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Re: Keyboards revisited

Hi Jordan,

I have noticed some people, such as WordStar users often want to swap the left Control key and the CapsLock key. This might be the case for you too. If you want to swap these keys ONLY for vDos-lfn sessions without having effects to other running programs, you can try the Windows executable compiled by AutoHotKey from the URL below. It has been tested to work under Windows XP, Vista and 10.


Wengier
 


 
 
 
 On Saturday, July 9, 2016 12:48 PM, J R FOX  wrote:


 
Thanks John.  I should try one of these -- just out of curiosity, if nothing else. 
I had salted away a spare Omni and a spare Avant (now finally entered into service), but I can see where I may in due course have use for more, so it's good to have some suitable alternative. 

It may have taken as much as two years of pounding away to get a new Omni to what I'd call a fully comfortable broken in feeling.  The Avant out of the box is almost excessively "crisp" in the key response, and I can hear a slight ringing tone from it as I type.  Takes some getting used to.  The Caps Lock -- at least -- may need to be relocated, from where I was accustomed to having it on the Omni.  As the Omni had provision for making these changes, I'm thinking the Avant must also.  Never had a Windows (or a 'Properties') key before.  I'm wondering if U2 offers any use of the extra keys, or if the Top Row function keys might be isolated for unique keyboard macro assignments ?  What with dual forks of VdosXy going now, this suddenly opens up all sorts of new variables. 


   Jordan


 
 
 
 
  
 From: John Paines 
 To: "xywrite@xxxxxxxx" 
 Sent: Saturday, July 9, 2016 5:36 AM
 Subject: Re: Keyboards revisited
 
 

Can't help with your repairs, but you can a new buckling spring keyboard with function keys on the left here:




 
 
 
  
 From: J R FOX 
 To: Xywrite Group 
 Sent: Friday, July 8, 2016 6:50 PM
 Subject: Keyboards revisited
 
 

There has been much historical discussion of this subject on the list, particularly regarding the celebrated (now long gone ?) Northgate Omnikey-102 and its successor, the Avant Stellar keyboard.  I'm prompted to write this because the Maxiswitch keyboard in our satellite office just had what seems to be a complete failure of its comma key.  So, I took my long in service  Omni-102 over there as a replacement, putting my very little used -- and not at all broken-in -- Avant in its place for my home office.  This leaves me with another, even older Omni-102 that went into the closet some years back, when *it* developed some flakey key problems.  And down the line I expect to set up an additional computer station at home, which will be needing a good keyboard.  The thing is, once you've gotten accustomed to an Omni or Avant, nothing else could really measure up.  Having the left-side F-keys was never the whole deal.  The key response, adjustable keycaps / positioning for certain critical key locations, along with the overall quality and durability figured in here prominently as well.  The Maxiswitch probably came about as close as you could get, which wasn't all that close, though it was acceptable. 

You can see what some people seem to think these are worth today here:


Is that just some of the typical, ridiculous asking prices one sees for various items on eBay, or is it something more ?  (Like a real gauge of worth these days, due to scarcity ?)

Anyway, the reason I'm writing this goes back to some of those past discussion threads.  Specifically, as to possible keyboard resuscitation methods.  I vaguely recall that there used to be places that repaired these keyboards -- though that must have receded into history by now.  If any still existed, the cost might be worth at least considering.  And then there were the do-it-yourself nostrums, which I thing mainly came down to dipping the keyboard into isopropyl, then drying it out / blowing it out with compressed air, maybe lightly scrubbing somewhere -- or something along those lines.  Anyone able to jog my memory on this ?


   Jordan