Re: Wanted: a spare PET shift lock -switch

From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks_at_gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2020 11:46:51 -0400
Message-ID: <CAALmimm80S7mxurCaDxhhf2UWPcZrmg6gjYuH8Hb3EjHooAdsg_at_mail.gmail.com>
On Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 11:04 AM Anders Carlsson <anders.carlsson_at_sfks.se> wrote:
> Actually the VIC-20 had at least three different keyboard mechanisms,
> which fairly well can be identified by the keycaps. First you had the
> "PET style" keyboard with wide letters in the Microgramma font...
>
> The second model is the "Eurostile" keyboard... has different plungers.
> Possibly the C64C introduced yet another type of plunger

I would be interested to see a list of what plungers there are across
the entire line.  I have at least 3 machines with broken plungers - a
C128 and C64 that came to me that way, and a PET graphic keyboard I
dropped on a concrete floor when I was sorting parts.  :-(

I also have a long, long dead shift lock for a PET graphic keyboard.
Back when I was 14, my brothers and I played a lot of Space Invaders.
A *lot*.  We wore through the gold layer on the 4, 6, and A keys.  You
could see circles of exposed copper on the pads.  I bought a
replacement PCB from the local dealer ($35!) and replaced it myself.
I kept the old harness and made an extension cable from it and brought
4 lines out and made an external arcade button interface so we could
play on those buttons and not the keyboard.  Unfortunately for me, in
the process of replacing the wires to the shift-lock, being 14, I
melted the mechanism.  We never had a shift lock again (I didn't go
get a replacement).  It's not important to me to replace it, but it
reminds me that I've seen multiple types of shift lock switch over the
years.  This one had a plastic body with metal pins, as opposed to
those I've seen with a tiny circuit board and pads and short bare
jumper wires.

This is the sort of thing that would make an excellent photo study on
a Wiki page somewhere.

-ethan
Received on 2020-06-01 18:00:38

Archive generated by hypermail 2.3.0.