6800
The first SwTPC computer.
Based on the Motorola
6800 microprocessor,
it featured a startup program (or monitor) in ROM, instead of a
front panel covered with switches and lights; and a price that put it
within reach of hobbyists.
The monitor ROM brought two clear advantages: the machine could do
something immediately after powering up; and the cost of the machine
was reduced by not needing all those switches and lights.
In comparison, other machines of the time needed to have a machine-code
program entered by hand, in binary, after each power-up.
This machine also gets the credit for the initial definition of the
SS-50 bus.
catalog page
The monitor ROM was called "SWTBug".
The most common use of the monitor ROM was to bootstrap into a
disk operating system, such as DOS-68.
The documentation was in a gold-colored 3-ring binder.
Boards:
- MP-A2 CPU
- MP-B2 Mother board
- MP-C Control interface
- MP-LA Parallel I/O
- MP-M 4K Memory board
- MP-8M 8K Memory board
- MP-N Calculator interface
- MP-S Serial I/O
- MP-R EPROM programmer
- MP-T Timer
- DC-1 Disk controller
11-Mar-1998
yakowenk@csx.unxc.edu
(remove all "x"s to get a valid address)