Recently I acquired a ‘white’ KIM-1. Most revisions were made of green PCB material.
Rev D and Rev E were also made in blue.
This one is a Rev D with a ‘white’ PCB. The KIM-1 is working as you can see.
The ‘white’ KIM-1 as received, working but awful to look at
But the previous owner did some horrible work on it. Most IC’s were unsoldered and placed in some kind of IC sockets. The desoldering did quite some damage to print traces.
Many traces were covered with solder. Solder remains everywhere, very dirty brown spots of solder resin. Wires soldered on the connector, and the A-K wire on the board itself.
The biggest crime is the keyboard that was handmade on experimenters board. With quality switches, but with an awful appearance. It works, but it had to go.
With the DIY keypad method, based upon the work of Eduardo Casino and Pete (peo2000) I replaced the keyboard with an acceptable replica. Not too easy and tidy since the print traces were damaged
With a replica keyboard, wires and excessive solder removed and a good clean with alcohol and a brush the white KIM-1 may join my collection.
Surface mount switches and slide switch. Solder one leg first of all switches. Check if the switches are nicely in line with the others. Move if required.
Only when you are satisfied with the position of all switches, solder the other legs. Fine tip, not too much solder.
Next solder the two wires (A to A, B to B) on top of the PCB.
My friend Gerben Voort uses a 3D printing service. In resin black a near perfect result is achieved.
The other keys (E, F, AD, DA, ST, RS, PC, +, GO) need a label. I print those with a cheap Dymo Pocket printer with white on Black 9 mm tape.
The ‘E’ and ‘F’ are printed ‘wide’, the other in normal width.
Cut the label to the right size and put them on the keys.
I wish the color white was a bit more white, and the font more like the the other keys, but it is the best I can do with this label printer.
Insert the keys in the frame with the frame top on the table. Put the slide switch button on the slide switch.
