Or how many shots have been taken... not sure if there is an ADB drinking game but surely one of the times you take a shot is when Deoxit is mentioned.
IIe and IIc were what my elementary school used long into the 90s, with a few Macs in the library. Best of times, especially when you died of dysentery.
My rule of thumb is that if you buy a batch of anything untested or "for parts", and more than half of it works, you won. So this is an epic win. I thought it was a pretty big win when Techmoan bought a huge lot of MiniDisc players and recorders, and about 2/3 of them worked, including a couple really nice ones.
I was never into computers or anything tech. But ever since I found your channel with the field found system, it’s very quickly becoming not only one of my favorite channels, but a subject I’m finding more and more interesting.
I guess that's why I was always kinda into them - I grew up around a lot of old systems just shoved in garages or sheds. Even 20 years ago most of them just worked, which I could _not_ say about tape decks or turntables of the same vintage! Haha
That piece of paper thing known as the zebra paper, between the shield and the back of the motherboard on the third system definitely 100% saved that board from being destroyed by the rust. Amazing.
The board on #3 was very old. Apple figured out that they needed a crystal oscillator for the serial ports and this one didn't have it (near the middle of the board). They had a TSB (or whatever they called them) that allowed a warranty extension for anyone that had troubles with either a printer or modem to have the board replaced at Apple's expense.
The //c was my home computer as a kid too and this video was totally nostalgic. Brings back memories of learning assembly language and BASIC, calling BBSes, and even learning Unix with a dialup account I was given at the local university. Hello from Eugene!
Apple II systems are survivors ... for sure. My "barn find" apple IIe system was quite dirty, and ports fairly rusty, but eventually came right back to life. It needed a couple of capacitor replacements in the PSU and new memory chips. Keyboard came right back after a clean. Tough machines for sure!
As a Laser 128 user "back in the day" (i.e. when I was a kid), I looked down on the //c. Now the Laser is gone and I have a //c and //c+. Interesting machines.
Except that when Adrian or other people extract a C64 from a pile of mud, it usually works. (there was an issue with the cursor not blinking that turned out to be a corroded CIA socket - the chip was still fine) So - C64s *must* be stored in dirt and mud if you want them to still work. If they're sitting in a controlled environment, they just die for no freaking reason.
I just upgraded the ROM in my Apple IIC last week. It still had the original version -1 ROM which lacked support for SmartPort disks. Better late than never!
Nice find. For myself, TRS-80 programming to Apple 2e. My buddy's dad was upgrading and back in the mid 80s for a few hundred dollars had a complete system, 2 drives, color monitor, modem, parallel card etc. Lots of slots. Easy access, just lift the lid. Bard's Tale was a great game series.
I wish i still had mine, nostalgia here. Also, how reliable they are, Woz if you are reading, you are the man. The headbanging drives is your signature. Mine had the Alps keyb, from 87.
I love the IIc (amazing industrial design) - I still have mine from 1986 and it still functions perfectly. I would love to see a video of you bringing these back to good working condition.
Please do a second channel video following up on the cleanup and any retrobrighting you may decide to do on these machines, I'd love to see them all nicely restored and living their best lives :)
I got a parts 800xl off ebay and it had rust all on the shielding to the edge of the motherboard. The top and bottom of the shield was rust orange along with the parts of the motherboard. I had to de-oxit the sockets, but it still worked! The keyboard membrane was rust orange, but once cleaned it worked too!!! Those 80's machines are great.
You have basically shown us all again that there is no such thing as trash retro computers based on appearance alone, and that e-waste should be a last resort following some basic clean and inspect work plus testing. I figured there were maybe 3 parts computers and one working made from them out the total 4 Apples. And like the IBMs and Commodores of old, the Apples just worked. Great video!
@19:23 - Adrian connects machine #1 up to a monitor for test @33:52 - Machine #2 @44:10 - Machine #3 connected to monitor for test @52:48 - Machine #4 test
I got interrupted several times today trying to watch this video, so here I am, starting from where I left off. That No. 1 machine looked to have a Rifa cap that might need to be replaced (or was that the DC/DC converter?) Man... can't believe all four of these boards actually still worked! Thanks again, man.
Hi Adrian, really enjoyed this video. It's great to see machines that might not survive get a restoration or at least some love. I think I did guess correctly that 4 apple iis would be working they're so reliable. I am also very pleased with a t-shirt I ordered from your online store. I can now watch the basement feeling like I'm there too as we take a look 'on the bench'. I hope this helps support channel in some small way. Ed
Hi Adrian, could you please do a “pimp my amiga” series? A series taking a 500 or similar from absolute standard to all the possible/amazing/modern upgrades available? I think this would really help some newbies like me with getting the most out of our computer with all the modern convenience etc :) thanks heaps, your channel is by far my most favorite tech spot, right up there with Curious Mark! :)
These are some of my favorite videos. You get hold of some machines everyone else would have given up op. And give them many new years. Simply amazing❤ I hope these are not just stored away though but transferred to someone who would actually use them?
I really enjoyed spending time in your dirty apple dungeon! Amazing that they all worked, well done. But then, these computers were thousands of dollars in 1984, not hundreds like the ZX Spectrums we had in the UK. All of my speccies have issues!
While I never owned one (but my computer camp friend did!), I think the Apple //c with its little 9" inch display has the best atheistics of all the classic era PCs.
Man you are so freaking lucky. I would love to have a crusty nasty apple 2 cross my bench, exactly like that. It would be such a fun repair and restoration.
man those IIc's are troopers! i know they are relatively simple in design, but it is amazing they were sitting in some barn somewhere for decades and they just work. that is way cool. Thank you Adrian!
Good to see that all these units needed is a bit of a clean. Have fun doin it :D On the downside: no additional "repair" videos about these machines...
I love Apple //cs. It was the 2nd computer I ever owned, and I had the early revision 1983/84 model. I kept it all the way through my college days (mid-90s) and it disappeared after that. Not sure what happened to it or where it went. I bought another //c about 2 years ago and fully restored and modified it with a mockingboard 4c and a Fujinet and it works great. I would love to see more //c videos and //c modification vids.
This guys videos are so awesome it's so cool learning classic computing and how these things are tackled it's a nice break from the modern computers I work in. Thanks Adrian for the absolutely amazing videos this is stuff that should be a paid TV show so happy we get this content have a nice weekend
Wow. Great video. That's what is so awesome about these old machines. They are dinosaurs, but they just keep going !! Oddly enough, makes me want to visit barns.
I bought mine in 1986 in OKC when I was stationed at Ticker AFB. Done have it, but I managed to replace it and the GS I lost to time. Will have space to set them up eventually
I had a Laser 128EX as a kid, but i remember seeing an Apple 2C at school and was a bit jealous 😅. And the LCs we used a little later in high school were nice.
I love the IIc, as we had them at school. I have one and a green screen monitor, like we had a school and love it. Masquerade (adventure game) was a favourite! Just got a SDrive ][ for it 😊
Oh yeah. I have to watch this one later today. I too have a literal barn find Apple IIc complete with the elusive Iic color monitor which both, of course, are not in working condition... can't wait to watch this when the wife takes a nap.
Quite the bonus that all the mainboards, power supplies and 3 of the 4 disk drives were still functional! Looks like the other disk drive will be fine with a bit more TLC than the others. Many of us evidently would like to see follow-ups where the machines have been spruced up :)
I don't know if you know this already, but you mentioned the PBT keycaps and that the spacebar was yellowed anyway. The spacebar keys are actually made out of ABS plastic. Which was common back in the days. It's more difficult to mould larger keys with PBT (they're more prone to warp), so a lot of manufacturer used to use ABS for the spacebar keys instead. That's why the spacebar is yellow. :)
8 minutes in, just gonna say that considering the work, blood, sweat and tears many a single computer has given you, that you nonchalantly take all 4 in is absolutely fearless. Legend.
My first computer also was an Apple IIc. I regret to this day that I sold it when I was young. I didn't have any games, so I learned programming and there were many late nights, me and my Apple IIc. I had a dream becoming a programmer but there wasn't any schools you could learn this stuff yet. Sometimes I wish I was born 40 years later 🙂 with the possibilities of today. I turned out to be a music teacher instead, not too bad after all. But I still have those dreams of being a programmer and I still miss my old Apple IIc.
My first computer was an Apple //c we bought in December 1984. It was $1000 with the monochrome monitor, and we paid an additional $100 for a mouse. I loved Microwave.
I remember my dad bringing one home from work for me to basically play around with in 1984 (I'd have been 13) the next one he brought home was a 128K Mac that xmas.
The Apple IIc is by far my favorite of the early computers that I owned, or at least the most capable. I have a working one now but it isn't the one I had new. The only thing I need for it is a working Koalapad and software.
Well, if any of them end up dead, the least you can do is harvest the ALPS switches and possibly the keyboard midplane in its entirety from the machine and use it with an appropriate microcontroller to build a keyboard for something else. Those vintage ALPS switches that Apple used back in the day are still considered some of the best feeling switches around. Bonus points if you can recondition the keycaps or get a similar set made. I've always loved Apple's pseudo-island keycaps from that era. There's just something very novel about them.
I had an Apple IIe back in the day, and, at the time, I considered the IIc to be kind of a toy because it didn't have slots, but the design language of the IIc holds up very well. Today, I'd rather own a IIc than a IIe, as long as the IIc has an Alps keyboard. Drol is great, but I liked Dino Eggs even more. I never saw Drol in color though. I only ever played it on my Apple green monochrome monitor. Drol looks great in color!
Oooh.. I was buying a load of Comp mags back in 83/84 (PCN/PCW come to mind) and always loved the look of this thing. Looked so elegant. $1300 back then... that was quite something... to see them in this sorry state is a little disheartening... looking forward to watching the rest of this...
