website/content/museum/nintendo-family-computer-keyboard.md

---
title: Nintendo Family Computer Keyboard
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- Japan
years:
- '1984'
cpus:
- 6502 ?
params:
  name: Family Computer Keyboard
  image: /media/museum/photos/nintendo_family-computers_1.jpg
  company: /companies/nintendo
  company_name: Nintendo
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: Family Computer Keyboard
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Nintendo
  - label: TYPE
    value: Home Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: Japan
  - label: YEAR
    value: April 1984
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: NS-HUBASIC V1.0, V2.0A, V2.1 or V3.0
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Full-stroke keyboard with functions keys and arrow keys
  - label: CPU
    value: 6502 ?
  - label: RAM
    value: |-
      Basic V2.0A : 1982 bytes free\
      Basic V3.0 : 4086 bytes free
  - label: VRAM
    value: 4 kb
  - label: ROM
    value: 8 kb
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 28 x 24
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 256 x 240
  - label: SOUND
    value: 5 channel sound (2 channels for square wave, 1 triangle wave, 1 noise channel and 1 PCM)
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: Expansion memory unit, tape-recorder, Basic cartidges
  - label: PRICE
    value: 14 800 yens (Japan, 1982)
  tabs:
  - photos
  - hardware
  - software
  - links
  forum_thread: 511
  photos:
  - title: FAMILY COMPUTER
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Pascal Blancaneaux for lending us his system
    image: /media/museum/photos/nintendo_familiybasic_2.jpg
  - title: SIDE VIEW
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Pascal Blancaneaux for lending us his system
    image: /media/museum/photos/nintendo_familiybasic_right.jpg
  - title: UNDER THE BEAST
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Pascal Blancaneaux for lending us his system
    image: /media/museum/photos/nintendo_familiybasic_under.jpg
  - title: REAR
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Pascal Blancaneaux for lending us his system
    image: /media/museum/photos/nintendo_familiybasic_rear.jpg
  - title: FAMILY BASIC CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/nintendo_basic-cart.jpg
  - title: FAMILY BASIC CARTRIDGE (BACK)
    subtitle: ''
    text: This is where you insert the batteries so you can save your work, directly inside the cartridge!
    image: /media/museum/photos/nintendo_basic-cart_opened.jpg
  - title: BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Pascal Blancaneaux for lending us his system
    image: /media/museum/photos/nintendo_familiybasic_box.jpg
  hardware:
  - title: TAPE-RECORDER
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The tape-recorder connects to the keyboard. It was a useful extension to save Basic programs (though it was possible to save them to the Basic cartridge memory) !

      It cost 9800 yens in 1984 !
    image: /media/museum/hardware/nintendo_family-computers_tape_1.jpg
  - title: FAMILY ACE
    subtitle: Cartridge copier
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/hardware/nintendo_familycomputer_familyace_copier.jpg
  - title: FAMILY WRITER
    subtitle: Cartridge copier
    text: Thanks to Rikard Ljungkvist for this picture
    image: /media/museum/hardware/nintendo_familcom_family-writer_1.jpg
  - title: FAMILY WRITER
    subtitle: Front
    text: Thanks to Rikard Ljungkvist for this picture
    image: /media/museum/hardware/nintendo_familcom_family-writer_2.jpg
  screenshots:
  - title: FAMILY BASIC V3
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/nintendo_famicom_familybasicv3.jpg
  links:
  - title: FAMILY BASIC
    url: http://home7.highway.ne.jp/hiro-s/fb/famindex.htm
    text: Nice Japanese page
  - title: Technical information by Goro
    url: http://nesdev.parodius.com/Keyboard-english.txt
    text: Mostly about the keyboard itself (scanning and connectors)
  - title: TRS's NES Archive
    url: http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/other/
    text: This excellent site has some adverts of the keyboard
  oc_id: 517
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230528095538/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=517
    date: '2023-05-28'
---

This is an initiation computer. It was sold as an add-on for the Japanese Famicom (but can't be connected to a NES as it lacks the Famicom's Expantion Port).

In fact the system is composed of three parts : the Famicom, the keyboard and the Basic cartidge. The keyboard is connected to the expansion port situated at the front of the Famicom. Then a Basic cartridge must be inserted into the Famicom catridge slot. As the keyboard is almost "empty", most of the Famicom's hardware is used, along with the Basic cartridge RAM chips.

The Basic delivered with the keyboard is the NS-HUBASIC, where "N" stands for Nintendo, "S" for Sharp and "HU" for Hudson, as they all contributed to this project.\
Once inserted there is only 1982 bytes free to play with ! But it was possible to back-up the program into the cartridge itself by powering it with 3 battery cells. This saving method wasn't reliable as quite often the programs were lost because of bad contacts...\
Hopefully, a tape-recorder was available, but there again, the adjustment of the input level was quite difficult to get.

Some games using the built-in save/load feature of the Basic cartridge were released such as "Lode Runner" (edit mode) and "Challenge Race".

The catalog number of the keyboard is HVC-007.