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  • ID: Cards...

    From Tony Cianfaglione@ab616@chebucto.ns.ca to comp.sys.apple2 on Sunday, July 20, 2003 03:24:57
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2


    Can someone identify the cards below and exactly what they do? There
    doesn't seem to be too much on them, if anything, via search engines.

    Mockingboard SSP2000 Rev. D (1985)

    Soundchaser (Passport Design 1980-1)

    MMI DSC Board (1982)

    Thanks...

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  • From Michael Pender@mpender@hotmail.com to comp.sys.apple2 on Sunday, July 20, 2003 16:01:02
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    Tony Cianfaglione <ab616@chebucto.ns.ca> wrote in message news:Pine.GSO.3.95.iB1.0.1030720032209.20320B-100000@halifax.chebucto.ns.ca.
    ..

    Can someone identify the cards below and exactly what they do? There
    doesn't seem to be too much on them, if anything, via search engines.

    Mockingboard SSP2000 Rev. D (1985)

    Soundchaser (Passport Design 1980-1)

    MMI DSC Board (1982)

    IIRC the Mockingboard was the premiere sound card of the Apple II line. I don't know about the others.

    - Mike


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  • From Tony Cianfaglione@ab616@chebucto.ns.ca to comp.sys.apple2 on Friday, July 25, 2003 20:36:09
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2


    You can find a couple of scans I did at:

    www.chebucto.ca/~ab616/dsc-ic.gif
    www.chebucto.ca/~ab616/dsc-rgb.tif

    They came out a little dark but turning up the screen brightness helped
    with viewing.

    There is a DAC OUT/SPK OUT phono jack selectable with a jumper and an
    AUX. OUT phono jack.

    The writing on it is: MMI DAC BOARD 1982 Temporal Acuity Products Inc.

    The gold chip has AD558JD 8244 written on it. The other log chip has LM3900N RAYC8236 on it and the short chip has P231 LM 386N-1 on it.

    There is a slide volume(?) control at the back of the card.

    -----------------------------

    On 25 Jul 2003, Michael J. Mahon wrote:

    MMI DSC Board (1982)

    Rings a bell, but I can't place it... Could you describe it and its chips?

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  • From et472@et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Michael Black) to comp.sys.apple2 on Saturday, July 26, 2003 00:25:37
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

    Tony Cianfaglione (ab616@chebucto.ns.ca) writes:
    You can find a couple of scans I did at:

    www.chebucto.ca/~ab616/dsc-ic.gif
    www.chebucto.ca/~ab616/dsc-rgb.tif

    They came out a little dark but turning up the screen brightness helped with viewing.

    There is a DAC OUT/SPK OUT phono jack selectable with a jumper and an
    AUX. OUT phono jack.

    The writing on it is: MMI DAC BOARD 1982 Temporal Acuity Products Inc.

    The gold chip has AD558JD 8244 written on it. The other log chip has LM3900N RAYC8236 on it and the short chip has P231 LM 386N-1 on it.

    There is a slide volume(?) control at the back of the card.

    Obviously, it's got some sort of digital to analog converter, with
    speaker level output.

    The LM386 is a small audio amplifier.

    The LM3900 is a "quad norton amplifier", in other words, kind of like
    op-amps and there are four of them in the package.

    My first thought about the "558" is that it's the quad timer IC, which
    is used (I think) in the Apple II for the joystick controller (and in
    the IBM's joystick controller).

    But that seems a bit off, and the "AD" prefix is Analog Devices;
    not only did they not make timer ICs, but considering the labelling
    of the board, that must be the DA converter.

    A websearch verifies this, it's an 8-bit digital to analog converter
    intended for interfacing to a CPU bus.

    So it must be for generating sounds of some sort, be it music or
    speech. If those are the only ICs on the board, obviously it counts
    on software to do much of the work.

    I suppose the LM3900 is being used as a low pass filter, between the
    DAC and the audio amplifier.

    Michael



    -----------------------------

    On 25 Jul 2003, Michael J. Mahon wrote:

    MMI DSC Board (1982)

    Rings a bell, but I can't place it... Could you describe it and its chips?



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  • From Tony Cianfaglione@ab616@chebucto.ns.ca to comp.sys.apple2 on Saturday, July 26, 2003 18:01:00
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2


    Wow! You know your stuff.

    The DAC card, the Mockingboard and the Soundchaser are all in an
    unenhanced 64k IIe. The person I got it from said the stuff was in ther
    when he got it and he never used it and didn't know what it was for. I
    wonder what the original use for all 3 cards together was for; if, indeed,
    they were used together and not separately.

    It would be great if someone with some time on their hands created a
    reference website listing as many old A2 cards that could be identified including scans, for posterity sake.

    ----------------------------------------

    On 26 Jul 2003, Michael Black wrote:

    Obviously, it's got some sort of digital to analog converter, with
    speaker level output.

    The LM386 is a small audio amplifier.

    The LM3900 is a "quad norton amplifier", in other words, kind of like
    op-amps and there are four of them in the package.

    My first thought about the "558" is that it's the quad timer IC, which
    is used (I think) in the Apple II for the joystick controller (and in
    the IBM's joystick controller).

    But that seems a bit off, and the "AD" prefix is Analog Devices;
    not only did they not make timer ICs, but considering the labelling
    of the board, that must be the DA converter.

    A websearch verifies this, it's an 8-bit digital to analog converter
    intended for interfacing to a CPU bus.

    So it must be for generating sounds of some sort, be it music or
    speech. If those are the only ICs on the board, obviously it counts
    on software to do much of the work.

    I suppose the LM3900 is being used as a low pass filter, between the
    DAC and the audio amplifier.

    Michael



    -----------------------------

    On 25 Jul 2003, Michael J. Mahon wrote:

    MMI DSC Board (1982)

    Rings a bell, but I can't place it... Could you describe it and its chips?






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