deskthority

The Gen2 and Gen3 Northgates were the ones with detachable cables. The Gen2 case was shorter than Gen3 and Gen4, and had a different top row layout, and probably wouldn't take the internals from a Gen4. Seems like it would be easier just to wire a PS/2 connector to the Gen4 and install it in the rea...

Interesting, thank you for checking. Looks like I will have to keep looking for an Avant Stellar if I want a working the holy grail of Alps keyboards - a reprogrammable Omnikey battlecruiser with Windows keys. These seem to be pretty rare, I have yet to see one in the wild. I've been keeping a data...

Switches and caps were to me the only things that were compromised on the Gen4 boards. Some Gen4 Northgates still had double shot caps, but some were printed, with a blob of clear paint over the printing. Switches on the Gen4 boards were SKBM (simplified) Alps, with possible exceptions. The heavy pl...

I just checked three keyboards for the version ID. The 101I (Gen2, Rev 1.02) and 101 (Gen3, Rev 7.03) both give an ID at a Win7 command prompt, but it only appears for a second and disappears. If you blink you'll miss it. That's using a Soarer's converter. The Avant Stellar (Gen4) does not show a ve...

...and there's one of Bill Ingold's neat features, which may or may not work on the Gen4 Northgate/Avant boards. Get yourself to a DOS prompt, hold both Shift keys and press F8. That reports the firmware version of your keyboard, at least on some of the earlier versions. That may help to determine a...

The Gen3 and Gen4 Northgates and the Avants had quite a few reversible switch positions on the PC boards. That was done to accomodate different models and layouts. They are dual-labelled on the PC board, which shows the two functions of each reversible switch. There are even some labelled "Europe", ...

...or whomever removed the old EEPROM damaged something in the process...

Interesting, thanks for the update. There's nothing magic about EPROMs. Find a compatible burner, read the old one, write the code into the new one, done. But if you don't have a good one to copy you need the binary file, which was probably Bill Ingold's piece of the puzzle. There must be some code ...

Standard 8 pin DIP. 0.1 inch.

The programmable Avants and Northgates all have "Ver. 1.0" on the label, so I don't think there were any revisions or running changes. I believe that replacing the EEPROM with a new blank one will restore the programming, but I haven't actually done it myself nor heard of anyone who has. I would sug...

Just open it up to see if the EEPROM has been removed. But it should still work with a bad one in place, it just wouldn't program.

There were also some NOS Apple IIc replacement keyboards that showed up on ebay a couple years back with blue SKCM switches.

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engr wrote: ↑

23 Feb 2023, 16:21

The prices for DC-3014s are getting insane. A few years ago you could get a NOS one in that price range.

A few years ago a nice DC-3014 sold on ebay for $65. I was the second highest bidder, and I stopped bidding at that point because it was already over my $50 limit.

While we're discussing Matias, what the heck is the Tactile Pro 5? The current keyboard according to Matias' website is the Tactile Pro 4. But this eBay listing is a Tactile Pro 5: https://www.ebay.com/itm/394379451857 https://i.imgur.com/SJ21phH.jpg Box says "Alps mechanical switch", not "Alps clo...

Nice, I'm glad to hear you got it working.

Edit: Here are fitting stabs for the alps kit: https://shop.tai-hao.com/products/stabilizer-and-hook-set Also if you want to save 15% , use code "retroalps15" ( I wont get any money out of that ) I'm going to buy two or three of these. Thanks for posting this! EDIT: Can confirm that the 15% off cod...

Uh, which two? There are four (?) different possibilities for the ISO Enter stem position. Tai Hao provides outstanding customer service. I've had similar good experiences when I've asked questions and bought their products. Now if they could just make up the odd caps for the various Northgates they...

It probably needs to be from a Gen1 Northgate, and possibly from the same PC board revision. But it won't hurt to try. Most likely the key map will be mixed up, but if it does *something* with a different EPROM you've probably found the problem.

I'd suggest swapping the EPROM. That's a free, non-destructive test, and has fixed at least one other Gen1 Northgate here: https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=25844&start=30 Note that some versions of the Gen1 Northgates used a 24 pin EPROM in a 28 pin socket. That's legitimate, but very imp...

I have one of each keyboard, TPC I and TPC II (the Futaba version, not NMB), and they are identical inside and out except for the badge. And they both worked on my TPC II before I put it in storage. I still need to dig it out and get it going again. That was my first DOS computer.

I found a thread on here that outlines how to use a televideo keyboard with a XT PC https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=17624 My question is if a Model F keyboard can be made to work with a Televideo TPC I that I don't have a keyboard for? Thanks A Model F XT keyboard should work. That was my o...

doomsday_device wrote: ↑

24 Jan 2023, 17:30

yes but what is the point if it doesnt fit the two most common vintage boards?

Sorry. I was just trying to answer your question. I'm a happy Tai Hao customer, but I haven't bought the new Alps sets for similar reasons.

just so you know, i bought the set specifically for a black winkey dell, the stem of the tai-hao enter is in the middle while the dell uses an offset. same goes for an iso focus fk-2002. are there any vintage iso boards with such offset like on the tai-hao enter? please let me know. im very sad. We...

I'm not a reseller, but I still find stuff fairly often at the thrift stores. I bought a nice Model M last year for $10 in a small town in east Texas. They might not see another one for a year, or ever. It's a matter of patience and persistence. These are not commodity items; they're *collectibles*....

I've tried connecting the DIN-PS/2 connector to a PC with a PS/2 port and it didn't work. The PS/2-USB connector is definitely active, so I guess I just need a different DIN connector. Hopefully, my keyboard isn't just dead. (By the way, the caps lock keys only turn on while in XT mode. Might that ...

The K104 is AT-compatible, which means a passive DIN5 to PS/2 adapter will get it to PS/2. It does not have native USB, which means your PS/2 to USB converter needs to be an active one, not just a pin adapter. I use a K104 as my driver, typing on it now in fact. I've used blue cube and Radio Shack d...

Any idea what this may be? Doesnt seem to have any identifiers what so ever. Looks a lot like this Board i've found a while ago. Someone said its probably a monterey K9 , but i didnt find out more. 839347E3-5DC2-4016-81C3-0A695E693AF8.jpeg A sys req key and a Line Feed key? I thought Sys Req was fo...

So...it comes down to shine versus the legends wearing off that defines "wear". I personally don't give a rat's ass about shine. I have little to no feeling left in my fingertips. But I'm not a touch typist, so if the legends wear off I'm dead in the water. I've probably never owned a set of dyesub ...

daemonspudguy wrote: ↑

12 Dec 2022, 03:33

Who even makes doubleshot PBT caps, much less would be willing to make some that also have to act as a slider to push the spring down?

Tai Hao makes doubleshot PBT keycaps for MX mount. But nothing for the Model M.

Dye sub is much much cheaper/easier and they aren't going to spend extra money they don't have to. Agreeing with this, making the tooling for doubleshot is quite a bit more expensive and isn't as durable compared to dye-sub PBT. Doubleshot not as durable as dyesub? The legends go all the way throug...