AT&T 305B-AA Buckling spring keyboard

[Gray Jian]

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[ohaimark]

Are the front legends dye sublimated? I'm jealous of this one -- my 305B is missing its original Ctrl keys.

[alh84001]

It's almost a kind of 50 shades of grey keyboard

Are the keycaps compatible with OG BS? I don't think there are italic pebble keycaps available on any of IBM boards.

[ohaimark]

The keycaps are compatible with OG BS. This 305B is particularly impressive because its space bar isn't yellowed -- they're ABS. Its shift, caps, etc. keys are also a nonstandard color for these keyboards. The plate is also black, which seems odd to me. All of my AT&T boards have a milky, opaque plate plastic.

[alh84001]

The keycaps are compatible with OG BS.

Damnit! Now I need want one.

[ohaimark]

Did you see my 122 key AT&T keyboard?

[alh84001]

No. And I refuse to acknowledge it even exists

[Gray Jian]

The keycaps are compatible with OG BS. This 305B is particularly impressive because its space bar isn't yellowed -- they're ABS. Its shift, caps, etc. keys are also a nonstandard color for these keyboards. The plate is also black, which seems odd to me. All of my AT&T boards have a milky, opaque plate plastic.

The spacebar is pbt too. There are indeed some 305B have black plates:

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[ohaimark]

How do you know the spacebar is PBT?

[fohat]

I had an AT&T keyboard with yellowed ABS space bar once, and discovered that it was entirely different (some weird stabilizer scheme as I remember) and could not be replaced with a standard one.

[ohaimark]

The stabilizer scheme is a bit different, but I installed a Model M space bar on mine and it works reasonably well.

[Gray Jian]

The spacebar of 305B is different from model m:

left is 305B, right is model m

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left is 305B, right is model m

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There are some 305B have white spacebar:

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[ohaimark]

Yes, they aren't precisely the same. That doesn't make them completely incompatible, though. I'll put up some photos of mine.

Also, the fact that some AT&T space bars aren't yellowed doesn't automatically mean they're PBT. They may still be ABS. You need to test with a solvent like acetone OR find injection mold markings on the underside of the space bar to know for sure.

It's possible for ABS to be white if it hasn't been exposed to UV light or used heavily.

[Gray Jian]

Hi @ohaimark!
I posted these photos just want to prove my spacebar is not a part of a model m.Yes, you are right, the model m spacebar is compatible with a 305B, and when I touch the 305B spacebar, my feeling is comfortable, so maybe it is ABS, not PBT.
You have a 122key 305B, that must be beautiful, if you can post some photo here, that's great!
Welcome other people post their 305B photos too. It's a great keyboard, but a little desolate here.

[ohaimark]

Take a look at this:

photos-f62/at-t-122-key-the-elegant-bat ... 15619.html

[Gray Jian]

The 122 key looks great, the another 305B looks great too!

[ohaimark]

Thank you.