Sorry I'm not a tech enthusiast like most people on here probably but I was looking through my dad's attic and I was wondering if you guys could tell me what this is ? I'd rather ask it here then draining rivers by using chatgpt
Not to be confused with the Chicony KB-5161, I found the NTC KB-6151 in a lot of a couple other boards for an ok price. I thought it had white alps, but when I got it they were the oa2 alps clones. Several keycaps had broken stems and esc key was missing (as is what sometimes happens to boards with alps clone switches). I had an idea to find a 6251 and to swap its switches and keycaps into the 6151 to make it better. I found a 6251 with white alps and the same doubleshot keycaps. The white alps already sound pretty decent in the 6251, but the 6151 has such a hollow case that it'll do wonders for sound.
6151: Very solid and tough build, can be harder to find and more expensive. Reminds me of the Ortek Mac-105, same super hollow case, but tougher built and can have doubleshot keycaps.
6251: decent starter board with smaller bezels and ok looks, much more common. I find it overall better than an fk 2001, easier to disassemble and better sounding with the right switches (EA usually means alps, but there are several other versions that can come with a huge array of different switches.) For some reason this board works fine over a ps/2 converter, but it freaks out over a soarers, not sure why.
both: can have doubleshot or pad printed caps, the legends are subtly different, but usually the pad print legends are a tiny bit smaller than the doubleshot legends.
Hi r/vintagekeyboards !
This is a NOS, US Layout, SORD KB-101 with Hirose Cherry HCP Clear switches and a very rare indigo switch. I was fortunate enough to acquire this from someone who was hired to clear out an old warehouse in Los Angeles, California. That warehouse ended up being SORD’s US warehouse, showroom, and distribution center for the west coast of the US. The paperwork in the background are original press releases and marketing material that SORD sent BYTE Magazine writers in 1983-1984 to announce their product offerings in the US market.
SORD (an acronym for both SOftware and haRDware as they focused heavily on the integration of both) was a personal and business computer manufacturer for the Japanese market. They held about 10% of the entire JP computer market (behind NEC and Fujitsu) at their peak and was a very successful company overall at the time. Their next big step was to introduce their products to the international market including the US. In 1982, SORD began work on setting up offices in both New York City and Los Angeles and building networks of suppliers and service centers across the country. The press material that I was able to acquire is from this period when they were first starting to introduce products to the US market. Based on what I have read through in the press releases, they were extremely hopeful for their success in other markets. Sadly, the personal computer industry started to evolve rapidly during this period and SORD fell behind, focusing on hardware that the industry started to move away from. SORD never made a large impact on the US market as they were unable to penetrate it like they predicted.
As for the keyboard, it was manufactured by Hirose Cherry Precision (HCP) in the mid 80s and uses their MX line of switches. For those who don’t know, Hirose was an already existing company in Japan that Cherry partnered with for a brief period, in an attempt to take back some of the keyboard market share in Japan. They were eventually unsuccessful, similar to SORD, and stopped production not long after this keyboard was made. Hirose switches differ from standard Cherry in that they are all linear, can have different color stems (special colors are on the spacebar and numpad enter keys), and the stems are slightly smaller than normal MX (normal mx keycaps WILL NOT FIT). This particular keyboard has a special HCP Indigo switch under the Numpad Enter key which is the only known example of a HCP indigo switch that has been documented. Typically these keyboards are most common in Japanese layout but this is an exceptionally rare US version that was most likely never sold and just sat in a SORD warehouse for decades. I’d also highly recommend checking out my other post about a Hangul SORD M68 keyboard here for an even crazier example of a SORD keyboard. While I don’t like that it has to be said, I do ask that you, the reader, does not contribute to the destruction of these keyboards for harvesting parts. These are exceptionally rare (I can count \~5 known examples of these in US layout), the parts don’t fit on modern keyboards properly, and are quite special in terms of computer history.
Hope you found this interesting! Thank you :)
I wanted to do an omnikey project with alectardy's omnial pcb so I chose this omnikey plus for the project.
The board was in ridiculously good condition when I got it, and after the project the thing feels basically brand new, plus the modern convinces of a vial compatible pcb. The keycaps have no wear, the plate is spotless, and the switches are the best condition alps I have. I wanted to get more yellows, but it made more sense to linearize them since these are super clean. (I could always swap the clicky leaves back in whenever I feel like it.) Out of all the models I chose a plus because I wanted the closest one to a 4704 f107 layout. I didn't need all the f keys that the ultra has, but just wanted a few keys more than a 102 that could be used for additional macros. Due to the pcb being vial compatible I rearranged the 8k cluster to be more friendly to use. The OMNI key I want to have programmed as a terminal button for linux, but can't seem to figure out the macro thing. (F13-15 I could also use for additional macros, but I'm not a huge macro user.) I also swapped in an skcl lock switch for caps lock for a little more cool points. I think this thing came out great and it's absolutely wonderful to use. Linear alps are some of my favorites.
Hi! I'm trying to figure out what type of switches this keyboard has. Just found it at a garage sale and it feels amazing. Some sluething suggests it is an Acer / Multitech board from 1987. Google is telling me these are blue alps? I'm a noob in the vintage keyboard world, but it feels like this may be a special find :)
I'd like to clean it up and use it as a daily driver. The caps are quite dirty and there is visible dust everywhere but all of the switches feel perfect. Any info on what this board may be and how to properly clean it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!!
I found one of these on ebay for cheap because it was listed as a completely different keyboard. I've been intrigued by this keyboard for a little, so I wanted a cheap one to try it out. The switches remind me of both Peerless and Focus some with slider. These Olivetti ones are definitely pretty short travel which may be a turnoff to some. I didn't find these to be super horribly bindy or scratchy, but there is some of it. However it is super easy to take the switches out and take them apart, so I may try lubing some so see if the keyfeel improves. The sound of these is pretty cool though, similar to Alps SKCP. They're not the most consistent switch out there, but I suspect that heavily used ones could be pretty bad just like Peerless. The legends are a dark brown with extra magenta legends on the numpad. I'm trying to decide of it's worth trying to get this thing running, but I think Tinkerboy is the only one who makes Olivetti converters. I don't know if the KBD 301 is compatible with it though.
Trying to find more info on this if anyone has it.