deskthority

Sorry for the bad quality of this info-post. I got inspired by seeing HaaTa's amazing dedication and decided to try to do a little writeup meself. I apologize for any disinformation.

Sometimes last year I ordered 3 copies of this keyboard on ebay. IIRC HaaTa also bought one. I have taken a few potato pictures of their differences.
The keyboards are as following:
The gerkonic(?) hall effect keyboard:


and the BUD/Honeywell hall effect keypad:


Keycaps:

Grey keycap is from the honeywell, red keycap is from the gerkonic keyboard.
The main difference is obviously the size. The gerkonic keys are a tiny bit wider, whilst the honeywell key is smaller but more robust.
Obvious difference lies in the material and build. The Gerkonic key feels more like Abs whilst the honeywell key is a massive chunk of PBT.

Switches:

Gerkonic:


Honeywell:


The key mount on the gerkonic is a single rectangular block whilst the key mount on the honeywell is a cross.
Another difference seems to be that the honeywell is either closed/internal(see pictures of gerkonics springs).
Both switches are super linear(as is to be expected from hall effect switches), but the honeywell switches seem smoother, i believe that this is a placebo caused by their sound.

I also don't have any pictures from when i opened the gerkonic switches, but there seems to be a small hatch that opens once you actuate them, i believe that the springs are only there so that the switch can pop back to place after actuation

Space bar:




Two dummy switches and a wire. I really love this efficient industrial sovet-style design.


Comparasion video:
https://youtu.be/jWq3fJRGs58

Good comparison!
The gerkonic switch more louder than the Honeywell even they are linear.
Did you have more disassemble photo of the switch?

Nice! Haven't seen one of those BUD keypads in a while. Did you buy one from me Okeg?

Nice comparison indeed! I'm still looking for my first Hall Effect keyboard xD .

Chyros: The hall effect not difficult to find on ebay. I'm wondering which variant hall effect keyboard you like.

Very interesting comparison Okeg! I have never seen a gerkonic keyboard, not even online. Aside from the switches themselfs one big difference seems to be that the gerkonic switches are mounted on a plate with metal clips the same way as is with Micro Switch dual magnet Hall Effect switches vs. Honeywell Hall Effect which is what your keypad is. I'd like to see some more pictures of your gerkonic is that's possible please thanks. Also very interesting that the gerkonic switch is open like that with the spring showing. I don't think I have ever seen a switch design like that.

terrycherry wrote: Chyros: The hall effect not difficult to find on ebay. I'm wondering which variant hall effect keyboard you like.

Really? I don't think I've seen a Hall effect board on eBay yet xD . But then again, I'm not sure what boards they're in xD . Yeah I'm trying to find Hall effect boards and magnetic reed boards atm but I'm finding it hard to find them, especially for an affordable amount of money .

Chyros wrote:

terrycherry wrote: Chyros: The hall effect not difficult to find on ebay. I'm wondering which variant hall effect keyboard you like.

Really? I don't think I've seen a Hall effect board on eBay yet xD . But then again, I'm not sure what boards they're in xD . Yeah I'm trying to find Hall effect boards and magnetic reed boards atm but I'm finding it hard to find them, especially for an affordable amount of money .

They tend to show up across the pond way more often. Not sure about the UK though. We have our known variants list on our wiki page Chyros but I'm sure there are more. Magnetic reed is even rarer IMO.

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Honeywell_Hall_Effect

XMIT just got a nice one:

http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/conv ... 12379.html

I"ll tell you if the Hall effect started the cheap price.
The Magnetic reed is always on my WANT list too.

terrycherry wrote: Good comparison!
The gerkonic switch more louder than the Honeywell even they are linear.
Did you have more disassemble photo of the switch?

I'm without a camera atm but I will post pictures of further assembly once i can get my hands on a camera.

HaaTa wrote: Nice! Haven't seen one of those BUD keypads in a while. Did you buy one from me Okeg?

Yes, indeed! this keypad is one of yours.

seebart wrote: Very interesting comparison Okeg! I have never seen a gerkonic keyboard, not even online. Aside from the switches themselfs one big difference seems to be that the gerkonic switches are mounted on a plate with metal clips the same way as is with Micro Switch dual magnet Hall Effect switches vs. Honeywell Hall Effect which is what your keypad is. I'd like to see some more pictures of your gerkonic is that's possible please thanks. Also very interesting that the gerkonic switch is open like that with the spring showing. I don't think I have ever seen a switch design like that.

Great observation! I will add it to the OP soon-ish

seebart, I have some pictures I took quite a while ago as well: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjMRLcfq

Tesla 259-861.560

Interesting, so these are dual magnet too .