Re: Question about keyboards

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

Wayne Stewart replied:

>Any IIe keyboard will work with any IIe motherboard, whether it be a
>platinum,
>beige or whatever.
>With the IIe all the keyboard is, is a bunch of switches, everthing else
>including
>the controller(AY3600) is on the IIe motherboard. So basically every key
>press
>is just crossing two of those 26 wires. A simple y connector would allow to
>to
>use 2 different keyboards at the same time or 50.
>
>The II+ or II does it a bit differently having the MM5740 on the keyboard or
>the
>AY3600 on the keyboard encoder board. I've never tried it but an adapter with
>switches for the 5 and 12 volt power might work.

And if the II and II+ keyboard buffers on the encoder board were open
collector, they might be as easily paralleled as the //e's.

Unfortunately, they aren't--the buffers are an LS00 and an LS04.  ;-(

-michael

 Email:  mjmahon@aol.com
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