Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 03:03:17 +0100
From: "Ensor" <classiccmp at memory-alpha.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Apple /// Power Supply
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Message-ID: <006601c7a19c$a7e855e0$0a01a8c0 at memoryalpha.org.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="Windows-1252";
reply-type=original
Hi,
_If_ that PSU was easily available, I could agree
with this. But
it isn't. It's likely to take considerable time and effort to track
one down, I think....
I don't know what the situation is in the US, but here in the UK
I've come
across exactly *ONE* Apple /// in some 22 years of collecting....
I'd put his chances of sourcing a working replacement PSU these
days at
ZERO.
TTFN - Pete.
Actually I have a spare PSU, here in the UK, but sorry I'm keeping it
for my own Apple ///s. These machines were so tightly engineered as
regards FCC requirements that there always seemed to be a problem
with getting the heat out and stopping the electronics shorting out
against the case. Particularly the RAM daughter board at full
capacity. The real time clock is a bit of a nightmare to get adjusted
properly too. I don't mean to within spec, I mean to run so I don't
have to adjust it every week, which is what I had to do with them
when they were brand new. By contrast the 5MB or 10MB Profile hard
drive sits in a box about five times bigger than is needed. It was a
real luxury after doing the floppy shuffle for three quarters of an
hour compiling Pascal programs, though upgrading to three floppy
drives saved most of the arm work.
Are logic diagrams available for the Apple /// now? If I remember
right, even as dealers/service providers and hardware/software
developers we were not allowed logic diagrams for the A///. That's
where the rot started and we officially had to do module replacement,
though we still replaced IC's when they had blown craters in the top
of them, and were still able to buy AC power switches and such like
from Apple.
Must drag them out from my brother's loft some time and see if either
of them still work. Hope they're OK, they are stored above the cold
water tank in their original boxes. Fortunately the loft is heated so
should be OK.
Roger Holmes.