Atari 130xe faulty keys

[johnnyspec]

Hi all

 

My 130xe had a problem with its key board. The start and option keys were not working, no problem I thought, I also have a none working 130xe bought from eBay for spares a while ago. The ESC key cap is missing from this keyboard but when I tried to swap the ESC key cap I found it would not fit because even though the two keyboards look the same they are actually constructed different. Any one no why Atari changed the way they made the keyboards? The one in the none working 130xe as little rubber cups that act as springs were as the other has little springs under each key cap. I think the former is the same as the ST keyboards.

 

I managed to get the start and option keys working by taking the keyboard apart and cleaning the membrane

 

While I had the faulty 130xe to hand I thought I may as well have a look inside to see why it’s not working.

There appears to be some ICs missing. Most obvious is 4 ram chips, a row of the rams have been fitted in sockets and 4 of these are empty. There another 3 empty sockets U5, U6 and U17, should any of these be occupied?

I no longer have any use for this 130xe so if anyone on here would like it than they can have it for the cost of postage.

 

Here are 2 pictures of the 130

 

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n207/roc648r/PICT2903.jpg

 

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n207/roc648r/_ICT2905.jpg

 

I live in the UK

 

John

[flashjazzcat]

PM'd.

 

The rubber cup keyboards are, IMO, vastly inferior to the MITSUMI sprung versions. I have two XEs with the sprung keyboards, and an XE and XEGS, both with the rubber cup versions. The keyboard on the XEGS is so unresponsive it's virtually unuseable. Frustratingly, I have another mint MITSUMI sprung keyboard which I can't use because the traces on the mylar are slowly disintegrating. I fixed it up some months ago but it only works for a short time before a new break occurs somewhere. I've been advertising for a replacement but I guess they're pretty hard to come by, and the mylar from the rubber cup keyboard is not interchangeable with that of the sprung version. Even more frustratingly, I actually threw out an old (discoloured) but working sprung keyboard when I bought a replacement from Best a year ago (at considerable cost). What was I thinking...

 

Not only are the mylars not interchangeable between the two kinds of keyboard, but the keys aren't either. I suspect the XEGS machines all had rubber cup keyboards, since the "Help" key is moulded to fit that variety.

 

As for the ICs in the 130XE, some RAM, GTIA, FREDDY, and the OS ROM are all missing. I'll gladly repopulate the vacant sockets.

Edited March 7, 2010 by flashjazzcat

[mimo]

PM'd.

 

 

 

Another one you beat me too:_(

[johnnyspec]

PM'd.

 

The rubber cup keyboards are, IMO, vastly inferior to the MITSUMI sprung versions. I have two XEs with the sprung keyboards, and an XE and XEGS, both with the rubber cup versions. The keyboard on the XEGS is so unresponsive it's virtually unuseable. Frustratingly, I have another mint MITSUMI sprung keyboard which I can't use because the traces on the mylar are slowly disintegrating. I fixed it up some months ago but it only works for a short time before a new break occurs somewhere. I've been advertising for a replacement but I guess they're pretty hard to come by, and the mylar from the rubber cup keyboard is not interchangeable with that of the sprung version. Even more frustratingly, I actually threw out an old (discoloured) but working sprung keyboard when I bought a replacement from Best a year ago (at considerable cost). What was I thinking...

 

Not only are the mylars not interchangeable between the two kinds of keyboard, but the keys aren't either. I suspect the XEGS machines all had rubber cup keyboards, since the "Help" key is moulded to fit that variety.

 

As for the ICs in the 130XE, some RAM, GTIA, FREDDY, and the OS ROM are all missing. I'll gladly repopulate the vacant sockets.

 

 

 

Thank you for the explanation of the keyboards, I'm glad now that I was able to get the sprung keyboard working.

 

I thought that the GTIA would be one of the missing ICs but didn’t know about the other two, FREDDIE and OS ROM.

 

John

[Rich]

You can find all you need at Best Electronics he has a good stock of keyboard parts and keyboards.

one of the key componets he has is replacement mylar sheets ( saved me ).

 

Rich

Edited March 10, 2010 by Rich

[flashjazzcat]

You can find all you need at Best Electronics he has a good stock of keyboard parts and keyboards.

one of the key componets he has is replacement mylar sheets ( saved me ).

Last time I spoke to Bradley he said he didn't sell mylars - just complete keyboards. Also, if ordering outside the US, you run a fair risk of incurring a hefty customs levy on a complete keyboard from Best. It happened to me the one and only time I ordered a keyboard. This is on top of your shipping.

 

How long ago did you order your mylar, Rich?

Edited March 10, 2010 by flashjazzcat

[flashjazzcat]

OK - Bradley got back to me and they do indeed stock the mylars. Wish I'd known this before.

 

Anyone in the UK want to double up to order anything ? I just want a mylar which is $22, so my order's short of the $35 Google Checkout minimum. It's going on my credit card, but I can't afford to start adding stuff to the order.

Edited March 11, 2010 by flashjazzcat