Date   : Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:00:16 +0100
From   : acorn@... (Andy Ford)
Subject: Easter Disaster

The keyboards are different in that a B has a single connection of about 
17 pins and the Master has two sets of 15, I am going from memory here 
so those numbers may not be 100% correct.

Not really sure of the actual differences, bear in mind the Master does 
not have a Cassette Motor led (it has a power led in it's place) and a 
numeric keypad.

As for length, I'd (guess) you could get away with 30cm (possibly less) 
without issues. You can use something like an old IDE cable if you 
needed a length of suitable cable though, saves buying a (possibly) 
expensive ribbon cable.

Someone will probably be able to expand a little further or a look at 
the diagrams for a B and a Master keyboard PCB will probably explain 
more (I do not have them at the moment to hand)

I do have a spare complete Master Compact keyboard in my spares, 
although I am not sure if that would fit a Master or not (it is just the 
keyboard with the ribbon cable, not the whole "keyboard" unit sadly as 
that is the whole machine) I doubt it due to the extra keys, untested 
though (no Compact to test it with)

:)


Alex Taylor wrote:
> I've got a spare Master 128 with a tatty case and no keyboard, but I'd
> kept it to one side because I had half an idea to build it into a
> tower case.
>
> One of the stumbling blocks I hadf was the keyboard. I don't have a
> Master keyboard for it but I'm sure I read on this list that you can
> fit a header to the PCB and use a Model B keyboard - is this right?
> Then I'd just need to build some kind of case for the keyboard. I'm
> also not sure how long a cable could be used to connect the two
> together without needing buffering.
>
>