Northgate OmniKey 102 gold label review (Alps SKCM Blue)

Skip to 12:22 for a typing demonstration.
My other keyboard reviews: • Thomas' Keyboard Reviews
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A review of my gold-label Northgate OmniKey 102, basically the proto-OmniKey. With clicky blue Alps in a tank chassis there's not much that can go wrong with this, but as it turns out it's interesting beyond that.

[@dhoffnun]

That sound makes me *really* want a board with Alps switches...

[@ArtyI]

Theyre absolutely sublime. If you like clicky switches I can't think of a better one

[@Thirsty_Fox]

The sound of blue alps is second to none.

[@Chyrosran22]

It's fantastic, isn't it? :D

[@Thirsty_Fox]

Chyrosran22 Glorious. I'd say Monterey Blue switches are the next best, rather than White Alps. I'm tempted to harvest the Blue Alps switches from my board and put it in a Matias board.

[@logansorenssen]

That'd be interesting to compare. I personally think the Matias switches compare quite favorably to white Alps, very crunchy with excellent tactility, and mine at least is quite smooth. But, I haven't actually gotten to try a full board of blue Alps yet. (I have gotten to use an Apple IIc with what I think were amber Alps, and those were really nice...)

[@Thirsty_Fox]

Monterey Blue switches have a more notchy tactility, more crunchy, whereas the Blue Alps are more hump-like.

[@fightingtypegymleadermicha1539]

I tried Monterrey blues and honestly I preferred my complicated whites I haven't gotten a matias click to know the difference from those

[@IIIJFRIII]

So amazing. We gotta do something like a kick starter to make alps again. Holy shit the keyboards sounds in this video. Amazing man. Dude you need a TV show.

[@Chyrosran22]

Haha thanks mate xD .

[@PhilipAlexanderHassialis]

~ 10:34 "Microsoft Wordperfect"? Really? Not only MS created Word as an antagonist to WordPerfect but even in the screenshot, it clearly says "WordPerfect corporation". oO Other than that, omg the sound. Perfect, just perfect. Now if only someone made blue alps clones these days...

[@st4155]

Wow, what an amazing keyboard. Beautiful doubleshot keycaps, fantastic switches, and an amazing layout. I love my Model F AT, but this board gives it a run for its money.

[@jacobematt6222]

I'm really jealous of that kepuller, talk about cool merch

[@Chyrosran22]

I know right? ^^

[@Ryerman8]

I think the blue alps work so great because their click compliments the thunk you get from bottoming out, it has the perfect balance of volume and tone so that neither overpowers the other

[@ashleycharlesworth8358]

I love these videos, not only are these keyboards fascinating and nice to use, but you go into all the extra details that I actually want to know about with a keyboard I plan to use or collect, most keyboard reviews skip out on things like sound.

[@jeniferirwin]

oh my god your voice. between your voice and the keyboards, this is amazing. please continue doing this

[@wkg19591]

I have to share this. Today someone stopped by my office for some math help. As he was leaving, he sneered 'you need a new keyboard'. I asked why and he said that I didn't game so why do I need a mechanical keyboard? And besides, 'that's a piece of junk!' Do I really need to say that 'it' is a gold badge Omnikey? Snicker.

[@marco_evertus]

I know I'll never be able to touch a blue apls (thanks to people not shipping stuff) but seeing a keyboard with blue apls makes me happy anyways.

[@dudinacas]

10:24 "Microsoft WordPerfect"

[@lollandster]

10:31 I'm pretty sure WordPerfect wasn't a Microsoft product.

[@brannmitchell4602]

WordPerfect was a product from SSI, which was bought by Corel at some point. I used to support a lawyer who wouldn't use anything else but WP 6.0.

[@jb_lofi]

No contest against the Model M. That's not something you hear often...

[@E3E--]

The Focus FK-555 actually had a DIP switch for swapping the CTRL and Caps Lock keys, unlike this one, but yeah. They are certainly very related. The FK-555 is no slouch in the build department though. The biggest difference is that it doesn't have the more contoured back metal panel like the Omnikey as far as I see. Even the cable and impracticality of routing the cable through the feet's gutters, as well as the rubberized portions on the feet are the same, haha.

[@MikeHoltackers]

awesome video's and such an amazingly pleasant voice! Do you sell keyboards every now and then? I't be awesome to buy one from you if that helps support the cannel!

[@Chyrosran22]

Yes, I tend to sell of duplicates of my keyboards to fund purchases. I've financed the entire hobby this way, as I'm too poor to afford all this otherwise. I generally post them on Deskthority and Geekhack. I don't really have anything at the moment, though.

[@prodfauxes]

I'm not sure what it is about blue alps, but to me they sound like perfection. Whenever I think of clicky mechanical switches, that sound is my default.

[@MichaOstrowski]

Vortex RGB modifiers on the Race 3 follow the same color scheme. It's nice to know this is a deliberate choice.

[@TheAussieNinja84]

I've never gotten the love for the buckling spring sound. But far out are those blue alps amazing.

[@y11971alex]

Great video as usual.

[@Chyrosran22]

Thanks :) .

[@y11971alex]

I found the 10u spacebar on (formerly) my DC-2014 made it sound quite a lot like yours. Of course I couldn't tell for sure, because I haven't heard of yours in person.

[@BiscuitFever]

Love your reviews. Really wish I could get my hands on some of your finds, these keyboards sound fantastic to type on.

[@Chyrosran22]

They are! :D

[@kyleabramowitz9723]

Just picked up one of these in great condition dated mid 1988. Interestingly enough it has the tall grey switch plates, so even within the same model, the generation of switches varied. Interesting! Great vids too :D

[@Chyrosran22]

Thank you! Yes, definitely within the same models the generation of switches varied, this is pretty normal for Alps boards actually! Recently someone even discovered black switchplate blue Alps, though I'm not sure it was in one of these.

[@kyleabramowitz9723]

Very interesting! Thanks for the reply!

[@doug834]

Quite a nice addition to your collection indeed

[@madmike5421]

I have two Northgate keyboards. One is the Omnikey 102 and the other is the Ultra and both have white Alps switches. Are you sure they used blue switches on ALL of the Ultra line. This one was bought in the early 90's.

[@harjoat]

Ever tried retr0bright on some of your yellowed keycaps? It's a method of using hydorgen peroxide and uv light to "reverse" the effect of yellowing.

[@Chyrosran22]

I know, In could actually do it with some chemicals from the lab if I wanted to :p . This one has almost no yellowing though, and besides, yellowed boards have a bit of character I think. Plus Retrobrighting doesn't get rid of it for good, it returns after a bit of time. Only coloured boards I would probably Retrobright.

[@treknology1068]

That Acer is a badge engineer job. I have Acer and NEC as well as seeing Canon that are all identical.

[@rich1051414]

What exactly lends itself to the better sound? It is strictly the click leaf design, or is there something different about the slider? Do you have a video comparing the click leafs between alps switches? I do not own blue alps, although I have tried. They are so difficult to find at a price that wouldn't force me to mortgage my house xD However, I do have early white alps, as well as orange and salmon alps. I REALLY like early white alps, but they are slightly on the heavy side. The sound though seems to me to be very rich and heavy. I cannot imagine what blue alps would sound like.

After half a year trying to find a Blue SKCM Alps keyboard it's kinda frutrating to see how easily you come buy with these great finds. ALPS keyboards were not that common in my region, hell, even PC's were not common, not to speak about vintage mechanical keyboards. Maybe you could source one for me :) I would cover the sourcing expenses and shipping :)

Haha

[@AsdAsd-bw6lv]

Jbg brate, bas alps ces tesko ali ja sam nasao cikonija sa monterejcima za 30e na kupujemprodajem i prezadovoljan sam, ne odustaj!

Tu sam kupio :)

Tj nisam tu...bila je jedna dobra Focus FK-2000 u odlučnom stanju sa pojednostavljenim. Ja sam kupio Chicony 5161 sa SKCM prekidačima.

Igor Prćić Merkao sam i sličnu. Ali ova je imala trackball pa mi se nije svidela.

[@ivanzypher4532]

Did you trade this for your Acer? I can't believe you found one. Saw the post on Deskthority a while back and I thought: no chance. Yet here it is! - edit - oh, a donation? Jeez. See, that's how much people like your videos :D

[@Chyrosran22]

No, I got it for free, it was a donation. So now I have both! Can't see myself ever trading the Acer for anything now tbh xD .

[@M4dn3ss_]

I have a bunch of blue Alps that, no matter what I've tried, I just can't remove the scratchy feeling from. As a last resort, I thought of finding some pristine white Alps ("pine" w/ slits) and swapping the top housings over. Would this degrade the sound signature of the blue Alps? After all, the top housing is where the click leaf hits the plastic.

[@Chyrosran22]

M4dn3ss basically all parts were slightly changed over time. It's hard to say exactly what impacts what. Unfortunately, your blue Alps will probably never be the same again, but you might get somewhat close.

[@M4dn3ss_]

The sound might be a bit different but I would assume it would feel the same (better actually with top housings from BNIB white Alps), any reason why it wouldn't?

[@OLopezJr72291]

Finally, I bought this one on eBay for less than $100...though the cable is cut, the ESC and the SKCM blue switch (top housing, slider, clickleaf and spring) are missing. But it will be worth repairing to working condition. How hard is it to replace the cable?

[@malenky4057]

This sounds fantastic! I hear you may be attending the UK meetup? Would you bring anything along? And are you even interested in trying anything (newer/modern) out?

[@Chyrosran22]

Yes, I should be attending indeed :) . I was thinking of bringing some old Alps classics maybe, get people to feel some really nice-condition ones :) . Getting more into modern stuff nowadays, but for a different reason xD .

[@beezito]

Another great video! Do you know of any way of taking these old vintage keyboards keys and changing them from the sun burnt (yellow) back to the original colour of white?

[@Chyrosran22]

Yeah, you can retrobright them, but it's only temporarily.

[@dalriada842]

deskthority.net/workshop-f7/new-formula-for-retrobright-t11193.html

[@adminlvieira]

In my country they are selling 3 of those blue Acer alps , with box for 50.00 plus shipping... Maybe i will by one, my only concern is related to the fact that this keyborards even with an usb adapter will fail to type....

[@elliottmiller7201]

Weird...I have a gold badge Omni-Key102 with white Alps instead of blue. Really cool to see the evolution here.

[@Chyrosran22]

They changed the switches before they changed the label. Therefore some of the later gold label ones already came with white Alps.

[@michaelx9079]

Love the .....pause.....break...... ke

[@liamstraub3394]

just wondering does the frame and the way the keyboard is made affect the acoustics of the keyboard more that you would really think? Like if you were to take the white alps and put them into the omnikey would they then sound like the blue alps that were once in there. I have no clue but it just has me thinking. IMO i believe if you were to do the switch replacement as i have described they would sound like the original blue alps that came in the omni0key. (This includes using the same key caps that were found with the blue alps on the omnikey)

[@NoEntertainment]

Cool keyboard with cool sound. I mean, the layout...but still.

[@eli7693]

I found a omnikey gold badge at my thrift store for 2 dollars. I was stupid and i didnt buy it.

[@MrJAM-np7go]

I have blue alps switch with skcc black switch plate. So, basically the blue alps itself has generations. I wonder early white switch has dry lubricant or something and the difference between switch plates could make the different key feel. Anyway, the winkeyless store sells RO-59 fluorine based dry lubricant in my country ( winkeyless.com/product/ro-59tmkt/ ). I'm considering buy that stuff and make ghetto 1st gen alps with later generation switches.

[@rrpiva]

Which Blue Alps would you consider buying nowadays... I mean, something that will not break my bank... Thx!

[@danielf950]

Gorgeous!

[@yogscastfan]

Please bring this to the UK keyboard meetup if you are coming :P

[@Chyrosran22]

I was thinking of bringing the Acer actually, like I said the switches on that are in better condition. This one does have more presence (and weight) to it, though xD .

[@yogscastfan]

It would be brilliant to tryout some blue alps! I have a white alps board but find them slightly too heavy.

[@protocetid]

Don't Alps wear out faster than Cherry MX? I know the former are better feeling though.

[@Chyrosran22]

`They do, nowadays Cherries last to 50 million while Alps last to 20 million. Also Cherries are said to improve with use while Alps most definitely get worse. Basically Alps designed their switches to be as good as they can be... briefly xD .

[@protocetid]

Chyrosran22 Unless I'm mistaken it's only the blacks that get better, and maybe the reds.

[@MrEsChannelYT]

Can you do a video regarding Outemu switches?

[@Happytylermovieproducction]

Your voice and ALP Blue sound are much much better than Justin Bieber

[@Dhaydon75]

is this a insult or a compliment

[@BreadTeleporter002]

​@@Dhaydon75No, this is clearly bread.

[@pat325ci]

Is this your top #1 keyboard of all time?

[@Thanatermesis]

Amazing sound, it remembers me to the "Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro 2", can you compare these both sounds maybe?

[@Chyrosran22]

They don't sound anything alike tbh. The HHKB has a deep plastic thock, this has a strong metallic click. It's also MUCH louder xD .

[@cat-em3mj]

you seem happy with this board

[@iHateFakeRap]

thicc

[@SOOH27]

i really want an alps keyboard. too bad they cost so much

[@dimitrilensflareabrams2893]

Very thicc those blue alps are.

[@lesbeery2478]

What’s with the phantom row of function keys at the top?

[@Chyrosran22]

They're not keys, it's just a strip of mylar for noting down shortcut keys.

[@gmcenroe]

There is one of these on ebay at the moment

[@yangxiaolong8657]

Are the like flat plastic f1-f12 things above the keyboard functional keys?

[@Chyrosran22]

No, they are shortcut key templates; you can write on them what the F keys do. The F keys are to the left.

[@yangxiaolong8657]

Ah, thank you for the answer. It will get some getting used to but worth it I think. Am currently on inherited rubber dome 'silent' Model M, and I think this will be a suitable upgrade

[@Chyrosran22]

Hahaha this is NOTHING like a rubber dome Model M xD .

[@yangxiaolong8657]

Oh and one more question, what connector do they typically come with and is it easy to convert it to ps/2 Thanks!

[@Chyrosran22]

Well it comes with a PS/2 plug, so yeah :p .

[@ComradeArthur]

Huh. My 102 (serial number close to yours) has a black alt key. Might have been replaced - I got this from a guy who rebuilds Northgates.

[@Chyrosran22]

Bob Tibbetts. Yeah, he does that sometimes; it's quite possible.

[@ComradeArthur]

works great though!

[@paulkim282]

Got any blue alps boards you're willing to sell?

[@Chyrosran22]

No, sorry.

[@fenixlolnope361]

tbh i can't believe you've never used WordPerfect. Pretty sure you're a couple years older than me, and I spent many a day of my childhood writing in Wordperfect. Superior to MS Word in every way. Actually have a boxed copy of Wordperfect 8 somewhere

[@Chyrosran22]

I'm 31 :p .

[@fenixlolnope361]

you're way older than me >.< how did you never use Wordperfect? xD

[@Chyrosran22]

I never needed to do any word processing as a kid :p . It wasn't until Windows was well and truly a thing that I started it, and there I used Word instead, because that's what everyone else in school used.

[@fenixlolnope361]

ah, I understand. I always had old computers, so while other people were probably using Word, I preferred Wordperfect since it loaded quickly on my ancient system and ran in DOS. x3

[@Architector_4]

I just realized that your profile pic isn't a screen with big frame around, but a key. ._.

[@Chyrosran22]

There's a long story behind that picture xD .

[@christophero1969]

I'm sorry, butt, Microsoft "WORD PERFECT"? No, just "WORD PERFECT- FROM THE WORRD PERFECT CORPORATION. Had to call you out.

[@hlogo2720]

Why old version is always better quality? lol

[@eli7693]

Found one of these at a thrift store for 2 bucks one time. I didnt buy it.

[@fiverZ]

10:32 "Microsoft WordPerfect"