Once you've gotten your Apple-1 (replica or prototype) finished, mounted, and hooked
up to the power transformers, the next order of business is to go about connecting the ASCII keyboard. No matter what keyboard that is, it's not likely to match
the pinout of the Apple-1 keyboard connector exactly such that you
could simply
plug in a flat ribbon cable directly from the keyboard to the motherboard socket
-
and even if it did match, unless it also happens to have a reset key that shorts
pin 1 to GND, and a clear key that shorts pin 12 to +5, you're still going to
need to intercept those pins off of the motherboard connector and supply those switches.
One option is simply to cut the ribbon cable in half, and start splicing the wires
back together one by one in the order that matches the keyboard to motherboard pinning,
and strip out the wires for reset and clear and hook them to switches. Unfortunately
there's no really elegant
way (I can think of, anyway) to do that without making
a big ugly mess that needs to be discreetly hidden away.
A prettier option is to build a "monkey in the middle", a small circuit board with
no active components, just two 16 pin sockets and connectors for the reset and clear
switches. That does require a second ribbon cable, but provides a very clean
appearance in return and can be easily removed and replaced in the event that you
someday get that 1976 Cherry special with the red and blue keys. (Not that
the hacked ribbon cable can't be replaced too.) The circuitry between the
two sockets controls the crossover, and the reset and clear wires can easily be
pulled from the Apple socket.
So, if you want to connect your keyboard in the same way, and it happens to be a
Keytronics 201, and you haven't already figured out the pinouts, the following information
may be of use to you.
PLEASE NOTE: Like all DIY exhibits on this site, the information contained herein
is strictly for educational/entertainment purposes, no warranty is offered nor is
the information within guaranteed to be suitable for yours or any other use.
(In other words folks, it worked for me, but do it yourself at your own risk, because
I won't be able to help you if you break your keyboard or your Apple.)
Enjoy!
Keytronics keyboard pinout:
+---| |----+
NC | 1 16 | +5v
Strobe | 2 15 | NC
~Reset | 3 14 | NC
NC | 4 13 | Data 1
Data 5 | 5 12 | Data 0
Data 4 | 6 11 | Data 3
Data 6 | 7 10 | Data 2
Gnd | 8 9 | NC
+----------+
Apple I Pinout:
+---| |----+
Reset | 1 16 | +5v --|
B4 | 2 15 | B8 --|
B3 | 3 14 | Strobe
B2 | 4 13 | NC
B1 | 5 12 | Clear Screen
B5 | 6 11 | -12
B6 | 7 10 | +12
B7 | 8 9 | Gnd
+----------+
Crossover:
Kbd Apple
Strobe 2 14 Strobe
Data 0 12 5 B1
Data 1 13 4 B2
Data 2 10 3 B3
Data 3 11 2 B4
Data 4 6 6 B5
Data 5 5 7 B6
Data 6 7 8 B7
Gnd 8 9 Gnd
+5 16 16 +5
Reset: Apple pin 1 & Gnd (pin 9)
Clear: Apple pin 12 & +5 (pin 16)
NOTE: Images beginning with 100 and up are larger versions of the same
numbered lower resolution images +100. Not all images appear in high resolution
format.
000 Top View (jpg, 86 KB) | 
001 Bottom View (jpg, 58 KB) | 
002 Bottom View Angle (jpg, 46 KB) | 
003 Top View Angle (jpg, 56 KB) | 
004 Installed Close-up (jpg, 278 KB) | 
005 Another Action Shot (jpg, 91 KB) | 
006 Installed Bottom View (jpg, 334 KB) | 
106 Installed Bottom View LG (jpg, 2.4 MB) |