alps clones (often denoted by whether the Ortek model number ends in SX or FX). However, none of these MAC/MAK-105 keyboards have shown up with clones yet, that I can recall anyway. Or maybe one did, somewhere … Most at least are white Alps, but ones that appear to be made outside of Japan, possibly at Forward Electronics (the "scrawly" type, where the mould numbers are hand-engraved).
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