This Apple Keyboard II was made in Mexico for a special application. Notice that the keys are marked in upper case block letters that are not italicized like the standard version (shown below it). Notice also that two keys are colored, the 2 key has a small heart above it instead of a @, some keys are blank, the delete key says "Erase", the return key says "Enter" and the |\ key says "Next Line". These keys all behave the way their counterparts do on a standard board. The circuit is the same.

This card was found in the J7 slot on a Quadra 950 mother board. The red lead was attached to pin 1 of the chip at U27. The black lead was hanging loose but is the right length to attach to one of the clock oscillator pins. The slot on the card duplicates the slot at J7. The oscillator is 66.6666 MHz, which is a very close match to the stock Q 950 clock oscillator. One guess was that this is an overclocking kit. The question then is; Why is the frequency so close to the original?

If you think you know what these Mac things are, please let me know. I'll credit you on this page. Thanks, Hardsdisk

Update:

On Oct 29, 2006, at 11:49 AM, David Shepherd wrote:

Hi,

I have a couple of theories on the weird Mac stuff (the Apple Keyboard II and clock chip accelerator) on your website. I don't know how accurate they are, but I'm having a go anyway:

1. I believe the Apple Keyboard II may have come from a hospital, or a school for disabled children, as I know that some of the software used in those sort of places may require a keyboard with a custom layout. Alternatively, it may have also been used in a factory, or some other place where specialized software was used that required a keyboard like this.

2. I'm guessing that the clock chip accelerator in your Q950 may have originally come from another, less powerful '040 based Mac, possibly a Quadra 700, Centris 610, Centris 650 or Quadra 900, and for some reason it ended up in your Quadra. I can understand putting such a device on those machines, considering that they all run at 25Mhz, but not the 950. Anyway, its something to think about. Just out of curiosity, have you tested it in any other Macs?

I'm not completely sure about either of these, but either way, its something to think about. Hope you found this interesting. Either way, as a veteran vintage Mac user (I started out in 1993, on a Mac LCIII 4/80, which I still have and use to this very day) who still uses 68k Macs on a regular basis, I thank you for your website, I've found it to be quite interesting.

Regards,
David

So far, you are the only person to contact me about the items on that page.

The heart on the "2" key of the Keyboard II, may very well indicate some kind of use in the medical industry. I posed that theory to Tommy Thomas, fellow LEM staffer, when he was doing a series on the ADB boards. The absent markings and "Windows" type markings are curious and I'm hoping someone will eventually come forward with something definite about this oddity.

Good thought about the accelerator card. I hadn't considered that it might be a transplant from a slower Quad. It would also explain why it was disconnected when I found it. Of course, it would have no effect at all on a Mac already running at that frequency. The J7 slot is missing on some Quadra 950s and I don't have any other Quadras on hand to check for a similar slot. It might be interesting to add a faster oscillator to the card and reconnect it. I'll add that to the experiments I'll probably never get to.

Thanks for your kind words about my little site and for sharing your thoughts.

Best wishes, Hardsdisk

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