deskthority

I have a few already, but couldn't resist as this was somewhat unusual:



Hmm, where's my flappy door? And it feels oddly light.



Oh, it's a non flappy drawer instead. And it's not an IBM. Something's rotten in the state of Denmark - hey wait a minute...



I'VE BEEN HAD

Okay, so more seriously, this here is the keyboard for the IBM 3276 compatible Telex TC278. Seems like they were going for the compatibility at a lower cost - I suppose that beam springs were so expensive that even hall effect switches were cheaper in comparison.





Raleigh NC? But that's where the beam springs were invented! Coincidence? I THINK NOT ibmaretheilluminatiwakeupsheeple





The top case has 4 threaded screw posts, which makes disassembly quite simple.



Jun 06 of some eldritch looking Cthulhu year.





It looks metal, but that's plastic. Basically some sort of conductive shmoo similar to that which the Model F AT has, which is used to shield the keyboard and the cable, and then ground to the terminal. Similar to how IBM did it.







Hmm, those gold dots look suspicious..



Oh. It's a socketable CPU board using machine pins. A bit weird.



A solenoid seems mandatory, how do you expect a person that typed on Selectrics their whole life to use filthy casual linears?











Fancy spacebar stabilizer is fancy. It just.. slots into the plate. Hey wait a minute...



SO THAT'S WHY IT'S CHEAPER! JUST LOOK AT THAT SHODDILY ASSEMBLED .. uh... looks up the part number... MULTIVIBRATOR! YEAH!

...heh heh. Multivibrator.

Were beamsprings ever patented in the EEC? If not, they could have manufactured it as well.

Fun post And a really well preserved board. If only all those EU beamsprings were in such a nice condition.

Nice, anohter example of Micro Switch in the "IBM sphere", although this one is not actually IBM unlike the IBM 3277 typewriter keyboard.

Good thing you got that "problem determination guide".

I love how the top is chopped but the bottom is "beamfoot".

I see they have opted for the very cheapest of the possible stabilizers for microswitch. I first saw this on a fisher rosemount industrial process control KB and as far as I know it's somewhat uncommon (and terrible)

All the other ones use beefy and awesome wires.

y11971alex wrote: Were beamsprings ever patented in the EEC? If not, they could have manufactured it as well.

Yes, if you check the wiki, the patent we have is one filed in England.