Restoring a Redstone Apple //e Clone

8 posts / 0 new
Last post
Offline
Last seen: 2 weeks 5 hours ago
Joined: Apr 13 2006 - 22:28
Posts: 147
Restoring a Redstone Apple //e Clone

Hi All, I videoed my "adventures" restoring an old Redstone Apple //e clone in October 2017 (!) and finally got around to finishing editing it for general consumption. Strap yourselves in, it's a bit of a long one... The video can be seen on my (new) channel here: https://youtu.be/m_-eu9YHbsk I know some of you will cringe at some of my restoration techniques, but please be nice as this machine was in a pretty bad state when I received it. Some of the techniques I used were new to me, so it was a bit of a learning experience as well. Cheers, Mike 

 

macnoyd's picture
Offline
Last seen: 20 hours 28 min ago
Joined: Oct 15 2012 - 08:59
Posts: 836
Proof is in the pudding.

Great job!

Offline
Last seen: 2 weeks 5 hours ago
Joined: Apr 13 2006 - 22:28
Posts: 147
Thanks

Thanks! It really is a rewarding feeling bringing these old machines back to life; but this was by far my most challenging restoration to date.

Offline
Last seen: 1 year 1 week ago
Joined: Aug 4 2018 - 21:59
Posts: 139
I noticed you had to

I noticed you had to disassemble a few keys,  keyswitches dont like getting wet because it helps dirt get inside them.

I'd avoid the dishwasher with keyboards or boards that  have dipswitches on them.

 

Offline
Last seen: 2 weeks 5 hours ago
Joined: Apr 13 2006 - 22:28
Posts: 147
David_M wrote:I noticed you

[quote=David_M]

I noticed you had to disassemble a few keys,  keyswitches dont like getting wet because it helps dirt get inside them.

I'd avoid the dishwasher with keyboards or boards that  have dipswitches on them.

 

[/quote]

 

Yeah I'd never attempted that before, but I don't think I could have removed the crud from beneath the keys with compressed air alone - it was full of... well, actually I don't really care to think what it was full of.  :-)

 

I'd agree though - I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you had an *extreme* reason to.

 

And even though I did disassemble and clean - I found that it wasn't the dirt so much (although it probably didn't help), but rather the contacts themselves needed re-alignment to ensure a good connection was made during a keypress. The space bar was particularly finicky - I think I had to disassemble that 3 times before I got it right. I wonder if something may have been resting on the keyboard for a prolonged period??

 

Offline
Last seen: 1 year 1 week ago
Joined: Aug 4 2018 - 21:59
Posts: 139
I had a Redstone pricelist

I had a Redstone pricelist many years ago. After the changes to the copyright laws and the subsequent move to pc clones when nobody sold apple clones in Australia. Redstone used to sell Apple clones direct to Australia from overseas. 

Offline
Last seen: 2 weeks 5 hours ago
Joined: Apr 13 2006 - 22:28
Posts: 147
Cool. I know when I first got

Cool. I know when I first got the Redstone I did a bit of Googling to find out about the brand, but I didn't find much. I did find that they had sold the //e clones in a PC AT-style case in addition to the Apple II style case that I have. I think I remember reading that they also sold PC clones as well. 

Offline
Last seen: 1 year 1 week ago
Joined: Aug 4 2018 - 21:59
Posts: 139
They sold them in pretty much

They sold them in pretty much every style, they also sold cards drives and other accessories.  the pricelist was about 3 or 4 pages of small print.

Log in or register to post comments