Ok, so after wanting a replica1 for a while, now I discover there's another apple 1 replica kit for sale!
I think it's this one: http://www.sbprojects.com/projects/apple1/index.htm but I don't see any mention of how to buy.
Can anyone shed any light on this and does anyone have any qualitative opinions about the two?
Cheers.
By the looks of the sbprojects site, and this (now finished) ebay auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-1-Computer-Vintage-Parts-Kit_W0QQitemZ8742010035QQcategoryZ80286QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem the newer kit is pretty cool in that the circuit board is very 'authentic looking'.
This is very cool in many ways, but the higher chip count and larger size are a drawback.
but it's not the cool look-alike replica I see in the ebay auction:
http://www.achatz.nl/
http://www.achatz.nl/A_ONE.pdf
I want to take away some of the confusion here.
The picture on my main Apple 1 page is a replica of the original Apple 1 board made by Bryan Blackburn. I don't have one, I only borrowed his picture because it resembles the Apple 1 board very nicely.
The A-One is another replica made by Franz Achatz (www.achatz.nl). Like Vince's machine the A-One doesn't look like an Apple 1 but it works exactly the same.
I have written new software for the video controller and I expect to finish the keyboard controller next week.
There are a few differences between the A-One and Vince's Replica 1:
- Lower chip count, smaller board size.
- 50Hz and 60Hz video output (with new video controller software)
- Larger ROM capacity (banks $8xxx and $9xxx can also be used)
- You can "borrow" some RAM from $6xxx and use it in $Exxx to replace Integer Basic.
Being a European citizen I prefer the A-One because of its ability to produce a 50Hz picture.
Being Australian the 50Hz video will be very handy for me also, and if you're not going to match the original design 1 for 1 then the lowest chip count possible most closely matches Woz's sensibilities
I'll keep an eye out for your new video software (is it software or firmware?)
PS: For any who don't get it, this comment title is a play on the "Apple ][+ Euro" which was like a regular Apple ][+ but with two differences. 50Hz video and a pound sign (ie. £ the symbol of the UK Pounds Sterling currency - not the hash mark that some odd countries call pound ;). But the pound sign wasn't a different ascii code - there was a hardware switch accessible from the outside of the case just below the keyboard. All it did was change the bitmap used for displaying #. The cool thing was it did that in hardware, so you could actually toggle it in real time and watch the symbol # change to £ or vice versa! I have no idea if the setting was software detectable.
i received the new 50Hz/60Hz Video-Firmware from San and testing
works great. There are already shipped some A-ONEs to the world
The A-ONE now holds in ROM
(first 16KB of ROM):
- at $9000 > A1 ASM from sbprojects for the 6502 CPU
- at $E000 > BASIC
- at $F000 > Krusader ASM for the 6502 CPU
(second 16KB of ROM):
- at $9000 > A1 ASM from sbprojects for the 65 C 02 CPU
- at $E000 > BASIC
- at $F000 > Krusader ASM for the 65 C 02 CPU
have fun
Franz