May I show you my Apple 1 Clone

Glad to congratulate you on a successful build, Uncle Bernie's proven chip kits have proven to be excellent. They make the debugging process a mere formality - just plug it in and you're done! What do you think about the case?

I did it this way, very convenient, transformers and board on one base. Not authentic, but practical!

IMG_20210507_120711.jpg

For the YouTube channel and demonstrations I use the keyboard from Apple ][, if you yourself sit more convenient through the adapter.

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Pia Motorola 6821.

Excellent job, I like it!

Go "green" ! :-D :-D

I don't know the quality of that edge connector, it looks nice and robust, but I strongly suggest to always have a look to the edge connector before switching on the computer.

When there are no boards in it, due to ageing / heavy usage / damages / deformations some contact could accidentally touch his counterpart on the opposite side.

The most dangerous row is the 22-Z where +5V may get in contact with -12 (unregulated!), second in line is 21-Y where +12V unregulated may fry the 74154.

Both shorts cause instant damages.

It actually happened to a friend so trust me, it's not an urban legend... :-/

Regards,

Ciao!

C.

Congratulations on your Apple-1. I usually prefer no case, but your acrylic clear-case looks great and also protects the components.

Hi Fans -

with all these nice Apple-1 builds presented here in this thread I could not resist to drag the mine out to the broad daylight and snap a few photos.

Today there was a good opportunity as Colorado Springs had partially clouded skies (a very rare event, we are one of the cities in the USA with the most sunny days per year) and with partially clouded skies there is no glare in the photos, at least not to an extent where the photo becomes useless).

So here is an overview:

PDRM2003.JPG

Sorry for the poor focus - I could not see the small display of the camera, and did not want to rent a crane to be able to do so. The purpose of this photo still is met: just an overview of small differences from a bird's eye view, or, as a casual observer would see these specimen from a distance.

Note that no two of these ten are exactly alike. 

You can see all currently possible PCB choices here:

1. front row, 2nd+3rd from the left: Newton NTI PCB (mimics 2nd original production run).

2. front row, 1st and 4th, 5th from the left: JLCPCB "ENIG" finish.

3. top row, 2nd from the right, Newton non-NTI PCB (mimics 1st original production run).

4. top row, all other than the above: JLCPCB "standard" HASL finish.

The JLCPCB ones are based on the "Open Source Gerbers" which came out of Russia. NEWTON are from Ebay seller newton-computer, based in HongKong. Sorry no MIMEO, I could not get one so far, but "Newton" Mike told me he did his best to replicate the MIMEO as exactly as he could.

So the size of the Newton PCBs and the fonts and the size and shape of the pads should be as close to MIMEO as it gets. All open source based PCBs do have some discrepancies (wrong PCB size, mounting holes slightly different locations, wrong fonts, and wrong pads) but they do work and from a distance, like on the photo, you can't tell the difference as far as these parameters are concerned.

But you can also see the different tint and shinyness of the green solder mask. Newton non-NTI is a darker green and it's duller. Newton NTI is a lighter green and it is glossy. The JLCPCB solder mask is somewhere in between the two. I would call that a "compromise".

Here are two closeups to further show the difference between Newton  NTI (left) and Newton non-NTI (right):

PDRM2024.JPG

You might note that this NTI build has no visible bypass capacitors. They all are hidden in the IC sockets. 

Here are the differences between Newton non-NTI (left) and JLCPCB = Open Source Gerbers:

PDRM2025.JPG

The subtle differences in the fonts for the silkscreen (white legends) are immediately obvious. If you look closely at the IC sockets, you can see that on the Open Source Gerber based PCB the solder pads for the ICs  completely disappear below the sockets, because they are small and round, while on the Newton PCBs they are visible because they are larger and oval shaped. This is a barely noticable difference, but on the prototyping area (not in these pictures) it really is instantly obvious. Note that on the Newton PCBs I closed the via holes with solder to mimic the "wave soldering" looks, while on the cheap builds I don't care. Those are just 'lab rats' on which I tried things out. And this is also the reason why I have so many of those: lab rats, like all rodents, tend to multiply. Each new passive component bag I crack open for the first time needs one such 'lab rat' build to qualify for sale with my famous IC kits. Especially those ceramic bypass capacitors, whose electrical performance may vary greatly.  The dark brown ones are the worst (but they look right for the 1st production run originals) and the small blue ones are the best performers, because they are more modern multilayer types. Similar ones were used in the 2nd production run ("NTI") Apple-1 originals, and I so think that these "NTI" Apples may have had much less problems with signal integrity and random program crashes than the 1st production run originals. But this is conjecture, based on the fact that I have some builds with these little blue capacitors that run very well (no errors detected by my diagnostics, which are quite sharp) without any of my 'reliability mods'. However, none of my builds using the brown disc shaped bypass capacitors worked well enough, so all of them had to get the 'reliability mods', after which they worked robustly. It seems that for the 2nd production run, Woz may have succeeded to sort out this issue.  But the nasty ACI never was fixed, and so each sale must have generated yet another desperate customer who rang the phone at Apple off the hook. I get the same kind of feedback from "my" builders: Apple-1 with my ICs and my 'reliability mods': good ! ACI (despite of Mike Willegal's input capacitor reliability mod): bad ! So there are still things to do.

As a final note about the photos, there also are plenty of differences in the choice of the "big blue" filter capacitors and the heatsinks and the TO-3 regulators.  I have taken some photos of those, too, but unless some readers encourage me to publish them, I won't. These choices would deserve an extra thread.

Comments invited !

Impressive UncleBernie, now I definitely want to build another Apple-1 after seeing your collection.

In post #17, flatsixracer wrote:

"Impressive UncleBernie, now I definitely want to build another Apple-1 after seeing your collection."

Well, you probably don't want ten or even a dozen, because they get in the way. But IMHO no Apple collection is complete without having both a "non-NTI" aka "1st production run" build and a "NTI" aka "2nd production run" build. Much the same thing as with the Apple-II: you need at least the motherboards, if not the whole machine, of all "Apple II" revisions before the IIe, then you need one IIe and one IIc. The IIc ist a must, it's an icon of modern industrial design, and the more pristine and without yellowing it is, the better. It must come with the monitor and the monitor stand. I have three IIc in several stages of decomposition. All yellowed. Arrrg ! If they were white they would be worth a small fortune !

The ten Apple-1 I have all are needed. Actually, I have built a few more for discerning customers, if they did agree to my peculiar modes of compensation (I do not trade my precious RQLT for green toilet paper). Some of these ten are the prototypes / samples which were built on the cheaper PCBs. Two are "keepers": the non-NTI and the NTI built on Newton PCBs. They have the most vintage and period correct IC sets, too. Six are production machines for the burn-in of my famous IC kits which run 24/7.  From the remaining two,  which are my software / hardware developing machines, one is TTL based and one is LSTTL based.

So y'all can see now why I need ten. A "normal" Apple collector / aficionado would only need two, as explained above under "keepers". Two smart buyers if my kits are repeat customers and have bought three of my famous IC kits (one after another).  They built a trial run on the cheap Open Source Gerbers first, and then, after they knew how it goes, they built a "non NTI" and a "NTI" on Newton PCBs and then sold the trial run one at  a price where they got "their" two "keepers" essentially for "free".  Except for the RQLT invested, maybe. But I know for sure there are many Apple collectors out there who would want an Apple-1, but they don't have the tools nor the skills to put one together. This is a largely unsatisified market.

But don't ask me to build you one - you would need to do productive work around my house for the same amount of RQLT I invest in your custom build. So expect to stand on a ladder and paint at least three sides of my house, for instance. Not for everybody. The rich guys always want to give me green toilet paper, no thank you. I have piles and piles of that and don't know what to do with it while the 'inflation rats' are nibbling away its purchasing power. Working (= trading irreplaceable RQLT) for unsound currency is stupid, IMHO. You only need to make just enough GTP (green toilet paper) to pay your bills and get food on the table and to keep the lights on. Every single minute of your RQLT traded for excess GTP you don't need is wasted to the fraudsters / con men / gangsters who are running this pathetic cadaver of a once powerful and wealthy nation into the ground (or against the wall, or over the cliff, as you see fit). A once proud and wealthy nation which once was the envy of the whole world. Mark my words ! Even the lowest IQ Americans seem to have finally "smelled the rat" (meaning: the cadaver) and this is why nobody wants to work anymore for mere GTP. "Now Hiring !" signs everywhere but nobody shows up. Or were all the prospective workers killed or maimed by the "vaccine" ? Or is the GTP they could make on such a "job" worth less than their RQLT ? Who knows ! I do not want to speculate, but I know for sure something is wrong, damn wrong !  

So what can you do in lieu of working for excess GTP ? You can build Apple-1, sure (from my famous IC kits, hint, hint !). And then you can read "Atlas Shrugged" (by Ayn Rand) and "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon. The parallels are stunning !

In post #20, AppleMicha wrote:

this my "Show-Dummy"

Uncle Bernie comments:

I've never seen such an artfully composed Apple-1 setup / display before. Well done ! Your cunning work is a prime example of what I meant with the correct looking "visual  impression" to the "casual observer" in my post #4 of this thread: 

https://www.applefritter.com/content/mostek-mk4027n-4-works-stably-apple1

The aged 1950s/1960s looking wooden case immediately gives the impression that this thing was put together in the 1970s by a hobbyist who just had bought his first Apple-1, and the period correct Panasonic cassette recorder "proves" this. Now a look at the Apple-1 motherboard with the ceramic packages of some ICs and you have even more "proof" it's the "real thing" ... at least this is the illusion that is created ! The keyboard also is 1970s style (I seem to recognize a keycap style that was used with Cherry brand keyswitches of the time). So everything is working together to give the right "visual  impression" !

You could put this specimen on display in a museum and most onlookers would think it's a "real" one !

AppleMicha wrote:
this my "Show-Dummy"... next step... build an NTI Board..

Sure, puts my briefcase "Show-Dummy" Mimeo unit to shame...

I think I built this one back in 2012, still have it today...

It looks very decent, just a new case, it immediately catches the eye. AppleMicha's case has seen a lot. As Uncle Bernie correctly noted in this farmfactor the main detail is not the board itself, but the case, it creates the illusion of antiquity.

I noticed your image is slightly shifted to the right. Me too, tried an Ikegami video monitor, different CRT TV's from the 90's and an LCD monitor, all shifted to the right. It doesn't bother me much.