Perkin-Elmer 3700 keyboard

[Kurk]

I took a few pictures of a Perkin-Elmer 3700 keyboard which was apparently part of the Data Station Model 3700. There's not much information on the interwebs about this particular keyboard and the 3700 Data Station but there is some about its predecessors, the 3600 and 3500. Old stuff from the 1980s.
This thing is quite sturdy, the case is amazingly thick. An inscription on the inside of the case says August 1985.
The keycaps are thick, spherical double shots in a single row profile. Time has yellowed them quite badly.
The switches are Hi-Tek linear switches assembled in blocks. Again, time has not been kind. About a third of the switch sliders is torn. Keycaps mounted on these broken sliders get stuck when pressed. There is a latching action switch under the SHIFT LOCK key. My keyboard unfortunately misses the SYS key in the lower right corner.
BTW, the shift key says SHIF T

Here's a wiki with more info and pics:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Perkin-Elmer_3700_keyboard

PerkinElmer3700kb-25.jpg (207 KiB) Viewed 3138 times

PerkinElmer3700kb-26.jpg (267.92 KiB) Viewed 3138 times

PerkinElmer3700kb-15.jpg (247.1 KiB) Viewed 3138 times

SHIF T
Signature Plastics SA family (from the Round4 group buy) [right] vs a Perkin-Elmer cap [left].

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PerkinElmer3700kb-05.jpg (213.7 KiB) Viewed 3138 times

Some broken sliders.

PerkinElmer3700kb-09.jpg (226.74 KiB) Viewed 3138 times

[Kurk]

Low-res, out-of-focus video of the latching switch in action. At 0:16, the microwave oven kicks in.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I've just renamed "Hi-Tek linear" to "[wiki]Hi-Tek modular[/wiki]" in light of a reassessment of their keyboards.

Kurk's amazing set of photos has reminded me that I forgot to post HaaTa's Toptronics ZX81 Sinclair Keyboard, and then I noticed something. HaaTa's is exactly one 10-unit module (a single moulding flaring out from a 10-unit front row, flanked by an 8-unit space bar).

The HP 9816 keyboard, I've realised, is that same 10-unit module plus dovetailed outliers, exactly as Hi-Tek's patent describes: one moulding for the core keys, plus slot-in modules for the extra keys. Kurk's one has a single large main module, though, and you can see that most outlier modules are Hi-Tek branded (the little arrow you see on NMB Hi-Tek switches) with the exception of the two Stackpole-style waffle frames. The lines in the main grid suggest that the mould for that itself is made up from more modular moulds, one per key.

The Stackpole-made Oric Atmos keyboard is also based on that 10-unit design, but there are also extra keys around that, and I've never seen any indication that Stackpole-made keyboards ever used the dovetail assembly system, but rather were all single modules. There are very few photos to go on when it comes to Stackpole/Hi-Tek.

Kurk might get a wingnut next year if he keeps this up.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

[Halvar]

What a great keyboard -- switches, layout, colors ... I'd like that as a daily driver. And thanks for documenting it so well!

I have a conspiracy theory regarding the time of publication of a vintage keyboard with this color scheme that involves 7bit and you in a plot to ... well, never mind.

@D Beardsmore: I think that's a nice idea, as long as you refrain from beefing in two months time about how he didn't separate keyboard and switch article or something like that...

[Kurk]

Ah, so the little arrow is a sign of Hi-Tek?

@Halvar: it looks nice but typing on it is... meh at best. Maybe it was type heaven like 25 years ago but now the sliders are all scratchy and a good part of the keys gets stuck when used.

I'm curious about earlier Data Stations now, the 3600 and the 3500. Do they use the same switch technology? Check at your universities!

The successor of the 3000 series seems to be the 7000 series. It looks less beefy and bit more plasticky. Still interesting though.
Here's an auction of a 7700: http://www.bonanza.com/items/like/113296907

and here's an advertisement showing two 7x00 series microcomputers:

[mr_a500]

This is what I love about Deskthority - rare vintage keyboards, carefully documented with lovely photos.

[7bit]

LOL!

They did it before us.

Round 4 and Round 5 mixed on one keyboard.


The key caps (texture and form) look pretty much like Signature Plastics..

[nourathar]

Hey Kurk,

I know where you got this because I bid on it just before you barged in and the owner suddenly sold it.. !
But good to see it found a caring owner.

J.

[Kurk]

^ no hard feelings, I hope

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Yes the little up arrow represents Hi-Tek. You see it on all the NMB Hi-Tek switches too. For some reason, the smooth-topped switch modules only have the arrow, and the rough-topped modules (in the HP 9816) are unbranded so far as I've been able to determine. There are some strange oddities with their modules.