Apple II info ?

From: Frank McConnell <fmc_at_reanimators.org>
Date: Wed Feb 11 14:02:54 1998

Sam Ismail <dastar_at_wco.com> wrote:
> The Grappler was without RAM buffer. The Grappler+ had the 64K RAM. I
> should know...Power Demon I (my souped-up //e with 3.3Mhz accelerator, 1MB
> RAM, 20MB HD...) had one.

The Grappler/Grappler+ thing came to mind, but I came across a
Grappler+ a couple of months ago, had the presence of mind to note it
as such in my inventory, and don't remember there being any obvious
RAM on it. That probably says more about my memory than about any on
the card though, and I can't remember whether the Grappler I had in my
old ][+ was a + or not, just that it didn't have RAM. Whatever it is,
it's a parallel printer interface.

> > > > CableTV kludge to a "SUP 'R' MOD CH.33 TV Interface Unit ??

> But there was a necessity for Apple to ship one with every Apple ][ as
> Kip's message alluded to. Right around the time was when the FCC started
> laying down the law with regards to computer emissions. I'll have to
> look-up the specific why's but I know that's the basic gist of it.

Huh? The necessity was that there be some way to hook a ][ up to a TV
set, because not having to buy a monitor kept the overall cost of the
][ down for the many people who were willing to do that. But
designing an RF modulator in meant more work, time, money (and hence a
later, more expensive product) to get the sort of FCC certification
required for devices that are expected to produce RF.

Read what Kip wrote again:

K>The Sup'r Mod was the RF demodulator that one of the Steves talked Marty
K>Spergel into making as a third-party product, because then the Apple II
K>could be marketed under a much less stringent FCC restriction. As you might
K>imagine, Marty got passably rich.

What Apple did was to get someone else to make and sell the RF
modulator. They didn't make it, they didn't sell it, and the ][
worked fine without it (using a monitor with composite video input) so
when they went for FCC type acceptance they didn't have to include it.

Of course, something needed to happen to make sure that all those
prospective ][ buyers knew what they needed to get to hook the ][ up
to the TV, and that it was readily available to them. Kip? Care to
shed any light on how this was accomplished?

Anyway, I installed a brand-new Sup'R'Mod in my then brand-new ][+
before I turned it on for the first time, and I expect I wasn't the
only one who did, so you can't take the presence of a Sup'R'Mod as an
indication that what's in front of you is a ][ as opposed to a ][+.

-Frank McConnell
Received on Wed Feb 11 1998 - 14:02:54 GMT