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Any tips for a TRS-80 CoCo with a few dead keys on the "chiclet" keyboard?

wowbobwow

wowbobwow

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After a lucky thrift shop find a while back, I've got a beautiful TRS-80 Color Computer Model 1 in my collection. I had one just like this as a kid back in the early '90s, so this is a very happy and nostalgic machine for me, in spite of (or maybe because of) the terrible "chiclet" keyboard, which I still have fond/angry memories of from all those years ago.

This appears to be a 32k machine and it's in good physical condition, with only a bit of typical wear to the silver case and lovely 3-color nameplate. Unfortunately, I have found that a few of the keys on the keyboard are totally non-responsive - specifically the letters U, P, S, and V.

I have a vague sense that these "chicklet" keyboards use some sort of membrane setup rather than any real key-switches - is that correct? I was able to successfully repair the membrane in my Commodore SX-64 keyboard a few years ago, but all that really needed was a very careful cleaning with 99% alcohol.

Any tips or suggestions on how I can get this wonderfully terrible keyboard working again would be much appreciated!

Huxley

IMG_4404.JPEG
 
twolazy said:
Should be able to just throw on a keyboard from a Coco2. I think I have one somewhere round here...
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Oh wow, I didn’t know that! I thought they were different pinout or something. If it turns out that you do have a spare that works and it is compatible with my CoCo Model 1, I would be absolutely interested in buying it from you!
 
I know the 2 and 3 are interchangeable, but the 3 has a few extra keys. Pretty sure the original can use a Coco2 keyboard, but the extra keys on the Coco3 will make it crash. Been ages since I used my CoCo.
 
But after some research I've found out that the keyboards between all three are interchangeable, same size footprint and ribbon cables. So I could have gotten the older Coco 1, which on average sell for about 25-50% less than the Coco 2 as well as peripherals matching the Coco 1 and upgraded the keyboard to the Coco 2 (the Coco 3 and it's keyboard are about 3 times as expensive and the only advantage is cursor keys to the right side instead of incorporated into the main keyboard like previous versions (left & right to the left side and up & down to the right side) and and an F1 and F2 key added that don't work with Coco 1&2 OS's.
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Also ram and OS can also be upgraded to match the Coco 2; 4/16K-64K. There is also a 16K version of the Coco 2 that can be upgraded too the same way. It was there low end model just like the 600XL, but had the same size case and the upgrade is internal, with sockets waiting to be filled and jumpers to be connected, just like the 1200XL upgrade to be 800XL compatible as far as memory and OS goes.
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Researched and realized I was correct. I will try to dig it out next few days, busy tomorrow but can do sunday. I also have a Coco2 parts unit I can include in case you need parts down the road or wish to upgrade yours.
 
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