website/content/museum/homelab-series-homelab.md

---
title: HOMELAB SERIES Homelab
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- Hungary
years:
- '1985'
cpus:
- Z80A
params:
  name: Homelab
  image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_brailab_system_s1.jpg
  logo: /media/museum/logos/homelab_logo_s1.gif
  company: /companies/homelab-series
  company_name: HOMELAB SERIES
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: Homelab
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Homelab Series
  - label: TYPE
    value: Home Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: Hungary
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1985'
  - label: END OF PRODUCTION
    value: '1987'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: BASIC interpreter
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: 59 keys, QWERTY Hungarian style
  - label: CPU
    value: Z80A
  - label: SPEED
    value: 3 MHz
  - label: RAM
    value: 64 KB
  - label: ROM
    value: Unknown
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 64 chars. x 32 lines
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: None
  - label: COLORS
    value: Unknown
  - label: SOUND
    value: Built-in speaker
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: TV/VHF, tape recorder, Parallel, Bus connector
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: External power supply unit
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: Unknown
  - label: PRICE
    value: Unknown
  tabs:
  - photos
  - emulators
  - links
  photos:
  - title: BRAILAB, LARGE VIEW
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_brailab_system_s2.jpg
  - title: BRAILAB CLOSE-UP
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_homelab4_closeup_s1.jpg
  - title: REAR SIDE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_brailab_rear_s1.jpg
  - title: HOMELAB 2
    subtitle: ''
    text: Also called Aircomp 16
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_brailab_aircomp16_s1.jpg
  - title: HOMELAB 3
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_homelab3_system_s1.jpg
  - title: HOMELAB 4
    subtitle: ''
    text: Standard version.
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_brailab_system_s3.jpg
  - title: 'HOMELAB 3 #1 (HOMEBREW)'
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Homebrew Homelab 3 made by **Imre Solti** in 1985

      Thanks to **Imre Solti**
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_homelab3_homebrew_s1.jpg
  - title: 'HOMELAB 3 #2'
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Back side

      Thanks to **Imre Solti**
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_homelab3_homebrew_s2.jpg
  - title: 'HOMELAB 3 #3'
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Two joystick sockets and a dual Parallel port are located on the right side.

      Thanks to **Imre Solti**
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_homelab3_homebrew_s3.jpg
  - title: 'HOMELAB 3 #4'
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Inside. Four ROM chips hold the BASIC interpreter and a Z80 assembler. Two ROM sockets remain empty.

      Thanks to **Imre Solti**
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_homelab3_homebrew_s4.jpg
  - title: 'HOMELAB 3 #5'
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Handmade wired keyboard!

      Thanks to **Imre Solti**
    image: /media/museum/photos/homelab_homelab3_homebrew_s5.jpg
  emulators:
  - title: Homelab 3 & 4 emulator
    url: http://homelab.8bit.hu/emulator.html
    platform: Windows
    text: ''
  links:
  - title: Homebrew homelab page (in Hungarian)
    url: http://web.axelero.hu/vizipok56/homelab/index.html
    text: ''
  - title: Homelab page (in Hungarian)
    url: http://homelab.8bit.hu/attekintes.html
    text: ''
  comments:
  - author: Charlie
    date: Thursday 8th May 2008
    text: |-
      WoW! That keyboard...\
      ...Just handwiring something like that for a personal project is a tedious nightmare...\
      ...doing it for a mass-produced system...\
      ...I take my hat off to the company that made these. :)
  oc_id: 1095
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20221202035832/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1095
    date: '2022-12-02'
---

The HomeLab computers family was conceived in the People's Republic of Hungary by the famous **Lukács** brothers.

József Lukács, the older brother was the creator of the hardware, and the younger, Endre Lukács was the father of software (a great BASIC language).

The HomeLab machines were cheap, well-working and easy-to-use Basic computers. They were neither clones nor licencied, but original Hungarian home computers.

The **HomeLab-2** (see the 'More pictures' section) was also called **Aircomp-16**. It was made by a little agro-electronics company called the *Personal Agroelektronikai GT*.

Thanks to **Képes Gábor** for all this information and pictures. All of the HomeLab versions could also be homebrew built or assembled by the HCC (Hungarian Computer Club), an association of amateur computer fans.

The **Brailab** (pictured) was an exciting curiosity. It was a speaking Homelab-4 version especially intended for blind people. It featured a nice retro robot voice and a perfect Hungarian phonetics reproduction. It was a member of the BraiLab series. The text-to-speech system was conceived by András Arató and Teréz Vaspöri.

It was made by the *Color Ipari Szovetkezet* factory, in Dombóvár, a little Hungarian city. Only 400 machines were made between 1985 and 1987.

The BraiLab ran with a simple tape recorder and could be connected to either a TV set (VHF) or a monochrome monitor. A blind user could use it only with a tape recorder, hear but not watch the data.

The BraiLab was followed by the **BraiLab Plus** with floppy and CP/M system then by the **BraiLab PC**, a text-to-speech interface for IBM PCs.

Click here to hear a BraiLab voice synthesizer sample. (MP3 file).

<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>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.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>