Re: Help: need documentation for cards (PAL encoder, Mockingboard)

[Edhel Iaur <drsmooth@baldcom.net>]

Greg Berigan wrote:

> One item I assume is very well-known.  It is a Mockingboard from Sweet
> Micro Systems.  It looks pretty straightforward, except for the 4-pin
> connector in the top right corner of the card next to two adjustment
> wheels and a chipless socket (I was told it lacks the speech-synthesis
> option).  What goes on the 4-pin connector, and is it required to be
> connected to something, and can the missing chip be obtained from
> anywhere?  Is there any software I should look for that supports it?

If there's no port(s) for the sound to come out, then the 4 pins must be 
where you plug the card into an amplifier of speakers.  Otherwise, they 
may be where you put jumpers (stupid little things that just 
(electrically) connect two of the pins) I HIGHLY doubt that the 
Mockingboard sound comes out of the internal Apple // speaker.  The 2 
wheels are probably separate volume controls, like on my Phasor sound 
card.  My sound card is supposedly Mockingboard compatible, but out 
of the hundreds of Apple // progrmas I have, the only ones that support 
the sound card (not counting the programs that came with it!) are Music 
Construction Set, SkyFox, Night Flight, Silent Service, and Lethal 
Labyrinth :(.  Crime Wave says it supports a Mockingboard.  I would also 
be interested in knowing what programs support my sound card. :)

> Another is a PAL Color Encoder from DIGITEK International Ltd.  It
> doesn't seem to make much of a demand on the computer, as it only has 6
> connections on the card edge.  It has 2 RCA-type connectors, presumably
> for video in and out, marked "SK5" and "SK6".  There is also a molex
> connector, 4 pins wide, with only one pin connected to the card at a
> point marked "Video I/P".  I'd test it out except that I have no idea
> where that plug is supposed to connect.

Isn't PAL the European version of our standard NTSC "Video Out"?
 

> Can it be used in a IIgs slot without
> setting the slot to "Your Card"?  It looks like it just wants power and
> ground, though I'm not familiar with card edge uses.

I think that slot 7 of Apple //s gives out video signals all the time.
 
> Lastly, I also obtained an Apple Mouse model #A2M4015 with an external
> game port connector (like a joystick, paddles, or koalapad).  It doesn't
> seem to have any glide surfaces like found on modern mice.  I doubt I'll
> be using it on the IIgs, but I'm wondering what programs will recognize
> and use this mouse.  Do I dare try using it with paddle- or joystick-
> controlled games, or will those games just be confused by it?  Would
> GS/OS even recognize it, maybe give me two pointers on the screen
> controlled independently?

I would stick with the IIgs's built-in mouse port (OK, so technically, 
it's on the keyboard), since it would free up a slot, and as far as I 
know, the IIgs's built-in mouse port emulates the other Apple mouse card 
perfectly.  (unless you REALLY need a mouse in a slot other than 4...)  
For the most part, the mouse card will only work with mice, and you 
should use the joystick/paddle port for joysticks/paddles (the 
joystick/paddle port won't work with mice).
-- 
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