Veetronix
Contents
Overview
Veetronix (whose website is continually down at the time of writing) is an American reed switch manufacturer. Veetronix reported that their market includes television studio control panels, and they are not aware that their switches have ever been used in a computer keyboard. Nevertheless, some models have the correct specifications for this purpose and conventional truncated keycaps are available for their switches. The 1983/84 EEM advertisment mentions that they “design and manufacture a variety of switch caps, space-bar and supporting mechanisms.” Veetronix switches can be seen in an Ampex ADO 1000, but they are only used for the illuminated buttons; the remainder were provided by Key Tronic.
One reed switch patent is known, US patent 3753179 “Reed switch”, filed in May 1972. The keyboard switch types advertised in Electronic Engineers Master in the late 80s and early 90s have no known series names besides “Long Series” and “Short Series”.
Specifications
The following specifications for their Short Series and Long Series keyboard pushbuttons were taken from the 1988–1989 Electronic Engineers Master advertisement:
| Operating force | 2.5 oz. to 20 oz. = 0.7 oz. [sic] |
|---|---|
| Travel | 0.187±0.007″ |
| Pretravel | 0.050″ minimum |
| Overtravel | 0.020″ minimum |
| Materials | Noble metal contact surfaces; nickel-plated terminals |
| Lamp | T-1 ¾ bi-pin, optional voltage 3–28 V |
| Rated lifetime | 50 million cycles minimum |
| Contact resistance | 100 mΩ maximum, initial |
| Maximum current | 500 mA resistive load (form 1A or 2A; 250 mA resistive otherwise) |
| Maximum voltage | 200 V DC (form 1A or 2A; 100 V DC otherwise) |
Documentation
The following were all scanned by Bitsavers:
- Veetronix advertisement, Electronic Engineers Master 1983–1984 (Vol. 1 p. 2405)
- Veetronix advertisement, Electronic Engineers Master 1988–1989 (Vol. B pp. 1806–7)
- Veetronix advertisement, Electronic Engineers Master 1991–1992 (Vol. B pp. 1790–1)