Re: What is the best clock card?

[et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Michael Black)]

"Ernest" (leucoplast@seanet.NOSPAM.com) writes:
> "Mark Percival" <markREMOVE@syndicomm.com> wrote in message
> n1utivg6ok0srsc4g8m050hdp4ljka6a3t@4ax.com">news:n1utivg6ok0srsc4g8m050hdp4ljka6a3t@4ax.com...
>> On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 16:49:56 GMT, "Ernest"
>> <leucoplast@seanet.NOSPAM.com> wrote:
>>
>> >I know that there are several good clock cards for the Apple II but I was
>> >wondering if there is one that is superior to the others?
>>
>> Interesting you should ask about this.  I recently found a source for
>> "No Slot Clock" chips.
>>
>> What is a "No Slot Clock"?
>>
>> - It is exactly what it say it is.  It gives your Apple IIe or IIc a
>> ProDOS compatible clock without the usage of a slot.
>> - Yes they are still available.
>>
>> http://www.syndicomm.com/~mark/NSC.jpg
>>
>> From the photo above you can see that it is a clock chip inside of a
>> 28-pin ROM socket.  All you do is carefully pull a 28-pin ROM from
>> your machine (CD or EF ROM), place the NSC into the ROM socket and
>> then replace your removed ROM into the socket on top of the chip.
>> Patch ProDOS, run the utility to set the clock and your done!
>>
>> These will work in any Apple IIe (enhanced or not), IIc or IIc+.  The
>> lack of a 28-pin ROM in a II or II+ prevents it from working there.
>>
>> I recently picked up one to try and put it in my Platinum IIe.  Works
>> great.  It also keeps track of the year so you don't have to patch
>> ProDOS every 7 years.
> 
> I used one of these in my Tandy 1000hx but I didn't know that it would work
> in a IIe. I would be interested in purchasing one of these. I don't remember
> the one for my HX being expensive at all.
> 
They weren't specific to a computer, being an IC rather than board.
It was designed to fit a standard ROM socket, and by sending some bytes
to the device, you'd get the clock, while not messing one bit with
the existing circuitry.  So long as software was written for a given
computer, they would work.

I am a tad surprised that they still exist.  I thought I'd read that
old versions ran out, because they hadn't been designed to handle
years after a certain date.  And considering how computers have gone,
the function would be fitted into an existing part, so there wouldn't
be enough demand for a standalone circuit like this.

  Michael