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ELF II
The Netronics ELF II was an early microcomputer trainer kit featuring the RCA 1802 microprocessor, 256 bytes of RAM, DMA-based bitmap graphics, hexadecimal keypad, two digit hexadecimal LED display, a single "Q" LED, and 5 expansion slots. The system was developed and sold by Netronics Research and Development Limited in New Milford, CT, USA. Hardware Available hardware accessories included: * The "Giant Board" (ROM monitor, serial and parallel I/O, Cassette interface) * 4KB and 16KB (static) RAM boards * Low resolution color graphics board * "Full BASIC" board with BASIC preloaded in ROM chips * EPROM burner board * External power supply * Attractive, heavy duty metal cases for the CPU and power supply Software Available software included: * Tiny BASIC (integer BASIC interpreter) * Text Editor * Full BASIC (floating point BASIC interpreter using Reverse Polish Notation) Notable Features * Unlike similar "bare circuit card" trainer/experimenter computers of the day, the ELF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reverse Polish Notation
Reverse Polish notation (RPN), also known as reverse Łukasiewicz notation, Polish postfix notation or simply postfix notation, is a mathematical notation in which operators ''follow'' their operands, in contrast to Polish notation (PN), in which operators ''precede'' their operands. It does not need any parentheses as long as each operator has a fixed number of operands. The description "Polish" refers to the nationality of logician Jan Łukasiewicz, who invented Polish notation in 1924. The first computer to use postfix notation, though it long remained essentially unknown outside of Germany, was Konrad Zuse's Z3 in 1941 as well as his Z4 in 1945. The reverse Polish scheme was again proposed in 1954 by Arthur Burks, Don Warren, and Jesse Wright and was independently reinvented by Friedrich L. Bauer and Edsger W. Dijkstra in the early 1960s to reduce computer memory access and use the stack to evaluate expressions. The algorithms and notation for this scheme were extended ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IMSAI 8080
The IMSAI 8080 was an early microcomputer released in late 1975, based on the Intel 8080 and later 8085 and S-100 bus. It was a clone of its main competitor, the earlier MITS Altair 8800. The IMSAI is largely regarded as the first "clone" microcomputer. The IMSAI machine ran a highly modified version of the CP/M operating system called IMDOS. It was developed, manufactured and sold by IMS Associates, Inc. (later renamed ''IMSAI Manufacturing Corp''). In total, between 17,000 and 20,000 units were produced from 1975 to 1978. History In May 1972, William Millard started a business called ''IMS Associates'' (IMS) in the areas of computer consulting and engineering, using his home as an office. By 1973, Millard incorporated the business and soon found funding for it, receiving several contracts, all for software. In 1974, IMS was contacted by a client which wanted a "workstation system" that could complete jobs for any General Motors car dealership. IMS planned a system inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altair 8800
The Altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 by MITS and based on the Intel 8080 CPU. Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics and was sold by mail order through advertisements there, in ''Radio-Electronics'', and in other hobbyist magazines. The Altair is widely recognized as the spark that ignited the microcomputer revolution as the first commercially successful personal computer. The computer bus designed for the Altair was to become a ''de facto'' standard in the form of the S-100 bus, and the first programming language for the machine was Microsoft's founding product, Altair BASIC. "This announcement ltair 8800ranks with IBM's announcement of the System/360 a decade earlier as one of the most significant in the history of computing." History While serving at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, Ed Roberts and Forrest M. Mims III decided to use their electronics background ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AIM-65
The Rockwell AIM-65 computer is a development computer introduced in 1978 based on the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor. The AIM-65 is essentially an expanded KIM-1 computer. Available software included a line-oriented machine code monitor, BASIC interpreter, assembler, Pascal, PL/65, and FORTH development system. Available hardware included a floppy disk controller and a backplane for expansion. Features Rockwell advertised the $375 AIM-65, with 1K RAM, as an "easy, inexpensive omputer... for learning, designing, work or just fun". Standard software included the system console monitor software in ROM, called Advanced Interactive Monitor. It featured an assembler, disassembler, setting and viewing memory and registers, starting execution of other programs and more. Single stepping was made possible using non-maskable interrupt (NMI). The command prompt was the less-than sign "". If the thermal printer was turned on, this would be output on a single line. The monitor incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KIM-1
The KIM-1, short for ''Keyboard Input Monitor'', is a small 6502-based single-board computer developed and produced by MOS Technology, Inc. and launched in 1976. It was very successful in that period, due to its low price (thanks to the inexpensive 6502 microprocessor) and easy-access expandability. History MOS Technology's first processor, the 6501, could be plugged into existing motherboards that used the Motorola 6800, allowing potential users (i.e. engineers and hobbyists) to get a development system up and running very easily using existing hardware. Motorola immediately sued, forcing MOS to pull the 6501 from the market. Changing the pin layout produced the "lawsuit-friendly" 6502. Otherwise identical to the 6501, it nevertheless had the disadvantage of having no machine in which new users could quickly start playing with the CPU. Chuck Peddle, leader of the 650x group at MOS (and former member of Motorola's 6800 team), designed the KIM-1 in order to fill this need. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Microcomputers
{{disambiguation, geo ...
Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia Other uses * ''Early'' (Scritti Politti album), 2005 * ''Early'' (A Certain Ratio album), 2002 * Early (name) * Early effect, an effect in transistor physics * Early Records, a record label * the early part of the morning See also * Earley (other) Earley is a town in England. Earley may also refer to: * Earley (surname), a list of people with the surname Earley * Earley (given name), a variant of the given name Earlene * Earley Lake, a lake in Minnesota *Earley parser, an algorithm *Earley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quest SuperELF
A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of every nation and ethnic culture. In literature, the object of a quest requires great exertion on the part of the hero, who must overcome many obstacles, typically including much travel. The aspect of travel allows the storyteller to showcase exotic locations and cultures (an objective of the narrative, not of the character). The object of a quest may also have supernatural properties, often leading the protagonist into other worlds and dimensions. The moral of a quest tale often centers on the changed character of the hero. Quest objects The hero normally aims to obtain something or someone by the quest, and with this object to return home. The object can be something new, that fulfills a lack in their life, or something that was stole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
COSMAC VIP
The COSMAC VIP (1977) IP means Video Interface Processorwas an early microcomputer that was aimed at video games. Essentially, it was a COSMAC ELF with a supplementary CDP1861/CDP1864 video display chip. For a price of US$275, it could be purchased from RCA by mail order. It came in kit form, and had to be assembled. Its dimensions were 22 x 28 cm, and it had a RCA 1802 processor; along with a crystal clock operating at 1.76 MHz. It had 2 KB (2048 bytes) of RAM, which could be expanded to 4 KB on board, and 32 KB via an expansion slot. Its 5 V DC CDP18S023 power supply had an output of 600 mA. I/O ports could be added to connect to sensors, interface relays, an ASCII keyboard, or a printer. The machine connected to either a video monitor or to a TV with video input or by means of an external RF modulator. The VIP used a CDP1861/CDP1864 video display chip to generate the video output, and sound could be played using its integrated speaker. It had a 100 b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RCA CDP1861
The RCA CDP1861 was an integrated circuit Video Display Controller, released by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in the mid-1970s as a support chip for the RCA 1802 microprocessor. The chip cost in 1977 amounted to less than US$20. History The CDP1861 was manufactured in a low-power CMOS technology, came in a 24-pin DIP (Dual in-line package), and required a minimum of external components to work. In 1802-based microcomputers, the CDP1861 (for the NTSC video format, CDP1864 variant for PAL), used the 1802's built-in Direct memory access, DMA controller to display black and white (monochrome) bitmapped graphics on standard TV screens. The CDP1861 was also known as the Pixie graphics system, display, chip, and video generator, especially when used with the COSMAC ELF microcomputer. Other known chip markings for the 1861 are TA10171, TA10171V1 and a TA10171X, which were early designations for "pre-qualification engineering samples" and "preliminary part numbers", although they ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PCBoard
PCBoard (PCB) was a bulletin board system (BBS) application first introduced for DOS in 1983 by Clark Development Company. Clark Development was founded by Fred Clark. PCBoard was one of the first commercial BBS packages for DOS systems, and was considered one of the "high end" packages during the rapid expansion of BBS systems in the early 1990s. Like many BBS companies, the rise of the Internet starting around 1994 led to serious downturns in fortunes, and Clark Development went bankrupt in 1997. Most PCB sales were of two-line licenses; additional line licenses (in ranges of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250 and 1000) were also available. A native 32-bit IBM OS/2 version became also available with PCB V15.22 and higher. There were also a few tools available for PCBoard, which were specifically developed for the OS/2 2.0 and OS/2 Warp operating system. Multinode support PCBoard supported the 16C550 UARTs ( universal asynchronous receiver transmitter), such as 16550 UART ("Fifo"), 1655 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular Electronics
''Popular Electronics'' was an American magazine published by John August Media, LLC, and hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com. The magazine was started by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". In April 1957 Ziff-Davis reported an average net paid circulation of 240,151 copies. ''Popular Electronics'' was published until October 1982 when, in November 1982, Ziff-Davis launched a successor magazine, ''Computers & Electronics''. During its last year of publication by Ziff-Davis, ''Popular Electronics'' reported an average monthly circulation of 409,344 copies. The title was sold to Gernsback Publications, and their '' Hands-On Electronics'' magazine was renamed to ''Popular Electronics'' in February 1989, and published until December 1999. The Popular Electronics trademark was then acquired by John August Media, who revived the magazine, the digital edition of which is hos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
