Peak of the Alps - Northgate OmniKey Ultra-T Review

I've had a hankering for another Alps equipped keyboard ever since I parted ways with my oddball Datacomp DFK515 and thankfully, that opportunity finally presented itself in the form of what many consider to be the magnum opus. This is the Northgate OmniKey Ultra-T - and it eats IBM Model Ms for breakfast.

Despite making a keyboard that holds a lot of reverence among computer users of a certain age - Northgate Computer Systems probably isn't a household name for most of you readers. In short, they were a manufacturer and seller of mail-order computers and peripherals during the 80s and 90s - among which was the OmniKey line of keyboards. The OmniKey ended up being so well liked that many customers just bought them for use with their existing systems.

An early "Gold Badge" OmniKey 102.

There were six models of the OmniKey. Northgate did sell some rebadged keyboards under the same branding, but we'll just focus on the more well-known originals:

• OmniKey 101: ANSI layout, 12 function keys on top
• OmniKey 101-N: Northgate layout with star nav cluster, 12 function keys on top
• OmniKey 102: AT layout, 12 function keys on the left
• OmniKey Plus: Northgate layout with star nav cluster, 12 function keys on the left
• OmniKey Ultra: Northgate layout with star nav cluster, 24 function keys on the left and top
• OmniKey Ultra-T: ANSI layout, 24 function keys on the left and top

It's worth noting these keyboards underwent many revisions over their production runs. For instance, all OmniKeys normally come equipped with complicated Alps SKCM White switches, but earlier gold badged 102s typically came with Alps SKCM Blue, while later production models came with simplified Alps SKBM switches. Also starting in the early-90s, the keyboards switched to a simplified PCB and a physically larger casing, quickly identifiable by the flip open cover under the badge.

Northgate's computer business eventually fizzled out but the OmniKey stubbornly remained. However it was still a very expensive keyboard to produce for a rapidly shrinking market; in large part due to the rise of rubber dome keyboards. After Northgate folded the OmniKey design and tooling was sold to a company called Creative Vision Technologies (CVT), who continued to produce variants of the keyboard under the Avant name. Up until around 2011, you were still able to buy one.

A CVT Avant Stellar - the OmniKey Ultra-T's last gasp.

The Ultra-T was one of the last remaining models, eventually being produced by CVT with some further modernizations and cost reductions as the Avant Stellar. Being an early-90s model, the Ultra-T has the larger casing but also a normal ANSI layout instead of the oddball AT/ANSI hybrid Northgate layout with the star nav cluster like the standard Ultra used. 

And considering that it has 24 function keys? It's also huge. Like, really freakin' huge.

Size compared to the Model M inspired Classic F104.

The OmniKey Ultra-T is informally classified as a "battlecruiser" or "battleship" type keyboard which means it's layout is bigger than a standard full size - but that naturally means the keyboard itself is bigger too. The casing measures out at 20.5 inches wide, 8 inches deep, and 2 inches tall before you flip the feet it. It also weighs a whopping 4.9 pounds. That's larger and heavier than an already giant IBM Model M. They're both about the same height and depth, but the Ultra-T is substantially wider due to the addition of the twelve function keys on the lefthand side of the keyboard.

It also looks really cool, like it belonged at NASA Mission Control during the Space Shuttle era. The OmniKey has got the giant pencil holder spanning the width of the keyboard that's very representative of 1980s and 1990s keyboard designs, and a very period badge in the top left corner. It's also quite beige. Mine is unfortunately starting to yellow slightly but it still looks pretty great considering it's over three-decades old at this point.

The reason for all that weight is pretty straightforward: lots of metal. The OmniKey has the characteristic steel mounting plate that most Alps keyboards of the era had, but it also has a massive steel tub that everything screws into. I'm not talking about a steel backplate like the IBM Model F XT or the Datacomp DFK515 had. This is a literal, stamped piece of thick sheet steel that forms the the bulk of the keyboard's structure. That ABS plastic top cover? Purely cosmetic.

The big, rubber wrapped flip out feet give the keyboard about an additional 0.75 inches of lift in the rear. It also sports a detachable PS/2 cable and cable clips on the left and right side of the keyboard. Normally OmniKeys come with a pretty massive coiled gray AT cable with a 90-degree plug on the keyboard end. Mine was unfortunately missing so I went ahead and fashioned one myself using a generic PS/2 cable and a heat gun.

In my opinion the weakest part of the construction is the fact the mounting plate is completely unsupported in the middle of it's span. I found the plate in my Ultra-T was sagging in the middle, likely because the keyboard is so wide and used often enough to actually bow it in slightly. Even then, I can't knock it. This thing is an absolute monster in terms of build quality and it handily embarrasses most keyboard offerings today - never mind from the era.

The keycaps are typical vintage Alps - thin doubleshot ABS with razor sharp legends and a nice fine texture on them. The OmniKey's caps are especially cool because the modifier legends are all color coded in red, green, and blue. It's a nice little splash of color. They also make the keyboard sound especially nice, but we really have the switches to thank for that.

As I mentioned earlier, this keyboard is fitted with Alps SKCM White which replaced the earlier Alps SKCM Blue. I've always wanted to try white Alps after testing it's often considered far-superior predecessor in my DFK515 review and this was my opportunity to finally do so.

With SKCM White, Alps took some measures to make the switches less expensive to produce versus SKCM Blue. They most notably removed the slider lubricant that gave blue Alps it's signature smoothness and they evidently also changed the metallurgy of the spring and click leaf. I've also seen some additional claims that the quality of the plastic was changed, but I don't see any evidence backing that up. My switches are of the "pine" variety which means they still have the dampening slits in the top housing, indicating they're of supposedly better quality than the later switches without the slits.

Either way, I figured these changes weren't going to be overly substantial feeling in practice. Alps is Alps right? And keyboard enthusiasts are right up there with audiophiles in terms of huffing snake oil... right? 

These switches were shockingly rough. Like, the keyfeel was there and it was the bulk of what I remembered blue Alps feeling like, but they binded extremely hard off-center and the feel and sound was wildly inconsistent. In fact, several keys would actually click equally loud on their upstroke as they would on their downstroke, which is something that's not supposed to happen with clicky Alps.

The nerds aren't wrong. SKCM Blue does generally feel better than SKCM White. The magical lube that Alps used for SKCM Blue must have stuck around really well if the difference between it and SKCM White is still that prevalent over three decades later.

But I think it's a little unfair treating a switch this old with such disdain. Alps switches are notorious for foreign material ingress and it was possible these switches were just dirty. White Alps are also still virtually identical to to blue Alps in terms of overall design - so why couldn't they be about equal?

So, I proceeded to get medieval.

Without going into too much detail, the only real solution for tuning up crusty old Alps switches (short of finding good conditioned replacements) is to tear every single switch open and give them a thorough deep clean. While I was at it, I also decided I was going to take a stab at relubricating the slider rails of each switch. In theory -  and assuming I find the right lube - this is the secret sauce that truly bridges White Alps and Blue Alps. Since it was highly recommended, I opted for Super Lube branded branded grease with PTFE.

The entire process is indeed as big of a pain in the as you think it might've been. I had to tear open each switch using a specially designed 3D printed tool and separate all the components. I set aside the click leaves and springs, then brushed and vacuumed out the lower housings. I then gave the sliders and upper housings a long soak in soapy water, let them dry for at least 24 hours, and then I proceeded with applying the lube.

Very little lube is needed to grease up an Alps switch. Using a fine paintbrush, I just brushed on a barely perceptible smear of lube onto the contact rails of both the slider and the upper housing. I then fitted the two pieces together and if the slider falls without any resistance, I knew it was properly lubed. Too much and it will stick - then you'd have to wipe off the excess. In this case, it's better to have too little than too much.

That left reassembly and I also took the time to adjust the click leaves for each switch. They apparently have a tendency to loosen up with prolonged use and it can result in inconsistent keyfeel and sound. In order to resolve this, I spread the two little tabs at the bottom of each click leaf in order to tighten up the fit inside the upper housing. 

Compared to the tape method which a lot of other users commonly use, this has the benefit of being fully adjustable. A more loose fit increases the audible clickiness but makes the switch more prone to clicking on the upstroke, while a more snug fit can dull the sound to the point the switch is just tactile. I tried finding that middle ground for each switch. All 116 of them...

The last fix I implemented was leveling out that bowed in mounting plate. I figured the keyboard could really do with some additional support in the middle of the plate so I designed and 3D printed a support structure that props up the middle of the PCB but is minimal enough so it doesn't affect the case acoustics much. I used TPU for this part since it preserves some of the "give" the unsupported plate would've had and because it's flexible, I could wedge it in without any adhesive.

All of this was a ton of work, but oh my god - it was SO worth the effort.

I actually think it looks really cool with the plastic top cover removed.

The cleaning, lube, and click leaf tune up absolutely transformed these switches. They went from being scratchy and generally pretty unpleasant to type on to feeling absolutely sublime. Northgate actually used a single blue Alps switch under the space bar on this keyboard so I did my best to match each switch to the raw feel of that one, and I think I pulled it off. Generally speaking, I think these white feel at least 90 percent of what a true SKCM Blue switch feels like and probably close to imperceptible in actual typing - especially to the average user.

This OmniKey just feels and sounds plain meaty under the fingers. The clickiness is definitely more baritone than what you'd find out of the average clicky MX switch: still loud but more full bodied and not nearly as grating. The keys have a nice sharp tactile break and a "thocky" bottoming out, amplified by that cavernous metal case and chunky keycaps. In my opinion, this totally obliterates a Model M in terms of typing experience and it easily rivals the liveliness of hammering away on a Model F - but the soundtrack is no contest. This thing rocks.

And compared to a lot of other Alps keyboards, the OmniKey Ultra-T isn't held back by some antiquated layout from an era where everyone was still transitioning from AT layouts to ANSI. This was firmly in the right camp and still relevant today.

Even then, the layout does still pack in some oddities that might make using this keyboard as a daily driver a little bit of adventure. Despite packing in 24 function keys, Northgate didn't give the keyboard any sort of programmability. Instead, the keyboard has a set of dip switches stashed underneath the cover in the top left corner of the keyboard. Changing the setting of the "SF" function keys is actually done with that big orange button under the cover as well.

But even with all that, the keyboard is still very limited in it's programmability. The SF keys can only be set to run with a modifier such a control, alt, or shift - otherwise they will just function as normal. This seems like a hugely wasted opportunity for Northgate as other keyboards from the era like the Focus FK-9000 still pulled off proper macro keys without the need for any software. Unless a Soarer's converter can parse the scan codes from these keys and configure them to do something else, it's a little bit of a letdown.

But I digress. For someone who doesn't need 24 keys worth of macros, this is still a god-tier keyboard. It's built phenomenally well, types like an absolute dream and in the case of the Ultra-T (and 101) specifically; it isn't held back by some nonsensical layout from decades past. Sure, chances are given it's age it might take a lot of work to get it to such a state, but it's not hard to see why people view the OmniKey line as the Alps keyboard to get. And even though secondhand prices are starting to climb into the realm of ridiculousness - they're still fairly abundant. 

Unlike the DFK515, I have absolutely zero plans of getting rid of this beast. For me, this is Alps endgame.

What's Good

• Possibly the best sounding keyboard of all time.
• Alps SKCM White switches are pure bliss to type on.
• Conventional ANSI layout avoids most of the oddities.
• Built like like an absolute tank.

What's Crap

• Programmability for a battlecruiser layout is lacking.
• Mounting plate has no central reinforcement.
• High maintenance - especially if it's never been cleaned.
• Needs an adaptor to work on modern systems.

Verdict

A titan of a keyboard that rattles the keys of even the nicest buckling spring IBMs.