Magnavox VideoWriter (help me decide what to do)

[snacksthecat]

Hi Guys,
I bought a Magnavox VideoWriter keyboard from gainsborough, not really knowing what I would do with it. I have a couple different options from here:

A) Sell the board as-is

B) Convert it to USB and sell it for small markup

C) Desolder the switches and sell them. Sell the chassis to someone else.

What should I do?

P.S. Feel free to message me if you're interested in buying

[//gainsborough]

Snacks!! Why'd you buy it if you didn't know what you wanted to do with it!! You're silly....

I would do what you suggested in the order you suggested it in, though.

[snacksthecat]

I thought I'd seen someone in the interesting finds thread say that they were looking to buy the keyboard without the switches but then when I went back and read it, he was actually just looking for the carrying case for the whole machine

[zrrion]

If you have the inclination to get into it, I would suggest trying to make an external converter for this thing. I don't think anyone has figured out how to do that yet and it would be great to see one of these used with a modern computer.

[snacksthecat]

If you have the inclination to get into it, I would suggest trying to make an external converter for this thing. I don't think anyone has figured out how to do that yet and it would be great to see one of these used with a modern computer.

That was actually my initial plan when I picked up my first board (yes I have two ). I don't remember the exact details of the signalling but the conclusion I came to is that an external conversion would not be practical for me since the keyboard doesn't send break codes when you release a key. When a key is held, the keyboard sends the initial code followed by a brief period of silence then repeatedly sends the code until the key is released. So you would end up having to handle debounce as part of the conversion. So as a result, you wouldn't be able to emulate the typing experience of a "normal" keyboard without small pauses needed to handle debounce.

I'm not explaining this very well but that was my rationale for just doing the controller replacement.

[Engicoder]

If you have the inclination to get into it, I would suggest trying to make an external converter for this thing. I don't think anyone has figured out how to do that yet and it would be great to see one of these used with a modern computer.

That was actually my initial plan when I picked up my first board (yes I have two ). I don't remember the exact details of the signalling but the conclusion I came to is that an external conversion would not be practical for me since the keyboard doesn't send break codes when you release a key. When a key is held, the keyboard sends the initial code followed by a brief period of silence then repeatedly sends the code until the key is released. So you would end up having to handle debounce as part of the conversion. So as a result, you wouldn't be able to emulate the typing experience of a "normal" keyboard without small pauses needed to handle debounce.

I'm not explaining this very well but that was my rationale for just doing the controller replacement.

I understand exactly what you are saying and unfortunately this is true of many non-PC keyboards. No break codes is a tough thing to work around. I have kludged it by simulating a break code shortly after (i.e. a few ms), which makes it usable with caveats, but not a very robust solution. Best method is the controller replacement you have been doing with the Televideo boards.

[snacksthecat]

I sold my converted one on reddit for the asking price with no problems. I think I might convert this one as well, list it for the same, and just keep it for myself if it doesn't sell. It's a really cool board to use!