website/content/museum/applied-technologies-microbee-128.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Applied Technologies Microbee 128	Computers	Home Computer	Australia	1984	Z80A	name image company company_name specs tabs photos adverts hardware connectors screenshots emulators links comments related oc_id source Microbee 128 /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_system_s1.jpg /companies/applied-technologies Applied Technologies label value NAME Microbee 128 label value MANUFACTURER Applied Technologies label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN Australia label value YEAR 1984 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE None label value KEYBOARD QWERTY 64-key full-stroke keyboard with arrow keys label value CPU Z80A label value SPEED 3.375 MHz label value RAM 128 KB label value VRAM 16 KB label value ROM 4 KB BIOS + 4 KB FDD controller label value TEXT MODES 64 x 16 (Microbee BASIC) - 80 x 24 (CP/M label value GRAPHIC MODES 512 x 256 (2 colours), 128 x 48 (16 colours) label value COLORS 16 label value SOUND Built-in 1 canal loudspeaker label value SIZE / WEIGHT 35.5 (W) x 23 (D) x 5.5 (H) cm label value I/O PORTS Power/Video/tape, Expansion/drive Interface, Serial ,Parallel, RGB, Optional user ports label value BUILT IN MEDIA Dual 5.25''Single Sided Drives (386 KB) or 3.5'' DS/SD (776 KB) label value OS CP/M 2.2 label value POWER SUPPLY Switching PSU built-in the FDD unit label value PERIPHERALS EPROM programmer label value PRICE Unknown photos adverts hardware connectors software emulators links title subtitle text image FRONT VIEW The Premium machines often had key switch problems. Several keys of this machine had to be repaired. /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_frontview_s1.jpg title subtitle text image TOP VIEW /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_topview_s1.jpg title subtitle text image LEFT & RIGHT SIDES /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_bothsides_s1.jpg title subtitle text image WITH FDD UNIT #1 This FDD unit version holds two 776 KB 3.5" double sized single density floppy-disk drives. /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_withfdunit_s1.jpg title subtitle text image WITH FDD UNIT #2 This version uses two 386 KB 5.25" 360 KB double sided single density drives. /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_fdunit5_s1.jpg title subtitle text image RUNNING SYSTEM The Microbee is running the Microbee demonstration disk. /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_demoscreenshot_s1.jpg title subtitle text image REAR SIDE **(1)** Multi-function DIN socket used to supply power from the FD unit, also for composite B/W video and tape recorder outputs. The second DIN hole isn't used\ **(2)** Expansion connector used to connect de floppy-disk drives\ **(3)** Serial DB25 connector\ **(4)** I/O DB15 connector\ **(5)** RGB video output connector, compatible with colour CGA monitors. /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_rearside_s1.jpg title subtitle text image MAINBOARD The mainboard is normally covered by the piggyback RAM card. Keyboard's keys are soldered upon the mainboard.\ **(1)** 6545 video chipset. First IBM PC video cards used the same chipset\ **(2)** Z80A PIO used for various I/O. Here a Sharp LH0081A version\ **(3)** Nec D780C, one of the numerous Z80 clones of the Z80 CPU\ **(4)** 4 KB BIOS ROM\ **(5)** 16 KB Video RAM (2x3264 chips) /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_inside_s1.jpg title subtitle text image RAM CARD **(1)** RAM management ROM\ **(2)** 128 KB RAM chips (16x4164)\ **(3)** Western Digital floppy drives controller\ **(4)** Provision is made for two user ports chips. /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_inside_s2.jpg title subtitle text image MANUALS /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_manuals_s1.jpg title subtitle text image BOXES /media/museum/photos/microbee_premium_boxes_s1.jpg title subtitle text image AUSTRALIAN ADVERT (1987) Thanks to John Kahler for this picture /media/museum/pubs/microbee_pub_aus_1.jpg title subtitle text image FDD UNIT & MODEM /media/museum/hardware/applied_microbee_fddmodem_1.jpg title subtitle text image BEEMODEM /media/museum/hardware/microbee_premium_beemodem_s1.jpg title subtitle text image PARALLEL PRINTER CONNECTION /media/museum/connectors/microbee32_parallel-port.jpg title subtitle text image SERIAL PRINTER CONNECTION /media/museum/connectors/microbee32_serial-printer-port.jpg title subtitle text image THE SHELL A shell was available to perform easy file management under CP/M. /media/museum/software/microbee_premium_cpmshell_ss_s1.jpg title subtitle text image SWORD QUEST An adventure game /media/museum/software/microbee_128_ss_swordquest.jpg title subtitle text image VIPER Action game /media/museum/software/microbee_128_ss_viper.jpg title url platform text Picomozzi http://www2.ee.mu.oz.au/pgrad/apsh/microbee/ Windows Picomozzy is a Microbee 32 KB emulator for DOS or Windows. title url platform text MESS Emulator http://www.mess.org/ Multiplatform Emulates some Microbee computers ! title url platform text NanoWasp http://NANOWASP.SOURCEFORGE.NET/ Multiplatform A MicroBee 128k Disk System emulator for Windows & Unix title url platform text uBee512 http://freshmeat.net/projects/ubee512 Multiplatform An emulator for the Microbee Z80 Premium/Standard FDD and ROM based microcomputers. title url text Microbee Archive http://members.ozemail.com.au/~mikeleys/microbee.html Essential site to understand it all title url text MicroBee Homepage http://www.mdstud.chalmers.se/~md6cbm/bee/ Short page with few software to download title url text Microbee Microcomputer Micro-FAQ http://www.microbee-faq.in-tl.net/ very informative FAQ title url text Microbee official homepage http://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/ Since march 2012, Microbee is relaunching a new model ! title url text The Bee Board http://microbee.no-ip.com/beeboard/ Forum and documentation repository for Microbee author date text Michael Otway (Australia) Sunday 29th November 2015 Being equipped with a Z80 CPU, these "128K" units could only access 64KB for programs and data. The other 64KB was set aside as a RAM drive. The RAM drive wasn''t all that useful though, because (unlike their 32 and 64K models) they used DRAM not SRAM, so the RAM drive data was gone once the computer was switched off. author date text Charles Thomas Friday 29th May 2015 Heh, Kung Fury gets hacked back in time on one of these. :D author date text Peter Larsen (Sydney, Australia) Sunday 8th August 2004 The Network you describe was very popular in schools here in Australia also. It was called StarNet, and in it's most common configuration could support up to 30 or so client machines. It was a 19,200 baud serial network, the client machines having "StarNet Adapters" while the server was generally a 56k disk system model with a "StarNetwork Multiplexer". Software would be loaded on the server, then "pushed" through the serial link to the client computers and run from their RAM. Some units would have a "battery" switch so you could plug in, load software, then unplug and keep it in memory while you moved the machine elsewhere. author date text Martin Hultén Ashauer (Sweden) Sunday 22nd September 2002 I've had a MicroBee all my life and it still works alltho some buttons dont work propperly like the '0' button, so I have to write '11' instead of '10' when i'm basic programming. Its a nice computer and i have some software but not much. If there is anyone that owns ant software to the MicroBee and is willing to give/sell it to me mail me @: Martin_ha@yahoo.com\ //Martin H.A.\ Proud MicroBee Owner author date text Christian Johansson (Sweden) Saturday 2nd March 2002 When I went to school in Eslöv in Sweden in 7th-9th grade between 1986-1989, we had a computer room filled with Microbee computers. There was one server that the teacher handled. The rest of the computers that the pupils used were clients. Computer science was a special subject at the time. We did not use computers in ordinary subjects like mathematics and Swedish. /Christian /museum/applied-technologies-microbee-32 462 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230529195009/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=462 2023-05-29

The Microbee computers were popular in Australia where they equipped many schools. But these computers also sold well in Scandinavia or Sweden for example.

The Microbee 128 and its extended version, the Premium series, were housed in the same case as the Microbee 32 but had four additional cursor keys. they shipped with a 5.25" or 3.5" single or double disk drives unit.

Both 128 and Premium versions boasted improved graphics over the earlier machines, colour as standard and many other detailed improvements. They ran CP/M operating system. The Premium had an IBM CGA compatible video interface and dual density floppy drives, offering 776 KB capacity instead of 386 KB for the 128. a 10 MB hard disk was also available.