website/content/museum/vector-graphics-vector-1.md

---
title: Vector Graphics Vector 1
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1976'
cpus:
- Intel 8080A
params:
  name: Vector 1
  company: /companies/vector-graphics
  company_name: Vector Graphics
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: Vector 1
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Vector Graphics
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: August 1976
  - label: END OF PRODUCTION
    value: Unknown
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: None
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Depends on the video terminal used
  - label: CPU
    value: Intel 8080A
  - label: SPEED
    value: 2 Mhz
  - label: RAM
    value: 1 Kb. expandable to 64 Kb.
  - label: ROM
    value: 512 bytes (Bootstrap)
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: Commonly 80 characters x 25 lines
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: None
  - label: COLORS
    value: Monochrome
  - label: SOUND
    value: No built-in speaker
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: Unknown
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: 18 S-100 bus connectors
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: None
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Built-in PSU 8 Volts 18 Amp. and 16 Volts 2.5 Amp.
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: S-100 bus cards
  - label: PRICE
    value: Unknown
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - links
  photos:
  - title: 1+ VERSION
    subtitle: ''
    text: The 1+ is no more than the 1 version in which has been added an housing for a 5''1/4 F.D. drive.
    image: null
  adverts:
  - title: MEMORY BOARD
    subtitle: ''
    text: Vector Graphics also sold various cards for any S-100 systems. This one is a 8 Kb. static RAM card solded for $265 in kit version and $350 assembled.
    image: null
  - title: 1977 ADVERT
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  links:
  - title: Vector Graphics 1976 - 1984
    url: http://www.vectorgraphics.org.uk
    text: Web site dedicated to Vector Graphics systems
  - title: VECTOR-GRAPHIC List
    url: http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=VECTOR-GRAPHIC
    text: mailing list for Vector Graphic computers
  comments:
  - author: Janet (USA)
    date: Wednesday 18th March 2009
    text: I worked there from Apirl 1978 to may 81. It was orange and green. When I began working there we began producing the Mz which was tan and black. There were lots of complaints about the orange and green colors so they (Lore and Carole) decided to go with something more neutral. Some of the comments were that only women with come up with that color scheme.
  - author: Bob (USA)
    date: Wednesday 5th January 2011
    text: I have an Orange Vector Graphics 1+ that is still working and controls my Yaesu FT767-GX amateur radio transceiver. It has a 5 1/4" floppy disk drive, and a Z80 processor. I bought it in kit form and assembled it, including all the S-100 boards sometime around 1978-1979. I used a Soroc IQ120 terminal with it then but later switched to a HP 700/41 terminal.
  - author: Jack Tumblin (Evanston, IL)
    date: Wednesday 26th April 2006
    text: I bought one of these second-hand in 1980 (in LA), but the case was deep green instead of orange. Was orange an earlier model?
  related:
  - /museum/vector-graphics-mz
  - /museum/vector-graphics-vector-3-vip
  - /museum/vector-graphics-vector-4
  oc_id: 566
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230220081305/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=566
    date: '2023-02-20'
---

The Vector 1 was a clone of the ALTAIR 8800 based on the common S-100 bus structure and the Intel 8080A microprocessor. It was sold under kit or assembled versions.

Vector Graphics said it offered a stronger cabinet and a well-designed power supply. To reduce selling price, front panel didn't offer any switch or control led. In its basic version, the computer could be connected to a tape recorder and a serial terminal and offered a bootstrap ROM monitor.

---

Additional info about the company by **Dennis Ray Wingo**:\
Vector started in November 1976 when Bob and Lore Harp, along with Carol Ely took Vector's first product, an 8 k static RAM card along with a 256 X 256 line (High Resolution Grraphic HRG) card, to computer swap meets to sell. Bob, who at that time was the director of Hughes Research Laboratories (yes THE Hughes Research Labs), designed the Vector 1 computers that they started selling in 1977. Vector grew fast as a company (although not by today's standards), and by the time that I went to work there in manufacturing in April of 1981 they had just crossed the 3 million dollar per month revenue milestone. Vector went public later that year at $13 dollar per share. Bob and Lore divorced soon after the IPO and Bob left to found Corona Data Systems, one of the very first clone IBM PC companies.

**Mike Boyd** adds:\
The unit was well built, like a prelude to the NorthStar Horizon; unfortunately the push buttons they used for the power and reset were terrible, and would fail - you had to sometimes hit them several times to turn them on.

About the terrible buttons, **Lore Harp McGovern** specifies:\
The buttons were custom dyed and a big pain in the beginning. Designing a switchless front panel was not a cost reduction issue, but a human interface issue. The 1702 PROM board made those activities transparent.\
User friendliness became an important design element at Vector Graphic. Simple is better for the average person!