IBM Beam Spring: The Ultimate Retro Keyboard(rs-online.com)
rs-online.com
IBM Beam Spring: The Ultimate Retro Keyboard
https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/ibm-beam-spring-the-ultimate-retro-keyboard
10 comments
At the risk of dating myself, I’m still looking for a keyboard as good feeling as this.
I've never used them, so I can't vouch for them, but it seems like beam spring keyboards are available. Have you tried any of these? https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/store/
I have not but I’ll look. 90% of my computer use these days is laptop on my actual lap so I don’t have a real need. But there is a definite want!
I ordered the round 2 beam springs from this guy like 2 years ago. They are still in production.
I never had the pleasure of using one of those. For me it was seeking the feel of a DEC VT-102.
The IBM Type M was and still is my stand-in.
The IBM Type M was and still is my stand-in.
The VT1xx keyboards used linear switches, you may want to look at modern mechanical keyboards with linear switches as a rough approximation. Having tried typing on one in a museum, I recall the VT1xx as relatively scratchy compared with more modern keyboards, although that could have been a wear and tear issue.
The keyboards of the VT2xx/3xx series are awful, and the later ones had rubber dome keyboards which are among the nicer rubber dome keyboards I've tried. I own both a VT320 and VT420, and managed to get a new old stock keyboard for each.
The keyboards of the VT2xx/3xx series are awful, and the later ones had rubber dome keyboards which are among the nicer rubber dome keyboards I've tried. I own both a VT320 and VT420, and managed to get a new old stock keyboard for each.
Can it be used with X window system? X windows has key codes 0xFD01 to 0xFD1E for the 3270 terminal keys. I don't know the meaning on the actual IBM terminals, but they seem to match the key codes that are defined in X windows.
Yeah. x3270 can take care of all the right translation things to hook into X, and has been around since '89.
There a few things that don't work straight across a telnet connection, hence the translation layer.
https://linux.die.net/man/1/x3270
There a few things that don't work straight across a telnet connection, hence the translation layer.
https://linux.die.net/man/1/x3270
Converting these keyboards to speak to a modern PC involves replacing the controller board with a new one with open source firmware. You can program the keys to send any scan code you like.
Reading this, I thought it could not possibly be true -- the keys are so loud and clicky already. But it turns out it actually was the case, as demonstrated here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT9CHub9Cxs