deskthority

The PCB of my particular Kinesis (Model 130 that seems to be a mix of parts) has holes for installing PCB mount stabs, but no Kinesis I've seen actually have them installed.


My KB132MPC has stabilizer holes; my 120 and Advantage don't. I installed stabs on the 132 after breaking a key on the ...

John Doe wrote: 20 Jul 2021, 04:24

Spoiler:

87DCC3F1-577E-4774-A4EC-77FE562703A1.jpeg

Bloody want to know what this is!

It's not in a movie… and it has a name on the front.

leddit post
Sales video

You should probably look for keycaps first, so that you can be sure to get compatible switches, but almost certainly you will find ‘Cherry MX compatible’ for both.

The easiest, and probably also cheapest, route for you would be to get a full regular keyboard keycap set (search any major online ...

Palatino wrote: 03 Jun 2021, 11:22 Can anyone identify this keyboard? Qwertz, I think Swiss, interesting layout with an isolated key in the bottom left corner.

Victor Grid 386PX, aka Compaq SLT/386

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vict ... 0E01A).jpg

picked up this "computer" branded keyboard.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/338881846060253187/846164720158769182/20210523_161503.jpg


The front labels correspond to Applesoft BASIC, so this must have come from an Apple II clone, or been an external third-party keyboard for the Apple II.

Bjerrk wrote: 15 May 2021, 21:22

Code: Select all

    state 0x2000, keycode 97 (keysym 0x0, NoSymbol), same_screen YES,
    

“keycode 97” is evdev 97−8 = 89 KEY_RO (see /usr/include/linux/input-event-codes.h), which is what you'd expect for that position. The USB HID code is page 7, usage 0x0087 named ‘Keyboard International1’.

coolrainbow20 wrote: 29 Apr 2021, 10:40 So you're saying it's difficult to convert?

No, just that you're probably wasting your time if you think that its use of a DE9 connector would be in any way related to the use of a DE9 connector on a completely unrelated system.

Rayndalf wrote: 16 Apr 2021, 04:12 It'd be like taking a Xerox Alto and throwing away everything but the keyboard

I don't have an Alto (I wish) but I have a Dandelion (“Star”, but that was actually the name of a software package), and yes, I periodically get offers for the keyboard alone (which I ignore).

I also have a strange one to identify, a Philips with, what it seems to be, relegendable keycaps. Sadly I do not have more details:


That's an interesting combination of legends. It has some ASCII-bit-paired caps (e.g. ‘;’/‘+’ and ‘:’/‘*’) but also non-ASCII characters (‘¬’) and a Hollerith card ...

Rayndalf wrote: 08 Apr 2021, 12:57 Kinesis Advantage.

n00b :​-​) I'm still using the Kinesis 130 I bought in 1998.

Brightening a little, I'm leaning toward the keyboard being from an EBCDIC data entry terminal, maybe key-to-tape. It has a bunch of card-style operations (SKIP, REL, DUP, LEFT ZERO) but also CTRL and DISPLAY. EBCDIC because the key left of numpad 4 is ‘|’ and ‘¬’ which is an EBCDIC pair (4F/5F) and ...

Anyone know what Batman was typing on in Batman Returns?


Something pretty darn old, since it's a punch-card style layout (but not actually a punch card keyboard). In case the whole console is original rather than a prop-shop job, it might help to check nearby frames for more legible toggle ...

Keypad for use with score software called Music Publisher. https://web.archive.org/web/20180708212 ... ic=74103.0

Definitely stylistically similar to the later US Star keyboard , though it's a completely different mechanism and several of the function keys have been shuffled around. The original thick version of the J-Star keyboard seems to have been exactly same as the Star except for the cap labels, so I ...

Yes, it's true: the Germans killed the beam spring.

In An overview of standards and guidelines for visual display terminals it is written,

The first recommendation, having the elbows at right angles and the forearms horizontal, was adopted in the German DIN standard. For this posture, the ...

TNT wrote: 23 Jan 2021, 00:06 Anyone can help me out with this one?

wiki/Key_Tronic_Corp.19790

MMcM wrote: 20 Dec 2020, 21:49 Geac

Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time.

I remember thinking these were the coolest thing ever:

Most likely a terminal. A word processor or typewriter wouldn't have a bit-paired ASCII layout.

Lekrafter wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 18:37 Looks like a trs 80 model 16 kb but white?

Tandy 6000. It's a TRS80 model 16, but white.

side question, any idea what the "Do" button does?


It's effectively F16 (look at the F numbering of the whole row) and sends ESC [ 2 9 ~ (which is what pretty much every modern terminal will send for F16, if you have that many). I gather some VMS software used it to trigger or confirm actions.

Turning on a fourteenth LED by sending the highest possible code (31) actually drives a 555 timer connected to the speaker to play a tone. Even though that's a lot of hardware for this, there does not appear to be any way to change the note. And this keyboard seems to be too late for the craze of ...

BadCommand wrote: 17 Oct 2020, 19:29 Also I am wondering what color that PF1 key really is!

“Gold”. It's an LK201 clone with keycaps for WPS/PLUS; this is the DEC original.

download and install SwitchHitter. It will show scan code for every key press.


This? It's completely irrelevant to OP's questions. (a) It shows Windows' view of keys, and if Windows is seeing keys, you already know what the keyboard sends; and (b) the Windows codes it shows are not actually ...

A couple decades ago, when obsolete Apple M0100 mice were a dime a dozen, I made this by transplanting the internals of a Microsoft mouse:

To be frank, unless you also want to get in to vintage test equipment, you'll probably be better with one of the cheap USB interfaces (example). For one thing, once you figure out the format, you can just export the scan code data rather than reading traces off a screen.

Thanks for the photo! The slimblade seems to have a better position for the wrist...


I spent some time buying every thin mouse I could find, since bending my wrist upward causes me RSI pain, before switching to the trackball. I should note that I have a custom-made tray for my Kinesis contoured ...

What you want is not an oscilloscope but a logic analyzer. For some keyboards, yes, you will have to press every key and record the result. For others, you'll quickly discover a pattern.

I use a Kensington Slimblade, mapped with the middle button on the upper right (default is upper left).

Found one: the Tektronix PRISM logic analyzers. It's even the right age that the people doing the USB hardware layer might have had one.

Many hardware tools (e.g. logic analyzers) and single-board computers had hex keypads, but that's not really the same as a hex keypad on a regular text keyboard (or using the same interface as a regular text keyboard).