Re: Apple IIe Emulation Card for PC?-- Trackstar Info

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Gary Kratochvil writes ...
> 
> I saw some info about an Apple IIe emulation card in the FAQ's. It did
> not mention anything about a card that would go into a PC. Is there such
> a thing?  Am I better off with an emulation program like Apple Oasis? I
> still need to get my data from my Apple IIe to my PC. I found a serial
> card for the Apple. Does anyone have the pin out for the cable I would
> need to go from the IIe to PC? Can I just buy this cable from somewhere?
 ....

     Probably, we should put some Trackstar info into the 'getting started' FAQs
area. (It's easy to find Trackstar information in the FAQs; but, it is not so easy
to discover that what you want is a Trackstar.)

     A TrackStar is a single board Apple 2 computer that plugs into an expansion
slot in a PC. Diamond produced three or four versions.

     The Trackstar which seems to be most commonly available is the Trackstar E,
an enhanced //e on a board. Look for the boards on eBay or from Emerald City Sales
(870-743-3872; http://www.ahhz.com/ ). 

     With a Trackstar E plugged into your PC and an Apple II disk drive and a
composite monitor, you have what amounts to a pretty nice Apple //e. It can access
10MB of your PC hard disk as though it were a ProDOS hard disk.

     Regarding what is currently available from Emerald City Sales, there are a
few notes and caveats:

o- If you want to attach a color composite monitor-- such as the ones commonly
used with 8-bit Apple II's, you will probably need to make a small modification to
the Trackstar. This mod is described in the FAQs. The display is fine; but, so
far, no one seems able to get color. This may be due to having to use the
Trackstar tsutilit.com config software intended for the II+ Trackstar-- it seems
to work fine for everything except turning ON composite color. Users are still
looking for the for the //e Trackstar version of tsutilit.com.

o- If you can buy or build the Trackstar monitor feed-through cable, you may be
able to use a Trackstar E with your PC monitor (and get color). Evidently, the
Trackstar works fine with a CGA monitor connected to your PC. No one has reported
any success with VGA monitors. 


     You can find more Trackstar info at ...

http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2HDWHACK.html (see Q&A 18 and 24)

http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2APPLICS.html (see Q&A 24 and 25)

http://www.grin.net/~cturley/USA2WUG/TrackStar/  (see TrackStarInfo.txt and
MoreTrackStarInfo.txt)


     My Trackstar E card is residing in our old '486 PC. It makes a nice //e with
the added benefit of being able to transfer Apple II software downloaded to the PC
to Apple II 5.25" diskette or to virtual 5.25" disks or to the 10MB virtual hard
disk. (NULL modem transfers from PC to the IIgs are, still, a lot easier, though.)




Rubywand