Tired of trying to achieve a reasonable typing speed on the ZX-81 or T/S 1000 keyboard? Forget the idea, give up, no way Jose! To get real action from your little machine, treat it to a surplus, full size keyboard. It’s easier than you think!
A good first step, especially for the non-technician, is to order MULE Electronics’ kit. It contains an excellent schematic diagram, conversion instructions written for the non-technician, “customizing” instructions and attractive keytop labels for you “new” keyboard. A small envelop is attached to the keytop symbol mounting instructions and contains two extra “test sample” symbols which should be used first to assure compatibility of the adhesive with your particular keyboard.
If you have a good friend who is technically qualified, you might want to con him/her into doing the actual soldering for you. If not, just read and follow the instructions included in the kit. And wait to purchase your surplus keyboard until you have read the instructions, for they contain plain language tips as to what to look for and what to avoid.
Most surplus keyboards will have several spare keys. Wouldn’t it be nice to put some of the more often used (SHIFTED) T/S functions on dedicated keys, have two shift keys like a regular typewriter, etc? The Mule kit suggests two methods to do such customizing. A simple diode method will allow the EDIT, “, “”, DELETE, STOP, FUNCTION, and the British pound symbol (which my present equipment converts to # for some unknown reason) to be accessed with a single keystroke. A more elaborate suggestion, which will yield quite a few more single stroke functions, uses low-cost bilateral switch chips. Chips, diodes, wire, solder, etc, are not included in the kit but are usually readily available from local sources or mail order.
Real soon now, to borrow a phrase, my surplus keyboard will be stripped of the creepy-crawly things I cut from the original T/S 1000 “keyboard” and dressed up with MULE symbols. I like them!