Third party keyboard

Discussions about Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 Hardware
Lardo Boffin
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Third party keyboard

Post by Lardo Boffin »

One of my recent acquisitions came with a bonus third party keyboard as shown below. Any ideas who made it? There are no obvious logos etc. The print is good all the way across it but it is reflecting the light quite a lot in the photo.

It's not stuck down (at the moment anyway) and it actually works really well! It also came with an additional overlay I assume so you can put stickers on it for game controls maybe? That is shown in photo two.

IMG_5689.JPG
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Guess the keyboard mapping!!!

IMG_5690.JPG
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Lardo
ZX80
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TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
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Lardo Boffin
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by Lardo Boffin »

Oh and I think it looks quite cool - a stealth zeddy! :D
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
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gammaray
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by gammaray »

Was is FileSixty?
5-TS1000,UK ZX81<-Sheelagh, US ZX81, 2-TS1500/KDLX , 3-TS2040 printer, 2-TS2020 cassette decks, ZXPAND+AY, ZeddyNET, ZXBlast, UDG, ZX8CCB, AERCO, BUILDS/REPAIRS ZX Spectrum, ZX80 Minstrel, ZXMAX48 v1 v2, 2-TS-2068, ROM, 16kRAM
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msansom
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by msansom »

I would have definitely bought one of those back in the day if I'd known about them.

What does the back side look like?
I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we've passed the audition.
torrid
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by torrid »

Looks fairly decent quality for what it is. I bought one that had stickers that you applied to each key, and the action wasn't much better than the membrane keyboard. Complete piece of junk.

I eventually got a Memotech keyboard, which was great. Unfortunately I loaned it out to somebody 20 years ago and never saw it again.
Lardo Boffin
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by Lardo Boffin »

msansom wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2017 3:49 am I would have definitely bought one of those back in the day if I'd known about them.

What does the back side look like?
Photo of the back:-
IMG_5692.JPG
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ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
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siggi
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by siggi »

My ZX81 web-server: online since 2007, running since dec. 2020 using ZeddyNet hardware
http://zx81.ddns.net/ZxTeaM
Moggy
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by Moggy »

Nice acquisition Lardo. :D

I had both versions of this at the time as mentioned in the link provided by Siggi.
They sold for£9.99 which was good value but the main weakness was that after many key presses the thin neoprene part of the buttons which acted as the spring ,if you will, becomes weak and the key return becomes sluggish and a bit wobbly, but they were a vast improvement over the hard plastic keyed version which needed muscles like Garth(fondly remembered by the over fifties ) to operate it! :lol:
Lardo Boffin
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by Lardo Boffin »

Another day, another zeddy, another keyboard!

IMG_6182.JPG
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IMG_6184.JPG
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This one has clearly had some use. Pity there is no way to restore it.

Lardo
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
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adonet
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Re: Third party keyboard

Post by adonet »

Yet another one for on the ZX81 membrane keyboard. Bought in Utrecht in 1984. I don't know who made it.
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backside
backside
detail
detail
keyboard
keyboard
I have been ZX computing since 1981, Zx81, 16Krampack, ZX Spectrum 48, Alphacom32, ZX Spectrum +, Lo>>profile keyboard, ZX Spectrum 128K
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