deskthority

Grabbed on ebay (I believe that I may have been bidding against some people here), expecting something slightly different, and hoping to save it from being black holed with no other pictures or documentation. Although it didn't meet some of my expectations, it is still sufficiently interesting:

IMG_20140611_201515
IMG_20140611_201609
IMG_20140611_203956
IMG_20140611_204216
IMG_20140611_204320

Interesting date on the U2, but the internal assembly is common enough. The case is some very thick and heavy translucent plastic that is painted on top but not the bottom. Legs are push-ins and then you need to flip them out - not a design I've seen elsewhere. Bottom legs or latches serve an unknown purpose, but 5155ish cord suggests a portable usage with the aforementioned latches perhaps helping to hold it in.

Needs a bit of cleaning, but is in otherwise great shape. Will take more pictures with a better camera after that, hopefully.

Biggest question, of course, is WTF is this from?! This makes it a second board for me so far from IBM to which the model of the accompanying computer/terminal/mainframe/multivac is a complete mystery.

Weird, eh? SSK-esque, if not quite as heavy on the space saving. Speaking of which, what's the weight like?

Interesting. The color of the case looks like the IBM Industrial finish. Is it the same, or something different?

Could it be this:
http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cf ... /id/376033

It's from some luggable computer I guess. Similar cable holder, cable and connector, and knobs at the side to attach it to the base:

That one came off worse for wear in a fight with an Apple II by the look of it!

Or maybe a Macintosh Portable, come to think…

It was from a doctor. Note the filthy keyboard. His patient files and games were still on it. I think he was longing for an Apple.

Could have been worse. A more modern portable would have his patient files, games, and porn. ASCII art required too much imagination…

Parak wrote:Grabbed on ebay (I believe that I may have been bidding against some people here), expecting something slightly different, and hoping to save it from being black holed with no other pictures or documentation. Although it didn't meet some of my expectations, it is still sufficiently interesting:

That is interesting. I've never seen anything like it. You didn't mention if it's buckling spring or Oak.

It looks post-1985 (dedicated arrows, page, F12) and does have a portable look, but doesn't match any portable IBM released. It's industrial colour, so maybe it was for some custom industrial station with flip down keyboard.

@webwit: Aha, yep, I didn't know the 5155 had the same kind of attachment points. Definitely makes this from a portable something as even originally mentioned by the seller that unfortunately didn't have any more information about it.

@mr_a500: Sorry, it is buckling spring - I mentioned the fairly standard (AFAIK) SSK internal assembly pn of 1390360.

Parak wrote:@mr_a500: Sorry, it is buckling spring - I mentioned the fairly standard (AFAIK) SSK internal assembly pn of 1390360.

I've never had an SSK, so I am not familiar with the part number 1390360.

Oh and I didn't notice the 1984 date on the chip - so that makes my "post-1985" comment kind of irrelevant.

U2 is from 1983, actually

Copyright is not an indicator of built date though. I mean you can find 1977 Copyrights on most BASIC chips which were still used in 80s technology. A better indicator would be to check actual manufacture dates on the IC or other ICs.

very nice thing.

where can I get one?

Model M or Model F?

Looks like it says Model M on the sticker to me.

I like how the F and J keys are more yellowed: perfect homing keys.

Yep, looks like an Model M... Are they yellowed or just dirty?

Oh yeah, they shouldn't be yellowed at all!

wow nice

Yellowing is just dirt - haven't gotten around to properly cleaning it yet due to more pressing projects. Weight is about 4.6 lbs as per bathroom scale, though feels heftier.

Parak wrote: Biggest question, of course, is WTF is this from?! This makes it a second board for me so far from IBM to which the model of the accompanying computer/terminal/mainframe/multivac is a complete mystery.

What's the first?

IBM was working on a line of ruggedized thinkpads in the mid 90's that never made it to market, I wonder if they had something similar to a 5155 industrial in its heyday that also failed to make it out the door.

E TwentyNine wrote:

Parak wrote: Biggest question, of course, is WTF is this from?! This makes it a second board for me so far from IBM to which the model of the accompanying computer/terminal/mainframe/multivac is a complete mystery.

What's the first?

Hmm, that'd be this poor little guy. Currently undergoing slow but steady derusting process..

Parak wrote:

E TwentyNine wrote:

Parak wrote: Biggest question, of course, is WTF is this from?! This makes it a second board for me so far from IBM to which the model of the accompanying computer/terminal/mainframe/multivac is a complete mystery.

What's the first?

Hmm, that'd be this poor little guy. Currently undergoing slow but steady derusting process..

Is there a thread on that? Seems to be the same as the data entry variant of a 3277 keyboard except for that big zero key.

E TwentyNine wrote: Is there a thread on that? Seems to be the same as the data entry variant of a 3277 keyboard except for that big zero key.

Over thar: http://deskthority.net/photos-f62/poor- ... t7928.html

Well, it's also that the pcb is fully integrated without a separate controller and has two sets of the sense chips instead of one.. but yeah, couldn't find it in any of the bitsaver pdfs, say.

Sorry for necroing, but wait, what? An SSK bigfoot? I thought I've seen it all, but it seems this hobby is gonna be the end of me

@Parak that's an awesome collection of IBM boards you got.

Never seen this. This is impressive. Waiting for your new photos! =]

Thanks for necro-ing that topic, I've never seen this before neither and it's very cool.

It definitely gets paired with an Industrial 'luggable' computer. Unfortunately after looking up loads of the industrial computer system types, not all of them have photos available on the internet, and it's not possible to obtain HMMs for all of them.

Unlike many other OEMs, nobody is interested in documenting all of the random PCs IBM has made over the years

Well... here's a system type list compiled from my notes of the majority of known industrial systems:
5502 (desktop-ish)
7531 (286 tower)
7532 (286 tower)
7537 (desktop)
7541 (desktop)
7542 (desktop)
7546 (desktop)
7552 (weird box form factor)
7561 (tower)
7562 (tower)
7563 (?)
7568 (?)
7574 (?)
7581 (?)
7585 (?)
7586 (?)
7587 (weird box form factor)
7588 (?)
7590 (?)
7592 (?)
7593 (?)

Ones with the question marks I don't know what they are (the luggable that gets paired with this keyboard could be in there somewhere).