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Re: Apple II Fibernet Interface Card

D Finnigan wrote:

Bill W. wrote:


Pretty interesting, isn't it.  At first I thought maybe an attempt at
FDDI, but there is not enough logic and what would be the point of
that kind of throughput on an Apple II?




It looks like the top 2 connectors are labeled (from LTR) FOX 2 and FOX 1.
The bottom 2 are FOR 2 and FOR 1.

There's a toggle switch, some transistors and resistors (probably to control
the LEDs).

Then there's a 6551, same as on a Super Serial Card, and a crystal to
provide clock pulse to it.

Finally, I see a SN74LS02N and an HD75LS04P. One has a date code that
appears to be from 1982.


The fact that the card has a 6551 ACIA pretty much tells it all.

It was a fibre-connected serial link, likely running a proprietary
protocol.  The fibre link may have been dictated by electrical isolation
requirements for some environment (hospitals, high voltage interface,
??), not by any need for speed.

-michael

NadaNet 3.1 for Apple II parallel computing!
Home page:  http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
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