Author Archives: kishy

IBM 6450200: 5170 Personal Computer/AT Keyboard

In late 2012 I noticed some “parts” for an IBM AT keyboard being sold and upon further investigation found it was a whole keyboard, but in non-operational condition (poor condition cord and at least one stuck key). I bought it and had it shipped halfway across the globe for less than half what it could have cost to buy one without those issues, and was able to fix it with less than an hour of work and replacing two capacitive key switch components that I already had spares of. Continue reading

IBM 16H6705: a wild TrackPoint appears!

This is an “IBM Enhanced Trackpoint II Keyboard”, or something to that effect. It is the only “old” buckling spring board that was available in black as far as I am aware, and has a real IBM TrackPoint II pointing stick embedded within it. Continue reading

SMB File Sharing Between Win10 and Win98

Whether you operate Win98 boxes in 2018 as a hobbyist or as an IT provider (oh, how I pity you in that case), you have undoubtedly discovered at some point in Win98’s impressive tenure that sharing files across a network is by far the fastest and easiest way to get new drivers and software onto such a machine, and files such as work product, screenshots and more back off such a machine. If you happen to do any of that interfacing from a Windows 10 computer, you have likely found that your ability to talk to your Win98 box mysteriously disappeared. I did, and here’s what I did to fix it. Continue reading

The IBM 4704

In 2011, while consulting with fellow enthusiasts of IBM keyboards, I was introduced to the keyboards for the IBM 4704 display terminal. This is the terminal for the IBM 4700 Finance Communication System, introduced at the beginning of the 1980s. This page details the information and resources I have been able to find about this system, notably surrounding 4704 terminals for this system and repurposing 4704 input peripherals for modern computers. Continue reading

Dolch PAC 65

Dolch network analyzers and related portable computers gained popularity on Geekhack for the use of Cherry MX switches in the keyboards of some models. Personally, I didn’t care about the keyboard but found the computer more intriguing, so I picked this up. Eventual goals involve newer internals. Continue reading