yann64andClaude Opus 5.5
3eeabe9649
6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun. 4,336 media files so far; references to files not downloaded yet are left out. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
130 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
130 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: MITS Altair 680
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categories:
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- Computers
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types:
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- Professional Computer
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origins:
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- U.S.A.
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years:
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- '1975'
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cpus:
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- Motorola 6800
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params:
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name: Altair 680
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company: /companies/mits
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company_name: MITS
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specs:
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- label: NAME
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value: Altair 680
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- label: MANUFACTURER
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value: MITS
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- label: TYPE
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value: Professional Computer
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- label: ORIGIN
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value: U.S.A.
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- label: YEAR
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value: October 1975
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- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
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value: None
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- label: KEYBOARD
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value: 27 address, data and control switches
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- label: CPU
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value: Motorola 6800
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- label: SPEED
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value: 500 KHz.
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- label: CO-PROCESSOR
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value: None
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- label: RAM
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value: 1 KB
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- label: ROM
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value: 1 KB
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: Depends on the video terminal used
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- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
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value: 28 (W) x 28 (D) x 12 (H) cm.
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: Serial port
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- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
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value: None in basic version
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- label: POWER SUPPLY
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value: Built_in power supply unit
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- label: PERIPHERALS
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value: Memory board, I/O board
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- label: PRICE
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value: 'Kit form: about $300, assembled: $420'
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tabs:
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- photos
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- adverts
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- hardware
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- links
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photos:
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- title: SYSTEM
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: null
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- title: BACK SIDE
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subtitle: ''
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text: Basic version only featured one serial connector.
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image: null
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- title: INSIDE
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: null
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- title: FRONT
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: null
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- title: POPULAR ELECTRONICS
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subtitle: ''
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text: The November 1975 issue of Popular Electronics showed a first version of the Altair 680 and explained in an article how to build it.
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image: null
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adverts:
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- title: US ADVERT (JAN. 1976)
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subtitle: ''
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text: from Creative Computing magazine dated january 1976
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image: null
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- title: US ADVERT (SEPT. 1976)
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: null
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- title: US ADVERT (JAN. 1977)
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subtitle: ''
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text: for the 680B and 8800B models
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image: null
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hardware:
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- title: 'ALTAIR MINIDISK #1'
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subtitle: ''
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text: The Altair Minidisk was released in June 1977, one month after MITS was sold to Pertec. It was probably the first 5.25" floppy drive unit intended for a home computer.
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image: null
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- title: 'ALTAIR MINIDISK #2'
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subtitle: ''
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text: The floppy disk drive was a Shugard SA400, single side, single density, 110 KB of maximum capacity. The first 5.25" drive ever manufactured.
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image: null
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links:
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- title: VirtualAltair
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url: http://www.virtualaltair.com/
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text: The Virtual Altair Museum is collecting information and components to help preserve Altair history.
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comments:
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- author: Cristina Saunier (San Francosco, CA)
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date: Monday 1st June 2015
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text: Did you work in Albuquerque? My dad worked for MITS. He is Don Saunier.
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- author: Ron Scales (Tucson AZ)
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date: Wednesday 20th September 2006
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text: Some peripherals were not mentioned in the description. The 680b had a 16Kx8 bit static RAM, 16Kx8 bit dynamic RAM, Audio Cassette interface, Process Control interface, Universal I/O interface, A/D-D/A interface, and 5.25" Mini Disk Interface w/Basic. I used to work at MITS in the 70's.
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oc_id: 892
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230131010751/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=892
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date: '2023-01-31'
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---
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The Altair 680 appeared about one year after the successful [Altair 8800](/museum/mits-altair-8800/) was launched. With this model, MITS attempted to offer a new system based on the well known Motorola 6800 processor and then cover a large market share in small computer business.
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The computer was available in kit or assembled form, It was smaller than the 8800 but kept the same design of front panel and switches. It featured 1 KB of RAM (4 times the 8800 RAM) and 1 KB of ROM with support for a serial terminal and punch tape reader.
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For $420, customer got an assembled system with no display and no mass storage devices. program had to be entered each time the system was switched on using binary address and data switches. At power off, all of the RAM content was definitly lost. In fact, in order to get a really usable system with terminal or Teletype and tape or floppy disc storage, user had to invest about $2000, a fortune at the time.
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First available programming language was the BASIC 2.0 the young Micro-Soft company ported from the Intel 8080 to the 6800.
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As the Altair 680 wasn't the first and cheaper 6800 based system, it didn't meet a great success. It was followed by the **680B** and the **680B Turnkey** where all front panel switches were replaced with an unique power key.
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