Hacking the Gibson

Last night I installed the expansion card connector on my Apple 1, swapped out the capacitor on my cassette interface as recommended by Mike Willegal and fired up BASIC for the first time. Ultimately I intend to load programs using an iPod, but for now I am playing them from an iMac using AIFF files provided by W Sander. The cassette interfaces are very sensitive, especially to volume, but to my surprise I was able to load BASIC and Blackjack on my first try. »

The very last piece that was missing before my Apple 1 was complete was the card connector. The problem with this piece is that the original part was manufactured by Cinch, and they stopped producing the exact part. The components that are still available are green, but they have mounting holes. The original Apple 1 connectors did not have any mounting holes. Steve Gabaly, creator of the Obtronix Apple 1 clone noticed this and was unhappy with the current selection of connectors. »

Today I built up a cassette interface for my Apple 1. This kit came from Steve Gabaly, creator of the obtronix Apple 1 clone. Overall, I am very happy with the quality of the kit. »

Today I made a minor upgrade to my Apple 1. One part that had been silently nagging me on my Apple 1 was the 555 used in the video section. I made a great effort to find all Signetics parts for my Apple 1. Not just Signetics parts, but vintage Signetics parts. I had succeeded in doing so, and was able to find 1976 or earlier in every case but the 555. »

Tonight I’ve posted the first release of my version of the pom1 Apple 1 emulator. This emulator needed a number of modifications in order to turn it into an applet, but it is now in working form. Next steps are to add reset and clear functions, then try to get BASIC running. »