Mega ST Keyboard Switches

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Atarian Computing
Posts: 444
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 4:27 am

Mega ST Keyboard Switches

Post by Atarian Computing »

From my blog: http://www.atariancomputing.com/blog/me ... rdswitches

They are mechanical and they are Cherry MX Blacks. I know because I finally took one out. No membranes anywhere. This is not a new discovery but something I had to verify myself because of lack of evidence.

Some people complain that Mega ST keyboards aren't as good as TT/MSTE membrane keyboards that have tactile feedback. And they would not be wrong if that's what they are after.

Mega ST's Cherry MX blacks are linear switches, meaning they have no click or tactile feedback by design. They are also one of the earliest Cherry switches from 1984.

The beauty of the Cherry MX switches, and therefore the Mega ST keyboards, is that they are replaceable. If I want click and tactile feedback, I can just replace the switches with Cherry MX Blues from 2007. Not the easiest task because each switch is soldered on the PCB with two pins and attached on a thick metal plate. This is why Mega ST keyboards are so heavy.

So I might just do that, replace all switches with MX Blues. Here are some pictures of the switch I removed. Phone had a hard time focusing.
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