A few years ago, back in the pre-InnovationFIRST days, Team 120 reverse engineered the old style FIRST controllers and developed their own version. The controller boards are functionally and pin compatible with the official FIRST boards used up until the 2000 competition. The plans for the build-it-yourself controller can be
found here.
Good luck (and if you build this version, be sure to thank Team 120!).
-dave