Repurposing the ZX81 Keyboard

[blittled]

I regularly check out Hackaday's website and today they had an article on someone using a ZX81 keyboard with an Arduino https://hackaday.com/2022/10/24/one-of- ... eripheral/. I don't care for the title, I spent many hours typing away on that keyboard and had no issues with it. The one pictured looks like the one Pokemon sold that had micro switches on it which was a definite improvement.

[Moggy]

I too had no issue with the original membrane keyboard, it was what it was.

The one pictured that you mention is one of Pokemon's boards (the green ZXpand lettering gives it away)

I have just fitted three of these and find them superb in use though have never acquired the knack of shoving the thicker than the original tails into the motherboard sockets. I find soldering them directly to the underside of the sockets works very well for me.

[blittled]

Moggy,
Thanks for the tip. I got one of Pokemon's keyboards too and never used it because I couldn't get the ribbon into the plugs.

[David G]

Regarding the title of this topic ("Repurposing the ZX81 Keyboard"), my initial thought was why would you want to do that? That's a hack. But i recognize there is utility in a small, flat, lightweight keyboard. For a while I carried around a foldable neoprene travel keyboard to use with my PC. This one is even smaller/lighter, very apropos for use with an Arduino

I too spent many hours typing away on the original ZX81 keyboard and had no problems with it. However, I agree that it was one of the worst computer keyboards -- can you name a worse one? Even so I was quite happy with it, it worked fine at a minimal level

Back around 1985 or so I added a surplus full-travel keyboard. I think it was from some discontinued home computer. In any case, it needed zero mods to the keyboard or the ZX81. I Just connected the wires to a pin header and jammed it into the ZX81 keyboard connector. It was a beautiful thing to use even if it didn't look as good as an encased commercial product

[blittled]

I agree it wasn't the best keyboard but if you compare it to the Altair 8800 and Elf computers of the 70's using a bank of toggle switches for a "keyboard" the little ZX81 keyboard was a luxury.

I had something drop on my original TS1000 that ripped the keyboard. I was able to send it to Timex and they either fixed it or sent me a replacement. It was a cheap way to make one and I find that the ribbon gets brittle over the years. I had a ZX81 which worked perfectly and it sat dormant for two years and when I powered it up the keyboard was unresponsive on certain keys. Thanks to Sell My Retro I purchased a few keyboards for just that reason.

[GCHarder]

Here's a picture of some repurposed keyboards. I could see them being used in a dusty or wet environment such as a lab.

search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&auth ... &start=170

Greg

[1024MAK]

That link is not a picture

Mark