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6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun.
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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
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---
title: Compukit UK-101
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- United Kingdom
years:
- '1979'
cpus:
- '6502'
params:
name: UK-101
company: /companies/compukit
company_name: Compukit
specs:
- label: NAME
value: UK-101
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: Compukit
- label: TYPE
value: Home Computer
- label: ORIGIN
value: United Kingdom
- label: YEAR
value: '1979'
- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
value: Microsoft BASIC
- label: KEYBOARD
value: Full stroke 50 keys
- label: CPU
value: '6502'
- label: SPEED
value: 1 MHz. (could be 'overclocked' at 2 MHz by modifying the clock divide circuit)
- label: CO-PROCESSOR
value: None
- label: RAM
value: 4 KB expandable to 8 KB on board
- label: VRAM
value: 1 KB
- label: ROM
value: 8 KB (Microsoft BASIC) + 2 KB monitor
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 16 to 48 chars. x 16 lines
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: None, but 128 graphic characters
- label: COLORS
value: Monochrome
- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
value: unknown
- label: I/O PORTS
value: Tape recorder (at 300 baud) and printer ports
- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
value: None
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: External AC transformer. Power regulation on board
- label: PERIPHERALS
value: Supports all Ohio Scientific expansions
- label: PRICE
value: £249 in kit form
tabs:
- photos
- adverts
- links
photos:
- title: IVAN'S SYSTEM
subtitle: ''
text: Handmade wooden case topped by a metal tray
image: null
- title: RUNNING
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Boot-up screen
Thanks to **Ivan Gleaves**
image: null
- title: INSIDE
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** UHF TV modulator. The UK-101, in its original version, could be connected only to a TV set.\
**(2)** Normally, the power regulator took place here\
**(3)** RAM chips (2104). the board is here equipped with 6 KB of RAM\
**(4)** 6502 processor. Notice at its right hand side two empty sochets used for the optional RS232 interface\
**(5)** 40-pin expansion socket\
**(6)** 6850 ACIA (Asynchronous Communication Interface Adapter)\
**(7)** 2 KB monitor ROM\
**(8)** 8 KB BASIC ROMs\
**(9)** Character generator ROM
image: null
- title: MAINBOARD CLOSE-UP
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: REAR SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: The fan and the tape recorder In/Out sockets
image: null
- title: ANOTHER RED CASE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: INSIDE
subtitle: ''
text: This model features a RAM expansion card fixed on top of the main board.
image: null
- title: UK101 MANUAL
subtitle: ''
text: |-
The manual gives constructional details, along with a technical description of the system and a reference description of the Microsoft BASIC language.\
The cassette tape holds the Extended Monitor as well as some sample games in BASIC.
image: null
adverts:
- title: UK ADVERT (DEC. 1979)
subtitle: ''
text: Thanks to David Wilson for this picture
image: null
- title: £149 IN JUNE 1981
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: £99 IN JANUARY 1982
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
links:
- title: UK101 Hardware Page
url: http://home.micros.users.btopenworld.com/uk101/uk101.html
text: How to build your own micro UK101!
- title: Collection of UK101 programs (zip file)
url: http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/martin/software/UK101-tapes.zip
text: UK101 BASIC and assembler programs, recovered from tapes by Martin Ward
comments:
- author: Stephen Cole (United Kingdom)
date: Thursday 9th March 2023
text: Myself and serveral others in the Reading UK area had these in the early 80''s, and did the ram, video, cassette hardware hacks etc.
- author: Peter Jones (United Kingdom)
date: Friday 17th February 2023
text: '@Terry Brown. We might have met. I bought an Exidy Sorcerer from Chris in 1978 and visited the Barnet shop quite a lot after that. I remember sitting outside having a beer with Chris and he was saying that he was considering setting up a pirate TV station.'
- author: Mario (Switzerland)
date: Sunday 14th February 2021
text: Hi! Is there anyone out there who owns a working Compukit UK101 computer and would be willing to sell it? Thanks
- author: Con Cunningham (Ireland)
date: Wednesday 22nd July 2020
text: |-
@Terry - Chris Carey opened radio station in Dublin, and the folk involved set up a sales and support organisation run out of a very decrepit basement in Dublin city centre. I was studying CS in Trinity at the time, and used to work part-time for them, either soldering kits for purchasers, or fixing those that didn''t work. (Almost always bent pins on the ICs)\
Those were some very happy days :-)
- author: terry brown (United Kingdom)
date: Thursday 23rd January 2020
text: I worked at Comp shop New Barnet , selling these and helping pack them , its was run by Chris Carey great days - i then build and developed software for Nascom , i was 14 at the time
- author: Martin Ward
date: Thursday 28th August 2014
text: Change the dollar sign to a hash sign in the URL''s below
- author: Martin Ward
date: Thursday 28th August 2014
text: |-
If you have old software on cassette tape, which no longer loads, I have written a program which analyses the tape (saved as a wav file) and extracts the data:
http://www.gkc.org.uk/martin/software/$CUTS
My collection of Compukit UK101 software can be downloaded from here:
http://www.gkc.org.uk/martin/software/$UK101
- author: Holger Palmroth (Germany)
date: Wednesday 15th January 2014
text: 'The URL of the DIY UK-101 has changed quite a while ago. Here is the current one: http://searle.hostei.com/grant/uk101/uk101.html'
- author: Stephen Burgoyne Coulson (UK)
date: Saturday 22nd November 2008
text: Watford Electronics? That makes sense - as I rememeber buying and installing a new monitor ROM around 1981 is and I have the distinct memory that it was named WEMON. Needed a bit of board mod, trace cutting, extra wire. Provided full cursor control (you could print strings that would contain control characters to move your cursor around on the screen) and some other clever things that I can''t remember now.
- author: Simon Anthony (UK)
date: Sunday 5th December 2004
text: Mine still works... A friend at the BBC made his work in colour... I wrote a space invaders game - four aliens... miss one and the 'bullet' got stuck in the code.... It crashed, list it and there was the bullet. (memory mapping the screen does that :>) BBC VT shift 1 was UK101 - Shift two was the Nascom machine I think. Shift one moved on to the BBC micro - then the Archimedes. Shift two went the IBM clone way. I was shift one - I loved my Risc OS - still use it whenever I can. Code is on my (aged) homepage.
oc_id: 802
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230602120509/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=802
date: '2023-06-02'
---
Made in the UK by Compukit in New Barnet, North London, the UK-101 was originally a copy of the Ohio Scientific [Superboard II](/museum/ohio-scientific-superboard-ii/). Two years and various legal battles later the UK-101 became, technically, behind its erstwhile rival.
You could buy the UK101 as a kit or as ready made for an extra fee. The kit came in a cardboard briefcase, in which there were anti-static tubes containing the 65+ ICs, a box of IC sockets, and bags containing passives (mainly 0.1uF ceramic decoupling capacitors) and keyboard bits (the keyboard switches were soldered directly to the PCB).
The UK101 came with a transformer in a plastic case, which was rectified and regulated down to +5, the regulator's heatsink was far too small and it would run very very hot, causing the RF modulator to drift channel. Many people relocated the regulator off-board onto a bigger heatsink to solve both problems.
It came with an A4-size book authored by Dr. A.A. Berk, covering assembly, trouble-shooting, and circuit diagrams with descriptions.
The UK101 was based around the 6502 processor. On top of ASCII characters, 128 graphic characters were available in ROM. The RAM memory was expandable from 4 KB to 8 KB on board, or 40 KB with an expansion board.
At the time, The UK101 was heavily supported by Watford Electronics in the UK, and by various electronics magazines who published circuits. There were many user groups and plenty of software available. It was thus possible to upgrade this machine beyond all recognision !\
Several cases were also made and sold by a number of manufacturers.
---
Contributors: Paul Mansfield
**John** reports to us:\
There were 3 monitor chips available, this being the 8k rom. The only one I can remember the name of was the Cegmon, the latest in the series.\
The 40 pin expansion slot offered some inpressive (for the time) abilites. Mine had a sound card in it but I also saw systems with colour, hard drives and 5.25 floppy systems.
Some boards had links in them in place of the two sockets on your picture. These needed to be removed if you wanted to use the 40 pin expansion and a couple of 8T28s (buffer chips) put in their place. Other expansions I saw included a 'graphics' chip that could be switched in using software. A small pigiback board replaced the Normal character chip (which is the horizontal one in your picture) with the graphics rom and normal character rom slotted into it. This gave 256 additional characters, and since the replacement rom was an Eprom these new characters could be anything.
Programming was via Microsoft 8k Basic and involved a lot of Poke instructions to get it to do anything much. Overclocking was a breeze, but you had to get it right otherwise the screen divided into 4!
**Martin Ward** adds:\
You could upgrade the graphics RAM by "piggkbacking" two new RAM chips on top of the existing chips, with one pin sticking out sideways which had a flying lead soldered to it. This gave you 48 characters x 32 lines.\
The tape recorder could also be "overclocked" to 600 or even 1200 baud!\
RAM cost about £10 per K (£5 per 1KB x 4bit chip).
**Dick Greening** reports:\
An interesting story is that one of the BBC engineers rewrote the garbage collection routine (in the Microsoft Basic 4 Rom I thing it was,) only to find later that somehow Microsoft had incorporated his routine in their new version of Basic. He was able to prove it was his program as he had encrypted his name in the program! Sound a familiar story!
<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>