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FROM DUST
Join johnno56 as he searches
the 70’s for computer relics...
The very first computer that I owned was a kit
that was advertised in "Electronics Australia". I
think it was back in 1979. It was the Dream
6800 chip-8. This one was special because it
was my first "kit" that I had ever built. It had
1K of RAM, a HEX keypad, a speaker and a
cassette tape interface.
After building it, I then plugged it into the RF
socket of a TV... Spent the next 45 minutes
keying in a simple "hit the moving target"
game... This was done several times as the
listing was a photocopy of a photocopy...
Editing the program was not possible. There
were no error messages. After, I think the
third time of keying in the whole listing, the
game ran. Saved it on cassette. Then proudly "showed off" the game to
my wife of 1 year... and was presented with, "Is that all it can do?".
"Soul Crushing" would be putting it lightly. I think I only keyed in one
other chip 8 game and the machine was "relegated" to storage...
Two years later I then attempted another
computer kit. The Dick Smith Super 80. A
Zilog Z80 machine with 16K of ram with a 32
x 16 text only display via the RF input of a
TV. Almost $300 dollars later and some
hours of soldering further along, the TV
displayed a blinking cursor and waited for
some input. I chose to have the Basic
interpreter on EPROM and recycled the
casstte from my previous machine for the
storage of programs.
My wife was a little more impressed... not much more... but a little.
This machine was special because it had a proper keyboard (keys had to be
mounted directly onto the PCB) and it was faster and could do much more than my
previous 1K machine... and it worked on the first power up!!
My only mistake was not shelling out the extra $50 for the metal case.
The computer "lived" on top of the television set mainly because of having short
leads...
Did you know that "dusters" can get "caught" on some of the motherboard
components? The energy stored in the motion of said duster, can be instantly
transferred to the motherboard, then propel said motherboard off the television and
bounce, with a sickening "crunch", off the floorboards below...
I was good with a soldering iron, but not 'that' good. The 'crack' went through both
the upper AND lower sides of the motherboard. This machine would be my last kit.
Closing point: It was "not" me who did the dusting...
TO DUST