• Tag Archives TRS80

  • Air Traffic Control Simulator (TRS-80 Color Computer)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Air Traffic Control Simulator (TRS-80 Color Computer)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/167011940041/retrocgadsusa-1985

    https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2017/11/20/air-traffic-control-simulator-trs-80-color-computer/

    I don’t really know much about this game but this is a good example of how ads would appear in magazines from smaller software developers in the early to mid 1980s. Above are three ads for the same game, Air Traffic Controller, all from 1985, from a company called Betasoft Systems. Whenever you ordered something from one of these ads you were really taking it on faith that it would be as good as described or even function as described. Just being in machine language (as opposed BASIC usually) is considered a feature.

    A quick search of the net doesn’t reveal much about this game though if you look hard enough, you can find a disk (or tape) image and TRS-80 Color Computer emulator and give it a try for yourself. You too can participate in the fun-filled world of air traffic control via a simulation using 1980s era technology.





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  • Micro Computer Devices – Selectra-Print

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    80_us_1979-01-005

    Source: 80-US – January 1979 

    Apparently, 1979 was literally pre-history as far as home printers were concerned. Here we have an ad for a “Selectra-Print” system by a company called Micro Computer Devices (mcd). The Selectra-Print was not a printer exactly, it was a Selectric II typewriter modified to interface with a computer and automatically type your documents. This ad appeared in the January 1979 issue of US-80 which was a TRS-80 publication. The TRS-80 (Model I as it would later be known) had been released in 1979 and its successor, the Model III, was not yet available.

    This “printer” was not specific to the TRS-80 but it was one of the computers it was available for. It only cost a mere $1925 which adjusted for inflation would be about $6900 today. The TRS-80 version was a little more expensive than the $1850 standard price, I suspect because of the interface. Though an RS-232 interface was an extra $195 so I’m not sure what you could hook it to with no extras. However, it is advertised as being compatible with a bunch of computers including the Apple II, Commodore PET, Heath H8, IMSAI (Matthew Broderick’s computer from Wargames), Cromenco, Alpha Microsystems, Space Byte, North Star Horizon, SWTP, Vector Graphic, Sol, Plymorphic, Digital Group, Ohio Scientific, Altair, Sorcerer, Xitran, Rex, KIM, EXORcisor, etc.

    I guess one benefit of such a setup is that getting “letter quality” printouts wouldn’t be a problem.





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  • TRS-80 Model 4 (1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Detail from 1984 Advertisement for the TRS-80 Model 4 Computer

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/163463241442/thegikitiki-detail-from-1984-advertisement-for

    Radio Shack released the TRS-80 Model 4 as a follow-up to the Model III three years later in 1983. It looked essentially the same as the Model III except that it was an off-white color instead of grey/silver. Internally, there were some fairly significant upgrades, including:

    • CPU: Z80A @ 4 MHz (compared to the ~2 MHz model III)
    • Display: 80×24 (compared to the 64 columns of the Model III)
    • Available 64KB model (Upgradeable to 128KB of RAM)
    • Full support for CP/M without modification

    It also included an expanded keyboard and TRSDOS 6. For this version of TRSDOS, Radio Shack contracted with the maker of LS-DOS/LDOS, a popular and generally more capable 3rd party DOS produced for the TRS-80 line. They continued to market LS-DOS separately but it and TRSDOS were now essentially the same. The Model 4 was also 100% compatible with the Model III whereas the III had some incompatibilities with the original TRS-80.

    The following configurations were available:

    • A diskless version with 16KB RAM (cassette only): $999
    • A single disk version (180K single sided, double density) with 64KB RAM: $1699
    • A dual disk version with 64KB RAM: $1999

    There was also an upgrade available for Model IIIs that essentially turned it into a Model 4. It included a new motherboard and keyboard and cost $799.

    The Model 4 was the last major revision the the TRS-80 line though there would be a somewhat enhanced Model 4D released in 1985 that would be sold through at least 1991.

    As I mentioned in a previous post, my high school still had TRS-80 Model IIs and 4s in 1989-1990 that were used for programming (BASIC) classes. I’m not sure how much longer they were there though I think they were being used at least one more year after that and possibly longer.





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