Quickly get to the real fun. Copy-paste software and send keystrokes from a modern computer to an Apple 1 or Apple ][ through a serial (or USB) interface.
Use the Apple-1 Software Library for plug-and-play operation. Use Uncle Bernie's TurboType™ method for faster transfers. For example, use BASIC or play Mini-Startrek within 30 seconds. Get remote control using a terminal application (like Minicom). Select a baudrate of 57.6 kbps or 9600 bps. Orchestrate demonstrations of an Apple-1 or Apple II by the use of control characters
. See the manual.
Flip over the adapter socket on the backside and use it with an Apple ][ as well. Browse for games on ASCIIExpress.net and just copy-paste the bytecode. Attach the vintage keyboard of the Apple to the passthrough
connector. Use the toggle
button to switch over and enjoy games on the real machine.
Discover how an Apple-1 or Apple ][ generates a single character for display.
Inspired through the famous article by Don Lancaster, about a tiny self-made display, attached to an ASCII Keyboard (Popular Electronics, issue April 1974). The character is shown on a 5x7 dot matrix display
. The binary row address
is indicated by LEDs and you can see how the display is being built up by stepping through the 7 horizontal scan lines. The clock speed can be adjusted from 0.6 Hz to 800 Hz.
Connect an Apple 1 or Apple II keyboard directly using the DIP-16 connectors, or use the ASCII data in
pins. Verify the ASCII input to the character generator using the character address
LEDs. A power supply with +5V and -12V is needed as a minimum. The -5V is regulated on the board itself. Provide +12V when this voltage is needed by the attached keyboard. Supported character generators: Signetics 2513
, 2316B
, 2716
EPROMs and 2816
EEPROMs. Extra, feed the 8-bit counter output
to the ASCII Keyboard Tester!
Test vintage parallel ASCII keyboards with ease and see how they actually work.
Eight red LEDs show the data bits
coming from the attached keyboard, which contain the ASCII code. The strobe
signal can be watched, going high to low, or vice versa. Furthermore, the reset
and clear
signals can be tested for the Apple 1 and Apple II.
The board needs a 5V power supply as a minimum, but some keyboards need -12V and/or +12V to operate. Onboard is a passthrough power out
connector for the keyboard. Connect an Apple-1 or Apple ][ keyboard directly using the DIP-16 connectors. The extra parallel data in
connector can be used to connect uncommon or custom keyboards.
Use the bread board area to add your own experiments!
Manual Schematics Bill of Materials Get one!Display the hex value (two digits, 0-9
, A-F
) of any parallel 8-bits TTL input.
To mount it on the ASCII Keyboard Tester, the 74LS374
IC is removed from this tester board. This frees up a socket to put in the display on top. The removed IC is still needed and is being reused on this board. For stand alone usage, the board needs a 5V power supply. Then the data in
connector can be used for custom TTL input.
The jumper can be used to enable (or disable) the 8th bit. This way, both ASCII values (7 bits) and full bytes (8 bits) can be displayed correctly.
Schematics Bill of Materials Get one!Conveniently use an Apple ][ or ][+ keyboard on an Apple-1.
Tiniest adapter out there, sits directly on the Apple-1 keyboard socket. No need for extra flat cables. It has a clear screen
button and passthrough breakout pins for the Apple-1 keyboard connector. For reset, the key(s) on the connected Apple ][ keyboard can be used.
On the backside, a solder jumper is added to unhook the 8th input bit off the 5V, meant for the advanced user. The power out
connector can be used to let the Apple-1 power the ASCII Keyboard Tester or Character Generator Tester. This adapter can also be used on top of those for further testing.
Cheap and possibly the smallest keyboard in the world, a real joke.
Set the ASCII data
using the DIP switches, press keypress
and off you go! A trained finger puts only one character on the screen. The circuit is implemented without debouncing to keep it simple.
Onboard clear screen
(Apple-1 only) and reset
buttons. Experiment further with the breakout pins for the keyboard connector. For the Apple-1; a solder jumper is added to unhook the 8th input bit off the 5V, meant for the advanced user. The power out
connector can be used to let the computer power the ASCII Keyboard Tester or Character Generator Tester. This keyboard can even be used on top of those.
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Apple-1 | Schematics | BoM | Gerbers | Get one! |
---|---|---|---|---|
Apple ][ | Schematics | BoM | Gerbers |
“Today I soldered the kit. I love your project. Congratulations.”
“Everything went ok. Thank you for your remarkable efficiency :-)”
“With your board, I have no excuse to check all my keyboards. Great work.”
“The 8BitFlux Poor Man's Keyboard Gives Your Apple I or Apple II Flip-Switch ASCII Powers”
“Wow! That looks nice!”
“I had a lot of fun and learned a lot! Extremely helpful in answering questions, as well as receptive to feedback. I recommend this to all my vintage buddies!”
The process is old-fashioned simple:
North Americanian? See our distributors 🚚.
Choose for the PCB only or a complete kit. The kit contains the PCB and all unsoldered parts. See the bill of materials for all parts that are included. Items can be soldered, assembled and tested at a 40% surcharge.
Prices are in euros and include 21% VAT.
Item | PCB / Color | Kit |
---|---|---|
Keyboard Serial Terminal New | € 9 | € 85 |
Character Generator Tester | € 9 | € 45 |
ASCII Keyboard Tester | € 7 | € 25 |
One Byte Hex Display | € 5 | € 20 |
Apple-1 Keyboard Adapter New | € 5 | € 15 |
Poor Man's Keyboard / Apple-1 or Apple ][ | € 5 | € 15 |
More than two items? Get a 5% discount on your total.
Our sales partner and authorized distributor for the North America region is ReActiveMicro.com. Please place your order directly in the online store.
Interested in reselling? Please contact us.
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