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HP 2647F Terminal Keyboards?

matthew180

Experienced Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2007
Messages
56
Location
Central Florida
I picked up a pair of HP 2647F Terminals, but they do not have their keyboards. The seller is a liquidator / recycle company, and apparently they split everything that comes in the door into separate pieces to "maximize their profit"... Grr. So, the terminal, keyboard, external floppy, and cables all went their separate ways. Brilliant.

Anyway, I have the terminals but I need keyboards. Does anyone know where I might find some? Of course I'm keeping a daily watch on ebay, but I'm not very hopeful of getting any from there. Also, any info on getting the interconnect cables would be helpful, that was I won't have to make my own.

Thanks,
Matthew
 
Thanks for the links. I remember reading somewhere exactly what you said, that any 264x series keyboard can be used. The problem is, it seems that *any* keyboard for this terminal is hard to come by. Some members on the forum have mentioned in previous posts that they have more terminals than keyboards; a ratio something like 2-to-1.

I might have to go all-out and make my own from scratch (PCB and associated circuits), and use modern-day key switches. While that would give me a way to use the terminal, I would still like to have an original.
 
Thanks for the links. I remember reading somewhere exactly what you said, that any 264x series keyboard can be used. The problem is, it seems that *any* keyboard for this terminal is hard to come by. Some members on the forum have mentioned in previous posts that they have more terminals than keyboards; a ratio something like 2-to-1.

I might have to go all-out and make my own from scratch (PCB and associated circuits), and use modern-day key switches. While that would give me a way to use the terminal, I would still like to have an original.

I remember this terminals family with great affection. The Honeywell I worked on had commands added to allow files to be downloaded to the tape or terminal memory. They were lovely screens...
... but generally keyboards are a problem. I think many were binned as whilst the terminals might be kept as spares, keyboards seldom failed so weren't needed. Then there are the keyboard collectors...
 
I ended up having to pay and have one shipped in from Europe in order to get mine working. Take a guess where all the keyboards are going and I wish you luck.
 
Remeber that. Did you manage to find that key switch that was missing?

Haven’t done much to the boards that you sent me in exchange. Useful as spares when getting my 2645 up and running.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread briefly but I did not. The keyboard ultimately kinda-sorta worked but with dead keys, unresponsive buttons and stuck LED's, so something is not quite right which falls in line with legalize saying "I believe you could use any keyboard from the 264x" but I could also just have a screwy keyboard interface board.
Then a few power cycles later while troubleshooting it stopped going ready completely and I got distracted by other projects.

CGS_7698.jpg
 
This keyboard uses the hall effect as the sensing mechanism on the keys. This is a mechanism that is unlikely to fail due to age and is very reliable in the number of keystrokes before failure. So if there's a failure, it seems more likely to be on the keyboard interface card.

There is an article in the HP Journal about the keyboard in the 264x series that goes into detail on the design. The HP 264x maintenance manual has circuit diagrams and parts lists for everything, including all variations, but honestly I find the technical information on the 264x series to be difficult to manage because it's formatted strangely, split among multiple documents, and is always interspersed with all the variant information inline. I believe everything is documented, however.

The part that has been missing for me on every one of these terminals is the rear cable that connects the serial I/O edge connector to a normal DB-25 style RS-232 connector. It seems this is always separated from the terminal when it is sold, unless it happens to come from another collector.
 
I wonder what the ratio of harvested keyboards to repurposed keyboards might be. Now MAYBE someone with a keyboardless 264x made out, but I’m a naive optomist.
 
Ouch, two bidders bid against each other all the way up to $205.50 at the end.

Yeah, I was one of the two bidders. Super bummed about it, since it was a reasonable price until the end. I'm surprised I went as high as I did, but I'll make a reproduction keyboard before I pay that much for one. My primary goal is the be able to use my terminals, having an original keyboard is not necessary (although it would be nice to have at least one original).

I hope the winner is at least going to use it with a 264x terminal.
 
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