Krown Porta-printer

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Krown Porta-printer keyboard

Layouts	Proprietary
Keyswitches	Datanetics DC-50 series Futaba MD series
Switch mount	PCB mount
Keycaps	Double-shot spherical

Krown Porta-printer is a series of portable teleprinters intended for use by the deaf and hard of hearing. The Porta-printer and Porta-printer II each comprised a 40% keyboard together with a miniature printer and an acoustic coupler.

Keyboard

The original Porta-printer and Porta-printer II keyboards used Datanetics DC-50 series switches; this was followed by a keyboard using Futaba MD series switches. Both keyboards were designed by Meryl Miller.<ref name="conv-MM" />

Datanetics switch versions

Porta-printer

The 1975 original keyboard had dark grey keycaps.

Porta-printer II

The 1977 Porta-printer II keyboard switched to ivory keycaps. The PCB below bears the legend "KROWN RESEARCH BAUDOT KEYBOARD", along with "REV E" and "BAU-EKB-1-774".

• 
  Top
• 
  Top, showing switches
• 
  Left-hand side, with switch close-up
• 
  Right-hand side, marked "REV E" and "BAU-EKB-1-774"
• 
  IC dates (7709 and 7651)

Futaba switch version

The Datanetics Porta-printer II keyboard was followed by a version with ivory/black Futaba MD series switches. The same keycap manufacturer appears to have been used, as the keycaps are identical in design to those in the previous two keyboards.

• 
  Side view of switches
• 
  Top view of switches

External links

• Southwest Museum Of Engineering, Communications and Computation — Krown Research / Krown Manafacturing

References

<references> <ref name="conv-MM">Correspondence with Meryl Miller, 2016-12-01–02</ref> </references>