T&W Systems Apple II PCB Card F6821P 8425 B8340 MM27160 Peripheral Interface

T&W Systems Apple II PCB Card F6821P 8425 B8340 MM27160 Peripheral Interface

This is a vintage expansion card manufactured by T & W Systems, Inc. for use with Apple II series computers. The card is built around the F6821P Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA) — a 40-pin DIP IC from the Motorola 6821 family, date-coded 8425 (manufactured week 25 of 1984), marked as USA-made. Additional ICs are populated on the board including what appears to be a MM27160-compatible device and supporting logic. The board interfaces with the Apple II bus via a 50-pin gold-contact edge connector.

Specifications & What's Included

• Manufacturer: T & W Systems, Inc.
• Part Number: B8340
• Secondary Part Number: MM27160
• Main Controller IC: F6821P (Motorola 6821-family Peripheral Interface Adapter)
• IC Date Code: 8425 (week 25, 1984), marked USA
• Bus Interface: Apple II 50-pin card edge connector
• Form Factor: Apple II expansion card (PCB)
• Additional ICs: multiple DIP logic/memory devices populated on board
• Orange jumper block on right board edge
• PCB silk-screened with component designators J1, U2, U4, P1, C2, C5, and others
• Country of Manufacture: United States
• Includes: PCB card only — no additional accessories

Applications

T & W Systems produced a range of peripheral and expansion products for the Apple II platform during the late 1970s and 1980s, one of the most actively supported personal computer ecosystems of that era. The Apple II's open architecture — with its seven internal expansion slots — made it a favorite platform for third-party add-on developers. Cards of this type typically extended the Apple II's I/O capabilities using the Motorola 6821 PIA, which provided parallel data ports for interfacing external devices such as printers, instruments, data acquisition hardware, and custom peripherals. The 6821 PIA was a widely used chip in this period, found in Apple, Commodore, and various industrial designs. Collectors, retrocomputing enthusiasts, and vintage Apple II system restorers actively seek original Apple II expansion cards — particularly those from specialist manufacturers like T & W Systems — both for working restorations and for display.