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Author Topic: Clear Cherries?  (Read 6466 times)

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Offline Mental Hobbit

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Clear Cherries?
« on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 10:31:56 »
No, not clear stems, I know those of course. But wut ze phuck is this:



Found in a Nixdorf board, apparently made 1989.
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Offline sixty

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 10:44:52 »
Never seen those before, wow. :faint2:
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Offline elbowglue

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 10:49:10 »
Coool!!

They are probably just the same as the black ones.  Just using clear plastic.  I love those keycaps!

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My keyboards: Filco Cherry Blue Tenkeyless(daily home), Compaq MX11800 (modded to blacks), Compaq "MX 84u",  Wellington\'s Dampened Endurapro, Pinkalicious Filco Blue Cherry, Chicony KB-5191, Chicony KB-5181, Desko MOS 5023 UP "elbowglue" spos (modded to blues), Siig Minitouch (monterey blue), SMK-88 (blue cherries), Ricercar SPOS
Smallest to biggest keyboards in inches (Length X Height) - Length is most important for a midline mouse position
KBC Poker: 11.6 x 3.9 - HHKB: 11.6 x 4.3 - Siig Minitouch (Geekhack Space Saver): 11.6 x 6 - Deck/Tg3 82: 12 x 6 - Noppoo Choc Mini 12.4 x 5.3 - Compaq "MX 84u": 13.1 x 7.5 - Filco Tenkeyless: 14 x 5.3 - Cherry "ricercar spos" G86-62410EUAGSA: 14 x 7.75 - Topre Realforce 86u: 14.4 x 6.65 - Desko "elbowglue spos" MOS 5023 UP: 14.5 x 8.4 - IBM Model M Spacesaver: 15.3 x 7 - G80-1800: 15.9 x 7.1 - Adesso MKB-125B: 16 x 7.3 - Compaq Mx11800, Cherry G80-11900: 16.25 x 7.5 - Filco Standard: 17.3 x 5.4 - Unicomp Endurapro: 17.9 x 7.1 - Adesso MKB-135B: 18.3 x 6.0 - Cherry G80-3000: 18.5 x 7.6 - IBM Model M, Unicomp Customizer: 19.3 x 8.27

Offline Mental Hobbit

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 10:56:21 »
They feel like normal blacks, and besides of the color they look like normal MX switches to me. Just never heard of clear tops before.
Spacebar stem is white, not clear. No bump, just a slightly stronger spring.
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Offline itlnstln

  • Posts: 7048
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 11:18:35 »
Calling Sandy55, calling Sandy55!
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Offline Arc'xer

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 13:49:32 »
Looks like it's something for LED lighting system.
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Offline itlnstln

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 14:07:23 »
It looks like there are diodes as well.  Does it have NKRO?

If those were for LED use, it would be a little odd to use them on a keyboard that doesn't seem to take advantage of it.  That's weird.  It'll be interesting to find out what the deal is.
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Offline didjamatic

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 14:10:09 »
Interesting key caps, check the circular scoop on the face of them... and they look rectangular, not square.
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Offline itlnstln

  • Posts: 7048
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 14:12:29 »
Quote from: didjamatic;176652
Interesting key caps, check the circular scoop on the face of them... and they look rectangular, not square.

It might be the "rectangular" look might have to do with the camera angle.  The loose caps on the table look square.  I could be wrong, though.
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Offline itlnstln

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 14:18:27 »
If I am seeing the same thing, I think he meant rectangular on the X-axis and not the Y like "normal" keycaps.
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Offline itlnstln

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #10 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 14:27:03 »
I kinda rushed that.  I meant that the ones in the OP were long on the X-axis and not the Y.
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Offline Mental Hobbit

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #11 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 14:34:47 »
That board apparently belongs to some ancient Nixdorf banking system. I doubt there's a way to make it work with a PC. Right now it's taking a well deserved bath, I'll post a couple more photos tomorrow. Banking is a dirty business, consequentially this is my dirtiest keyboard ever.
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Offline Nonmouse

  • Posts: 298
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #12 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 15:01:58 »
Well, there's this bit from the Cherry switches and boards Wiki under Misc...
Quote
# Black with grey upper housing: alternate action, 60cN, MX1A-3

[/color]
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Offline itlnstln

  • Posts: 7048
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #13 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 15:06:12 »
IIRC, that switch has an opaque, grey housing.  Also, I think "alternate action" refers to the switches that "click down" more like a toggle-type switch.  That wouldn't be too cool for the letters, but not so bad for a Lock key, though.
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Offline kishy

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #14 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 15:37:03 »
Locking Cherries? Cool...I've got a couple locking ALPS switches in my Apple keyboards.

Presumably lock keys are what they're used for (the locking Cherries), because anything else would be kind of dumb.
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Offline TheSoulhunter

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #15 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 16:34:21 »
Maybe they ran out of color? Because by default most plastics are clear...
Wonder how it made it trough the QC then. Perhaps they sold em cheaper as B-Quality?
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Offline itlnstln

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #16 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 16:36:31 »
Quote from: TheSoulhunter;176704
Maybe they ran out of color? Because by default most plastics are clear...
Wonder how it made it trough the QC then. Perhaps they sold em cheaper as B-Quality?

This is a good point.  If it is the case, I hope Cherry would have gone "gamer" and sold them as "special edition" switches with lower lag, or something.
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Offline Phaedrus2129

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #17 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 16:46:52 »
Quote from: itlnstln;176705
This is a good point.  If it is the case, I hope Cherry would have gone "gamer" and sold them as "special edition" switches with lower lag, or something.


This is Cherry, not Logitech.
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Offline itlnstln

  • Posts: 7048
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #18 on: Tue, 27 April 2010, 16:48:13 »
Quote from: Phaedrus2129;176706
This is Cherry, not Logitech.

Ahem...
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Offline Mental Hobbit

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  • Posts: 461
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #19 on: Wed, 28 April 2010, 11:56:30 »
More pics of the board!

First of all, this isn't for a missile launcher or other basic security stuff that can go with merely two locks. Banking system - five locks.



The board turned out quite resistant to my cleaning efforts.



Someone count the switches for me please.





Socketed processor. ;)



Sadly this board appears to use some proprietary protocol, I doubt there's a way to make it work with a PC.



Moar clear switches.



Apparently all keycaps had o-rings. 20 years ago.

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Offline elbowglue

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #20 on: Wed, 28 April 2010, 11:59:07 »
Omg.  I need the 5 lock system for my keyboard.  Need.
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My keyboards: Filco Cherry Blue Tenkeyless(daily home), Compaq MX11800 (modded to blacks), Compaq "MX 84u",  Wellington\'s Dampened Endurapro, Pinkalicious Filco Blue Cherry, Chicony KB-5191, Chicony KB-5181, Desko MOS 5023 UP "elbowglue" spos (modded to blues), Siig Minitouch (monterey blue), SMK-88 (blue cherries), Ricercar SPOS
Smallest to biggest keyboards in inches (Length X Height) - Length is most important for a midline mouse position
KBC Poker: 11.6 x 3.9 - HHKB: 11.6 x 4.3 - Siig Minitouch (Geekhack Space Saver): 11.6 x 6 - Deck/Tg3 82: 12 x 6 - Noppoo Choc Mini 12.4 x 5.3 - Compaq "MX 84u": 13.1 x 7.5 - Filco Tenkeyless: 14 x 5.3 - Cherry "ricercar spos" G86-62410EUAGSA: 14 x 7.75 - Topre Realforce 86u: 14.4 x 6.65 - Desko "elbowglue spos" MOS 5023 UP: 14.5 x 8.4 - IBM Model M Spacesaver: 15.3 x 7 - G80-1800: 15.9 x 7.1 - Adesso MKB-125B: 16 x 7.3 - Compaq Mx11800, Cherry G80-11900: 16.25 x 7.5 - Filco Standard: 17.3 x 5.4 - Unicomp Endurapro: 17.9 x 7.1 - Adesso MKB-135B: 18.3 x 6.0 - Cherry G80-3000: 18.5 x 7.6 - IBM Model M, Unicomp Customizer: 19.3 x 8.27

Offline sixty

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #21 on: Wed, 28 April 2010, 12:01:28 »
Pretty damn awesome. Let me know if you ever want to get rid of it. I think I could make it work with the Aikon.
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Offline itlnstln

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #22 on: Wed, 28 April 2010, 12:21:09 »
The clear-top Cherries are the uber-secret EncryptoMX series.  They encrypt every keystroke as they're made.
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Offline kishy

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #23 on: Wed, 28 April 2010, 13:54:35 »
The locks make it 1337. The linear switches make it useless. The switches being clear-topped makes it 1337. The lack of compatibility makes it useless.

I'm torn :(
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Offline Nonmouse

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #24 on: Wed, 28 April 2010, 14:12:15 »
Quote from: kishy;176923
The locks make it 1337. The linear switches make it useless. The switches being clear-topped makes it 1337. The lack of compatibility makes it useless.

I'm torn :(

Donor board.
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Offline Mental Hobbit

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  • Posts: 461
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #25 on: Thu, 29 April 2010, 08:43:41 »
So it seems I own the only clear Cherry switches known to the world. Damn, that's such a responsibility. Not sure what to do with them. Hm hmmm...

I think every serious collector should have a chance to get one of these incredibly precious items. So I'll probably put then on auction. One by one. On Yahoo Japan. :madgrin:

Btw, does anybody know a cheap source for small jewelry boxes? Those with purple velvet on the inside, you know.
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Offline bsvP585hUO2Y6

  • Posts: 59
Re: Clear Cherries?
« Reply #26 on: Thu, 29 April 2010, 13:21:59 »
sixty wrote on 6083 September 1993:

> Pretty damn awesome. Let me know if you ever want to get rid of it. I
> think I could make it work with the Aikon.

No need for the Aikon --- just drop your custom firmware into that EPROM :-).
I bet its ceramic chip package cost more than entire rubberdome boards...

,----[ http://alldatasheet.com/view.jsp?Searchword=SAB80C535 ]
| The architecture of the SAB 80C515 is based on the SAB 8051/SAB 80C51
| microcontroller family.
`----
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Offline Nonmouse

  • Posts: 298
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #27 on: Thu, 29 April 2010, 15:37:06 »
Quote from: webwit;177371
That is a really great find, congrats. I wouldn't sell the pieces and keep the board.. it's a pretty rare item. It's not advised to try and get it unlocked and working. "They" will have to kill you in that case.

Dude, you know that by mentioning "them", you're on the list now, don't you?


Oh crap.  Now I did it....  :tinfoil3:
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Offline imsto

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #28 on: Fri, 30 April 2010, 09:59:20 »
Congrates!  never seen this.
If there's a clear keycap, it would be so cooll
« Last Edit: Fri, 30 April 2010, 10:05:13 by imsto »
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Offline imsto

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #29 on: Fri, 30 April 2010, 10:16:29 »
So many locks, maybe it's been used to control the nuclear power.
I have post the pics to the bbs in CN to show this to those guys, I hope Mentanl Hobbit would not mind, If u do I will del those pics.
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Offline aegrotatio

  • Posts: 334
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #30 on: Sat, 01 May 2010, 23:27:46 »
One of my cow-orkers has a Das Keyboard and he's such a dunce that I hear the backspace key repeatly struck all day long.  I'm tempted to replace his backspace key with a Cherry Black just to keep the office noise down.
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Offline imsto

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Clear Cherries?
« Reply #31 on: Sun, 02 May 2010, 01:15:09 »
Quote from: aegrotatio;177991
One of my cow-orkers has a Das Keyboard and he's such a dunce that I hear the backspace key repeatly struck all day long.  I'm tempted to replace his backspace key with a Cherry Black just to keep the office noise down.


I am trying to make the Cherry MX more quiet, and got something, that's realy interesting.
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Offline armenws

  • Posts: 42
Clear Cherries?
« Reply #32 on: Sun, 02 May 2010, 02:13:33 »
sweeet.
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