Apple II Cards and Programming Help?

[Theretrogamingroom]

In one of my earlier conquests, I received a couple of Apple IIes, one with a bunch of cards. I have been trying to gather info on some of these, but I still need some info on them.

Some of these I just need original prices and such, but others don't even have a known function. Anyways, these are the cards that were included:

Meg 80z: 80 column card with 1MB Ram.

Question: When were these produced and how much did they cost?

Apple Super Serial Card: 1981. For external devices such as printers, modems, etc.

Question: Is this SCSI? What devices are compatible with this? How much did it cost?

Sequential bitMOUSE Card: For using a mouse. 1993. $59.99.

Question: Is this compatable with Apple Mice or did Sequential make their own?

Covox Speech? Card: This has a 2 pin cable coming from it (which i assume connects to the MoBo where the original speaker connects. It also has a 2 pin plug where something would go, the Apple IIe speaker right? Aside from that, there is a knob (Volume?) and a 3.5 MM jack (Audio Out/In?). 1984.

Question: I really just need more info on this card, it is rather strange. I don't even know how to use it. I would like to know its price and instructions.

Apple Memory Expansion Card: 1MB Ram. 1985.

Question: Does this card also act as an 80 column card? How much was it? Will having this card connected to the Apple IIe (With 64K Ram) and along with the Meg 80z (both connected at the same time), would I have 2112 MB Ram (just over 2 MB), or would one card cancel the other one out or would some memory be lost or?...

PCPI (Personal Computer Products Inc.) APPL1 Card. 1982.

Question: What is this thing used for? My guess is some sort of Apple 1 emulator? I would like to know its function and cost.

Apple Disk ][ Interface Card: 1978. Included with Disk II Drives.

Question: What do I need to use multiple drives and multiple disk ][ cards?

Overall Expansion Card Questions: What software and/or hardware do I need to make use of these cards? Will all of them being squished together in the case cause damage/overheating? Does the location of the cards in the slots on the motherboard affect their performance or will they work anywhere that they fit (I understand that there are recommended areas for certain cards)? How good will my overall picture be (in pixels)? How do I make PC disks compatible? How do I know if any ICs are bad in the Disk Drives?

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Programming:

I am making several text based games with the preinstalled version of BASIC. These will be rather long programs, and I need to make sure that I can make them on my IIe. How much memory is needed for excessive coding (As in line 1, 2, 3... all the way to lines in the 10,000s or higher)? How do 80 column cards affect the way that the program looks and runs, if at all? Do you guys have any info that I should know before proceeding? Any other info or recommendations would be great!

Thanks!

 

[david__schmidt]

Some of these I just need original prices and such, but others don't even have a known function.

Sorry, I can't help with original prices.

You might also want to surf on over to the Apple II Documentation Project for more details about hardware:

http://mirrors.apple2.org.za/Apple%20II%20Documentation%20Project/

Apple Super Serial Card: 1981. For external devices such as printers, modems, etc.Question: Is this SCSI?

No, it's RS-232 serial.

What devices are compatible with this?

Printers, modems, etc. ;-)

Apple Memory Expansion Card: 1MB Ram. 1985.Question: Does this card also act as an 80 column card?

No.

PCPI (Personal Computer Products Inc.) APPL1 Card. 1982.Question: What is this thing used for?

This is a CP/M card. It contains a Z80 chip to run old CP/M software.

Apple Disk ][ Interface Card: 1978. Included with Disk II Drives.Question: What do I need to use multiple drives and multiple disk ][ cards?

I'm not sure what you are asking. You just need multiple drives and multiple Disk ][ cards to use them. You can plug in two disk drives per interface card, as many as you have open slots.

Overall Expansion Card Questions: What software and/or hardware do I need to make use of these cards?

Expansion cards often came with software built in - ROM in firmware. Sometimes they required external software (CP/M boot disks for the Applicard, for example). It really depends on the card.

Will all of them being squished together in the case cause damage/overheating?

Yes, it will stress the power supply to fill up all the slots if you aren't really using the cards.

Does the location of the cards in the slots on the motherboard affect their performance or will they work anywhere that they fit (I understand that there are recommended areas for certain cards)?

Performance-wise - no. As you noted, some software will make assumptions about which card is where, so some standards are good to follow. You want to avoid plugging much of anything into slot 3. (A card without any ROM onboard will in general be ok, as it wouldn't collide with the built in slot 3 80 column firmware.)

How good will my overall picture be (in pixels)?

It'll be exactly the same as it always is. This is a reasonable treatment of the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II_graphics

How do I make PC disks compatible?

You don't. There are fundamental, magnetic differences in the way the data is recorded.

How do I know if any ICs are bad in the Disk Drives?

They won't work. ;-)

Programming:
I am making several text based games with the preinstalled version of BASIC. These will be rather long programs, and I need to make sure that I can make them on my IIe. How much memory is needed for excessive coding (As in line 1, 2, 3... all the way to lines in the 10,000s or higher)?

I guess that depends on how much coding you plan to do! You only get about 32k for BASIC no matter how many memory cards you have plugged in. If you need more than 32k - then you need to do some tricky things like chaining, segments, etc.

How do 80 column cards affect the way that the program looks and runs, if at all?

It makes the screen twice as wide (or, put another way, it makes text twice as squished in the horizontal direction). So, it affects the way a program looks rather fundamentally.

Do you guys have any info that I should know before proceeding? Any other info or recommendations would be great!

Jump in and start playing. Don't worry about learning everything all at once.