Model F Battleship connundrum...

[Green Maned Lion]

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I have three 'workstations', one at my stereo, one at my home office desk, and one in my Sprinter van, the latter two being the most used 'workstations'. The computer is a laptop that plugs into one of two docks, one in the van and one in the office- the stereo is in the office and the same dock feeds both keyboard/screen/mouse setups.

For the office desk and van setups I use an IBM M122 Type I, with a custom key layout. I am in the process of working with Unicomp to produce a card or board that will allow the use of a similar keyboard at the stereo setup. Its a very custom layout, picture of which is uploaded.

I have been wanting to replace the office desk setup with a Model F battleship. The question is whether that unit would be an IBM or a Model F projects unit. I am a little unusual in that I truly love the layout of the original Battleship design, including and especially the cross nav. I am also absolutely used to my location for the escape key (which is labeled 'Panic' on the top left of the side F-bank).

I have talked to Joe, I think on here, about his opinion of his board versus the IBM unit, and of course he prefers the Model F project board. He mentions several advantages, including its metal construction (which I don't see as anything other than nuetral; metal and good quality plastic both have their merits), its younger age (which I certainly see as a plus when it comes to electronics), and it not needing a converter, all of which are true. I also think he prefers that for two additional solid reasons: 1) He wants to sell me a board (which I don't see as him being in the wrong), and 2) pictures of his IBM Model F Battleships show that he clearly prefers T-navs.

He has also told me that there are sensing arrays that would permit the activation of a cross nav, which is why this isn't quite a deal breaker, even though the only way to really do this would involve machining out an additional 3 keys worth of holes, and leave two unused key holes (or assign those keys to something else). This does not address the issue that it is still materially different than the layout of an IBM unit, including function key angles, locations, and so forth. I suspect I could get used to having two different layouts in regular use, but I consider it less than ideal.

But there is another issue I face when it comes to IBM F122s- they don't seem to exist in functional condition for sale at the moment; there is one on eBay that has rust issues, a connector issue, and is stated not to work, for $275 + shipping. Since I would probably need to replace its controller card at the very least, and still have no proof of its ability to repair, this seems like a risky proposition, to say the least.

Does anyone have a line on a working F122? Barring that, should I keep my search up- and possibly lose the opportunity to obtain a Model F projects Battleship- or settle for a Model F Projects board? Has anyone on here had the chance to play with both?

[andrewjoy]

I have quite a lot of experience fixing model F boards, almost anything can be fixed its just a case of how much effort you want to put in. Is the board on ebay intact ? What about the springs ? A rusty plate and case is nothing to worry about that can be fixed but if too many springs are gone then you are going to struggle to replace them, if its just a few springs i can help you out there same with barrels but i dont have enough to renovate a whole board. You also want to check if the spacebar, its stabiliser and the tabs are intact , the model F on the 122 uses a thinner stabliser bar than a model M , you can mod it to take them but its not ideal.

Another thing to keep an eye out for is the top case , the plastic of an F is very brittle.

[Green Maned Lion]

I ended up buying one off ebay for a bit more that claimed to have every key click properly, and a good spacebar stabiliser, and appeared to be in better shape. Now I'm just waiting for it to ship over here.

Can an IBM M Battleship case be used if the case is beyond repair? There was a hairline crack but nothing I couldn't live with. This one will be for my home office, rather than the van (I'd imagine it would shatter apart there)

[andrewjoy]

Some of the older M122s used the same sized case as an F but they where not exactly the same, a long long time ago i did read a thread about someone modding one but i don't even remember if it was on geekhack (pre deaskthroity).

If its a hairline crack i would leave it, the plastic is not the best, you could try to get some very thin cyanoacrylate glue in it and then sand and paint it, the plastic texture on the F122s is not that noticeable , RAL7030 if the closest to the IBM industrial grey colour if you are interested in a little mod.

[Green Maned Lion]

I'm more interested in the typing feel of the F then the appearance of the board; my intention is to use it as a daily driver the way I am using my '88 M122 1392149 now. I just want to be able to keep using it if the case somehow falls apart.

[Green Maned Lion]

Machine came in yesterday. I was nervous. I unpacked it- it was beautifully packed- to find a keyboard in truly excellent condition. I took it up to my home work station, unplugged my 1988 M122, found my DIN240 Tinkerboy converter (my home M122 is a 2145, so it uses DIN180), plugged that into the keyboard, hooked up my laptop to the dock, and turned stuff on.

Nothing. I was panicky; but it turned out I never plugged the converter into my USB hub

And except for one key, all keys registered well, and felt magical. Spacebar was perfect. But... the O key didn't register. Didn't sound right, either. Pulled it off a few times, played with the springs, reseated it, etc. Thought I fixed it. I swapped the keys for my custom keyset, which was a bit harder than swapping keys on an M (more first try failures) but not too bad. I simply swapped the caps on two-piecers. Had to add a few insert stabilisers because more keys were bar stabilised on the F, but that worked fine, too.

Except the O key still acts weird. If I leave the key for a while, it won't work. If I am typing a lot, it will start registering more and more often until it registers fine. The sound is off, sort of missing the 'plink', unless I hold it down for a bit, and it plinks softly finally. After me typing a bunch, though, it starts sounding and working fine.

My thought is I'd be fine if I replaced the spring/barrel/flipper on that one key, but I am wondering if regular use of the keyboard will just solve it over time. I didn't fully disassemble it- prefer to avoid that if at all possible - but everything was otherworldly clean- no keyboard cheese at all.

[Muirium]

A dodgy flipper, eh?


viewtopic.php?t=8052

You'll likely need to open it up and take a good look. I wouldn't be surprised if you found a break like this. Those flipper hinges are easily the weakest part of Model Fs in my experience (as the crumbly foam at least stays in place).

Opening them is nothing to be feared. They’re quite nice inside, actually. Fs are much more serviceable than Ms.

The hard part is finding spare parts.