dfnr2
Experienced Member
Would there be any interest in a SOL-20 keyboard replacement? I recently picked up a non-working SOL-20 which is complete except for the keyboard, and the chances of picking up a keyboard at a reasonable price are pretty slim. I already have an ASCII encoder PCB, so making a new keyboard is just a matter of laying out the keys.
I am already placing an order for keycaps that will covermost of the keys, but the SOL-20 has some less common key widths, including several 1.25x and a couple of 1.75x keys, and the keyboard has light gray, dark gray, and off-white keycap colors. The missing keys would be difficult to source from commodity suppliers, and would have to be custom-made. The SOL-20 keycap kit would add 36 keys on top of the "classic" keycap kit. I'm guessing that if I order 20, that would be in the range of $30-$40 on top of the "classic" keyset (which would be in the $40-$50 range). The keycap colors are not truly matched to the original, since the base keycap set is darker to broaden the usefulness in other systems.
If there's not any interest, then I'll find a way to approximate the one-off keyboard with off the shelf parts.
The keyboard is not a replica of the original. It doesn't use the same capacitive circuit or keys. But it does have exactly the same layout with the same functionality, including the 3 LEDs (UPPER CASE, SHIFT LOCK, LOCAL) and 3 outputs (RESET, BREAK, LOCAL). It uses cherry MX or Futaba MD-4PCs keys. Neither has quite the same feel as the capacitive keys, but the Futaba keys approach the travel of the keytronic switches, and do have a nice feel.
Also, the original keyboard angles the keycaps at about 10-12 degrees. A 3D printable adapter could be made (as has been done for Apple II ALPS keys). But that's not part of the original plan.
Dave
I am already placing an order for keycaps that will covermost of the keys, but the SOL-20 has some less common key widths, including several 1.25x and a couple of 1.75x keys, and the keyboard has light gray, dark gray, and off-white keycap colors. The missing keys would be difficult to source from commodity suppliers, and would have to be custom-made. The SOL-20 keycap kit would add 36 keys on top of the "classic" keycap kit. I'm guessing that if I order 20, that would be in the range of $30-$40 on top of the "classic" keyset (which would be in the $40-$50 range). The keycap colors are not truly matched to the original, since the base keycap set is darker to broaden the usefulness in other systems.
If there's not any interest, then I'll find a way to approximate the one-off keyboard with off the shelf parts.
The keyboard is not a replica of the original. It doesn't use the same capacitive circuit or keys. But it does have exactly the same layout with the same functionality, including the 3 LEDs (UPPER CASE, SHIFT LOCK, LOCAL) and 3 outputs (RESET, BREAK, LOCAL). It uses cherry MX or Futaba MD-4PCs keys. Neither has quite the same feel as the capacitive keys, but the Futaba keys approach the travel of the keytronic switches, and do have a nice feel.
Also, the original keyboard angles the keycaps at about 10-12 degrees. A 3D printable adapter could be made (as has been done for Apple II ALPS keys). But that's not part of the original plan.
Dave