--- title: POWERTRAN CYBERNETICS CORTEX categories: - Computers types: - Professional Computer origins: - United Kingdom years: - '1983' cpus: - TMS 9995 params: name: CORTEX image: /media/museum/photos/powertran_cortex_1.jpg company: /companies/powertran-cybernetics company_name: POWERTRAN CYBERNETICS specs: - label: NAME value: CORTEX - label: MANUFACTURER value: Powertran Cybernetics - label: TYPE value: Professional Computer - label: ORIGIN value: United Kingdom - label: YEAR value: '1983' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: Power Basic and simple assembler/disassember. - label: KEYBOARD value: Full-strok keyboard with numeric keypad - label: CPU value: TMS 9995 (16 bit) - label: SPEED value: 3 MHz (12 MHz crystal) - label: RAM value: 64 KB - label: VRAM value: 16 KB - label: ROM value: 24 KB - label: TEXT MODES value: 40 x 25 - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 256 x 192 - label: COLORS value: '16' - label: SOUND value: built in speaker with primitive sound function - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: Unknown - label: I/O PORTS value: Serial RS-232C, Tape recorder port, optional Parallel printer card made by the Cortex User Group, Ebus extension bus that would take cards from the TI990 series minicomputer. - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: Optional 5.25'' FDD (worked off a TMS9909 FDC. The Basic included a 'Boot' command which would boot the disk.) - label: OS value: No OS - label: POWER SUPPLY value: Built-in PSU - label: PRICE value: £249 + vat (later £199 + vat) for a kit of self assemby parts. Construction details in 'Electronics today international' magazine tabs: - links - docs links: - title: www.powertrancortex.com url: http://www.powertrancortex.com/ text: Reference site - title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com text: FTP with useful files (emulator, roms, docs, etc.) docs: - title: FULL 31-PAGE TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION url: /media/museum/docs/cortex.zip cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/powertran_cortex_techmanual_s1%5B1%5D.jpg text: |- [**FULL 31-PAGE TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION**](/media/museum/docs/cortex.zip)written by Powertran Cybernetics  type of document : ZIP\  source : [old-computers.com](/media/museum/docs/cortex.zip) - title: CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS AND COMPLETE DESCRIPTION. url: /media/museum/docs/cortex_diagram.pdf cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vide.gif text: |- [**CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS AND COMPLETE DESCRIPTION.**](/media/museum/docs/cortex_diagram.pdf)written by ETI electronic magazine  compiled/archived by Stuart Conner\  type of document : PDF comments: - author: Dennis Johnson (Wales/UK) date: Thursday 15th October 2020 text: |- I built a Cortex back at end of 1982 when it came out in the magazine Electronics Today.Being a keen electronics hobbyist,it looked like the ideal thing for me to get my teeth into.I trained in the early days on Digital PDP8 and 11 linked to engineering equpment.I did a lot of machine code writing for the Cortex and wrote games like Othello,Mastermind and mazes etc.\ My machine now needs some tlc,which it will have even though it still works fine.At the time I built it,it was way ahead of its time and really fast with "sprites"that could be moved around the screen.\ Not quite sure what to do with it now as space is somewhat limited in new home. - author: Joe Mc (UK) date: Monday 15th June 2020 text: Hello, I still have a brochure for a "Powertran" PSI COMP 80 (Z80 based computer). The keyboard looks exactly the same as the one in your small pic but it has a hex pad where your pic has a numeric keypad? I think I have details of a precursor to the one you have presented. If you would like, I can scan and email the pages (7 of them). Kind Regards Joe. - author: Jim Hearne (UK) date: Friday 4th January 2013 text: |- I have a Cortex 2, built from old stock kit last year. It''s running complete with the FDC and dual 5.25" drives from a BBC computer. If you have the missing copies of the Cortex user group magazine please visit http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?15580-Powertran-Cortex and let us know. Jim - author: FreeThinker (UK) date: Thursday 4th November 2010 text: |- The ETI article for the cortex can be found here\ ftp://whtech.com/Powertran$20Cortex\ also includes an emulator, Roms etc.\ Enjoy!\ Keith - author: david loudfoot (uk) date: Monday 31st May 2010 text: HI, I still have my cortex stored in my loft in essex but at the moment it is not working, would love to get it up and going again. - author: Chris Followell (UK/ Spain) date: Monday 24th May 2010 text: Hi Guys, I worked for TI at the time and of the Cortex. I was the sales engineer for the Cortex components (TMS9995 CPU and TTL and DRAM. I co wrote the Electronics Today International Article along with Neil Quarmby, the TI project manager for the Cortex. The case PSU etc were all done by Powertran, we at TI just did the motherboard and the software. I still have my copies of the three issues of the magazine, so if anyone wants me to scan them, just say pretty please and I will do it when I get a free moment. It was a fun project and of course was well ahead of its time, being a 16 bit CPU in the days of 8 bits. We used the same processor for the first Viewdata (Prestel) decoder boards. With V23 Modems (1200/75 - good grief!) The US Home Computer division also used the 9995 - whereas Sir Clive was still using the Z80! - author: Dave Hunter (Ft Lauderdale, Florida, USA)) date: Saturday 13rd June 2009 text: I have two of these. Both work, have disk drives and the V9938 MSX Video Chip. I have both the CDOS and MDEX Operating Systems. CDOS is the Disk Filing System extension for the built-in Cortex Basic. MDEX (Marinchip Disk EXecutive) was the first Disk Operating System and was quite simple. It over-wrote Cortex Basic at boot so you couldn''t use any programs developed in its native environment. However you also could buy QBASIC (Basic compiler) and SPL (Sytems Programming Language compiler), the latter was somewhat similar to C. I have lots of knowledge on this computer and have posted some info over at vintage-computer.com under the name of ''tms9995''. - author: James Fetzner (USA) date: Saturday 9th May 2009 text: I finally acquired a functional Cortex after a long search (many years, off and on). It only has the cassette interface installed, but I plan to try and finish the disk interface. I also noticed that the documentation I received with mine has several pages that aren''t in the documentation included on the site. I will try and rectify that once I can get the additional pages scanned. - author: Anders Carlsson (Västerås, Sweden) date: Friday 20th March 2009 text: The Swedish electronics magazine Elektronikvärlden in late 1983, early 1984 also had a series how to build the Cortex computer, probably they translated and reprinted the UK articles. Some readers got so involved they even posted follow-up questions about the project. - author: Magne Ertresvåg (Ålesund Norway) date: Sunday 23rd September 2007 text: I still have the Cortex, but I haven't powered it up for years. It was fun to program. Are there anyone how still got a Cortex, or have you dumped years ago? - author: Chris Haywood (UK) date: Friday 6th April 2007 text: |- I have one of the Cortex computers which I built when I was studying for my electronics degree in the UK. The machine was pretty unreliable until my "mentor" engineer helped me figure out the the DRAM (64k chips) power supply was noisy. Once the supplies were gridded it worked really well. I could not afford the floppy drives so I used a cassette tape recorder connected to the modem port to save and load programs. If I remember correctly it was the first computer to have graphic "sprites" which were pixel objects that you could move around as a block across their own graphics plane - I think that there were 32 planes altogether.\ Memories... oc_id: 171 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230608161006/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=171 date: '2023-06-08' --- The information we have about this computer is sketchy.\ O.S. was a powerful graphical BASIC interpreter modded from the TI basic.\ Forth language was also available but not widely used.\ Cortex had a mode to give 256 K RAM. ROM was copied into RAM at start-up and then swiched off allowing boot code and basic to be altered at start-up. Cortex was followed by the **Cortex II** which was just a re cased version with same style as early apple/dragon 32 beige/yellow plastic sloping cases, but using same main board and disk drives.
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.