- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Another representative of the glorious "family of elves" was born in 1978. Almost a toy baby from the same RCA COSMAC VIP family became famous for the fact that his processor controlled the flight to Jupiter. The second Elf is more famous for its attractive price, and not space travels. Ready computer cost 149 dollars 95 US cents. In the form of a designer, it could be purchased even cheaper, for 99 dollars 95 cents.
Specifications budget computer Netronics ELF II was ... budget. It was based on the RCA 1802 processor with a clock frequency of 1.76 megahertz. Netronics ELF II has five expansion bus slots. RAM (RAM, RAM) inexpensive computer seventies of the last century, it was possible to increase to 64 kilobytes. In the standard configuration, it was only 256 bytes. It is possible that this RAM-minimalism and allowed so significantly reduce the price.
On the Netronics ELF II board there was a hex keyboard (Hex keypad), which served to enter commands. The fact is that an analogue of the operating system Netronics ELF II was machine code. A high level programming language could also be used: a simplified version of BASIC, known as “Tiny BASIC”.
The very first COSMAC ELF was not so much a real consumer computer as a project of designers, the description of which was published by Popular Electronics magazine in August 1976. In 1977, RCA introduced the RCA COSMAC VIP computer. It cost $ 275 and was based on the COSMAC 1802 self-developed RCA central processor (CPU). This glorious computer was previously considered in some detail and at the beginning of this article again reminded it to our readers.
Netronics ELF II has become a cheaper and improved development of the same "elf line". He was called "the most practical computer in the world." Probably, to find a working computer at a lower price was not easy, although one cannot argue that it was completely impossible. It is possible that many milestones in the history of high technology or lost or open to us at another time.
What were these improvements compared to the First Elf? Double-sided PC board. Hex keypad with logic (associated logic). 86 line bus for system extensions. A kind of "graphic card" CDP1861 named "Pixie".
The Netronics ELF II User Guide was written in a very simple and accessible language. Therefore, every diligent and sincerely enthusiastic user quickly becomes a real expert. It was easy to learn, because there was nothing special to master. Nevertheless, this very simple computer could be used for a number of very complex office, industrial and scientific tasks. Well, of course, programming for Netronics ELF II could be a great hobby and ... a way to spend money.
By itself, Netronics ELF II did not provide for any possibility of connecting a drive, that is, an ordinary cassette recorder. For 59 dollars 95 cents (assembled) or for 39 dollars 95 cents (in the form of a designer) it was possible to purchase the so-called “big fee”. However, Elf was far in the number of additional paid components and devices to the “steppe predator” Heathkit H8.
And already after expanding the Netronics ELF II computer, it became possible to connect an ordinary cassette recorder to it (to write and read data). In addition, the "big board" contained: a serial port; parallel port and read-only memory (ROM, ROM) with some similarity of the operating system, known as "Monitor".
Additionally, a video card with support for color images was sold, the price of which is unknown. Additional 4 kilobytes of RAM for the Netronics ELF II cost the user $ 114 dollars 95 cents (assembled) or $ 89 dollars 95 cents (as an assembly kit). Such were the times. To save, even the memory had to collect their own hands.
For 229 dollars 95 cents the assembled 16-kilobyte RAM module was sold. Those users whose hands were skillful enough to assemble a module, without relying on specialists, acquired this memory in the form of a designer for $ 199 95 cents. Then the ability to truly appreciate every byte was possessed not only by users of the Intel MCS-85, but also by anyone who somehow came into contact with computer technology.
In the 1970s, computers and add-on modules to them were often sold as assembly kits. Sol-20 users were not embarrassed even by the need to spend a whole week assembling and testing their electronic assistant. However, in those days, computers have not yet moved into the category of household appliances. They were bought by either professionals or passionate people. And for them the assembly process itself was, perhaps, even more fun than using a computer to solve any problems.
Adapted from oldcomputers.net
The article is based on materials .
Comments
Post a Comment