deskthority

Don't know what it is, but it looks interesting http://www.ebay.it/itm/Tastiera-vintage ... SwB09YCjNk

Working Beamspring IBM VideoWriter in the EU, anyone?



I know some people here consider IBM Beamsprings their personal unicorn / white whale, so when I saw one pop up yesterday my first instinct was to jump on it. The thing is, it's >$200 shipped (it's a big boy) and personally I'm just curious about the switches, so I can't really justify putting down that much on it, even if it may be sort of almost reasonably priced. I just don't want it *that* much.

The seller says it's non-negotiable, but it should really go to someone who genuinely wants it, and not someone who would realistically end up taking it apart and selling it off bit by glorious bit to recoup the investment (like me )

Anyway, here it is. Get it while it's hot:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262657867863

Hi, could you explain why people would take it apart? What switches does it have? How much money is it actually worth? I could go and pick it up.

http://www.ebay.it/itm/TASTIERA-PHILIPS ... SwbYZXa78k

What switches could this one have?

dede4metal wrote:http://www.ebay.it/itm/TASTIERA-PHILIPS ... SwbYZXa78k

What switches could this one have?

No idea. caps look like cherry but Ive never seen a cherry board like that.

Caps are not Cherry, that is not the original Cherry profile. Font is also too thin

Could still be a board with Cherry switches, just no G80.

https://www.willhaben.at/iad/kaufen-und ... 179208684/

Clicky Zenith keyboard http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... 2516.l5255

Looks pretty rubberdome-y to me, but I could be wrong.

manna wrote: Clicky Zenith keyboard http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... 2516.l5255

That's a rebadged Honeywell rubberdome .

dede4metal wrote: Hi, could you explain why people would take it apart? What switches does it have? How much money is it actually worth? I could go and pick it up.

Well, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-BEAMSPRIN ... SwHoFXr-a9

I have to say, Orihalcon has a keen sense of possible products.

Auction with one day left in VA -- looks like a couple of Model Ms and perhaps a few other mechs.

http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auctio ... uc=1687627

ohaimark wrote: Auction with one day left in VA -- looks like a couple of Model Ms and perhaps a few other mechs.

http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auctio ... uc=1687627

Ugh, i'm a few too many hours away to get that. I've been trying to cop a dirt cheap model M, that's about as close as i've gotten

y11971alex wrote:

dede4metal wrote: Hi, could you explain why people would take it apart? What switches does it have? How much money is it actually worth? I could go and pick it up.

Well, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-BEAMSPRIN ... SwHoFXr-a9

Yep, if you tore it apart and turned the switches into 80+ keychains, and if you could sell just 15 of them at €15 apiece (and you could), that's €225 - covering not just the board and shipping, but even the acrylic and string for the keychains. And you'd still have 65 more keychains left.

But of course that would be a terrible, TERRIBLE thing to do....

Honestly though, I would rather see it go to someone who would genuinely love it -- clean it up, pop an xwhatsit controller in it and Make Beamspring Great Again. The rest of us scavengers can just buy orihalcons (frankly gorgeous) keychains.

Chyros wrote:

manna wrote: Clicky Zenith keyboard http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zenith-Data-Sys ... 2516.l5255

That's a rebadged Honeywell rubberdome .

Oh . That's what I read in the description

Scarpia wrote:

y11971alex wrote:

dede4metal wrote: Hi, could you explain why people would take it apart? What switches does it have? How much money is it actually worth? I could go and pick it up.

Well, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-BEAMSPRIN ... SwHoFXr-a9

Yep, if you tore it apart and turned the switches into 80+ keychains, and if you could sell just 15 of them at €15 apiece (and you could), that's €225 - covering not just the board and shipping, but even the acrylic and string for the keychains. And you'd still have 65 more keychains left.

But of course that would be a terrible, TERRIBLE thing to do....

Honestly though, I would rather see it go to someone who would genuinely love it -- clean it up, pop an xwhatsit controller in it and Make Beamspring Great Again. The rest of us scavengers can just buy orihalcons (frankly gorgeous) keychains.

Frankly, selling spare beamspring switches is a great idea — sources are scant and most couldn't be bothered to look for their own. On the other hand, they're not like Cherry switches that go bad (or come bad) from time to time; if they're not badly abused, they're here to stay.

Well if someone does scavenge that beamspring, put me down for a switch -- or a few, depending on price

Any idea what switches this NCR terminal might have?

http://www.dba.dk/andet-maerke-ncr-7900 ... 027961256/

Scarpia wrote: Working Beamspring IBM VideoWriter in the EU, anyone?



I know some people here consider IBM Beamsprings their personal unicorn / white whale, so when I saw one pop up yesterday my first instinct was to jump on it. The thing is, it's >$200 shipped (it's a big boy) and personally I'm just curious about the switches, so I can't really justify putting down that much on it, even if it may be sort of almost reasonably priced. I just don't want it *that* much.

The seller says it's non-negotiable, but it should really go to someone who genuinely wants it, and not someone who would realistically end up taking it apart and selling it off bit by glorious bit to recoup the investment (like me )

Anyway, here it is. Get it while it's hot:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262657867863

Oh God, it's in Spain

If someone needs help with the communication, I can help

Scarpia wrote: Any idea what switches this NCR terminal might have?

http://www.dba.dk/andet-maerke-ncr-7900 ... 027961256/

Well, whatever they are, the sliders + switches appear to be black based on the photo showing one of the 'boards with missing caps.

ohaimark wrote:

Scarpia wrote: Any idea what switches this NCR terminal might have?

http://www.dba.dk/andet-maerke-ncr-7900 ... 027961256/

Well, whatever they are, the sliders + switches appear to be black based on the photo showing one of the 'boards with missing caps.

Not necessarily. According to the seller, those 'buttons' went through and are rattling around inside the keyboard case (??) so it's possible that those are just gaping holes. I've asked for a closeup photo.

maxmalkav wrote:

Scarpia wrote: Working Beamspring IBM VideoWriter in the EU, anyone?



I know some people here consider IBM Beamsprings their personal unicorn / white whale, so when I saw one pop up yesterday my first instinct was to jump on it. The thing is, it's >$200 shipped (it's a big boy) and personally I'm just curious about the switches, so I can't really justify putting down that much on it, even if it may be sort of almost reasonably priced. I just don't want it *that* much.

The seller says it's non-negotiable, but it should really go to someone who genuinely wants it, and not someone who would realistically end up taking it apart and selling it off bit by glorious bit to recoup the investment (like me )

Anyway, here it is. Get it while it's hot:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262657867863

Oh God, it's in Spain

If someone needs help with the communication, I can help

Thanks for the reply. I have contacted the guy but no answer so far (24 hours), if he does not reply I will not buy it, if he does and he is OK for me to collect it I will! Then I need help on how to get it to work with my PC

He is a good seller.

I thought never found that in Spain. It includes our "ñ"!!

Your are going to get a real white whale!

dede4metal wrote:

maxmalkav wrote:

Scarpia wrote: Working Beamspring IBM VideoWriter in the EU, anyone?



I know some people here consider IBM Beamsprings their personal unicorn / white whale, so when I saw one pop up yesterday my first instinct was to jump on it. The thing is, it's >$200 shipped (it's a big boy) and personally I'm just curious about the switches, so I can't really justify putting down that much on it, even if it may be sort of almost reasonably priced. I just don't want it *that* much.

The seller says it's non-negotiable, but it should really go to someone who genuinely wants it, and not someone who would realistically end up taking it apart and selling it off bit by glorious bit to recoup the investment (like me )

Anyway, here it is. Get it while it's hot:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262657867863

Oh God, it's in Spain

If someone needs help with the communication, I can help

Thanks for the reply. I have contacted the guy but no answer so far (24 hours), if he does not reply I will not buy it, if he does and he is OK for me to collect it I will! Then I need help on how to get it to work with my PC

OK the guy is willing to send it for 10 EUR to where I live in Spain, nice. The problem is, is it worth the money? I wanto to be able to use it with my PC, will I ever be able to do it?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Displaywriter has a dedicated xwhatsit because it's PCB layout is different.

Monterey K103

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322276645630?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

The DT wiki for the K101 says, "The FCC ID for K102 is registered to Keytech, along with K103 (not known) and K104."

It has different arrow key legends from those on the K104.

seebart wrote:

Ratfink wrote: The Displaywriter controller has the same connector, but a different pinout for its matrix. It looks like the controller on this board is on the same PCB as the pads, which would make using an Xwhatsit controller very difficult.

Just a note: the second sentence in that quote was about a completely different beam spring keyboard.

Ratfink wrote:

seebart wrote:

Ratfink wrote: The Displaywriter controller has the same connector, but a different pinout for its matrix. It looks like the controller on this board is on the same PCB as the pads, which would make using an Xwhatsit controller very difficult.

Just a note: the second sentence in that quote was about a completely different beam spring keyboard.

Oh really which keyboard?