Atari 800 Replacement Keyboard

[Panther]

33 minutes ago, clh333 said:

If you have a spare board I would like to acquire one.

The cost for me to package and ship a single board to you from here is probably more than it would cost you to order five from JLCPCB.  You're welcome to stop by and pick one up though.

[Rocinante800]

Amazon current set of dark brown keycaps ~$20

 

question:  Diodes. why no diodes? and If I want to add diodes, how do I bias them? 

the schematic shows 2 COL14336 chips, one for keyboard pin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, and one for 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 

which way do I point the diode?  ----|>|----  ?  

 

thanks for any help

[gianlucarenzi]

On 8/3/2022 at 5:07 PM, Rocinante800 said:

Amazon current set of dark brown keycaps ~$20

 

Mine are better. Do not look at the spacebar, I was installing it in the stabilizers

 

On 8/3/2022 at 5:07 PM, Rocinante800 said:

question:  Diodes. why no diodes? and If I want to add diodes, how do I bias them? 

the schematic shows 2 COL14336 chips, one for keyboard pin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, and one for 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 

which way do I point the diode?  ----|>|----  ?  

 

thanks for any help

 

[clh333]

On 9/14/2021 at 7:31 PM, Multifarious Industries said:

@computergui Glad it worked so well for you!

 

Has anybody else built one yet? I'm curious if the adapters for the original keys are working for people. If they are, I might get some more PCBs made and make kits if people are still interested? 

Having looked at various other solutions for sticky keys on an 800 - e.g. "collars", "sleeves" etc. - I decided I had to build a new keyboard.  I started with the Multifarious Industries design, ordered 5 (the minimum) boards from a fab house, and went looking for keyswitches that fit the design for the board mount and that had the little "+" on top of the shaft so I could use the adapter I found on thingiverse.  Proof of concept came when I bought a 3D printer and made one of the little adapters which fit nicely into the Atari OEM keycap.  Encouraged, I soldered the switches to the board.  

 

So far, so good but I have yet to make about 56 more adapters, to figure out the dimensions and design of the mounting blocks - especially the space-bar mount - and find a way to fit the keyboard cable to the board and to the motherboard.  That is the problem I am working on now.  The OEM solution is an 18-wire flat ribbon cable, soldered to the keyboard and fitted with an 18-pin, single-row IDC female socket.  As space is limited around the keyboard I don't want to use any more material than is necessary; no re-purposed IDE cables, in other words. 

 

I'm having difficulty finding that socket and would appreciate any leads or suggestions.  I'll post again when the project is complete.

 

-CH- 

[clh333]

On 3/9/2021 at 10:36 PM, Multifarious Industries said:

 

 As I had a Stackpole keyboard to use as a template, designing 3d printable mounting brackets was pretty easy. I also integrated a support to run along the top edge of the PCB and limit the amount of flex it had when typing. 

 

It would be greatly helpful if I could obtain your CAD files for the brackets and supports you designed so I could print them myself.  May I ask for your indulgence?

 

Thanks,

 

-CH-

[alortegac]

Hi!

Great project here. 
 

interested in a board (if you have an extra), but more importantly a set of mounting brackets/adapters. I don’t have a printer. 
 

 

Please pm me. Thanks a lot! 

[BillC]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:37 AM, gianlucarenzi said:

COL14336 chips

That is the Atari internal part#, the image also shows the CD4051 part#, this IC is inexpensive and commonly available.

[alpsaficionado]

On 7/1/2022 at 10:22 PM, Panther said:

The keyboard is installed and working, but I need to adjust the angle slightly.

Hey friend! I just assembled my keyboard and am preparing to install it into my 800 (I forgot the spacebar supports because the README on https://github.com/multifariousindustries/Atari800Keyboard/tree/main doesn't mention them... oops), and I was wondering: How did you fix the angle?

[bfollowell]

13 hours ago, alpsaficionado said:

Hey friend! I just assembled my keyboard and am preparing to install it into my 800 (I forgot the spacebar supports because the README on https://github.com/multifariousindustries/Atari800Keyboard/tree/main doesn't mention them... oops), and I was wondering: How did you fix the angle?

I saw you were giving away your extra boards, and I just missed out on those, but I may have some made myself later. Out of curiosity, how much did the five run you?

 

[alpsaficionado]

On 10/29/2023 at 7:43 AM, bfollowell said:

I saw you were giving away your extra boards, and I just missed out on those, but I may have some made myself later. Out of curiosity, how much did the five run you?

 

So little! They were... [looks it up] $43.10 for 5 shipped? Yeah, really cheap actually.

[alortegac]

I would like to thank everyone for this project. Special thanks to the creator. Thanks for making it public for everyone to enjoy.

My 800 works really well with the new keyboard. Return key is a bit sticky but nothing too bad.

 

Also thank to Garry Kraemer for printing all the adapters for me.

 

 

AL

Edited November 25, 2023 by alortegac

[NeonPeon]

I just googled for this topic because I had a crazy idea to do this myself, and found this thread. Of course it's already been done, and that's awesome!

Edited February 26 by NeonPeon

[Jfcatari]

Can anyone confirm that this replacement PCB keyboard will work with an Atari 800 with a Mitsumi keyboard (aka the mylar style) with what appear to be like a cross pattern found on the atari keycaps which looks a lot like the Cherry MX tops?

 

I came across with an 800 which suffers from the mitsumi mylar effect over age.  I do plan on pulling the keyboard mylar apart, but wanted to know if this is an option for me.

 

 

[Beeblebrox]

7 hours ago, Jfcatari said:

Can anyone confirm that this replacement PCB keyboard will work with an Atari 800 with a Mitsumi keyboard (aka the mylar style) with what appear to be like a cross pattern found on the atari keycaps which looks a lot like the Cherry MX tops?

 

I came across with an 800 which suffers from the mitsumi mylar effect over age.  I do plan on pulling the keyboard mylar apart, but wanted to know if this is an option for me.

 

 

All of the 800 keyboard footprints are the same, (same 4 x screw positionings/distance), no matter whether you have one of the two plunger style 800 keyboards made by either Hi-tech or Stackpole, or the mylar one by Mitsumi. All three can be transplanted into any 800.

 

So this modern replacement should fit IMHO.

 

Incidentally, the mitsumi keyboard is a relatively easy fix, (with some patience and care), so long as the mylar is intact, (especially around the carbon finger contact area of the mylar where it contacts with the keyboard's pcb.)

 

See FJC's vid on the subject:

 

 

[Jfcatari]

@Beeblebrox

 

Thanks for the confirmation and the tip video.  I saw another from Andrian Black doing a similar trick.

 

I have to report:  I now have a working Mitsumi keyboard in my latest Atari 800 pick up!

 

 

Edited April 19 by Jfcatari

[Jfcatari]

Following up...after I removed the large mylar and the tiny mylar layer over the contacts; I cleaned the entire board and removed the extra contact in the contact area (back to shiny gold)

Once I reset the mylar in place, I added a small 3 folder blue painter's tape over the contact section to keep better pressure on the area, once the back was screwed in place.

[Jfcatari]

Has anyone created a printable adapter for the key caps used on the Mitsumi Atari 800 keyboard?

 

I see the project has some for the Stackpole key caps.

 

Here is a picture: