The APF-M1000, APF-MP1000 & Imagination Machine F.A.Q. Version apf.06 - May 2001 Creator & Maintainer: Sly D.C. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ O.K.,Here's the legal stuff: Copyright(c) 1998-2001, Sylvain De Chantal All rights reserved. This document may be copied, in whole or in part, by any means provided the copyright and contributors sections remain intact and no fee is charged for the information. Contributors retain the copyright to their individual contributions. The data contained here in is provided for informational purposes only. No warranty is made with regards to the accuracy of some informations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Additional contributions IS welcome! (really badly needed!!) Please mail additional information,opinions, and comments to : mailto --> "sylvaindc@videotron.ca" Where to get this F.A.Q.: Try - GameFaqs.Com at "http://www.gamefaqs.com/" - My Home Page at "http://www.chez.com/slydc/" - Digital Press "http://www.digitpress.com/" or sometimes on the newsgroup "rec.games.video.classic" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to the FAQ about the APF-M1000, APF-MP1000 & Imagination Machine! TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------- 1.0) What is the APF-M1000 & the APF-MP1000 1.5) What is the APF Imagination Machine 2.0) APF-M1000 & MP1000 specs 2.5) APF Imagination Machine specs 2.6) APF Imagination Machine II specs 3.0) Cartridge List 3.5) More Infos & Inputs 4.0) The AD Text of the APF Imagination Machine 4.5) Collector's List 5.0) Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.0) What is the APF-M1000 & the APF-MP1000 ------------------------------------------- The APF M1000 was released in 1978. It's a Video game system cart based, comes with 2 non-detachables joysticks with a numeric keypad on each ones (look likes a mini-calculator with a joystick), has "Reset" & "Power" buttons on the unit. Only could be played on a Color TV only. This system seems to have been the pack-in unit with Imagination Machine. The APF MP1000 was released in 1978. This system is basically the same as the M1000 model and both systems does come with built-in game called "Rocket Patrol". Both of these systems had the ability to be expanded to the Imagination Machine & both can play each other cartridges. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.5) What is the APF Imagination Machine ---------------------------------------- Thanks to Larry Greenfield, he found some ads and reviews in some magazines. You can see and read the original scans on his web site. [ http://www.tcp.com/~lgreenf/apfpage.htm ] Oh and i found a post on RGVC posted by Dan Mazurowski about the APF Imagination Machine that he took from the book "Owning Your Home Computer" by Robert L. Perry, published in 1980. --------------------------- The APF Imagination Machine was released in 1979 at a price of 599$. The Imagination Machine comes with a 53-key standard typewriter keyboard, internal ROM of 14K bytes and 9K RAM bytes, 32-character by 16-line video screen format, a built-in cassette deck, a built-in music synthesizer, and a powerful (at that time...) internal operating system and BASIC language interpreter. Many books, magazines, ads, etc...mentions that the Imagination Machine had a a library of 30 programs and that they were about 15 tapes for the special feature to store both programs and your inputs on the same cassette tape. Err...well it seems that even after 20 years, we can't find more than a couple of this tapes... The Imagination Machine has an expander box (Model BB-1) AKA the Building Block, priced at 200$, that plugs into the back of the computer and gives it 3 expansion slots and 2 cartridges ports. (Seems that some pictures shows either a 4 slot expander or 5 slots, can anyone confirm which expander really came out ?) The Serial Interface was included with the Building Block. The expansion carts were the 8K RAM carts, priced at 100$ each and the Mini- Floppy Controller priced at 200$. Other devices were (or was supposed to ?) a 40 column, 80 cps Thermal Printer priced at 400$, an acoustic, ?? baud Modem for 200$, a 72K (per disk) 5.25" Mini-Floppy Disk Drive (5.25...mini ?? At that time anyway) for 350$. Drive Controllers and Disk Drive were sold seperately, which you had to be damn rich to get the whole anchilada! Aye Caramba! --------------------------- Oddly, the text makes no mention of a feature discussed in the FAQ - the ability to save audio and data tracks concurrently on cassette tapes. Seems like this would be an impressive feature to the author. A diagram of the console clearly labels the microphone jack for using this feature, I wonder why the author didn't notice? An appendix at the end of the book lists software available for all the computers discussed. Here's the list given for the Imagination Machine. There are only 17 titles on the list, far short of the 30 mentioned in the article - perhaps the other 13 were not yet released at press time, or maybe they were MP-1000 carts? EDUCATIONAL ------------ Typing Tutor Math Tutor Perception I Space, Size, and Surface Guide Spelling Duel The Word Factory Basic Tutor Computer Lab GAMES ------ Artist and Easel Music Compser/Player Piano Adventure Castle Billboards PERSONAL-FINANCIAL ------------------- Checkbook/Financial Manager Personal Business Machine Budget Manager II (what happened to I?) Electronic Files MISCELLANEOUS -------------- Bar Charts ----------------------------------- Released in 1979, this unit is a hybrid computer, combining an APF M1000 video game system with a separate MPA 10 keyboard module. It came with 9K of RAM and could be expanded to 17K RAM, color grahics and a built in cassette recorder. The cassette mixed an audio track with the data track so as you were loading, a pre-recorded voice would tell you about the program. And 5-1/4" disk drive option. Anyone has any info on this accessory or any others ? = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = More info from Larry Greenfield: Motorola 6800-based, the machine had an excellent full-sized keyboard, 9K of RAM, and connected to your TV set via an RF monitor. The Imagination Machine was really an extention of APF's video game console, built to compete with the likes of the Atari 2600. You could first buy the video game portion by itself, and then later add the "rest" of the computer. The main drawback (like so many other computers of its day) was a lackluster BASIC. To program graphics required a lot of POKEs or CALLs, and I still remember the command to clear the screen after all these many years: CALL 17046. The machine did have some major pluses though: * The games written for it were surprisingly good (both in cartridge or cassette form). * Each of the two controllers on the game console had numeric keypads. * The built-in cassette recorder (used to load and save programs) was stereo: one channel would be used for saving/loading program data, while the other could be used for recording/playing your own voice (helpful if you wanted to record comments on what you're saving). I remember one APF "Space Invaders"-like game having a deep man's voice saying something like "Hah hah hah! Can you escape the Invaders! It's up to YOU to stop them!", etc. while the game loaded. A very unique (and sadly, never imitated) feature on the cassette system. * To help conserve memory while programming in BASIC, tokens were used for just about every BASIC command. In other words, if I typed out "PRINT", that would take 5 spaces in memory, but if I entered "PRINT" as a token (by pressing -- I think it was "CONTROL" plus another key), it would be entered as a "token", and take up only one or two spaces in memory. The only combination I can remember all these years later is CNTL-Y (which would have it do a "LIST"). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.0) APF-M1000 & MP1000 specs ----------------------------- Model: MP-1000A CPU : Motorola 6800 (8 bit) at 3,579 Mhz RAM : 1K ROM : None (Game Rocket Patrol built-in) Palette : 8 color on screen Resolution : 256x192 Power Supply: 7.5V AC/0.8 Amp or 12V DC/0.5 amp Here's the list of each microchip that's on the board of my APF M1000, i opened-up to get this info since i have found any elsewhere. A1: MC1372P // 7831 (??) A2: SN74LS08N // 7830 (Quad 2-Input AND Gate) A3: SN74LS00N // 7829 (Quad 2-Input NAND Gate A4: SN74LS114N // 7824 (Dual J-K Negative Edge Triggered Flip-Flop) A5: SN74LS138N // 7830 (3-Line-to-8-Line Decoder/Demultiplexer) A6: MC14069UB // CP 7827 (??) A7: SN7402N // 7827A (Quad 2-Input NOR Gate A8: MC6821P // BR7830 (Peripheral Interface Adapter) A9: SCM44948P // 7826 (ROM: Rocket Patrol) A10: MC6800P // 9R7829 (Main Processor Unit) A11: MC6847P // J8R7826 (NTSC Video Display Generator) A12 to A17: SN74LS153N // 7833 (Dual 4-Line-to-1-Line Data Selector / Multiplexer A18 & A19: 7833 // S2114L2PC (4k/1K by 4Bits SRAM) A20: SN74LS174N // 7832 (Hex "D" Flip-Flop) ---------------------------------------------- (Cartridge Rom): CN19014N // 7843 (MG1003) As you can see, all the 78xx numbers on each microchip means that they were manufactured in 1978 (78) and the 2 other numbers means the week of that year. Example: 7829 [1978, the 29th week]. Pinout of the cartridge port: ----------------------------- (From 1 to 30, the number of each pin of the cartridge slot, front view.) D0 D1 D2 GND D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 R/W ¤2 NC NC Vdd A11 ----------------------------------------------------------- 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 ----------------------------------------------------------- A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A15 A8 A14 A9 A13 A10 A12 And the pinout of the CPU: ------------------------------------------------------------ _________ _________ _| \__/ |_ _____ Vss |_|1 40|_| Reset ____ _| |_ Halt |_|2 39|_| TSC _| |_ ¤1(in) |_|3 38|_| N.C. ___ _| |_ IRQ |_|4 37|_| ¤2(in) _| |_ VMA |_|5 36|_| DBE ___ _| |_ NMI |_|6 35|_| N.C. _| |_ ___ BA |_|7 34|_| R/W _| |_ Vdd |_|8 33|_| D0 _| |_ A0 |_|9 32|_| D1 _| Motorola |_ A1 |_|10 6800 31|_| D2 _| |_ A2 |_|11 30|_| D3 _| |_ A3 |_|12 29|_| D4 _| |_ A4 |_|13 28|_| D5 _| |_ A5 |_|14 27|_| D6 _| |_ A6 |_|15 26|_| D7 _| |_ A7 |_|16 25|_| A15 _| |_ A8 |_|17 24|_| A14 _| |_ A9 |_|18 23|_| A13 _| |_ A10 |_|19 22|_| A12 _| |_ A11 |_|20 21|_| Vss |______________________| ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.5) APF Imagination Machine specs ---------------------------------- Year: 1979 Model: MPA-10 CPU : Motorola 6800 (8 bit) at 3,579 Mhz RAM : 9K ROM : 14K (basic) Palette : 8 color on screen Resolution : 256x192, 32x16 in text mode. Power Supply : 13.8V AC/1.25 Amp I/O: Tape Recorder at 1500 baud. Keyboard: 53 keys like typewriter. Has also a built-in Music Synthetiser. See section 1.5 of this FAQ to learned more, thanks! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.6) APF Imagination Machine II specs ------------------------------------- Info taken from Computer - Archiv (http://home.debitel.net/user/groener1/comp_113.htm) CPU: Motorola 6800 (8 bit) at 3,579 Mhz Year: 1981 RAM: 27K ROM: 14K (basic) Resolution: 256x192 Text Display: 32x16, 8 color I/O: Floppy 5.25", Tape Recorder at 1500 Baud. Keyboard: 53 keys like typewriter. APF MP1000 integrated ? Not much to be said about this one since it was never released. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3.0) Cartridge List ------------------- Name Model # ------------------------------------------------------- Backgammon MG1008 Baseball MG1006 Blackjack MG1007 Bowling/Micro Match MG1004 Boxing MG1012 Brickdown/Shooting Gallery MG1005 Casino I: Roulette/Keno/Slots MG1009 Catena MG1001 Hangman/Tic Tac Toe/Doddle MG1003 Pinball/Dungeon Hunt/Blockout MG1011 Rocket Patrol Built-In Space Destroyers MG1013 UFO/Sea Monster/Break It Down/Rebuild/Shoot MG1010 For the APF Imagination Machine: -------------------------------- AL100A Basic Interpreter Tapes and carts that were never released: ------------------------------------------------------- Word Factory - tape (and cart - never released) Basic Tutor 2 tape set, 22 lessons. Includes games and sample programs Space Destroyers - original beta, 1979, crashes when you fire at the UFO. APF Basic Beta APF programmers cart a bunch more.... Tapes and carts that were never released but exist: --------------------------------------------------- Artist and Easel - tape (and cart - never released) Budget Manager II (more like Budget Mangler II) - tape Note: I'm beginning to wonder if the MG1002 was supposed to be Rocket Patrol in a cartridge format since it's the only model number missing from the list. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3.5) More Infos & Inputs... --------------------------- Jay F. wrote to me that he brought a APF-MP1000. He wasn't able to get it work with either A 20" Panasonic CT20G13 or a 32" Panasonic CT32G23), but he did manage to make it work with a 6 year old RCA 19". He's curious (and so do i) if anyone else has had these problems with new TVs ?? Also Matthew Reichert had the same problem but on a 27" TV. I said to him to test it on an older TV (before 1988 if possible), and it worked. Looks like that the RF modulator of all APF M1000/MP1000's is not compatible with new TVs. Here's a news for crazed-emulator fans: There really is an emulator about the APF-M1000/Imagination Machine, it was written by Enrique Collado. You can get it on Larry Greenfield Web site at: http://www.tcp.com/lgreenf or his mirror site at: http://www.nausicaa.net/lgreenf. You can go directly to his APF Page: http://www.tcp.com/lgreenf/apfpage.htm And while you are there, check out his APF page, it contains some more info about the company, has a sound wave from the game "Space Destroyer", a story and lot more. Another emulator is now available, it is the Virtual APF Imagination Machine for Windows95/98, by James the Animal Tamer. Here's what is done: -------------------- Virtual APF version 0.1. The low number indicates that it is barely working, and lacking in most features. Joypads are not implemented. Press the SHIFT key on your keyboard when the APF BASIC screen appears. An important feature in this early version is Quicktype (from the file menu). This automatically types a text file. The best way to use this is to edit a BASIC program as a text file using NOTEPAD. Save it (from NOTEPAD). Then use Quicktype to load it into the Virtual APF. This is much easier than trying to type in a program on the Virtual APF itself (although that can be done -- beware, the odd layout of the original APF keyboard is emulated in Virtual APF). I am trying to help out James with his emulator. I sent him screen-shots of all my my carts so he can know what color exacty so that he could program the emulator with accurecy. If you have any information regarding how to program for the APF M1000 and the Imagination machine, please contact him at this e-mail: "emucompboy@yahoo.com" and if you want to download the latest version of the Virtual APF, go to his web site at this URL: "http://www.geocities.com/emucompboy/" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4.0) The AD Text of the APF Imagination Machine (From Larry Greenfield): ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The only computer with color, sound, user programmability, and expandability at $599. The Imagination Machine offers more at its price than any other personal computer on the market today. Consider these features: 9k RAM, with 14k BASIC in ROM. 53-key typewriter keyboard. A fine resolution picture, generated on your television set or monitor in 8 colors. A built-in, dual-track cassette tape deck with 1500 baud rate for APF's digitally recorded, (??) tape programs. A built-in sound (??). And two, built-in, game style controllers with joysticks and numeric keypads. When you want to go beyond APF's library of educational home and personal management or entertainment programs... when you want to create your own programs ... you can. The Imagination Machine is programmable in BASIC and 6800 machine language. The Imagination Machine is also expandable. Just add our "Building Block", an optional, four-port expansion device, and you can hook up a printer, telephone modem, and additional memory cartridge or mini-floppy disk drive. For the name of your nearest Imagination Machine dealer, call TOLL FREE: 1-800-223-1264 (New York residents call(212)758-7550) or write: APF Electronics, Inc. 444 Madison Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10022 $599 Manufacturer's suggested retail price. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4.5) Collector's List: ---------------------- Here's the Collector's list of APF-M1000/MP-1000 & Imagination Machine around the world. If you posses one of these systems and your name isn't here, please contact me to be added, Thanks ! * Sylvain De Chantal (sylvaindc@videotron.ca) Owns: APF-M1000 with all 12 carts. * Larry Greenfield (lgreenf@ktb.net) Owns: APF Imagination Machine with ?? games and has both M-1000/MP-1000 sytems with ?? games. (looking for Basic cart) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.0) Credits: ------------- * Greg Chance (Dr.Demento) * Jay F...? * Larry Greenfield "lgreenf@ktb.net" (he helped me alot with the FAQ) * Rich ??? "A54BR9@aol.com" * John ??? "daniel@internet.look.ca" * Computer - Archiv (http://www.computer-archiv.de/) * Dan Mazurowski (RGVC post 1998/08/01) Thanks and see you in the next version !!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright(c)1998-2001, Sylvain De Chantal, "sylvaindc@videotron.ca" or come visit my homepage at "http://www.chez.com/slydc/"