ZX-81

Posted by musovern on May 19th, 2019 in Sinclair, Vintage Computers | 0 comments

The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair’s ZX80 and was designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful, and more than 1.5 million units were sold before it was discontinued. The ZX81 found commercial success in many other countries, notably the United States where it was initially sold as the ZX-81. Timex manufactured and distributed it under licence and enjoyed a substantial but brief boom in sales. Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81 for the US market: the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorized clones of the ZX81 were produced in several countries.

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Micro-Elf

Posted by musovern on May 19th, 2019 in Cosmac-Elf, Single Board Computers | 1 comment

This is based on the Micro- Elf project presented in Popular Electronics. Mike Riley from Elf-emulation.com has designed a PCB to make for easier construction than the wire-wrap method used in my Cosmac Elf.

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TRS-80 Model 1

Posted by musovern on May 19th, 2019 in TRS80, Vintage Computers | 0 comments

The Tandy TRS 80 model 1 was the first member of one of the most famous computer family. It was one of the first home computer and was launched at the same time as famous computers like the Apple II or the Commodore PET. Beside, Tandy competitors nicknamed was “Trash-80”.

The TRS-80 was developed was developed within the Radio Shack engineering group, based upon several processor chips, SC/MP, PACE, 8008, 8080 and finally the Z80.

It used a black & white TV set, made by RCA, without tuner as monitor. The earlier models use a poor basic called Basic Level 1 (the Basic and the OS fit in the 4 KB ROM!). It was replaced later with the Basic Level 2 which needed a 12 KB ROM.

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