A colleague of mine, is trying to repair his mid-1970's keyboard. He may well find old-stock unused keyswitches, but I'm betting not. They were likely made by MicroSwitch, owned at some point by Honeywell. They are Hall-effect. They have four pins, they need 5V power. This is not a common microcomputer. Here's a link to deskthority.net, of what the keyswitches look like. https://deskthority.net/wiki/Micro_Switch_SD_Series specifically: https://deskthority.net/wiki/File:2011-11-07_16.15.40.jpg But there's lots of variations. No point in describing them further, most won't have these keyswitches. If you have something like this, and can unsolder several (and one for inspection), contact me directly and we'll go from there. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net
Note: those Honeywell hall effect switches are in demand by certain people on deskthority, who I've been lead to believe use them for purposes very much against the spirit of vintage computing. (newly made retro-style USB homebrew keyboards using the keyswitches ripped out of an old symbolics or similar hall-effect keyboard, for instance) Be wary of whoever you sell them to! It'd be a shame if these are wasted on a modern project, rather than for repairing something vintage which can't use anything except the original parts. Its practically impossible to retrofit mechanical switches in place of these, for instance. I know of someone who is looking for some of these same exact switches to fix a broken symbolics keyboard for use on an actual symbolics machine. Contact me if you have some of them available, and I'll pass it along. On 12/7/2016 8:55 PM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
A colleague of mine, is trying to repair his mid-1970's keyboard. He may well find old-stock unused keyswitches, but I'm betting not. They were likely made by MicroSwitch, owned at some point by Honeywell. They are Hall-effect. They have four pins, they need 5V power. This is not a common microcomputer.
Here's a link to deskthority.net, of what the keyswitches look like.
https://deskthority.net/wiki/Micro_Switch_SD_Series
specifically:
https://deskthority.net/wiki/File:2011-11-07_16.15.40.jpg
But there's lots of variations. No point in describing them further, most won't have these keyswitches. If you have something like this, and can unsolder several (and one for inspection), contact me directly and we'll go from there.
Herb Johnson
-- Jonathan Gevaryahu jgevaryahu@gmail.com jgevaryahu@hotmail.com
Hi Doug, Different Jonathan. Jeff On 12/8/2016 11:09 AM, Douglas Crawford via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
That's an excellent heads up, Glitch.
On 12/7/2016 11:12 PM, Jonathan Gevaryahu via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Note: those Honeywell hall effect switches are in demand by certain people on deskthority, who I've been lead to believe use them for purposes very much against the spirit of vintage computing. (newly made retro-style USB homebrew keyboards using the keyswitches ripped out of an old symbolics or similar hall-effect keyboard, for instance)
Jonathan Gevaryahu wrote:
Be wary of whoever you sell them to! It'd be a shame if these are wasted on a modern project, rather than for repairing something vintage...
The first sentence of my post, makes it clear my request is for a vintage keyboard repair. My Web domain speaks to my understanding of "vintage" and vintage repair. As for modern use of vintage keyswitches. Don't get mad if I push back. There are people who want the feel and response of mechanical switches, because they are constant users of keyboards. Repetitive injury is an issue with constant keyboard use. My wife is an example - this is close-to-home, friend. It can also be a matter of taste. Certainly, with a scarce vintage resource, I'd prefer it be used for restoration and not for trivial purpose. Less scarce, less an issue. But the large numbers of the Web, means various groups of people will gather for various purposes, over which I don't have control. The statistics of my experience is, few of my customers are looking for modern use, most are restoring original equipment. And I cannot deny the value of a site like deskthority, in identifying and describing - in far more detail than I would - keyboards and keyswitches. Their Web resource is an asset for vintage computing preservation. I can't control various people's motives for producing, or consuming, such work. Or consuming my work, for that matter, past a certain point. I certainly prefer the preservation of vintage computing equipment to its dismantling or scrapping; or for trivial-to-me use. But parts come from somewhere, and not every vintage item can be restored and preserved. I have no simple answer. You are welcome to discuss how YOU enforce or weigh, the priorities you suggest I consider. And how YOU triage equipment for repair vs. parts vs use. It's been a issue for decades, in various ways. My Web site represents my decades of work. I'm not unique.
I know of someone who is looking for some of these same exact switches to fix a broken symbolics keyboard...contact me...
You are welcome to tell the person you know, to contact me privately, with particulars. I will deal with them directly, or pass them to my "client", if something becomes available. There's apparently wide variety in this model of keyswitch; so details matter. But I'm not likely to find any Symbolics keyboards, and I'd preserve them as they are extraordinarily rare. And so far, everyone I've stumbled over on this particular parts request, mentions "deskthority". They are a venue as well,with posted email discussions. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net
participants (4)
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Douglas Crawford -
Herb Johnson -
Jeff Galinat -
Jonathan Gevaryahu