What rig you runnin'?

[ianoid]

Specifically, what hardware do you use regularly for your Apple II'n?

 

I have going:

Enhanced //e with 80 column/128K

Apple Color Monitor

Apple Mouse Card

2x Disk ]['s with Apple's Disk Interface card

Phasor sound card by AE

CFFA3000 with disk select switch and 4gb CF card with the entire Asimov archive. Took a while to unzip much of it.

Wico joystick port replicator with Apple II Wico joystick

 

 

Planning to mess with an EDD+ soon, but not sure if that will be for my regular setup as I'm afraid discerning copy protection on original disks may dislike it as a pass-through card. Of course it should be good for copying those disks.

 

And also planning on putting in an AE transwarp, although I'm also wondering if that will be ok with the CFFA and for regular gaming- don't want super speed messing things up.

[Arbee]

I honestly do the majority of my Apple II stuff in MESS - daily-driving your own work is a good way to stay ahead of bugs

 

That said, my real Apple II rig:

- IIgs ROM 03 in a "Woz" case, 4 MB RAM expansion, AppleColor RGB monitor

- AE upgraded power supply

- 7 MHz ZipGS

- 1 Apple 3.5 Drive, 1 Apple 3.5" SuperDrive (and controller card), 1 AE 1600k 3.5" drive, 1 UniDisk 5.25

- CFFA3000

- Sonic Blaster stereo/sampling card

- Off-brand serial port MIDI interface

 

I also have a Video Overlay Card and a RamFAST Rev. D which I'm not currently using.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Arbee

[+FujiSkunk]

My "regular" machine at this point is an Apple IIc, no frills. In storage have a couple of IIe's with a nice assortment of upgrade cards, including the Applied Engineering RamWorks III memory upgrade and the power supply to match. I also have a IIGS tucked into a corner.

 

I logged a lot of hours on a IIe in high school and college, though I'm afraid they don't get much use nowadays. I'll never give them up, though.

[The Usotsuki]

I got a //e Platinum here, but don't use it much as 3 of the keycaps were destroyed.

 

Most of the time I use AppleWin.

[20ohm20]

Currently:

 

Non-enhanced //e

Amdek 300A amber monochrome monitor

MemoryMaster //e (80 columns + 128K RAM)

Grappler+ (parallel port card)

Apple Super Serial Card (used mostly with ADTPro and rarely with a Hayes Smartmodem 1200)

Apple disk interface card

Apple Disk ][ floppy drive x2

Apple Imagewriter dot matrix printer

Apple joystick (the one with gray buttons, I think it's actually called a "Joystick //e")

[Osgeld]

IIc, virtual serial host and a 13 inch HDTV

[Keatah]

I had (still have) all my Apple II rigs from back in the day. A II+ and and //e. Periodically I'll power them up from time to time for a Sunday drive. But today, mostly, it's AppleWin for convenience and testing and all that.

 

My original Apple II+ rig which I still have today:

Apple II+

48K base RAM

LowerCase chip

Videx Keyboard Enhancer II (with type ahead buffer!)

Videx Function Strip kit for the Enhancer II

Switchable shift-key jumper mod

Switchable vsync-wire mod

Internal speaker - external speaker audio jack switch

Joyport joystick extension cable switchable analog or digital sticks

T.G. Products Joystick (2-button, 2-axis)

T.G. Products Paddle set

Koala Pad (cheap analog graphics tablet, but ohh so cool!)

Sup'R'mod RF Modulator

Kensington System Saver

16K Microsoft RamCard (Language Card)

Grappler+ parallel printer interface

Practical Peripherals MicroBuffer external parallel printer buffer 64K

Epson MX-80 F/T dot matrix printer w/GrafTrax III roms

Hayes MicroModem II w/MicroCoupler 110/300 baud

Videx VideoTerm 80 column card

Microsoft Softcard Z80

First Class Peripherals Sider SASI 10MB HDD

Disk II controller with 2 Disk II drives

Applied Engineering TimeMaster II H.O. clock card

Panasonic cassette recorder

Juliette hi-fi stereo receiver + 8-track tape player

Sony KV1222R television set

Various cables and other bits of hardware to help bring it all together.

 

The above was/is pretty much my day-to-day configuration for the longest time. Sometimes I'd swap in and out various bits of hardware on an as-needed basis such as:

Apple-Cat II modem (Bell Standard 202 half duplex 1200)

-212 Expansion card (Bell Standard 212 full duplex 1200 baud)

-Slot Saver power supply tap cable

-Firmware chip

-DTMF Dual Tone Multi-Frequency Decoder chip

-Handheld telephone headset

-Expansion module connector panel

-Introl X-10 BSR connector

-RS-232 connector

Mountain Computer Expansion Chassis (needs mod for //e)

Mountain Music System + Alpha Syntauri keyboard

Gibson Light Pen system

ComputerEyes digitizer

Apple Silentype printer

Apple Super Serial Card

Mountain ROM+ card

Videx UltraTerm

Mountain RomWriter

EDD+ card

Corvus Constellation 5MB and 11MB HDD + VCR backup

Video Overlay card

//e Diagnostics card and rom kit

CFFA3000

Apple Graphics Tablet

Disk II diagnostics card

A.E. Z80 Plus

Transwarp II accelerator card 3.6MHz

Wildcard II

Mockingboard + 2x speech chips

MicroSCI 64K/80Column card

Apple Numerical Keypad

//e Enhancement kit (65c02 + MouseText character set + updated ROM)

A.E. Ramworks III card + RGB kit

IEEE-488 GPIB instrument interface

Apple Mouse card with single-button mouse

Disk II exerciser card

CFFA 1st version from the early dot-com era.

Assortment of ZipChips and RocketChips

Amdek 300 color monitor

Commodore 1084S monitor

Modified Disk II drive with 7-segment red LED track/sector indicator

My own custom A/D and D/A cards from the laser laboratory

 

I also have 2 custom ultra-super-prototype rare-beyond-rare cards. I made them. heh heh.. These cards were unique in that that they didn't do a whole lot except provide some relay controls, A/D, D/A and input/output functionality, bus access, that sort of thing. The real value was in all the make-believe and science experiment stuff I got into. This was truly the best of times.

 

I'm sure there are other more minor things and add-ons that I'm forgetting at the moment. Anyways, when I upgraded to my //e all of this hardware came along and I still have it all.

 

When I got interested in the //e I immediately discovered it had built-in lower case capability and working shift-keys. Also a combination 64K/80Column card gave 80-column text and a total of 128K system memory. I was simply blown away! And I remember pestering my parents for money to get the //e and my "selling point" was that the keyboard was so much nicer and that I could work more efficiently and write better software. I made some big stink about having direct access to the "[" and "]" and "_" keys instead of having to type CHR$ codes. It was a technical thing which sounded impressive to them no doubt.

 

And the following were no longer needed in a //e rig:

Microsoft 16K RamCard

Videx LowerCase chip

Videx VideoTerm 80 column card

Videx Keyboard Enhancer II (not //e compatible)

Videx Function Strip kit (not compatible)

Shift-key wire mod

Vsync wire mod (not compatible)

 

With the //e's Aux Slot you could connect up a RamWorks card with a total of 6MB and RGB card, but I didn't go that route till much later. I was happy with the common 128K for a long time.

 

Add-in hardware that is //e specific:

MicroSCI 64K/80Column card

//e Enhancement kit (65c02 + MouseText character set + updated ROM)

Ramworks III card + RGB kit

Apple Mouse card with single-button mouse

Apple Numerical Keypad

 

Along the way, but with considerably less fanfare, I acquired a //C, //C+, ///, ///+, Platinum //e, and finally a IIgs. With all the trimmings and upgrades of course. Z-Ram, Transwarp GS, Phasor, GS-Ram.. All that stuff. For the /// systems it would be a Monitor ///, Profile 5MB, some external drives.. You get the idea.

 

Mostly my contemporary working system is very simple:

Platinum //e

64K/80Column card

2 drives and a controller card

Super Serial Card + cable

2-button, 2-axis joystick

Any VDT/CRT/LCD monitor that happens to be available

 

Software I keep at the ready in a little brown cardboard box:

Ciderpress

Apple Commander

AppleWin emulator

ADTpro

The standard Windows File Explorer built into your PC

Apple Dos 3.3 System Master (August 1980)

Apple IIe DOS 3.3 System Master 1983

Copy II Plus 5.5

Copy II Plus 8.4

Copy II Plus 9.1

ProDos 1.1.1 basic & startup disk

ProDos 1.1.1 user’s disk

ProDos 8 v2.0.3 system disk 4.0

ProDos 8 v.2.0.3 basic v1.5

David-Dos installation disk

Diversi-Dos installation v4.1-C

 

Manuals I keep handy:

Apple II Reference Manual

Apple //e Reference Manual

The Dos Manual

The Applesoft Tutorial

The DOS Programmer's Manual

Understanding the Apple II and //e

ProDOS User's Manual

Applesoft Basic Programming Reference Manual

Beagle Bros. Chart - Apple Colors & ASCII Values

Beagle Bros. Chart - Peeks, Pokes, and Pointers

Beagle Bros. Chart - Apple Commands

 

With just those few pieces of hardware, software, and documentation you are completely prepared for loads of fun and can experience a huge range of Apple software from day one up to now.

 

What? No CFFA3000 in there? Why of course I have one.. And I highly recommend it! But it isn't in my contemporary system because I'm stubbornly old school and somehow, unapologetically, unabashedly, I prefer using the SSC and ADTPro to get my data to and from the system. Especially when I'm on a nostalgia trip.

 

I just think it's great that this hardware is fully functional, today, 35+ years after it was made. I don't have to worry about having an internet connection, no updates, no patches, no hassles. And I'm completely confident it will last another 50 years, or more!

[Charlie_]

Never was an Apple II user. Only picked up a few IIc computers over the last couple years. I really liked the IIc, small, built in disk drive and composite out.

It got me interested enough to get a IIgs.

 

I like the IIgs a lot. I have a 3.5 disk drive and a 5.25 disk drive. RGB monitor. Also a 4mb SIMM card inside for ram. I don't have the IIgs keyboard or mouse. What I have is from a later Mac. I'd like to get the proper KB and mouse one day, but when sold alone they seem to go for a lot of money. I would also like another 3.5 disk drive. I check ebay ever now and then, but never see one priced well.

[Blackbag]

In my home office I have a IIc with 3.5" disk drive and connected to a VGA input on one of my monitor's via Nishida's VGA adapter.

 

I've claimed a small corner in my basement storage area and have the rest of my Apple II set ups-- currently, a ROM1 IIgs with CFFA3 and zip chip and a platinum IIe with CFFA3 and 8mhz zip chip.

 

I have a second IIe that I've been tinkering with-- It's my frankenstein rig. Whatever hardware seems interesting goes into here for testing/coding/playing. So far, I've been messing with the EDD4+ card, the AppleCat modem, and mocking board, wildcard and A2pi.

 

When not in hardware, I'm playing around in Virtual II for the Mac or Applewin on the PC.

[potatohead]

I'm running a //e enhanced (my favorite one), with disk drive, joystick, super serial, CFFA. Two displays connected at the same time, one high resolution composite amber, the other an 80's era color TV that I've tweaked nicely.

 

I keep flirting with a GS. One of these days.

 

One day, I'll get a sound and mouse card.

 

If I'm coding or learning small things, testing, etc... I do it on the real machine. It's just fun. If it's something more significant, I use emulation. Been doing some assembly lately, and I really like the Apple native machine environment.

[Keatah]

Been doing some assembly lately, and I really like the Apple native machine environment.

 

Most everyone I knew back in the day, gamer, cracker, user, budding neophyte.. They were all fascinated by the native monitor, whether they understood it or not.

 

The Apple II user interface (for its time) was simple enough, and challenging enough. You could grow with it.

[Hatta]

Pretty basic here. No pun intended. IIgs&CFFA3000. Would like to have a mockingboard or clone at some point. Not using it for apps, so I doubt I'll ever get an accelerator.

[Keatah]

I thought I'd simplify my previous post. Most of my current activities involving the Apple II are done with AppleWin emulator and Ciderpress on a Windows XP machine. I'd guess over 95%. I do this for speed and convenience and portability when out and about. And to save wear and tear on my original hardware.

 

Software:

AppleWin emulator

Ciderpress

Apple Commander

ADTpro

comm-0-comm

The standard Windows File Explorer built into PC

Apple Dos 3.3 System Master (August 1980)

Apple IIe DOS 3.3 System Master 1983

Copy II Plus 5.5

Copy II Plus 8.4

Copy II Plus 9.1

ProDos 1.1.1 basic & startup disk

ProDos 1.1.1 user’s disk

ProDos 8 v2.0.3 system disk 4.0

ProDos 8 v2.0.3 basic v1.5

David-Dos installation disk

Diversi-Dos installation v4.1-C

Hyper-DOS

ProTerm 2.1

Novation Com-Ware 5.0

The Einstein Compiler

Beagle Bros. Compact

Lisa 2.5D

S-C Assembler II v4.0

Blank DOS 3.3 formatted image

Blank ProDOS formatted image

5MB ProDOS 8 v2.0.3 formatted HDD image

A folder containing a changing selection of games and other stuff.

 

Documentation:

Apple II Reference Manual

Apple //e Reference Manual

The Dos Manual

The Applesoft Tutorial

The DOS Programmer's Manual

Understanding the Apple II and //e

ProDOS User's Manual

Beneath Apple DOS

Beneath Apple ProDOS

Applesoft Basic Programming Reference Manual

Beagle Bros. Chart - Apple Colors & ASCII Values

Beagle Bros. Chart - Peeks, Pokes, and Pointers

Beagle Bros. Chart - Apple Commands

Assembly Language Programming for The Apple II

Hayes Micromodem II and Apple-Cat II manuals

 

That's the basics! Of course I can pull out my original stuff at any time and play with the real thing. And when I do, it typically consists of all the above, real original disks with original printed documentation and the following hardware:

 

Enhanced Apple //e

64K/80Column card

2 standard drives and a controller card

Super Serial Card + cable

Paddles

Koala pad

2-button, 2-axis joystick

Hayes Micromodem II

Complete Apple-Cat II setup

Sider 10MB HDD

TimeMaster II H.O. clock

Grappler+ card and Epson MX-80 F/T Graftrax III printer

Any VDT/CRT/LCD monitor that happens to be available, or Old Betsy.

[BurritoBeans]

I have a nice little Apple II+ setup next to my PC.

Apple II+

-Microtek BAM-16

-Videx VideoTerm 80 Column Card

-Hayes MicroModem II

-Disk II Interface Card

-Grappler card

2x Disk II Drives

Monitor ///

Epson MX-100III

Paddles

Joystick

[MarkO]

I have been an Apple ][ used since JAN-1982, and an Owner since NOV-1983.

 

I have an Apple ][, an Apple ][+, ( non-working ), Eight or So Apple ][e's or Apple //e's plus Two Enhanced Apple //e Motherboards and Two Apple ][gs, a ROM-00 that is flaky, and the board replaced with a ROM-01, and a ROM-03 that won't boot, Battery Damage to the Board, I have another ROM-01 Board to install in it...

 

Here are my Apple ][e's I have setup and normally use. One is pretty much dedicated to testing unknown Hardware.. It is called The "Smoke" Test Machine.

 

I have a bunch of Peripherals, including around 10 Super Serial Cards, Three AE RAMWORKS III cards, one with a Color Link card, and One RAMWORKS II card, plus Six or so Apple 64K 80 Column cards, Disk Controller Cards, a couple Apple Parallel Printer Cards ( not yet tested ) , Jameco 64K 80 Column cards ( not yet tested ), and a Teknika MA-RGB7 Card. Late last year, I bought Two CFFA3000 Run 3 cards, with the external selectors. More of my Apple ][ stuff and Classic Computer Desk is here.

 

I also have a few specialty cards, like a TRIAC Card and a John Bell A+D/D+A Card ( not yet tested ) that uses the ADC0817CCN chipNS_ADC0816CCN.pdf.

 

In addition, I have some Vernier Boxes that will work with any computer with a 2400bps RS-232 Port.

 

I also use AppleWin on Windows for quick testing and when I am away from my Apple ]['s.

 

I have Disks and Paper Documentation I need to Duplicate and Scan, and get uploaded to the Various Apple ][ sites, because I haven't found some of them out there in the Wild..

 

MarkO

[Tempest]

Let's see:

 

Enhanced //e with 80 column/128K

Apple Color Monitor

Duo Drive (5.25")

Mockingboard

Uther Ethernet card

Mach III Joystick

[SSG]

I have a:

 

Apple 2+

64k Apple Language Card

Micro-SCI Dual Drive Card

2 Micro-SCI 5.25in Drives

Super Joy - I Joystick

 

There is also some thing inside on the side of the case labeled "Chanel 33 Mod" Here is a video I made awhile back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO26CLTsqQI

I still have no clue what it is!

[potatohead]

That is an RF modulator set for the UHF bands, not the VHF TV bands.

 

In short, you use it just like the channel 3 or 4 type modulators that are common, only tune channel 33!

 

Back in the day, this was a great choice as there were few signals in that range. Clean, clear, easy RF. These days, there are signals, but that little modulator has a nice, strong output. I recall it being pretty damn good for a modulator, and it was built for the Apple ][ funky video and generally performs well compared to other modulators.

 

Composite TV input was not common when the Apple ][ series hit the market, though it was very common for the business type monochrome monitors.

 

You can get an RCA cable and plug one end into the connector you showed us, the other can go into an Atari VCS style "Game Box" for use with a TV that has the cable type connector, or the older two screws type.

Edited February 16, 2015 by potatohead

[Muzz73]

I used to have various ][+, //e and //gs systems over the years, but my favorite was:

 

Enhanced //e

Ramworks II w/256K

Two Disk ][ drives

Grappler ][+ parallel card

Apple Super Serial card

Apple Hi-Speed SCSI card

 

I was always on the lookout for that elusive Mockingboard or Phasor, but never ended up with one.

 

Now, I have an iLamp that just runs Virtual ][ all the time. My current setup is:

 

iMac G4 (800MHz) w/768MB RAM, OS 10.4 (Tiger) and a 32GB solid state drive running as an:

 

Enhanced //e w/256K RAM

Two Disk ][ drives

Mockingboard (stereo)

 

Not perfect, but it'll do for now...

[BassGuitari]

I've got a few different Apple rigs:

1.) Apple IIe, Monitor II, DuoDisk
2.) Apple IIe, Zenith Data Systems monitor, Disk II (x2)
3.) Apple IIe Platinum, ColorMonitor IIe, 5.25" Floppy Drive (the later beige model)
4.) Apple IIc, Monitor IIc

I dunno about the cards in the IIe systems, though. Haven't been under the hood in a while. I know the Disk II/Zenith system is the most "tricked out"; it's got a Super Serial card, a 64K/80 Col. card, a printer card, and obviously a disk controller card, and maybe some other random crap. The others are a little more bare-bones.

I'd love to get a II+ though. I don't need three IIes.

[MarkO]

I used to have various ][+, //e and //gs systems over the years, but my favorite was:

 

Enhanced //e

Ramworks II w/256K

Two Disk ][ drives

Grappler ][+ parallel card

Apple Super Serial card

Apple Hi-Speed SCSI card

 

I was always on the lookout for that elusive Mockingboard or Phasor, but never ended up with one.

 

<< SNIP >>

I agree with that system...

 

My original Apple ][e, had 64K and the 1K 80 Column Card, and One Disk ][, but I bought a Second Drive, a RAMWORKS III that came with 256K , and I filled out to 1 MB, a Practical Peripherals Serial/Parallel Microbuffer with 64K, a Super Serial Card and the 65C02 Enhancement Kit, which never got installed.

 

I bought other cards too, AE Z80 card, Mouse and Card, Echo ][ Card..

 

That was all Back-in-the-Day...

 

A couple years ago, I got an Echo +, which has the AY-3-8913 chips like the Mockingboard, but doesn't seem software compatible with it.. This last year I got a Mockingboard, and was referred to a person that has software for the Echo +... I need to make the Echo + disks and test Echo + part of it. I know the Echo ][ part works, since my disks for my Echo ][ work with it.

 

MarkO

Edited February 22, 2015 by MarkO

[Nebulon]

- Apple IIe

- Dual Disk II

- Apple Monitor III (also have Color IIe, but prefer green display)

- Realistic Analog stick

- RAM/80 column card

- Parallel card

- Cooling fan (which I never use)

 

There was other stuff, but I sold what I wasn't using.

[Baldrick]

Rig #1:

Plain Vanilla IIc+ with two Apple 5.25" drives on a Commodore 1701 monitor - my daily driver

 

Rig #2:

- Case-less homebuilt "II+" clone based on a Unitron bare board and hand soldered (we were all pirates back then)

- External apple compatible keyboard

- several 16K language cards

- several Disk II controllers, both apple and clone

- six Disk IIs and three really sweet Chinon half height silent drives (I have a disk drive fetish - besides I used to run a GBBS based BBS back then)

- several 80-column cards (two short Videx clones and one long Videx compatible)

- Canadian made EPROM burner card (have three)

- SSC

- Parallel cards (two plus one below)

- AE time II card with a parallel card with reprogrammed ROM to trick ProDOS into thinking it had a compatible clock

- Wildcard copy card

- VTech UDC universal drive controller (with dual DB-19 connectors)

- SSM internal modem (not much use for that thing nowadays)

- CH Products joystick and original black paddles

- Commodore 1701 monitor (I know its a Commodore, but they were the best of their day made by JVC if I recall)

Edited April 16, 2015 by Baldrick

[flanauf]

Wish i had money and space to spare, but here its:

 

-Apple II GS , 4MB expansion, unisdisk adapter from Nishida

-Apple IIc , plus one External drive

 

Only other extar its two Atari to Apple II adapters . made locallly called AppleJoy.

 

That and a whole lotta of love f course!