New but iconic-looking parts arrived

Your 2nd picture isn't showing up for me, I'm curious as to what it was!

skate323k137 wrote:

Your 2nd picture isn't showing up for me, I'm curious as to what it was!

The pic was there yesterday and gone today...  If I recall right it was Synertek 6502A chips, one with a 1983 date code and one with 1979.

Nice, thanks foe sharing. Media browser is the way to go here. 

In post #2, 'ebruchetz' wrote:

" I just bought these locally at Anchor Electronics (but they are running out). "

Uncle Bernie comments:

This is what happens when reliable sources for rare components are disclosed on a public forum.

Well, I was the culprit here, as it was me who disclosed the source of my 6502 and 6520 being Anchor Electronics, but I did not anticipate that they would be snatched away / sell out so quickly, given the fact that there are not all too many Apple-1 builders in the world active at the same time. I can state this fact confidently as I follow the sales of Apple-1 motherboards and 2519 from the Israeli seller  in Ebay, just out of interest to be able to make a good estimate how many Apple-1 clones exist in the world at a given time. (There are not many, still faaar below 1,000 Apple-1 clones were "born".)

Anchor has more 6520 still in stock than 6502, so at least the 6520 won't run out so quickly. Here is the link to their website:

https://anchor-electronics.com/

Go there and click "Inventory" to download their 2024 catalog pdf. They also have the elusive LM323K for only $8.95, it is the UA323K drop-in equivalent from Fairchild, however. All my later kits came with the same UA323K from the same stash, so be confident that they work in the Apple-1 ! No need to pay the $65.70 for the TI LM323K at Mouser (but Mouser has 182 in stock as of today, so no need to worry about them running out anytime soon !) Anchor also has all the TO-220 regulators and all the IC sockets, both flovors I recommend, the 'machined contact type', and, for penny pinchers, the 'stamped contact' type. You can indeed buy most of the components for an Apple-1 there, except for the Signetics 2504, 2513 and 2519,  the DS0025, or the DRAMs.

Just as an anecdote, as the owner of Anchor told me, their 6502 / 6520 all came out of Atari !

I'm still trying to figure out if there were leftovers from the very first Atari 400/800 production runs --- later the regular 6502 found in the earliest 400/800 was replaced by the special version which included the DMA circuitry needed for the ANTIC, which essentially does the video memory scanning in these computers, to use Apple II lingo. But ANTIC is programmable, and can be told where to fetch the video data bytes from memory, unlike the Apple II, in which the video buffer addresses are fixed.)

This origin at Atari explains the "CO14377" and "CO14795" numbers on these ICs, so-called "house markings" which large OEMs often use.

So what could we do if the 6502 at Anchor are completely sold out ?

The special 6502 for the Atari 400/800 is still available from Best Electronics, see here:

https://www.best-electronics-ca.com/

... but their website and ordering process is somehow awkward. Since I have some of these special 6502 around, I could try to find out how to mod the Apple-1 motherboard such that they would drop right in. Anyone interested in that alternative ? If so, make a comment telling us.

Yet another (and I think, better) solution is to put in a W65C02S6TPG-14  which also needs only a few trace cuts and extra wires to run in an Apple-1 (I tried it out, but did the cuts and wires on the IC itself). Again, if interested, tell us.

So there are solutions for replacing the 6502 in the Apple-1. All the TTLs are still available at Anchor, but you need to take 74LSxx or 74Sxx versions if the plain vanilla TTL 74xx are not in their price list anymore. You can use any of those substitutes EXCEPT for the 74157 multiplexers. But Anchor still has plenty of 74157 in stock.

WHAT TO AVOID !

AVOID buying any "6502" from Chinese vendors lurking on Ebay or Alibaba or elsewhere. There are just too many counterfeit "6502" around there. They typically fish anything "6502" or "65C02" or "65SC02" out of the electronics junk recycling stream and put some black ink on (or grind away the original inscription) and then they laser engrave "6502" on it. The most blatant counterfeits sport a huuuuge "Rockwell" logo. Stay away from this junk !

- Uncle Bernie