There's not much more that can be written about the Apple 1 that hasn't already been said a hundred times already. If you search the net you can easily find a dozen sites that can explain in detail the history and background behind the Apple 1 and the beginning of the Apple empire. However where I maybe able to add some insight is in how I built my Apple 1 from a kit.

neoncluster.com

The Apple 1 I have is an almost exact replica of Steve Wozniaks original Apple 1. The Obtronix Apple I reproduction is a kit produced by Steve Gabaly. I won this computer on eBay, and when I say ‘won’ I don’t mean in the typical eBay sense. Steve had posted on one of his eBay auctions that if anyone could find all the differences between the two Apple 1 production motherboards he would give away one of his kits. I was up to the challenge. I scoured the net for images of Apple 1 computers and compared them, noting down the subtle differences. The whole process probably took about 3 hours. I posted what I believed were the differences on his eBay listing and won. Thanks Steve.

The kit arrived about a month later and I immediately started assembling it. The first thing I did was to ditch the cheap single wipe sockets that came with the kit and purchased a complete set of machined sockets. I like to build and fix all my machines with machined sockets as it ensures a solid connection between the IC and the socket for years to come. The last thing I want to do in the future is have to repair my repairs.

Building the actual kit was fairly straight forward, if not extremely time consuming. It took me about a week to get most of it together. I found the tricky parts where the building of the power supply, and making the keyboard adaptor. At the time there was a lot less information available on the net, and Steve’s build instructions consisted of a single sheet of paper with absolutely no photo reference at all. I had to use common sense and a bit of guesswork to get it all up and running. The power supply was particularly nerve racking as I didn’t want to blow anything up.

I did have one small issue. When I was testing the unit I accidentally plugged the keyboard in the wrong way and blew a couple of IC’s. It took a while to track down the exact problem to the keyboard itself, but once I did it was relatively easy to resolve.

FInally I wanted to put everything in a case so that it could be easily stored and pulled out and used with minimal setup. One day I came across a cheap suitcase that was the perfect size. After some drilling and purchasing all the right mounting equipment I was able to, with little room to spare, get everything to fit perfectly.

A very important part of my hobby is having a good library of easily accessible software for all my machines, and the Apple 1 is no exception. I was involved in beta testing the CFFA1 card, although the process was very easy as I found the card to be a wonderful and bug free solution for accessing Apple 1 programs on Compact Flash cards. It is easy to use and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a simple storage solution for programs available from online libraries. In fact if you are looking for the ‘Ultimate Apple 1 Software Collection’, I have spent some time compiling it for you. As far as I am aware the collection contains every piece of software presently available for the Apple 1. No more need to scour the net hunting programs down.