MedFLy Apple II+ Clone

Hi All, I recently purchased a large collection of Apple II equipment from a retired IT administrator who had worked in a local K–12 school district. Among the items was a MedFly, which—based on what I can tell—is an Australian clone of the German Basis 108, itself a clone of the Apple II+. So, essentially, a double clone!

Unfortunately, the keyboard was missing, and despite searching, the seller’s family couldn’t locate it. I figured I’d have to settle for owning a keyboardless clone. Sigh. Then, out of the blue, someone on Facebook reached out—they had two MedFly keyboards! The only catch? They were in Indonesia. Getting them shipped was a real challenge for both me and the seller, and I definitely overpaid, but I had to know if they would work. A few days later, the keyboards arrived, and—success—they worked perfectly!

I disassembled and cleaned both the computer and the keyboard, and it successfully booted from the CP/M disk that came with it. When I tried booting DOS 3.3, it sort of worked, but the video output was garbled due to the Basis 108’s 80-column mode. So, I’ll need to track down the correct disk images for it.

According to apple2history.org: The "MedFly" was an Apple clone designed in Germany and manufactured in Hong Kong. Although it resembled the Basis 108—with a similar formed metal case—the MedFly had external disk drives and the familiar Apple II-style motherboard with seven slots, accessible through a door on top. It supported six Apple peripheral slots and included RS-232 and parallel ports. Interestingly, the Basis 108 was itself cloned in Australia as the MedFly, named after the Mediterranean fruit fly that attacks apples. Its logo even depicted a fly attacking a multicolored fruit (though not Apple-shaped). Early MedFly units were poorly made, so Basis Microcomputer stepped in to help improve the design and protect its reputation, while also earning some licensing revenue. The MedFly featured an ivory-colored case and a redesigned keyboard.

When it boots, the screen says "Basis 108"