They can be removed so I removed all of them from one of they keyboards and tried cleaning but nothing worked well. In addition to the cover, all the key switch covers need to be cleaned. I can take the cover off the keyboard so I tried cleaning it with household clears but nothing did a very good job. I have tried cleaning some of them before using a variety of substances like rubbing alcohol and household cleaners like Awesome using a qTip. None of these keyboards have had anything more than a cursory cleaning in the time I have owned them so many of them are pretty groady. My goal is to get all 9 working and have a supply of keyboards that will last me until I croak.Īnd now for the real purpose of this thread cleaning these puppies. If need be, the Ultras also have a row of function keys at the top that are duplicates of the side function keys that I never use. None of the keyboards seems to need more than a couple of keys replaced. I replaced it with the 'Print Screen' key which I never use. I fixed one today where the 'Y' key didn't work. Replacing them requires un-soldering the switch and soldering in a new one. The ALPS switches are soldered to a board. The ALPS switches are no longer available so I am scavenging switches from from keys I don't use. I have finally got to the point where every keyboard has a problem or two. I need two working one for home and one for the shop. As each had a problem, I put it aside and started using another. They all still work but one-by-one a few keys have become sticky or failed. Over the years, I have accumulated 9 Northgate keyboards 6 Ultra Ts, and 3 102s. And some like CTL-F8 are very difficult to do single hand-idly. Many of the CTL combinations like CTL-F4 are awkward to do single hand-idly. And for normal programs it works more efficiently that modern keyboards. These keyboards are great for that as all the ALT and CTL function combinations can be done with a single hand. As a programmer, my editor of choice (there have been several) over the past 30 years has used the Brief keyboard layout which relies heavily and ALT and CTL function key combinations. One of the first thing you will notice is that both have functions keys along the side like the original IBM keyboards. My Ultras are a little newer than the one shown and has the 'Windows' key between the CTRL and ALT keys on both sides as well as a couple of other minor differences. They have had a number of different layouts, but there are two layouts I especially like, the Ultra T layout and the 102 layout. Most modern keyboards use membrane or scissor switch membrane key switches.īesides like the feel of a mechanical keyboard, I also prefer the layout of the Northgates. These are mechanical keyboards that use ALPS keyboard switches. Considering that you can buy a cheap keyboard for under $10.00, these are pricey but worth every cent. I have see a lot of these go for $100 and up. There is one on eBay right now with a Buy it now of $175.00 on it. They keyboards weigh about 5 pounds or more and are now very hard to find. Some of you may be familiar with the old IBM keyboards (like the clickity type M - the Northgates aren't as clickity) which were similarly built. They are a mechanical keyboard that uses ALPS switches. They were the Cadillac of keyboards and are built like a tank. I have had a love/love affair with Northgate keyboards for over 20 years.
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