(This is a repost - the first two did not look like it made it out to the net!)

On 04/22/2004 10:54 PM, Leonard_Erickson wrote:

> >I sort of "inherited" a couple of Franklin ACE 1200
systems. I know
> >they are an Apple clone. Just not sure which model. My guess is ][+ 
>
> DO> If your keyboard has the open and closed "F" (same as the
> DO> corresponding "apple") keys, then it should be //e
compatible.If it
> DO> does not have those keys, then it is ][+ compatible. 
>
>I don't think they've got those keys. 

There were two Franklin series.  The first were beige, like the Apple IIs.
The second series were black with chrome or brushed aluminim trim. These
were the ones that were like the Apple //c and //e.

> >I'd love to have some software and a few more cardss for them. ARCNET
> >or ethernet would be great, because then I *might* be able to get them
> >to talk to my PCs and Macs.
>
> DO> You'd probably have an easier time getting the old 4 wire appletalk to
> DO> connect your Franklin to your Mac and use the Mac as a ethernet bridge
> DO> to your PC.   I have heard that ethernet cards existed for the Apple,
> DO> but I never saw one.  I'll bet that they are probably only supported
> DO> under ProDOS too. 
>
> >I'm also wondering what I'd need to be able to read programs from
> >cassette, as I've got a lot of old cassette games that had Apple
> >versions on them.
>
> DO> You should need only a pair of sheilded cords with
"mini" (monaural)
> DO> earphone plugs on each end, if your Franklin ACE has the ports.
>
>Doesn't *seem* to as I recall. That's why I was hoping there was a card
or something.
The Apple II series all used the miniature mono connectors, and they were
built onto the motherboard.  My first computer was an Apple II+ clone,
called a TANO (Technical Associates of New Orlieans) and I remember that it
had the cassette port and the 14 pin or 16 pin "DIP" IC socket
Game connector on a separate card that plugged into one of the inteerface
slots at the rear of the computer. 

I didn't want to give a up a slot for it, and I had the schematics. I
compared the schematics for my board  with the one for the Apple II and
found that there was no "Slot 7", but the chips and circuits used
to construct the interfaces were the same, so I decided to add the missing
slot to the motherboard.  

I soldered ribbon cable to the correct places on the motherboard to obtain
the signals needed. Of the 50 signals on each connector, there were only 2
that differentiated each slot from the rest (slot select and I/O Select, I
believe they were called) , and these were available from the sockets on
the motherboard. The rest were soldered to the corresponding pins of an
adjacent slot connector, to keep line lengths short.   I atttached this
cable to a crimp-on edge connector that was just liike ones used for the
apple slots. I then superglued tha connector to a blank spot along the top
rear edge of the motherboard, lined up with the other sockets.  

It worked like a champ!!  I may still have the schematics for the
cassette/game card around here.  If I can find them,  I could put a text
representation of them up for you. The thing may have had a dozen parts on
it, max. If you have the old style Franklin and it has slots but no ports,
then a card like this should work.

> DO> The software for reading the cassette port was built in, as I recall. I
> DO> believe the commands from Integer or Applesoft Basic  are
"LOAD" and
> DO> "SAVE"  
>
>I actually have an old Apple Basic manual around somewhere. I bought it
>when I was translating software from Apple to TRS-80.

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