[BC] Another automation question

[Tom]

???  Rex?  Are you sure?

I thought I had a 64 in Terre Haute - which was no later than 1980 - 
81.  I remember Shatner hawking them, with an obvious Star Trek tie-in. 
(Tag line: "A real computer for the price of a toy") And I KNOW it first 
came out with the 6502 processor... and did NOT have RGB outputs; 
composite, and Y/chroma (composite I and Q), and a channel 3/4 out on an 
RCA jack.  There were at least three versions.. the 64, direct successor 
to the VIC-20 - it was the first Commodore with the full 64K of RAM; the 
64B had better SID and may have had the 6510 - but I believe the 64C was 
when the '10 became the CPU.  I still have it somewhere; I'll have to go 
hunting it. 

And the price for the early 64 / 64B was nowhere near $500; under $200, 
IIRC.  Certainly under $300.  I was a starving announcer back then...

If it wasn't the C=64, then what was it?  Brown case, cassette mass 
storage; outboard power supply that tended to overheat and fail (potted!)


Rex Hyrum Lee wrote:
> Uh.... small math mistake....the years do fly tho..!
> Rex.
> Commodore 64
>
> *Introduced:*     January 1982
> *Released:*     September 1982
> *How many:*     ~17 million
> *Price:*     US $595.
> *CPU:*     MOS 6510, 1MHz
> *Sound:*     SID 6581, 3 channels of sound
> *RAM:*     64K
> *Display:*     25 X 40 text
>
>     320 X 200, 16 colors max
> *Ports:*     TV, RGB & composite video
>
>     2 joysticks, cartridge port
>
>     serial peripheral port
> *Peripherals:*     cassette recorder
>
>     printer, modem
>
>     external 170K floppy drive
> *OS:*     ROM BASIC
>
>
>
> Tom wrote:
>> I built one in 1978 using a Commodore 64... EOM was through the 
>> Joystick port; I built an expansion slot card for the switcher and 
>> machine starts.  First attempt at a 25 Hz PLL detector, too.......
>>
>> Tape decks were modified Pioneer RT-707s.  (The 707 doesn't have 
>> remote control; I added remote pause.  Worked, too!)
>>
>> Programming was on the 1541 drive..... (Lots of POKES and PEEKS; the 
>> C-64 was lovely, though - it also had a REAL TIME HARDWARE CLOCK!  
>> Only drawback; they didn't have any way to keep it powered up, so 
>> re-boot and the time had to be reset.
>>
>> Craig Bowman wrote:
>>> Systemation was using a Commodore 64 and cassettes in the early 80's.
>>> The programming was on a game cartridge.
>>>
>>> Craig Bowman
>>>
>>>
>>> Dan Kelley wrote:
>>>> Tim Valley:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.airventure.org/radio/bios.html
>>>>
>>>> -dan in lansing
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>  
>>>>> Tim Valley actually invented PC automation, IIIRC, with his DOS-based
>>>>> Audisk.
>>>>>     
>
>
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-- 
Tom Spencer
PG-18-25453 (nee' P1-18-48841)
http://radioxtz.com/
Part 15 transmitters on AM 640 and FM 100.1