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Re: Apple II Memory Expansion Card



Henry wrote:
Hey Guys.

Looking at my RAMFactor the 4 Pin connector is just power and Ground. I'm just unsure of what voltage would be and didn't want to 'blow up' my card if I could help it.

Thanks to Sean for the 4 Meg Expansion board and the RAMCharger! Looks like those two options will soon be making a come back.

I believe the RAMFactor must has some kind of refresh circuit on it. It's the only thing that makes sense really. Of the 4 pin connector I bet 2 pins are the charger and 2 are the battery. That way if the power was to go out or you were to turn off the computer, power would never be interrupted to the card. At least that's my assumption at this point. The manual didn't have any information about it really. Just talk about the jumpers.

I'm thinking a few NiMH batteries and a wall-wart for when the computer is off will do the trick. I'm sure I can make the battery pack 'stackable' so people can choose how much time they want, although one pack should be good for days. If you use the computer daily and have it charge when the powers on then you shouldn't need the wall wart. If you leave the computer off for days then you will need the wall wart. At least that's how I'll try and make it. It will be more of a kit actually. All the parts will be sold separately and you can choose what options you will want. Of course I always prefer when all the options can fit inside the computer, so I'll try and make the battery internal.

These aren't static RAMs--they burn power all the time.
Remember how warm these RAM cards get?

It will take a sizeable battery (like the original Disk ][-sized one)
to provide moderate battery life.

Put another way, what was the current capacity of the RAMCharger wall
wart?

-michael

Parallel computing for 8-bit Apple II's!
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
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