Tools Part 1 - Soldering Station

Building an Apple 1 replica and experiencing with electronics obviously requires a lot of gear.

One of the most important is the soldering station.
Even though I’m far away to actually solder a component on an Apple 1 board, I’m already trying a few things with a soldering iron.

Vintage components can be expensive, and I really don’t want to mess-up things with bad soldering.

My soldering station is a Weller WECP-20:

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It’s not in production anymore, but as far as I can tell, Weller seems to be one of the best brand when it comes to soldering irons.

The funny story about my WECP-20 is that I got it from my girlfriend.
Its original owner got rid of it, so she found it on the street and brought it back home, thinking it was just too cool.

This was a few months before I decided to build the Apple 1 replica, and I wasn’t very happy about it, because our place is not so huge, and there’s already tons of stuff in it… : )

I told her to get rid of it, but fortunately she did not.

It’s in perfect condition, and is working fine.
I bought some new tips, as the original one was completely corroded.

I’m still not sure which one to use in which condition, as I got a lot of differently shaped tips, but I’ll just see as it goes.

For the solder itself, I had a hard time choosing one, as there’s just so many brands and kinds of solder.

I finally choose Kester solder, 60/40, 0.51mm and 0.79mm (.020 and .031).

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60/40 means there’s 60% of tin and 40% of lead.
You can find solder with different amounts of tin/lead, as well as lead-free solder, but it looks like the 60/40 one is the most used in electronics.

The diameter is also extremely important.
I choose two different diameters, so I can experiment with both.
As far as I can tell, with my poor soldering experience, I actually prefer the small one (0.51mm - .020).

That’s for the basic stuff…

When doing soldering works, there’s also a few accessories you may want to consider.

The first one is a desoldering-pump.

A desoldering-pump, as the name implies, is a kind of pump you can use to ease the process of desoldering components from a board.

It can be because you made a mistake while soldering the component, or because you want to desolder a vintage component from its original board, in order to reuse it.

Mine is a Weller 7881:

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Using it is very simple. You «charge» it, and simple apply your soldering iron on the solder you want to remove.

When the solder is melting, you activate the pump, and it will just suck the solder away. Clean and fast…

Well, that’s all for today… : )

Stay tuned…

Roadmap

Before writing about the real stuff, I’d like to have a few words about the project roadmap. Well, at least about how I see it now…

Building a complete and working Apple I replica will take a huge amount of time, and there’s obviously no real milestone at the moment.
This is just experimental learning…

That being said, the project itself will mainly consist of the following parts:

1 - Identify All Components

The idea is to build a replica that looks almost exactly the same as the original.
This implies getting the same components as the original Apple I.

I’ll use the original schematics by Steve Wozniak and pictures of the motherboard in order to identify all electronic components.

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Apple I original schematics / Source: XS-Labs

Every resistor, capacitor, integrated circuit needs to be identified and cataloged in some way.
This includes the components’ specifications, of course, but also the manufacturer, model, etc., as I will try to find the exact same ones - not just similar stuff.

2 - Purchase Everything

With all components identified accurately, I’ll need to purchase them.

For some of them, this won’t be much of an issue, as I already know some Apple I components are still manufactured today.

But some components are no longer available. The Apple I was built in 1976 - we’re speaking about vintage stuff.

I may find a few ones on sites like eBay, or from electronic surplus stores, but I doubt I’ll be able to get everything.
I’ll then try to find components with the exact same specifications and visuals, as I want my replica to be as close as possible as the original Apple I.

3 - Learn & Experiment

This part will be the fun one… : )

I’ve been programming for more than 15 years, but I don’t have any real knowledge of the electronic world.
So I’ll need to learn, try, fail, and eventually succeed building basic circuits.

This implies a lot of theory about electronics and the different components, as well as a lot of practice.

The theory can be acquired with books, and a lot of time.

For the practice part, I’ll go with a few basic kits (like the one you may offer to your 8 years old nephew for christmas), so I can experiment with soldering, etc.

I’ll also experiment with micro controllers, like Arduino or MBED platforms, in order to learn more about components, circuits design, etc.

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An Arduino board / Source: Arduino

This will obviously take quite some time, but at the end, I hope I’ll feel more confident and capable with electronics.

4 - Prototype

At this point, I should be able to put everything in practice and build a first prototype on a breadboard, using the real components, based on the Apple I schematics.

This will allow me to test the whole system against the original specifications.
Let’s hope I won’t burn too much stuff doing this… : )

5 - ROM

Having a first prototype is nice, and this will be an awesome achievement for me.
But without an operating system, such a prototype is meaningless.

There’s of course no hard disk on an Apple I, and the whole operating system was placed on an integrated circuit called ROM (which stands for Read-Only Memory).

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An Intel ROM / Source: Wikipedia

So I’ll need to get my hands on the original binary or source code, and transfer it to the physical chip.
Loads of fun ahead…

6 - PCB Design

The penultimate step will be the design of the motherboard itself - placing and connecting every component on a Printable Circuit Board (PCB) layout.

There’s a lot of software for this, and I’ll need to test them to find the more suitable.
And finally, get the motherboard printed…

7 - Mounting

Last but not least, solder everything on the motherboard.
Let’s hope I’ll then have good soldering skills… : )

That’s all for now.
As you can see, this is not a short-term project, and I’ll keep posting about the advancement of the different steps and about my experiments in the electronic world…

Stay tuned : )

One more thing

So the project is now officially started, thanks to Vic and my fellow teammates at DigiDNA, who convinced me to talk about it and create this blog.

Vic’s first post resumes awesomely the idea behind the project: building a dream with my bare hands.
But there’s also one more thing. There’s always one, isn’t it? : )

As a software developer, I love and even sometimes need to understand how things work.
This passion eventually led me to the lower parts of computer programming: assembly language, operating system development, etc.

But while all of this is obviously exhilarating in my own perspective, because It allows me to learn and experience the stuff I want to understand, there’s a barrier I never dared to cross: hardware…

And even when writing tons of assembly code, I always feel I’m simply relying on some black sillicon magic.
I can code and create the craziest things my mind can think of, but still, all of this is only possible because of the electronic components in my computer.

And I personnaly think that without this hardware knowledge, even the most experienced programmer can feel like someone who’s never touched a computer.

This is how I feel when I think of electronics, and this is also why I started this project.
Hopefully it will allow me to finally understand this black magic part I always feared to learn, and share this awesome knowledge.

So stay tuned : )

Building an Apple I - Some Say it’s an Archeological Project

A good project starts with a great idea. And great ideas make great stories. That’s what this blog is about: It’s the story of a guy that had a dream and like every dream he could not grab it. So he decided to build it. Build his dream.

JD’s dad is an archeologist, as a kid he has been around the search fields. He even had the chance sometimes to scoop around and actually found some ancient civilisation artefacts. That is probably what gave him this taste for collections, now he collects loads of stuff. 

He also is a seasoned developer and talented designer. JD cares for good design and computers, that is: Apple Computers. He has been building an impressive array of original Apple machines and devices which are undoubtedly the most remarkable items in his possession.

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The Apple IIe, one of the many remarkable pieces.

Like most antiques collections, the older the pieces the harder they are to be found. The most sought hardware piece as of today would be the Apple I. Some of the original motherboards signed by Steve Wozniak, the designer and maker himself (yes, with Steve Jobs) are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now that the Apple has celebrated 30 years the Apple I is priceless.

So be it, JD will build one. 

From scratch.

With no previous experience, no idea where to begin - except he’s a developer, and developer can invent methods.

So this blog is not only about a story, it’s also a recipe for that method: it’s an Open Source guide for building an Apple I and start learning electronics, welding, circuit design, condensers, flashing, all that makes computer works. 

Happy learning, stay tuned.

Vic

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An Apple I signed by Steve Wozniak - not sure JD’s replica will get the maker’s mark.

PS: I’m writing this story like a journalist, that’s my part of the dream - I always wanted to be a story teller. I’m Vic, one of JD’s colleagues at DigiDNA - an independent software company that decided to sponsor this beautiful story/support this insane project.

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