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Local talk card

Posted by: raoulduke on 2015-06-11 13:37:20 ? 1.49

Posted by: Charlieman on 2015-06-11 14:14:29 So it's an ISA card made in 1987 by ...itech using a chip from Logitech. In 1987, the Apple network players were Tri-Data Netway, Farallon and Tangent. Have you just mistaken a mouse card for a LocalTalk network card?

Posted by: NJRoadfan on 2015-06-11 14:15:20 Looks like a "bus" mouse card to me.

Posted by: raoulduke on 2015-06-11 14:17:37 It is.  My apologies.  (http://www.tamayatech.com/parts.php?g=20003300B)  I was totally unfamiliar with Microsoft Inport.  W/e Charlieman.  I was in a thrift shop, and I honestly didn't look closely after I saw it was a buck forty-nine.  I also got a Palm Vx and a USB-CF/SD reader [actually it's SF/Smartmedia, which is even better].

Posted by: Charlieman on 2015-06-11 14:51:08 There is no need for apology. I've bought great stuff because it was interesting. Few of us proclaim our failures. * I've bought two early Apple IIs which turned out to be crappy clones. That's fine. I have expensively boosted my pool of Apple II spare parts. * I have bought disappointing Mac accelerators or graphics cards for my vintage Macs. But, caveat emptor, lots of computers have interesting internals, and you never know...

Posted by: raoulduke on 2015-06-11 15:21:35 Oh but I'll testify. Honestly, I've been eying the Pravetz's (?) and Franklin Ace motherboards on eBay with an unrequited envy. I think I'm going to resell the bus card with a starting price of $50 since I don't want it but don't really need to sell it.  Only one other model seems to have sold in the last three months and it was three months newer and went for $45.  So not the worst failure overall. These thrift stores weren't that interesting, though (I went to two branded the same); they had this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Flashback) and a few Pentium computers; also the Apple Pro Mouse, but no indication of vintage machines.  I was surprised to find the Vx but I don't know where my cradle is ... I assume with my Palm V somewhere.

Posted by: raoulduke on 2015-06-11 16:31:31 Just realized if it doesn't sell over the next month I can probably find a way to use it in my Compaq assuming that can be made workable again.

Posted by: olePigeon on 2015-06-11 18:52:35 You'll need a Microsoft Port mouse, it's not normal serial.

Posted by: raoulduke on 2015-06-11 19:07:58 Yea that would be the real stumbling block.  Conversely (I just took another look now), I'll also need a good picture or a guide to the inside of the Compaq itself.  And even that won't guarantee that the power supply issue will get resolved (pretty much guarantees it won't).  It was just a thought.  If I get a chance to go back to that place, I'll look more carefully for an associated mouse; didn't at all cross my mind that that's what the board was.

Posted by: finkmac on 2015-06-11 20:03:26 Apple did produce LocalTalk ISA cards.

Posted by: Compgeke on 2015-06-12 11:12:45 I actually have the same card and mouse, as well as an Inport card and mouse. It's said they're compatible however I've never checked myself. The MS mouse does fit into the connector. With the reports from the 80s saying they're compatible odds are it'll work, it's just too warm to go dig the MDA monitor out of the garage to check. Just curious, which Compaq do you have? If needed I can get pictures of opening a Compaq Portable(\Plus).

Posted by: olePigeon on 2015-06-12 11:41:53 Apple did produce LocalTalk ISA cards. Farallon made their PhoneNet products for PC, too.  You could network Macs and PCs.

Posted by: raoulduke on 2015-06-12 20:25:39 I think the Logitech board is supposed to be compatible with the Microsoft (Inport) Mouse.  Basically I think they were copying Microsoft's "standard" and then that standard did not so much materialize. I have the Portable Plus.  Pictures of the Plus would be amazing. This caused some controversy, and in hindsight I regret doing it, but I broke (tore...) the metal bar on the right of the CRT.  That shouldn't really affect functionality; otherwise everything's fine.  But I honestly forget where some of the random metal boards with rubber stoppers on them. Here's another/general question: my Plus would blow out its fuse anytime it was turned on (which is why I eventually went for salvaging the disk drive to use in a more modern desktop to write TRS-80 and Kaypro disks).  Can I test the power supply by itself?  i.e. disconnected from everything - can I plug in a cord and flip the switch to see if it does not blow its fuse?  I don't know how to test the PSU before I move to just replace it; and I don't know that replacing it will be super cost-effective.)

Posted by: uniserver on 2015-06-12 21:00:39 yeah i was going to say the serial ports of a mac are RS-422, and they are fully backwards compatible with RS-232, so all pc's of the time had RS-232 ports, from a hardware perspective it should just work, with an adaptor cable.  from a software perspective , i dunno 🙂

Posted by: techknight on 2015-06-14 16:25:44 The macs RS-422 ports are nice because they directly interface with RS485. 🙂 Ive used my macs on multiple occasions to control stuff over RS-485, just because I can.  Send messages over to a LED sign I built, that kind of stuff.

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