website/content/museum/panasonic-hhc.md

---
title: Panasonic HHC
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Pocket
origins:
- Japan
years:
- '1981'
cpus:
- 6502 Low power NMOS version
params:
  name: HHC
  image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_system_1.jpg
  company: /companies/panasonic
  company_name: Panasonic
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: HHC
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Panasonic
  - label: TYPE
    value: Pocket
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: Japan
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1981'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: SNAP interpreter
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: 65 keys, calculator type. All the keys are redefinable.
  - label: CPU
    value: 6502 Low power NMOS version
  - label: SPEED
    value: 1 Mhz
  - label: RAM
    value: 2, 4 or 8 KB. Up to 96 KB with 4, 8 or 16 KB memory modules.
  - label: ROM
    value: 16 KB internal - 3 x optional 16 KB modules
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: LCD display - 1 line x 26 chars.
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 8 x 159 dots
  - label: COLORS
    value: Monochrome
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: '227 x 95 x 30,5 mm / weight: 570 gr.'
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: 44-pin expansion port, 3 sockets for program ROM's
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: Tape recorder interface built into the printer expansion
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: 5 x built-in Ni-Cad batterie 'AA' type (80 hours autonomy) or external 9 v. P.S.U.
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: Printers, I/O expansion interface, RS-232 interface, IEEE 488 interface, TV display interface, acoustic modem, RAM expansions, disk drive, EPROM burner, etc.
  - label: PRICE
    value: $500
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - hardware
  forum_thread: 630
  photos:
  - title: LARGE VIEW
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_system_s2.jpg
  - title: WITH PRINTER
    subtitle: ''
    text: The printer holds the In/Out tape recorder jacks on the upper left corner.
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_withprinter_s1.jpg
  - title: RIGHT SIDE
    subtitle: ''
    text: Notice the expansion connector which allows to connect in chain any of the Panasonic peripherals.
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_leftside_s1.jpg
  - title: RIGHT SIDE
    subtitle: ''
    text: The round connector is used for the external AC adaptor.
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_rightside_s1.jpg
  - title: BOTTOM SIDE
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      **(1)** This switch allows the system components, including the RAM backup, to be disconnected from the internal battery pack\
      **(2)** 3 x 16 KB Custom software ROM chips\
      **(3)** One of the two 2 KB 6116 RAM chips
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_bottom_s1.jpg
  - title: COMPLETE CASE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_complete-case.jpg
  - title: QUASAR VERSION
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The quasar version was technically identical as the Panasonic version. Only the external design was different.

      Note the '8' number at the bottom right, saying it was a 8 KB version
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_quasar_system_1.jpg
  - title: QUASAR CASE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_complete-case-quasar.jpg
  - title: INSIDE
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The internal HHC hardware is made of two stacked cards. The upper one is the logic card, the bottom one is dedicated to the keyboard and LCD display management.\
      Ecxept for the I/O chip the logic card only uses standard I.C.

      **(1)** These three removable ROM chips hold a custom program or programming language\
      **(2)** 2K x 8-bit 6116 static RAM chips\
      **(3)** 6502 microprocessor\
      **(4)** Custom I/O chip\
      **(5)** The LCD display and its associated chips came from Epson\
      **(6)** 2 x 8K ROM chips which hold the system routines and the SNAP interpreter
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_hhc_inside_s1.jpg
  adverts:
  - title: 'U.S. AD #1 (1982)'
    subtitle: ''
    text: 'The HHC advertising campain was not really attractive: black & white, lots of small characters texts, small pictures...'
    image: /media/museum/pubs/panasonic_hhc_pub2.jpg
  - title: 'U.S. AD #2 (1982)'
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/pubs/panasonic_hhc_pub_1.jpg
  - title: QUASAR AD (1983)
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The 8 KB quasar system with the 4 color plotter/printer interface.

      The small picture shows a complete system with memory expansion, modem and video interfaces.
    image: /media/museum/pubs/panasonic_quasar_pub_1.jpg
  - title: PICTURES FROM POPULAR SCIENCE MAGAZINE
    subtitle: ''
    text: dated november 1980
    image: /media/museum/pubs/panasonic-hhc-quazar_popscience_nov-1980.jpg
  hardware:
  - title: PANASONIC PRINTER
    subtitle: ''
    text: Panasonic RL-P1004A 40 character per line thermal printer and tape recorder interface.
    image: /media/museum/hardware/panasonic_hhc_printer_s1.jpg
  oc_id: 644
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20221209195935/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=644
    date: '2022-12-09'
---

After buying the Franco-American CIE **Friends Amis** (Amis means Friends in French) and their hand held computer project, Matsushita manufactured the computer and sold it under Panasonic (RL-Hxx series) and **Quasar** (HK-2600TE) brand names. About 70.000 Panasonic systems were sold.

The system was mainly conceived to run custom software developed by third companies. For this reason, it didn't included powerful built-in software or languages but featured an universal expansion port able to manage several peripherals simultaneously, and three ROM chip compartments. Examples of available software are: Portawriter, Telecomputing 1-2-3, File Exchange, Portacalc, Portaflex (store management), Portabudget, Portabroker, Porta Bid, Portastock, Portalog, Portasales, Portaservice, Portaaudit, etc.

The system featured SNAP, an interpreted programming language, close to Forth and not really easy to learn. Hopefully, a light version of the Microsoft BASIC interpreter ROM could be added.

The HHC (for "Hand Held Computer") had great success in USA, mainly in insurance companies thanks to a built-in custom insurance calculation application dedicated to claim adjusters and travelling salesmen who could make any insurance quotation and print it, anywhere, anytime. Few systems were sold in other countries.

The picture shows a system with a Printer/Cassette interface attached. User had to buy it to save programs files on tape! The printer used a small roll of thermal paper of 75 mm wide. It printed 16 chars. per line at a speed of 24 chars./second.

Graphic possibilities were available as an option, as well as a TV video interafce which enabled the HHC to be connected to a TV through a scart connector. The HHC could then display 32 x 16 characters in text mode (character matrix 5 x 7), or 128 x 64 with 8 colors in semi-graphic mode or 128 x 128 with 4 colors in graphic mode.

---

EPROM expansion board, by **Tom Klein**\
When working for FIPSCO - a life insurance marketing software producer - we designed a EPROM expansion board. It was housed in a one-inch thicker tray and interfaced between the printer and compueter, adding about 1 inch to the length. The main unit would only hold 4-8K EEPROMs but the address space for each "slot" was for 16K. So we put 8-64K EEPROMS in crimp molds into sockets in the expansion box. Each chip looked like 4 to the OS.

By doing this we could hold more rates and product illustration software, reducing the requirement the agent "change chips" in front of the customer. Turns out Motorola had a lock on the 8K chips and the 64K were less expensive.\
We could illustrate and print one insurance illustration faster than a 286 at the time. And it fit in the briefcase. The expander box kept the unit in the field for an extra 3 to 5 years until laptops became reliable, powerful and affordable.

**Curt Benjamin** adds:\
Many two-way radio shops still use the Panasonic HHC (part of the GE TQ-2310 "suitcase" programmer) to program GE two-way radios. Our shop still has a working one although it has since been replaced by a DOS program and radio interface box. More info [here](http://www.hallelectronics.com/getech/prog4.htm).