Chyron 4046 (Super Scribe) Keyboard, Xwhatsit USB
Posted: 20 Oct 2019, 05:08
I love big old boards, and this qualifies. It's a sibling of the Chyron 4044 as reviewed by Chyros. The 4044 has three additional keys to the left of the alphas. The PCB in this board has the pads and traces and the PCB frame has openings for these keys, but alas, the front of the case does not. It's vintage KeyTronic F&F, which I actually really like (unlike the more recent short stem version).
Opened it up:
PCB:
It appears to be dated 7/28/88
The foil mostly looked OK, but the foam was, as typical, all degraded:
Replaced the F&F:
Traced out the rows and columns. It's an 8x16 matrix.
Then wired up the Xwhatsit Model F:
Closed it up and good to go:
Short video of typing on keyboard:
- orig_SM.jpg (201.8 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- back_SM.jpg (263.56 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- rear_SM.jpg (500.85 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- rear_label_SM.jpg (155.54 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
Opened it up:
- open1_SM.jpg (282.2 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- kb_module_SM.jpg (304.94 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- caps_off_SM.jpg (346.75 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
PCB:
- PCB_front_SM.jpg (412.6 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- PCB_back_SM.jpg (454.35 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
It appears to be dated 7/28/88
- label1_sm.jpg (80.19 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
The foil mostly looked OK, but the foam was, as typical, all degraded:
- origfoil_SM.jpg (243.48 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- oldfoam_SM.jpg (322.77 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
Replaced the F&F:
- newfoam1_SM.jpg (315.7 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- newfoil_SM.jpg (303.7 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
Traced out the rows and columns. It's an 8x16 matrix.
- IC_labeled.jpg (340 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
Then wired up the Xwhatsit Model F:
- Xwhatsit_SM.jpg (400.69 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
Closed it up and good to go:
- final_front_SM.jpg (262.69 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
- final_side_SM.jpg (166.12 KiB) Viewed 4946 times
Short video of typing on keyboard:
