deskthority

The prices for these industrial Model M's are getting crazier and crazier. $1,099 for one with a black oval badge.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186163841713

The most objective measure of tactility would be something along these lines: Tactility = (force drop at tactile event)/(peak force) By that measure, buckling springs are somewhere around 30-50% (I'd have to check the HaaTa's measurements for the exact number). Chyros mentioned some unnamed Alps clo...

If you haven't tried click bar switches yet, they'd probably fit this criteria. I've only used box navies which are both the stiffest and most tactile, but pinks or whites would probably work out better. The actuation and click are both very high up in the key travel, though they're not perfectly i...

A NIB Omnikey Plus and an SSK that doesn't cost an arm an a leg but needs some work (probably a bolt mod).

Speaking of Focus boards, just read this in an eBay description of a Focus FK-9000:

The keyboard features a classic design that showcases the brand's commitment to quality and durability

LOL.

textadventurer wrote: ↑

06 Nov 2023, 20:20

Downside: finding my holy grail so soon into the hobby makes me wonder... what next?

An industrial SSK, obviously!

Any idea what switches it may have?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/364565377941

You can solder in jumper wires directly to the switch legs, I've done it before on a couple of boards with dead pads. Thank you. I traced the connectors on both sides and got all the keys to work except for the Menu key, no matter how hard I tried. And then I realized that on this keyboard it was p...

I've done this on my own V80, but it was annoying to desolder all of the matias switches since they used crappy solder. They are a bit of a pain honestly, the solder they use is tin junk. I just heated the solder, sucked it up, then soldered the joints again with good leaded solder, then sucked up ...

Ellipse wrote: ↑

03 Nov 2023, 03:22

I don't recall seeing such a mod before - is this common with left-handed number pad keyboards?

Not super common, but it's not unheard of.

I've done this on my own V80, but it was annoying to desolder all of the matias switches since they used crappy solder. A good solder gun or lots of flux will get the job done though. The board's held together with clips and one screw, so you'll need something thin to open it up. Ah, clips. That's ...

Does anyone have experience transplanting Alps into a KBParadise V80 Keyboard?
I have one with Matias clicky switches, and I want to try transplanting some NOS white or blue Alps into it. Unfortunately, KBParadise no longer sells DYI kits for these.

Sold for $1325.00.

That industrial Model M is at $1,025 right now... And it's not NIB or anything, the seller says that same rivets are broken so the buyer may have to do a bolt mod. The prices are getting crazy.

I keep beating myself up for not buying a NOS industrial case from Unicomp while these were still available...

dcopellino wrote: ↑

19 Oct 2023, 10:19

Anyone want to come forward with a proposal?

Aargh. As much as I would love to have one, I can't afford more than $300 right now, and given what they go for nowadays, that would not be anywhere near fair price.

Looks like I was way off. It's already $514. Will probably go for around $700~$1000.

The keyboard shortcuts for reset, etc. should be the same as for Avant Stellar (Press and hold the <Escape> key while turning on your system to do a factory reset). You can try this software if the link still works (I haven't tried it personally). Most likely the ROM chip has gone bad and you will h...

A Focus FK-9200 with a US ANSI (-ish, still has BAE) layout. Every other one I've seen on eBay had a Portugese layout.

thefarside wrote: ↑

16 Oct 2023, 17:05

Any ideas how high it’ll go?

My guess would be about $500.

Edit: LOL, it's already $400 with 6 days left.

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There is not much extra real estate on the PCB to properly solder on a female SDL connector, but one could probably cut off the end of the SDL dual head Y cable and solder directly to the 6 pins on the model M13 controller. That's what I was afraid of. I was hoping I could add an SDL connector to M...

I have seen some topics on detachable USB cable mods for M13, but what about a detachable Y-cable?
I am wondering how difficult it would be to drop in an SDL socket...

Now, that's a mechanical keyboard!

Muirium wrote: ↑

05 Oct 2023, 09:36

The sound and feel of the FK-555 are every bit as solid as its looks, to me.

Does yours have double-shot thin ABS keycaps? I find these to significantly improve the sound and feel. The thick pad-printed ones on mine sound dull, so I'm hoping to find a set from an Omnikey.

Focus FK-555 with blue Alps. Beautiful board - might be the best looking blue Alps board I have - but the sound and feel left me kind of underwhelmed (as with DC-2214). The subjective feel of clicky Alps seems to be heavily influenced by their sound: if the board sounds meh, it also feels clunky, ev...

After years of trying to get some of my Focus keyboards to work with various PS2-to-USB converters, I contacted Hagstrom Electonics, and they created a custom version of their KE-XTUSB converter that deals with quirks of Focus boards, such as a non-standard key code for F7 and weird signal timing. I...

Ortek keyboard (106TB) with a trackball and a.... calculator? I guess Focus wasn't the only one with this feature.