So I have a variety of II Plus machines (or clones) in working order and another half dozen or so in need of some repair. These last half dozen have been robbed and swapped and are less reliable bases from which to build. I always clean the pins and reseat and often swap 74LSxxx and other chips to test. But, I think I'd like to just purchase a complete set of new (presumably) known good chips to work from and then work back to get correct date codes when possible from my parts stock once it is in working condition. I recently purchased some 4116 RAM from Reactive Micro, despite having a RAM tester with this goal in mind. I have a II Plus BOM already but a ready to purchase cart somewhere would be nice too, if one exists. Given the relative price of parts versus shipping, it makes sense to get a full set or two with some spares for the most common failures. So, has anybody had better luck with DigiKey or Mouser etc. Has anybody been down this path and do you have any suggestions for sourcing or high need/frequent failures ?
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I've never had any issues with DigiKey or Mouser. Another place I'd feel confident ordering from is JDR MicroDevices.
I assume you already have PDFs of the SAMs and other troubleshooting/repair manuals, but if not here is where to find them. Someone else who happens across this thread might be interested.
https://commodore.bombjack.org/apple/apple-books.htm
I'd ask Henry Courbis at ReActive Micro. He sells his clone Rev-7 motherboards fully populated. Maybe he can help sourcing a complete set of ICs.
Barring that, I'd probably avoid Digikey or Mouser. They likely don't have the parts you need anyway.
Better sources are Jameco (https://www.jameco.com/) or Unicorn Electronics (https://www.unicornelectronics.com/). Even A-1 Electronics (https://www.a1parts.com/IC/ic.htm) would have most of what you need to kit out a clone II+.
I keep an Apple II clone motherboard on hand. It's in good working condition so I can swap chips across. Also have a chip tester. They're pretty cheap nowadays
Mike Willegal actually recommends Digikey for some chips on this list. Maybe it is outdated.
http://www.willegal.net/appleii/bom.htm
FWIW, I checked Mouser, and while yeah, you won't be able to get everything from them, they do carry a lot of the common 74LSxx parts, for example. These days with things being out of stock everywhere, I wouldn't rule out checking a lot of places.
JameCo is a geat suggestion I forgot to mention though. I've ordered from them since back in the 1980s.
I sell fully populated Rev. 7 boards. Henry sells RFI boards. The RFI boards are different than the Rev. 7 boards. His boards use different ICs and they have other RFI compliant components on them... A Rev.7 board would be what you would want to buy to replace the ICs with this board...
Best,
Logan
I was able to get everything I wanted from digiKey and Jameco. It will be here soon. I checked out the other vendors listed and, not surprisingly, they also looked like valuable resources and I bookmarked them. Prices did not vary much, so I went with the fewest suppliers to save shipping. I did need to resort to ebay for the MC3470 I wanted for the Disk ][ parts.
Apart from the addition of A14, which ICs are different?
Functionally they're the same save for some, well, RFI reducing features.
Detailed differences between revisions are listed in "The Apple II Circuit Description" by Winston Gayler.
Rev. 7 uses different bus transceiver chips (8T28) than the RFI (8304).
There are differences in how SOFT 5 is connected, and the several functions done by A14, as you mentioned.