Don't forget how revolutionary the Commodore VIC-20 was with all of 3.2 K of
RAM. We (Microlog) made a plug in called the AIR-1 for the VIC that allowed
CW & RTTY communications. I wrote a complete production test program in
BASIC that required no other test equipment but plugging in the AIR-1 and
running the tape loaded test program. It checked the CW copy, aligned the
AFSK generator and verified CW & PTT keying, all in that 3.2 K of RAM with
neat graphic indicators on the screen for the production testers.
Needless to say I REALLY got fancy when I had all of that extra memory to
play with on the later C-64. It was not the full 64K but LOTS more than the
VIC.
73, Charlie k3ICH
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Cozens" <ke...@ve3syb.ca>
To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 2:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Computers in the Stone Age
Someone wrote:
Desktop computers did not come into being until the advent of the IBM
PC in the 1980s.
(Among?) The first desktop computers were the S-100 bus based machines.
First, the Altair 8800 announced on the cover of Popular Electronics
magazine in January 1976, and its later popular variant the IMSAI 8080.
They were in boxes along the size of 17" rack mount sized boxes with
high-amperage power supplies.
Other early desktop computers that came along not long after were the
Apple I and II lines, and the Commodore computers such as their PET.
Josh W6XU wrote:
Maybe he's remembering running DR-DOS on the Apple II? Required a Z80
card.
PC-DOS/MS-DOS/DR-DOS were all for the IBM PC and compatible computers. The
plug-in card for the Apple II and later computers that had the Z-80 CPU on
it was so that you could run CP/M. I have one for my pair of Apple
computers.
The plug-in card and floppy disk system used with the Apple II could be
thought of as the K2 of its day. It may seem quaint today but the disk
system was a marvel of engineering in its simplicity and elegance.
--
Cheers!
Kevin.
http://www.ve3syb.ca/ |"Nerds make the shiny things that
distract
Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172 | the mouth-breathers, and that's why
we're
| powerful!"
#include <disclaimer/favourite> | --Chris Hardwick
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to pin...@erols.com
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
