website/content/museum/sharp-pc-1500-pc-1500a.md

---
title: Sharp PC-1500 / PC-1500A
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Pocket
origins:
- Japan
years:
- '1981'
cpus:
- LH 5801 8-bit CMOS
params:
  name: PC-1500 / PC-1500A
  image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc1500_system_1.jpg
  company: /companies/sharp
  company_name: Sharp
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: PC-1500 / PC-1500A
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Sharp
  - label: TYPE
    value: Pocket
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: Japan
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1981'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: Sharp BASIC interpreter
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: 65 keys, QWERTY calculator type with numeric key-pad
  - label: CPU
    value: LH 5801 8-bit CMOS
  - label: SPEED
    value: 1.3 MHz
  - label: RAM
    value: 'PC-1500: 3.5 KB - PC-1500A: 8.5 kB'
  - label: ROM
    value: 16 KB
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 1 line x 26 chars. (LCD screen)
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 7 x 156 pixels
  - label: COLORS
    value: Monochrome
  - label: SOUND
    value: One-channel Beeper, with frequency and duration controllable by BASIC statement
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 19.5 (W) x 8.6 (D) x 2.55 (H) cm / 375 g (with batteries)
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: Proprietary 60 pin expansion bus, 40 pin slot for memory and program modules
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: None
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: 4 x AA 1.5V batteries, 50 hours run time (0.13W) - 6V DC external AC adaptor EA-150
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: 'CE-150 4-colour pen-plotter and cassette interface, various RAM modules (4 to 2x16 kBytes), various interfaces (RS-232, Centronics, video), Software modules: graphics, math, engineering etc.'
  - label: PRICE
    value: 'PC-1500: 335, PC-1500A: $200, 235'
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - emulators
  - links
  - docs
  photos:
  - title: INSIDE THE PC-1500A
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The right part is the top side (keyboard, display) of the PC-1500.

      **(1)** External AC adaptor plug\
      **(2)** BASIC interpreter ROM chip\
      **(3)** Four HM6116 RAM chips\
      **(4)**These four chips manage the LCD display\
      **(5)** In order to reduce the size of the computer, the logic board has been divided into two parts interconnected with two flat cables\
      **(6)** Custom Sharp I/O chip, manages all the external peripherals\
      **(7)** Proprietary 60 pin expansion connector\
      **(8)** LH 5801 8-bit CMOS processor. Its internal design (registers, instructions) was close to the Z80\
      **(9)** 4 x AA batteries housing
    image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc1500_inside_1.jpg
  - title: RAM LAYOUT
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The main difference between the PC-1500 and PC-1500A was the hardware RAM layout.\
      The PC-1500 (right) used two TC5114 1K x 4-bit chips (yellow arrow) and one HM6116 2k x 8 bit chip (red arrow), while the PC-1500A used four HM6116 chips.

      Thanks to **Roman von Wartburg**
    image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc1500_ramchips_1.jpg
  adverts:
  - title: FRENCH ADVERT (APRIL 1982)
    subtitle: ''
    text: '"the computing answer"'
    image: /media/museum/pubs/sharp_pc1500_french-pub_reponse-informatique.jpg
  emulators:
  - title: POEMS
    url: http://sourceforge.jp/projects/poems/
    platform: Unix / Linux
    text: PC-12xx, 14xx & 13xx emulator
  - title: PockEmul
    url: http://pockemul.free.fr/
    platform: Multiplatform
    text: Emulates nearly all Sharp pocket computers!
  links:
  - title: Sharp PC-1500 computer (TRS-80 PC-2) resource page
    url: http://www.pc1500.com/
    text: Software archive, tools, documentations and links. A must see.
  docs:
  - title: SHARP PC-1500 - OWNER'S MANUAL
    url: http://www.pc1500.com/pc2manual.html
    cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/sharp_pc1500_owner-manual.jpg
    text: |-
      [**SHARP PC-1500 - OWNER'S MANUAL**](http://www.pc1500.com/pc2manual.html)written by Sharp Corporation

       compiled/archived by Wade Fincher\
       type of document : PDF\
       size : 2.86 MB\
       source : [www.pc1500.com](http://www.pc1500.com)
  - title: SHARP PC-1500 - TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL
    url: http://www.pc1500.com/technical_reference_manual.html
    cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/sharp_pc1500_technical-reference-manual.jpg
    text: |-
      [**SHARP PC-1500 - TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL**](http://www.pc1500.com/technical_reference_manual.html)written by Sharp Corporation

       compiled/archived by Tom Berry\
       type of document : PDF\
       size : 26.3 MB\
       source : [www.pc1500.com](http://www.pc1500.com)
  - title: 'TRS-80 PC-2 (AND SHARP PC-1500) : ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE MANUAL'
    url: http://www.pc1500.com/assemblylanguage.html
    cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/sharp_pc1500_assembly-language-manual.jpg
    text: |-
      [**TRS-80 PC-2 (AND SHARP PC-1500) : ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE MANUAL**](http://www.pc1500.com/assemblylanguage.html)written by Bruce Elliot / The TRS-80 microcomputer news magazine

       compiled/archived by E. Mulder\
       type of document : PDF\
       size : 6.75 MB\
       source : [www.pc1500.com](http://www.pc1500.com)
  - title: SHARP PC-1500 (AND TANDY TRS-80 PC2) - PRINTER / CASSETTE OWNER'S MANUAL
    url: http://www.pc1500.com/printermanual.html
    cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/sharp_pc1500_cassette-printer-interface_manual.jpg
    text: |-
      [**SHARP PC-1500 (AND TANDY TRS-80 PC2) - PRINTER / CASSETTE OWNER'S MANUAL**](http://www.pc1500.com/printermanual.html)written by Sharp Corporation

       compiled/archived by Wade Fincher\
       type of document : PDF\
       size : 2,9 MB\
       source : [www.pc1500.com](http://www.pc1500.com)
  - title: TRS-80 PC-2 (AND SHARP PC-1500) - SERVICE MANUAL
    url: http://www.pc1500.com/servicemanual.html
    cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/sharp_pc1500_service-manual.jpg
    text: |-
      [**TRS-80 PC-2 (AND SHARP PC-1500) - SERVICE MANUAL**](http://www.pc1500.com/servicemanual.html)written by Radio Shack

       compiled/archived by E. Mulder\
       type of document : PDF\
       size : 9.9 MB\
       source : [www.pc1500.com](http://www.pc1500.com)
  comments:
  - author: Bernhard Wiesweg (Germany)
    date: Saturday 25th February 2023
    text: My Sharp PC-1500 has a serial port with 9600 baud
  - author: Simon Young (China)
    date: Thursday 3rd November 2022
    text: My like my PC1500
  - author: Simon Young (China)
    date: Thursday 3rd November 2022
    text: I have two pc1500,I like it very much
  - author: Prodas (Germany)
    date: Sunday 6th March 2022
    text: 'Hello Kimmo, the name is: Rasso von Schlichtegroll. a lot of information for PC-1500 you can find at www.pc-1500.info'
  - author: Kimmo (Finland)
    date: Saturday 26th February 2022
    text: I have PC1500 and I have a cassette of macroassembler rosso $ Schlitengroll ??? Does somebody remember, which the correct name. I would need that software, when I cannot read cassette correctly. I have I/O-unit.
  - author: Benoit (Belgium) (Belgique)
    date: Saturday 9th January 2021
    text: The little pens for the printer can be revived with some patience. When dried up, remove carefully the plastic end, humidify (alcohol) and excercise the roller. It will eventually roll again. Then fill the little cartridge with inkjet ink (available cheap in bottles). I revived the 4 colors.
  - author: larry (france)
    date: Wednesday 25th November 2020
    text: 'For the lucky ones, that own this marvel, and its tiny printer-plotter, here''''s a supply source : http://www.lass-shop.de/epages/63686166.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath$/Shops/63686166/Products/$22US$20017.01$22 Pens really look like original ones. Did anyone test ? Another option is to refill an original pen using a syringe. More later, if someone''''s interested.'
  - author: larry
    date: Saturday 19th September 2020
    text: 'As opposed to what someone says below (Franck B.), power consumption of the PC1500 is large, even on fresh Batteries. Years of daily use on the same set of AA cells is simply impossible. See the back of the 1500 : 0.13W consumed !'
  - author: Andreas (Germany)
    date: Saturday 28th February 2015
    text: Hello Debby, as far as I know resetting is done by pressing the "All reset" on the bottom with something long and thin like a pen.
  - author: Debby (USA)
    date: Friday 23rd January 2015
    text: Can anyone tell me how to reset a 1500a? Thank you\~
  - author: Geoffrey (Sydney, Australia)
    date: Tuesday 16th December 2014
    text: Selling a PC-1500, may need a clean (doing that soon) but otherwise fine
  - author: Mark Murray (Queensland, AUSTRALIA)
    date: Wednesday 22nd October 2014
    text: I am a Land Surveyor and have been using the Sharp PC1500A for field calculations since 1982. My last one has finally failed an I urgently need another with the 16K extended memory module if possible Please email me if you can help.
  - author: Graham (South Africa)
    date: Wednesday 10th September 2014
    text: I have a 1500A for sale with original manuals. email me if you are interested.
  - author: Martin Sayers (United Kingdom)
    date: Saturday 30th November 2013
    text: |-
      I have one of these - a 1500A\
      for sale. It''s mint. with original manuals. email me if ure interested.

      martin
  - author: treddie (USA)
    date: Monday 4th November 2013
    text: I was blown away by the Radio Shack PC-1 and even more so with the PC-2, both of which I bought as soon as they came out. It is still my favorite calculator 31 years later, and I still do small test proggies on it. This little beast is what I learned assembly on, back in the day of fixed memory maps. To this day, no one has made a better pocket keyboard. The keys were placed just right and at the perfect size to work quickly. And this family of QWERTY keyboards on pocket devices made them the easiest to store variables. Simply unbeatable. I bought a spare on eBay in case my original bites the dust. Don''t want to live without it 30 years from now!
  - author: Ugo Capeto
    date: Thursday 4th November 2010
    text: oh yeah, the pc-1500 was boss back then with its graphic engine. was used in math classes to draw those nifty saddle functions in 3-d using the printer that goes along. Had the casio fx-702p and it really didn''t hold a candle to the pc-1500 (was not the same price either).
  - author: Frank Burgum (U.K.)
    date: Tuesday 28th October 2008
    text: 'My Sharp PC-1500 with CE-155 8KB RAM module is still in almost daily use as a calculator. I can''''t remember when I last replaced the batteries: a couple of years at least. I used to have the fancy docking station with mini 4-colour pen plotter, but the novelty wore off and the extensions were consigned to the loft.'
  - author: marcos barale (buenos aires / republica argentina)
    date: Saturday 17th May 2008
    text: quisiera saber como hacer para utilizar con la pc-1500 un impresor comun en lugar del ce-150 (plotter),ya que mi ce-150 se descompuso y yo utilizo varias pc-1500 para un trabajo que me resuelven perfectamente estas maquinas.
  - author: Marton Jakab (Hungary)
    date: Tuesday 5th October 2004
    text: |-
      There's a clone of this machine made by Híradástechnika Corp. in Hungary based on the Sharp license. It was dubbed "PTA-4000" and has been relatively common (well, compared to Eastern bloc IT standards, that is) in during the '80s. It was sold in a kit with the KA-160 plotter/docking station and came with a 16kB RAM modul included.

      It's a fun machine. ;)
  related:
  - /museum/sharp-pc-1210-1211-1212
  - /museum/sharp-pc-1245
  - /museum/sharp-pc-1250-pc-1251
  - /museum/sharp-pc-1260-pc-1261-pc-1262
  - /museum/sharp-pc-1401-pc-1402-pc-1421
  - /museum/sharp-pc-1403-h
  - /museum/sharp-pc-2500
  oc_id: 965
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230604073048/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=965
    date: '2023-06-04'
---

After the successful [PC-121x series](/museum/sharp-pc-1210-1211-1212/), the PC-1500 was the second pocket computer released by Sharp, and their first one based on an 8 bit microprocessor. It might be contended that the PC-1500 was THE milestone in pocket computers. It was very popular among computer hobbyists, and it was used by many companies who equipped their field staff with the machine.

Why was this so? Actually, the technical specifications were not overwhelming: its display was only two characters longer than its predecessor's, but at least it featured "one line graphics", i.e. it was a "gap-less" display with 7 x 156 pixels.

With 3.5 KB memory, the PC-1500 had not much more RAM available for BASIC (1850 bytes) than the PC-1211 (1424 steps). Moreover, it was quite bulky (25 mm thick, 375 g), supposedly mainly because it used 4 normal AA batteries as power supply. However, the latter fact might have been an advantage, as these batteries are cheap and easily replacable.

Presumably, the most important advantage was the expandability of the system. Several RAM extensions (some even with battery back-up), program modules, a "docking station" with cassette interface and colour plotter with full graphics capabilites accessible with BASIC, an external board with programmable function buttons, various interfaces etc. were available. Moreover, the PC-1500 was also programmable in machine code. Apart from that, nothing comparable was available from other manufacturers at that time. Later strongest competitor Casio had their [FX-702P](/museum/casio-fx-702p/), and they were only about to release their [PB-100](/museum/casio-pb-100/) which had rather weak specifications.

The PC-1500 was released in late 1981 in Japan and early 1982 in the rest of the world. It was built around the **LH 5801** 8-bit CMOS processor which ran at 1.3 MHz. The RAM consisted of three parts. The 1KB system RAM was made up by two TC5514 1k x 4bit chips, a legacy from the PC-121x series. This area was used for system memory and part of the fixed variables. User RAM was realised with a HM6116 2k x 8 bit chip, most of it available for BASIC (1850 Bytes). Additional 512 Bytes incorporated in the display driver chips were used for the rest of the fixed variables and the display buffer.

The RAM could be expanded by RAM modules in different sizes, the largest of which was 16KB (actually, there was also a 32KB module, which had two switchable 16KB pages, i.e. only 16KB could be used at a time). There was also a widely known method to build a self-made RAM expansion up to 32KB.

As with the PC-1211, there was a custom manufactured version of the PC-1500 built by Sharp for Tandy Radio Shack, called the [TRS-80 PC-2](/museum/tandy-radio-shack-trs-80-pc-2/). Apart from a different keyboard layout, it was identical.

Two years later, the slightly expanded model **PC-1500A** was released (in Japan and maybe some other countries labelled as **PC-1501**). It was equipped with four HM6116 RAM chips, which made 5946 Bytes available for BASIC, and an additional 1KB area for machine code only.

Thanks to **Roman von Wartburg** and his [site](http://retrocomputing.ch/) for information and picture.