website/content/museum/tandy-radio-shack-color-computer-3.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Tandy Radio Shack Color Computer 3	Computers	Home Computer	U.S.A.	1986	Motorola 68b09e	name image logo company company_name specs tabs photos hardware connectors emulators links comments related oc_id source Color Computer 3 /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_system_s1.jpg /media/museum/logos/tandy_color3_logo.gif /companies/tandy-radio-shack Tandy Radio Shack label value NAME Color Computer 3 label value MANUFACTURER Tandy Radio Shack label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1986 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1992 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Disk Extended Color Basic 2.1 (Microsoft BASIC, with enhancements by Microware) label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard label value CPU Motorola 68b09e (uses an external clock generator) label value SPEED 1.79 MHz (0.89mhz under RS-DOS for compatability with FD expansion unit) label value RAM 128 KB (up to 512 KB. There were 1MB and 2MB upgrade boards as well) label value ROM 32 KB label value TEXT MODES 32x16, 40x25, 80x25 label value GRAPHIC MODES Several graphic modes, the most interesting were: 320x200 (16 col.), 640x200 (4 col.), 640x400 (4 col. if 512 KB RAM) label value COLORS 64 label value SOUND See comment below label value SIZE / WEIGHT Unknown label value I/O PORTS Tape, Composite Video, analog RGB connector for use with Tandy CM-8 monitor, 2 joystick ports, cartridge slot, RS232 label value OS with optional disk drive : RS-DOS, OS-9 Level 2 was also popular label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in PSU label value PRICE $219.95 (USA, 1986) photos hardware connectors emulators links title subtitle text image COCO 3 /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_system_s2.jpg title subtitle text image TOP VIEW /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_topview_s1.jpg title subtitle text image BOTH SIDES Note the cartridge slot on the right side. /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_sides_s1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_keyboard_s1.jpg title subtitle text image UNDERNEATH Stangely, the RGB connector is located underneath the computer. /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_bottomside_s1.jpg title subtitle text image REAR CONNECTORS From left to right: • Reset switch\ • Audio jack\ • Composite video jack\ • RF channel selector\ • TV/RF jack\ • Tape recorder I/O DIN socket\ • Serial I/O DIN socket\ • Right and left joystick DIN sockets\ • Power switch. /media/museum/photos/rearcon_s1.jpg title subtitle text image OPENED The keyboard is simply put on the shell and connected to the motherboard by a thin flat cable. /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_opened_s1.jpg title subtitle text image MOTHERBOARD **(1)** Four 41464 chips hold 128 KB of RAM\ **(2)** TV/RF modulator\ **(3)** Motorola MC68B09EP microprocessor\ **(4)** ROM cartridge connector\ **(5)** 32 KB ROM chip holding the Tandy BASIC interpreter\ **(6)** Custom GIME chip, especially made for the CoCo3, handles graphics and text display, system bus and various I/O\ **(7)** Keyboard connector\ **(8)** Expansion card (mainly RAM cards) connectors\ **(9)** Motorola LSC81001 I/O chip\ **(10)** Motorola 6821 PIA (Peripheral Interface Adapter)\ **(11)** Power regulator and it's cooler\ **(12)** AC power transformer. /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_mainboard_s1.jpg title subtitle text image THE BOX /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_box_s1.jpg title subtitle text image COCO3 MANUALS The BASIC reference guide is missing /media/museum/photos/tandy_color3_manuals_s1.jpg title subtitle text image TRS-80 COLOR COMPUTER DISK SYSTEM It includes single external disk drive (uses standard DS, DD 5.25” floppy) with plug in disk interface, and 92 page users guide. /media/museum/hardware/tandy_color1_fd500_2.jpg title subtitle text image FD-501 5''1/4 disk-drive This picture show the case housing a double disk-drive, the controler cartridge and the box. The cartridge has the "Microsoft Extended Color Basic 2.1" in ROM. /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco_fd501-disk_1.jpg title subtitle text image PLUG AND POWER Domotic hardware ! An incredible extension for any Coco computer ! It turns your lights and other equipment on and off at designated times. /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco_plug-and-power.jpg title subtitle text image PLUG'N'POWER Pic #2 This is the x10 (x-10) "Plug 'n Power Appliance and Light Controller" that goes with the cartridge of the same name. This can be used to program lights and other electrical devices in your home or office to turn on or off using the x10 protocol (you need to have x10 controllers on devices you would like to control) /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco2_plugnpower_2.jpg title subtitle text image RS232 PACK /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco_rs232-pack.jpg title subtitle text image SPEECH & SOUND CARTRIDGE /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco_speech-sound-cartridge_1.jpg title subtitle text image SPEECH-SOUND PAK cat. no 26-3144 /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco2_speech-sound-pak.jpg title subtitle text image SERIAL TO PARALLEL CONVERTER It is a serial to parallel converter (DB25 connectors). A sticker on the bottom tells of all of the DIP switch settings, and a little LED shows the power status /media/museum/hardware/tandy_serial-parallel_converter_1.jpg title subtitle text image 512K TURBO RAM from Speech Systems This board installs in a coco 3 to give it a whopping 512k of ram ! /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco3_speech-system-512k-turbo-ram.jpg title subtitle text image WICO JOYSTICK ADAPTER The Wico TRS-80 adapter allows you to use Atari 2600 joysticks (and other various controllers using the Atari standard) on your Color Computer /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco2_vcsadapt_1.jpg title subtitle text image TRS80 COLOUR MOUSE /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco2_trs80colormouse_1.jpg title subtitle text image TRS-80 TOUCH PAD /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco2_trs80-touch-pad.jpg title subtitle text image TANDY JOYSTICK /media/museum/hardware/tandy_color1_joystick_1.jpg title subtitle text image GT-116 Tandy graphic tablet A4 size. It is used for transfering pictures or drawings, and also as a menu pointing system. /media/museum/hardware/tandy_color1_tablet_1.jpg title subtitle text image VINYL KEYBOARD COVER Suitable for models 2 and 3. /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco2_plastic-cover_1.jpg title subtitle text image DC-2212 1200-baud modem with automatic dialing and answer /media/museum/hardware/tandy_color1_modem2212_s1.jpg title subtitle text image MULTI-PACK INTERFACE Model 26-3124 The Multi-Pack plugs into the cartridge slot on the side of the Color Computer and allows up to four devices to be plugged into the computer at the same time. A switch on the front of the MPI allows to switch between the 4 ROM Paks. This can be done also with software commands. With the MPI, a disk drive, an RS-232 Program Pak, and a game cartridge could be used simultaneously. /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco_multipack-interface_1.jpg title subtitle text image OLDER MODEL /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco2_multipack-old_1.jpg title subtitle text image OLDER MODEL Box /media/museum/hardware/tandy_coco2_multipack-old_box_1.jpg title subtitle text image TANDY COLOUR PRINTERS **CGP 220** : (left) 7 colours Inkjet printer\ **CGP 115** : (right) 4 colours plotter /media/museum/hardware/tandy_color1_printers_1.jpg title subtitle text image CGP 115 #2 4-pen color graphic printer.\ Cat. 26-1192A /media/museum/hardware/tandy_color1_4penprinter_s1.jpg title subtitle text image RGB CONNECTOR Looking at the outside of the RGB out jack. **(1)** Ground\ **(2)** Ground\ **(3)** Red\ **(4)** Green\ **(5)** Blue\ **(6)** Polarity (No pin)\ **(7)** Sound\ **(8)** Hsync\ **(9)** Vsync\ **(10)** No Connection /media/museum/connectors/tandy_color3_con_rgb_s1.jpg title subtitle text image JOYSTICK CONNECTOR Looking at the outside of the Joystick jack on the computer **(1)** Comparator input (Right-Left)\ **(2)** Comparator input (Up-Down)\ **(3)** Ground\ **(4)** Fire button 1, High when open, Low when closed\ **(5)** Vcc, current limited +5VDC\ **(6)** Fire button 2 /media/museum/connectors/tandy_color3_con_joystick_s1.jpg title subtitle text image SERIAL RS232 CONNECTOR Looking at the outside of the DIN socket on the computer **(1)** **CD** Carrier detect (Status input line)\ **(2)** **RD** Receive Data\ **(3)** **GROUND** Zero voltage reference\ **(4)** **TD** Transmit Data Out /media/museum/connectors/tandy_color3_con_serial_s1.jpg title subtitle text image TAPE RECORDER CONNECTOR **(1)** Remote control\ **(2)** Signal ground\ **(3)** Remote control\ **(4)** Input from recorder\ **(5)** Output to recorder /media/museum/connectors/tandy_color3_con_taperec_s1.jpg title url platform text TRS CoCo3 Emulator by Jeff Vavasour v.1.6B http://www.vavasour.ca/jeff/trs80.html#coco3 MS DOS A very good DOS based emulator that the author kindly made freeware with the source code in hopes others can port it to other OSes and platforms title url platform text TRS-80 Colour Computer 2 Emulator http://www.vavasour.ca/jeff/trs80.html#coco2 MS DOS This DOS emulator (freeware) will run original CoCo as well as CoCo 2 software title url platform text CoCo 2 Emulator v1.5 for MS-DOS http://www.bpwl.com/pub/ar/trs80/coco2-15.zip Windows title url platform text CoCo III Emulator http://www.voicenet.com/~swyss/cocoemul.html Windows title url platform text Virtual CoCo for MacOS http://www.maya.com/Local/phil/coco/ Apple title url platform text Virtual CoCo for MacOS http://www.maya.com/Local/phil/coco/ Apple title url platform text MOCHA http://members.cox.net/javacoco/ Other platform TRS-80 Color Computer (CoCo) Emulator Written In Java title url platform text MESS http://www.mess.org Multiplatform MESS emulates Coco systems, among many other computers title url text Cloud-9 http://www.cloud9tech.com/Order/index.html The place where you can even buy a brand new CoCo3 title url text CoCo Quest Color Computer Games and More! http://www.prowler-pro.com/coco/ title url text Coco Webring http://nav.webring.yahoo.com/hub?ring=CoCo&id=40&list It says it all ! title url text CoCo Zonz http://www.bat-soft.com/coco/ title url text Color Computer Links http://coco3nuts.tripod.com/ title url text Color Computer Transfer Utility http://home.netcom.com/~tlindner/CTU.html title url text NitrOS9 HTTP://NITROS9.LCURTISBOYLE.COM Various Coco webpages, including 100+ downloadable games title url text RadioShackCatalogs.com http://www.RadioShackCatalogs.com Here, you can actually/virtually flip-through the pages to view the content of every RadioShack catalog. title url text Sock Master's Web Page http://www.axess.com/twilight/sock/ Dedicated Tandy Color Computer 3 page, full of info! title url text www.coco3.com http://www.coco3.com The title speaks for itself ! It includes among many things, a Coco FAQ title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com Discussion about Tandy computers author date text Steve (USA) Thursday 20th January 2022 Website link is for Tandy CCR (Cassette Recorder) information. Also, does anyone know if the CoCo3 video output can all be used at the same time? (for mirror display output, such as the RF coax output + RCA composite output, and maybe the RGB as well? ) author date text William (USA) Tuesday 7th April 2020 Disk Extended Color Basic wasn''t available on any of the CoCo line without the addition of the Floppy controller and the included internal ROM that plugged into the 40-pin expansion slot or the Multi-Pack Interface (or equivalant.) Otherwise just Extended Color Basic was available for use. author date text Corey Lynch (United States) Monday 19th August 2019 Michael Devenney, I am definitely interested. please E-mail me at the.lynchster@gmail.com author date text Michael Devenney (USA) Saturday 12th May 2018 I have a Tandy computer color 3 new in the box, never used. The outer box is in terrible condition , but the computer is unwrapped and has been never used. Anyone interested? author date text Derrick Green (United States) Sunday 30th April 2017 This was also my first computer since I owned a 2600 Atari and NES game system back in 1987. Learning basic was fun on this system with the built in color graphics. I remember bagging my parents for the floppy drive unit shortly afterwords and was able to save the basic programs and run games like Kings Quest. This was truly a revolution for the time and even had a special color monitor that could be purchased. What I was especially impressed about this system is all the expansion options that were available. When I was younger growing up I could all the options at once but being able to upgrade the system was an advantage along with having the composite video connection to get started. One of my biggest regrets was selling my entire system for $50 USD and purchasing a 286 computer at the time. This system and the first IBM computer tough me a lot. The new generation of youth has a lot to be learned as we grew up in our generation. author date text Jack (USA) Thursday 1st October 2015 the Tandy was my very first computer. I spent hours of fun on it. back when you had to turn the little switch from TV to computer on channel 3 back then. I wish Ii held onto it now, it''sd be fun to mess around again on it. thanks for the fun., Jack author date text Jorge (NY, USA) Wednesday 6th July 2011 I have uploaded scans of the system manuals, in PDF on skydrive, the Public address is https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid$c1a7e9824022ad17$resid$C1A7E9824022AD17!732 I have some of the most common hardware manuals there too, if you are looking for another manual, most likely I have it. The manuals are for all 3 Color Computers ( 1, 2, and 3) Schematics and repair manual included. Please archive these manuals, I don''t know how long I will keep them there, or add them to Old-Computers.com as a direct download. author date text Lez Anderson (England) Monday 27th June 2011 Does anyone know if the COCO 3 FPGA project has been put into a low cost ASIC chip... i.e. a single ASIC chip Coco 3... I''m wanting to use one instead of a PIC or embedded processor ... It would be great if I could get a single chip coco 3 with the functions of the coco 3 ( Enhanced ) and the functionality of a PIC... I''d love to buy one ... author date text Joel Ewy (USA) Wednesday 16th February 2011 The CoCo3FPGA SOC actually started on the Xylinx platform, and was fairly recently ported to Altera. My blog shows my build of the CoCo3FPGA, put into an old CoCo 3 case. If you want more info about CoCo3FPGA, see the Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CoCo3FPGA/ author date text Kenai Andrews (Canada) Tuesday 26th October 2010 Poke 65495,0 was for the Coco 1 and 2. The speed up poke on the Coco 3 was poke 65497,0 and the slowdown was poke 65496,0. author date text Marcos (England) Thursday 16th September 2010 I believe these are on a Altera DE1 board using a cyclone chip runnning at 25MHz. author date text Lez Anderson (England) Tuesday 14th September 2010 The Coco 3 is now on a single chip (FPGA, Field programmable Gate Array) running at 25MHz!! Anyone with more info on this please post a message.... author date text Keith Smith (Hardburly,Kentucky 41747) Saturday 10th July 2004 The 2 MHZ command was poke 65495,0.\ I still have several of these,1 inside of an IBM case.\ These machines still work great as a basis for a home security system,satellite descrambler and a way to monitor an automotive computer.\ BTW I still love playing the Kronis Rift. /museum/tandy-radio-shack-color-computer /museum/tandy-radio-shack-color-computer-2 109 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230609154716/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=109 2023-06-09

The "TANDY Color Computer 3" followed the Color Computer 2.

The CoCo3 came with 128K RAM, an analog RGB video port, enhanced 640x192 graphics capability, a 64-color palette and much more. (All ports contained on the CoCo 1 and 2 models were also available on the CoCo3, e.g. RS-232 serial, cassette, right and left joystick and a 40-pin expansion slot.)

The built-in Language, named Disk Extended Color Basic 2.1, was a Microsoft BASIC with enhancements by Microware. It was similar to that of the CoCo2, but Microware added the commands/functions to take advantage of the higher resolution graphics and text.

The CoCo3 was upgradeable to 512 KB RAM. (After-market RAM upgrades have gone as high as 8MB, with rumors that 16MB and 32MB RAM upgrades may also be possible). A Multi-Pak (a 4-port bus expander) plugged into the Expansion Slot allowed use of controllers for floppy disk drives, hard drives (MFM, RLL, SCSI and now even IDE), multi-port true RS-232 devices, MIDI units and much much more.

As its microprocessor was still an 8 bit (strange choice when Atari and Commodore were using a 68000), it couldn't access simultaneously to the 128k (or 512k), and thus used several RAM banks which could be switched (as the Thomson TO8, or MSX 2 computers).
Unlike the CoCo and CoCo II the 3 had an interrupt controller. This did away with a lot of the timing loops used in its predecessors, and actually took some of the fun out of programming in Machine Language.

Tandy made several prototypes of a Color Computer model IV but it was never released.

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Contributors: D. Francis