Category Archives: Vintage Computing

retro-computing – with a focus on Apple 1 and early Apple ][ computers

Can you figure out what this person is requesting?

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Occasionally I get emails with cryptic requests, most often from folks from non-English speaking countries. Some are SPAM, some not. This is one of the most cryptic that I have ever seen. Do you think I should reply and ask for more information?

Subject: Prom provramming
Date: September 19, 2013 9:01:34 AM EDT
To: mike@willegal.net

First of all i admire people like you that release that what they know to the people in the word
I search the prom code that can programming into the ptom that started the screen monitior opporation.
If you tell me when if it possible to get this i will thank you

Have is nice day
name removed
If it is cost mony tell me

SCELBI Front Panel Installed – new images

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I found a digicam and was able to take these photos.

SCELBI Front Panel Natural Lighting

SCELBI Front Panel Natural Lighting

Front Panel - flash lighting

Front Panel – flash lighting

This panel has more scratches than most of them. Installed and in normal lighting it takes close inspection to reveal them. It is good enough that I’m going to use this panel on my “exhibition” SCELBI.

Within the next week, I should be able to screen print the rest of the panels, figure out the best way to ship, and set a price.

First Front Panel Screen Printed

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Unfortunately I can’t find a decent camera, so this is a poor iPad shot. There are some small defects and a bit unevenness in the printing, but the overall appearance is good. I think I can improve the unevenness by using more “ink” during the “production” run.

Trial Front Panel

Trial Front Panel

Front Panel II

Front Panel II

I have a jig made, so I can print the rest once I properly mount this trial unit and do a bit of checking on the how well the paint adheres to the anodized aluminum.

Compare to some of the images at www.scelbi.com

Apple 1 Microchess Running

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This is something that I had intentions of getting going for a long time and finally succeeded.

Microchess in emulation

Microchess in emulation

I just added an Apple 1/Ipod compatible AIFF file of the version of Microchess that was available on the applefritter website. I also took the trouble to figure out the user interface, which was not obvious.

check it out on my Apple 1 software page:
http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-software.htm

Initial SUPERPROTO to Swyft Card Conversion Instructions Posted

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http://willegal.net/superproto/index.php?title=Swyft_Card

For those of you without soldering/rework skills, depending upon interest, I may do a run of reproductions, but it’s not going to happen for quite a while as I have too many projects already in the works.

I’ll try to find time to do a video blog of a Swyft card in operation, but don’t know when I’ll find time, might be today, might be three months from now.

SUPERPROTO converted into Jeff Raskin’s Apple IIe Swyft Card

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I just finished turning one of my SUPERPROTO prototyping cards into a Swyft card. If you don’t know what a Swyft card is, Jeff Raskin was working on a low cost “appliance” computer called the Macintosh at Apple. Steve Jobs took over the project and moved the project in a quite different direction. Jeff left Apple and founded a company called “Information Appliance”. The first product was the Swyft card that plugged into an Apple IIe and ran his software. The software was an integrated word processor and calculator, which had access to Applesoft and included a few other printing and communications capabilities. Later they came out with the Swyft computer which was later licensed to Canon – which called it the Canon Cat. I didn’t explore functionality that much, but the software looks pretty clever, despite the lack of a GUI. 🙂

Once I get the rework instructions up on my SUPERPROTO Wiki, I’ll offer SUPERPROTO swyft card kits, with the components necessary to build your own SWYFT card, including preprogrammed GAL and EEPROM at the usual SUPERPROTO price of $65. The conversion of a SUPERPROTO to SWYFT card does require good soldering/rework skills, as you have to cut some traces and solder a few wires directly to pins on the back of the card. If there is enough interest, I could possibly make dedicated reproduction swyft cards.

SUPERPROTO/SWYFT Card

SUPERPROTO/SWYFT Card

By the way, this was another one of those projects, where I didn’t have to buy a single part, everything needed was on hand, either part of an existing kit or in my spares bins.

Kit and PCB availability Status

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Here is a summary of status of kits and PCB availability

  • Mimeo 1 PCBs – out of stock – new PCBs coming late fall 2013
  • Mimeo cassette interface kits – plenty in stock
  • Datanetics PCBs – less than 10 left – no brackets available – considering run of reproduction keycaps
  • PS/2 keyboard adapters – plenty in stock
  • Apple II rev 0 reproduction – out of stock – new PCBs coming fall 2013
  • Brain Board kits – less than 10 left – rerun plans are up in the air
  • SUPERPROTO PCBs and kits – less than 10 left – rerun questionable
  • SCELBI 8H PCB set – in stock – extra SRAM boards available, too
  • SCELBI TTY PCB – plenty in stock – still untested- caveat emptor
  • SCELBI front panels – probable Sept, 2013 – being anodized now, screen printing legend will be next
  • SCELBI 8B PCB set – layout work in progress – given the other ongoing projects, and other planned expenses, I’m realistically looking at 2014.

    • email: mike@willegal.net if you have any questions

    Datanetics Keyboard History and News

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    Though I do make a small profit on some of the things I sell, in other cases profits are elusive. A typical example is the Datanetics keyboard PCB. Here is a timeline.

    Spring, 2010: I started this project.
    December, 2010: I had the first batch of 10 PCBs made.
    October, 2011: I sold out the first batch of 10 – the project had cost me several hundred dollars, even after selling all the extra PCBs.
    October, 2012: new run of 20 PCBs made
    August, 2013: I finally have broken even, income from PCB sales have covered all the expenses I have incurred on this project

    For those of you that are interested, I still have some PCBs available.

    For those of you that have purchased the PCBs and are using Apple II keycaps, I plan on having a batch of custom Datanetics keycaps made sometime in the next 6 months or year. Hopefully there is enough interest from PCB owners that I will not have to wait 3 years to recoup my expenses from a custom keycap set. Let me, mike@willegal.net, know if you are are interested in this.

    How Much Should 20 SCELBI Faceplates Weigh?

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    THis question came to mind when determining why shipping cost from all the way across the country was only $4.95, which seemed low.

    I calculated this three different ways using the measurements of .1″ x 11″ X 12.75″ for the aluminum faceplate.

    1) Use this online calculator http://www.onlinemetals.com/calculator.cfm result was 1.4 pounds per piece for a total of 28 pounds. Actual weight should be a little less, because of the holes in the pieces.

    2) I looked up the mass of aluminum which is 2700 KG/M3. Then calculated the volume of 20 faceplates at 0.000226209 cubic meters. Multiplying the two results in 1.34 pounds per plate times 20 plates equals 27.87 pounds. Actual weight should be a little less, because of the holes in the pieces.

    3) Then I realized I should have just looked it up in the tracking information. Sure enough the weight of the package is 26.1 pounds, which is about what the calculations minus the holes showed it should be.

    I still don’t know exactly how the shipping was so low, but I’ll take it, knowing I have over 25 pounds of faceplates on the way.

    Significant Apple 1 Registry Update

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    Oh my, what I have I started. Apple 1 registry maintenance has become far more effort than I expected. They keep popping out of the woodwork, sometimes in waves. Others are changing hands, at a steady rate. In the last year, quite a surprising number have been brought up into operating condition.

    In an attempt to make it easier for me to maintain this data, I have made a significant update. A table of all 61 units that I have listed in the registry has been added, with some major characteristics listed and links to individual units descriptions. Detailed descriptions are now organized into three catagories.

  • units in historic pictures
  • units in museums
  • unit in private hands

    • I also added a number of newly uncovered Apple 1s, including one in the National Museum in Scotland and one possibly owned by the first female graduate of Stanford Law School.

    The curators of the Nixdorf Computer Museum in Germany were nice enough to send me pictures of their unit. I always appreciate receiving quality images of original Apple 1 computers. The table indicates what kind of images that I presently possess, so if you have quality images of units, that you think may improve my image library, let me know.

    http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-originals.htm