Hardware-hacking innovations

This session will present a variety of hardware innovations that I have developed over the years. Each will be demonstrated and discussed.

BUGG-POWER: This is an adaptation of IBM-style power supplies for the IIgs and IIe to eliminate low-power hassles. It was was shown at the 1996 KansasFest meeting and later presented in a magazine article(Juiced GS, Fall 1996). Separate versions are used for the IIgs and IIe/II+.

THREE DISK II ENHANCEMENTS: The classic Disk II drive is 35 years old. It is roomy, has low-cost socketed chips on a relatively simple analog board, and is ruggedly robust. Innovations improve the drive’s resale value; these were presented in my magazine article (II Alive, Summer 1996). They include: a front-panel speed adjustment knob, a three-position auto/manual write protect switch, and a front-panel bicolor green-red read-write LED lamp (Circuit designed by Jeff Hurlburt of Houston TX).

BUGG-BRICK IIC: The IIc’s external power supply “brick” has an internal fuse; when the fuse blows, the brick is often discarded. On Ebay and elsewhere, there is a chronic shortage of IIc power bricks because so many have been discarded. I will show how the brick can be sawed open, and an accessible fuse-holder installed.

STEALTH-GS: When the IIgs was introduced, Apple offered a retro-kit to swap a IIgs motherboard into a IIe CPU casing. The retro-kit had plastic standoffs positioned in the right places to hold the motherboard away from the metal base-plate, and the metal back-panel had openings positioned correctly for the IIgs sockets. My own innovation, Stealth-GS, eliminated the need for standoffs. This was presented in a magazine article (Juiced.GS, Spring 1997).

POWER SUPPLY VOLTMETER: What can be done when an internal power supply is scrapped? I will show my two-range custom voltmeter, used to measure the +5 volt and +12 volt lines used by the IIgs and IIe.

MOLEX-4 PLUGS AND SOCKETS: These can be attached to powerpoints on the IIe motherboard, to power various accessories house in the CPU: indicator lamps, adjustable-speed fan, etc.

FAN TRANSPLANT FOR SYSTEM SAVER IIGS: The stock fan in the Kensington System Saver is noisier and produces a weaker air flow than the fan in the System Saver IIe; the manufacturer used a less robust fan in the GS unit as an economy measure. Transplanting the IIe fan into the IIgs System Saver quiets the rattling noise and increases the unit’s air flow.