Probably some yo-yo plugged it into a telco outlet and the first time the
phone rang, ZAP! 50volts DC to fry the hardware ;-)
Curt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sellam Ismail" <foo_at_siconic.com>
To: "Classic Computers Mailing List" <cctalk_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, July 01, 2002 3:29 PM
Subject: Interesting Apple ][ card
>
> I found a few interesting cards for the Apple ][ the other day.
>
> On it are the markings "Computer Networking Specialists" with a copyright
> of 1988. It has two whole chips: a 6116 and a PAL. The remaining
> components are three caps, one which has blown. In fact, of all the cards
> I found, they all have the same cap blown, in some cases completely
> obliterated with only the two leads remaining with only a huge swath of
> soot in the path of the explosion. The cap seems to filter the ground
> line (it goes from what I believe is the GND pin on the ICs to the ground
> plane on the card).
>
> Each computer with the card had a cable with an RJ-45 connector on one end
> and a four-pin flat connector on the other protuding from the case. I
> found other computers without the card but with the cable. The inside end
> of the cable (with the 4-pin connector) was loose. There is no mating
> connector on the card for it either.
>
> It seems to me that these computers were part of some network scheme, and
> that these cards possibly held some networking firmware. How the cap blew
> off the cards is a mystery. I could imagine a power spike coming down the
> network cable and damaging the card, but like I said, the cable didn't
> plug directly into the card, and I can't imagine the Apple ][ bus passing
> along a power surge to the card from the cable. I didn't bother to check
> any of the Apple's that I pulled the cards from to see if they were
> working.
>
> Anyway, anyone have any knowledge of these?
>
> Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
Festival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
> International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
>
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>
Received on Sun Jul 07 2002 - 14:05:13 BST