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Old af keyboard

SomeGreekGuy
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So I go my hands on the following keyboard. It has cherry MX compatible stems. The keyboard has a speaker underneath. And it's connector? Not USB. Not even PS2. My best guess is RJ11 (Wyse?)- it looks like a phone cable. I want to breath new life into it. I'm planning on building a bartop arcade, that has a keyboard in a "hidden" drawer, to make it easier to find games etc. Does anyone know how I'll be able to connect it to a raspberry Pi (via USB). Is there an adapter?

I want to test the keyboard, but I don't have an old enough computer to connect it to, to see if it still has "life" in it. In a worst case scenario, does anyone know a website I can buy a full sized PCB, and I'll try to salvage as much as I can, and keep it's old look.

I've compared the size of the keycaps to extra keycaps I have from my cherry MX brown keyboard, and they have the same width and length, but the old ones are taller (doesn't matter). BUT. The keys are closer together than mine. Was this an older standard?

Please, if anyone can give me any information, I'll be grateful. I will provide more pictures, to showcase the keyboard, and to help you all help me figure out what I have in my hands. On the casing, there is no brand, just a sticker that says "Model 925".

old af keyboard.jpg

Code-name Nyx: R7-3800X w/ Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B | Sapphire RX 5600XT | Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | Patriot Viper 4 Blackout | 3TB NVMe Storage| Cooler Master NR200 | Kubuntu/Windows 11 | Xiaomi Mi Curved 34" | Keebwerk Mega | Logitech G602 | Audio Technica ATH-M40X| Edifier e25 Luna
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P_20170209_220213_1_p.jpg

P_20170209_220348_1_p.jpg

Code-name Nyx: R7-3800X w/ Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B | Sapphire RX 5600XT | Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | Patriot Viper 4 Blackout | 3TB NVMe Storage| Cooler Master NR200 | Kubuntu/Windows 11 | Xiaomi Mi Curved 34" | Keebwerk Mega | Logitech G602 | Audio Technica ATH-M40X| Edifier e25 Luna
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1 minute ago, Reallifecat said:

It looks like a TeleVideo Model 925 keyboard

Well I'll be damned... That was fast!

Code-name Nyx: R7-3800X w/ Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B | Sapphire RX 5600XT | Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | Patriot Viper 4 Blackout | 3TB NVMe Storage| Cooler Master NR200 | Kubuntu/Windows 11 | Xiaomi Mi Curved 34" | Keebwerk Mega | Logitech G602 | Audio Technica ATH-M40X| Edifier e25 Luna
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3 minutes ago, Reallifecat said:

It looks like a TeleVideo Model 925 keyboard

Yeah it's a TeleVideo Model 925 keyboard. Do you know where and if I can get an adapter?

Code-name Nyx: R7-3800X w/ Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B | Sapphire RX 5600XT | Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | Patriot Viper 4 Blackout | 3TB NVMe Storage| Cooler Master NR200 | Kubuntu/Windows 11 | Xiaomi Mi Curved 34" | Keebwerk Mega | Logitech G602 | Audio Technica ATH-M40X| Edifier e25 Luna
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6 minutes ago, Reallifecat said:

I believe the connector was proprietary 

I tried looking for RJ11 to USB or even PS2. A friend recommended looking up Rj11 to serial. Do you think it would work?

Code-name Nyx: R7-3800X w/ Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B | Sapphire RX 5600XT | Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | Patriot Viper 4 Blackout | 3TB NVMe Storage| Cooler Master NR200 | Kubuntu/Windows 11 | Xiaomi Mi Curved 34" | Keebwerk Mega | Logitech G602 | Audio Technica ATH-M40X| Edifier e25 Luna
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2 minutes ago, ky802008 said:

I tried looking for RJ11 to USB or even PS2. A friend recommended looking up Rj11 to serial. Do you think it would work?

Possibly, if you can find one at a cheap price I would go for it.

"What am I even meant to put here?" - Me 2016

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52 minutes ago, ky802008 said:

I tried looking for RJ11 to USB or even PS2. A friend recommended looking up Rj11 to serial. Do you think it would work?

 

Probably? PCIe serial cards are pretty cheap. Unless your motherboard actually has a serial port.

Laptop: Asus GA502DU

RAM: 16GB DDR4 | CPU: Ryzen 3750H | GPU: GTX 1660ti

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4 minutes ago, Rangaman42 said:

Probably? PCIe serial cards are pretty cheap. Unless your motherboard actually has a serial port.

That's where my friend was going with the rj11 to serial. I'll make an adapter- which will be an even more affordable option than a PCIe serial port- to test the keyboard and make sure that everything works. 

If the keyboard is dead, I'll just keep the keycaps, and replace the PCB.

Code-name Nyx: R7-3800X w/ Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B | Sapphire RX 5600XT | Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | Patriot Viper 4 Blackout | 3TB NVMe Storage| Cooler Master NR200 | Kubuntu/Windows 11 | Xiaomi Mi Curved 34" | Keebwerk Mega | Logitech G602 | Audio Technica ATH-M40X| Edifier e25 Luna
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1 minute ago, ky802008 said:

That's where my friend was going with the rj11 to serial. I'll make an adapter- which will be an even more affordable option than a PCIe serial port- to test the keyboard and make sure that everything works. 

If the keyboard is dead, I'll just keep the keycaps, and replace the PCB.

 

I'd definitely keep it, it's an awesome old relic. It definitely looks like it was made before the GUI was a thing, it has all the commands for character/line/page erase etc.

Laptop: Asus GA502DU

RAM: 16GB DDR4 | CPU: Ryzen 3750H | GPU: GTX 1660ti

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5 minutes ago, Rangaman42 said:

I'd definitely keep it, it's an awesome old relic. It definitely looks like it was made before the GUI was a thing, it has all the commands for character/line/page erase etc.

I'm not going to throw it out. I'm planning on making a bartop arcade, that has a keyboard drawer, and I thought that it would be perfect. Old school games, old school keyboard. If I can't save the electronics, the keycaps are cherry MX compatible (albeit the crosses on the stems are a bit bigger). I'll buy a full sized PCB, put on either Cherry MX blacks (cause these keys are hard as hell to push down- like a typewriter), or mx blues (for the beautiful clicks). So inside it'll be last gen, but on the outside it will look like it's fresh outta 1981.

Edited by ky802008
Code-name Nyx: R7-3800X w/ Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B | Sapphire RX 5600XT | Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | Patriot Viper 4 Blackout | 3TB NVMe Storage| Cooler Master NR200 | Kubuntu/Windows 11 | Xiaomi Mi Curved 34" | Keebwerk Mega | Logitech G602 | Audio Technica ATH-M40X| Edifier e25 Luna
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