Apple ][ boards -- what have I found?

From: Sellam Ismail <foo_at_siconic.com>
Date: Mon Jul 23 16:31:12 2001

On Mon, 23 Jul 2001, Tony Duell wrote:

> Sellam, you were my best hope for identifying these boards. If you've
> not seen them, I guess nobody will know them :-)

:)

> > > Memsoft TC2E0260. This board looks hand-soldered, and some components are
> > > missing. It's got a 6850 (ACIA), MC3486, MC3487 (Buffers), and TTL glue
> > > on it. And space for a 2716 EPROM.
>
> If I had to guess, I'd think this one was possibly some kind of 'network'
> interface. A slow-speed network using asynchronous data transmission.
> Does that ring any bells with anyone?

Too bad it doesn't have the EPROM so that you could pop it into one of
your Apples and peek at it's ROM code.

You might try posting a query about in on comp.sys.apple2 and see if
anyone bites.

> > > Advanced Text Systems P.001. Contains a 6520 (PIA), 2 off 7416 (buffers).
> > > There's a DB25 connector on the end of a short length of ribbon cable.
>
> >From the name (Advanced _Text_ Systems), I wondered if this was the
> interface for a daisywheel printer or something similar?

It's possible. Perhaps it's a TTY en/decoder to allow deaf persons to use
their Apple as a teletype?

> > I've got a couple EPROM programmer boards, but I don't know if I have
> > either of these. I know with one of them I got the software.
> >
> > > ICE Apple Cold Boot Adapter. Contains 6116 RAM, EPROM, TTL glue, and a 26
> > > pin header
> > >
> > > ICE Multiplexor (sic) Host Adapter. 6116 RAM, EPROM, TTL, 20 pin header
> >
> > Interesting. Again, never heard of them. They sound like some sort of
> > terminal server system, maybe allowing an Apple to be shared? Naw, that's
> > silly.
>
> My guess is that these boards are to allow several Apples to share
> something else. Maybe a hard disk.

There were systems that allowed many computers to be connected to one so
that a teacher could do a lesson on the main computer while the students
watched along on the slaves. Something like that.

> I wonder if the 'Cold Boot Adapter' links to that KONAN card and adds
> a hard disk to the Apple. The Cold Boot part meaning the Apple can
> boot from the hard disk without needed a boot floppy. I am probably
> wildly off, though

I was thinking something similar actually.

> > > Apple PC Link Interface. Contains an EPROM, M58725, TTL glue and
> > > buffers. Also a 20 pin header.
> >
> > Sweet. Does what it says, let's you link an Apple to a PC. Who is the
>
> What does it use on the PC side? It clearly is some kind of TTL level
> interface. Do I need a special PC card taht I've not got (or at least not
> found yet?)

Hmmm, good question. Now that the drugs from the visit to the dentist
have worn off, the PC Transporter allowed you to hook PC drives to an
Apple ][ and read/write PC disks. It didn't actually have a connection to
the PC itself.

I have a box made by Rana that allows an Apple ][ to run PC programs.
The box presumably has a separate computer with an 8088 CPU and two
double-density disk drives. Maybe this is the interface card for such a
box? I am headed off to my storage place to pay the monthly dues, so I'll
take a few moments to check it out and see what the interface card is like
for that.

Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
Received on Mon Jul 23 2001 - 16:31:12 BST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Fri Oct 10 2014 - 23:33:53 BST