I just got my reproduction SWYFT CARDs in and they look and work great.

Reproduction SWYFT CARD

I’ll be releasing them at VCF east in a few weeks. I’ll also be doing a soldering workshop in which you will be able to build one, even if you are a novice at soldering.

Reproduction and Original SWYFT CARDs

The SWYFT CARD was used as a prototype/proof of principal implementation by Jeff Raskin’s company, after he left Apple after the falling out with Steve Jobs. Later they came out with the SWYFT Computer and the Canon Cat.

Check out the VCF website for details on VCF east 9.1
http://www.vintage.org

regards,
Mike W.

Will be picking up the latest batch of Mimeos from the PCB fabricator this week (probably tomorrow). No changes from last batch.

At this point, I think I have some stock of all the PCBs that I have made since I started on this retro computer hobby.

Send an email to:mike@willegal.net if you have any questions or interest.

I plan on holding build your own SWYFT card workshop at VCF east in April

http://www.vintage.org/2014/east/

follow the sessions link to find information.

If you don’t know what a SWYFT card is. Check out this link.
http://willegal.net/superproto/index.php?title=Swyft_Card

regards,
Mike Willegal

The “Hedlock” connector on an Apple II is the fastener that holds the lid of the case to the case. It is similar to a 3M Dual Lock reclosable fastener. On the Apple II, it is attached to the enclosure and lid with double sided tape. Over time, the adhesive loses it’s effectiveness and the Hedlock connector comes loose from either the lid or the base of the computer’s enclosure.

Here is an example where the tape stayed with lid, but the fastener came loose.

Delaminated Hedlock Fastener

I used to use contact cement to reattach the fastener to the tape, but I found over time that the contact cement is less than an ideal solution. I think I found a better solution using the tape found in auto part stores that is intended to reattach loose trim pieces. This 1/2″ wide double sided tape has an extremely strong, long lasting adhesive on both sides, so I expect this solution to be an improvement over the contact cement approach.

Before attaching this new tape, you should remove the old tape and adhesive. This is, by far, the most difficult part of this job.

In this example the old tape, which was attached to the lid, simply pealed off.

Old Tape Removed From Top

The adhesive remaining on the Hedlock fastener was another matter. The bond is very strong, and in this case I eventually resorted to using a X-acto knife with a chisel blade to remove it. I left a few nicks in the surface, but since this is covered up with the new tape, I figured it wasn’t the end of the world. In a previous case, I managed to do it by rubbing with my thumb, but I ended up with a large blister on my thumb. I was temped to try a solvent like Goo Gone, but didn’t want to risk damaging the fastener. Here is the back of the fastener with the adhesive removed.

Old Glue Removed From Hedlock Fastener

Before reattaching the fastener, I cleaned up this area of the lid with Isopropyl Alcohol.

Next I pealed back a strip of the new tape and stuck it to the fastener and cut the tape off from the roll.

New Tape Applied to Hedlock Fastener

Then I took a sharp scissors and trimmed the ends of the tape to match the curve of the ends of the fastener.

New Tape Applied to Fastener and Trimmed

The last steps are to remove protective backing from the adhesive tape and carefully press the fastener back in place.

Hedlock Replaced

I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I would wait a day before putting any stress on the reattached fastener.

Here is an image of my completed prototype.

2014 edition A2 rev 0

The image can also be found on my website.
http://www.willegal.net/appleii/images/2014rev0.jpg

This has taken much longer than expected, but I’ve got a few good decal sets ready and will start taking money, with shipments beginning no later than 1/27, with the first units likely to ship on 1/20.

The build manual can be found here.

Parts list can be found here.

Cost of bare PCB is $150 plus $20 shipping. In order to make a functional board, you will need to provide components, keyboard (my PS/2 keyboard adapter works with Apple IIs), power supply (from Apple II plus), and ROMS (see my ROM page). I’ve heard from Rob at Unicorn and he might be putting together component kits (no ROMs).

If you are not into building kits, but you are a Apple II fan, keep in mind that a framed bare PCB would look great in your den.

Send an email to:mike@willegal.net if you need more details about ordering.

One of the mailing lists that I am on, had a thread that included a link to this old video featuring talks by key members of the Apple Industrial Design team

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–7Br07QKMk

Something caught my ear while listening to the talk. It was Jerry Manocks view of how an early design decision indirectly caused the well known reliability issues with the Apple III. This is toward the end of Jerry’s talk – about 30 minutes into the session.

Daniel Kottke has a very interesting talk about the early days of Apple, including a detailed discussion of the reliability problem with the Apple III. I sent Daniel a link to this video, because Jerry’s view provides a cause and effect scenario that isn’t part of Daniel’s talk.

In return, Daniel mentioned that he was busy preparing for a Macintosh 30th aniversary event, something that I hadn’t heard of before. Looks interesting, so if you are in the area, you might want to check it out.

http://www.mac30th.com

At first I did have intermittent problems with the 150ns 4116DRAM that I initially tried using. After switching to slower and less expensive 200ns 4116 DRAM everything checked out OK.

Once I get the decals made, which, if I’m lucky, will occur as early as this weekend, I’ll open it up for ordering.