Micro National PC
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Full size
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Key Tronic–inspired design switch (Linear; spring over foam & foil)
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Stock keycaps
This board is a bit of a mystery. It was listed for free on r/MK to the person willing to pay shipping, and I snagged it. When I received it, none of usual adapters or converters would get it working with my PC. I ended up shipping it off to Hagstrom Electronics where they performed a series of protocol diagnostics on the board, and put together a USB converter that spoke the one-0ff XT protocol of the keyboard and translated it to USB.
The keyboard layout is similar to that of the IBM Model F, but it definitely doesn’t the feel the same as a Model F (or Model M). The Butterfly switches feel nice nonetheless. This board was about the journey, and the relationship I made with Stan and the other fine folks at Hagstrom. 🙂
dilbertprogrammer's mechanical keyboards 
Does the Key Tronic name appear anywhere? Those are not Key Tronic’s keycaps, and the plunger design does not match that of Key Tronic either.
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The Key Tronic name does not appear anywhere on the board. Thank you for the clarification.
Any thoughts on which switches these are? I was putting forth my best guess based on the limited information I was able to find online.
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Conceivably, photos of the rear label or internals might offer a clue; not a lot to go on yet.
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There are no labels on the rear unfortunately. When time permits I will look into disassembling the case. Here is a gallery from when I bought the keyboard in 2016: http://imgur.com/a/BzS0Z
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Heh … As I feared, a Far East knock-off most likely, with probably nothing inside to identify its origins.
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LOL. I posted and shared pictures with Deskthority after I got it, and “Key Tronic Butterfly switch (Linear; spring over foam & foil)” was a best guess from XMIT. I will have to tear into it. Or perhaps let you take a look. 🙂 I was planning to list this board and some other vintage boards on Deskthority soon.
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“Butterfly” was a misunderstanding. The “Butterfly” advertisement refers to a self-contained linear keyswitch that never entered production. I’ve known for a while that it was abandoned, but I just got confirmation today from the same former Key Tronic employee of my suspicion that US patent 4209819 covers the “Butterfly” type (I finally made the connection between the ad and that patent yesterday while expanding my Key Tronic coverage). At the time, our best guess was that “Butterfly” referred to the linear foam pad type, but I always considered this to be highly suspect.
What you have seems to be a Key Tronic–inspired design, where none of the details match real Key Tronic. I’m curious to see what else you have.
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Thanks for the details! I’ve updated the switch type to reflect it is a “Key Tronic–inspired design” switch.
I have some interesting ALPS boards and a lovely Model F among others.
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