Re: Moveable Keyboard On An ][+

["Greg Andrzejewski" <pressyourluck85@yahoo.com>]

"Mitchell Spector" <mitch2gs@hotmail.com> wrote in message 
uke361pbd3si3ffn74h166rs6dltd27a1q@4ax.com">news:uke361pbd3si3ffn74h166rs6dltd27a1q@4ax.com...
> "Robert C." <robc638killspam@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>>I was thinking on making my ][+'s keyboard removeable. I know using an IBM
>>keyboard is out of the question as it uses a very odd encoding technique.
>>What kind of encoding does a Mac keyboard use? How difficult would it be 
>>to
>>decode the serial line into a parallel signal in order to plug it into the
>>connector at the motherboard?
>
>    One of my Apple II Plus clones, a "Fugi Elite-5", has such a feature.
> The motherboard has the familiar DIP-16 connector for the keyboard,
> but there's a tiny circuit convertor plugged into it, with DIN-5 connector
> that mounts to the backport. From what I recall, the convertor was very
> simple, maybe one or two chips.
>
>    This clone doesn't have a built-in keyboard, instead it came with a
> detatchable IBM PC-like keyboard that plugs in through the convertor.
> I vaguely remember trying the keyboard on an actual PC and it not
> being recognized (and probably visa-versa with a PC keyboard). I'm
> sure the keyboard and convertor would work equally as well plugged
> into my real Apple II or II Plus but I never tried it.

It might be an XT keyboard. IBM introduced a new keyboard standard with the 
PC AT, completely incompatible with previous models but using the same DIN 5 
plug. For a while many keyboards had a switch on the bottom to toggle the 
keyboard between the two standards. If it is indeed an XT keyboard, I don't 
think a PC manufactured in the last 20 years would know what to do with it.

-Greg
>
> Mitchell Spector