System 80 - Images

Here are a selection of images so visitors can get close and personal with the System 80.  There are two units on display here.  The first is a bit of a hybrid.  It was actually a Mark 1 Version 2a (modified to 48k via RAM piggybacking) BUT the interface board was sourced from a Mark 1 Version 2b unit when the original character generator died.  The second machine is a blue label model.

Click on the images for a larger view...

Mark I (Version 2a but with a 2b interface board)

My original System 80.  And very stylish it was too!  

The grey key on the left is labeled CNTR and the one above it ESC.  These were the up and down arrow keys.  Note the BACKSPACE and TAB key on the lower right below NEW LINE.  These corresponded to the TRS-80 Model 1 right and left arrow keys.  The original Mk I  had a shift key here (and had no backspace or tab).  

In the 2b model these keys were re-branded with arrows (similar to the TRS-80 Model 1).  

Without the cover, you can see the computer was essentially two boards, a CPU board on the left and an Interface board on the right.  These, along with the keyboard, were connected to each other by strong steel wires encased in a plastic ribbon.  Note the well-encased power supply and the very solid full-stroke keyboard.  Note also the holes punched into the top of the keyboard plate, for possible future keys.  Some hobbyists added extra function keys here. 

Without the keyboard, the two boards can be seen in their entirety.

A view of the cassette deck.  The long vertical chip on the interface board is the character generator chip.  In the original System 80 Mark I version 1 and the version 2a interface board, this chip is horizontal.  This is one way to tell early System-80 models from later ones

On the CPU board you can see the 2k memory chips playing piggyback.  This was a common way to expand the memory of cassette or stringy-floppy based models from 16 to 48k.

Just in case you haven't had enough of a good look yet.  You can see the RF modulator sitting on the Interface board, with one end of the coaxial cable simply soldered onto it.  The System 80 was usable with a TV, but a monitor gave a far better picture.

Here you can see the green and red connector leads used in the piggyback memory modification.

The Z80 chip, the engine room of the System 80.

Ports on the back on the unit.  

System 80 (Blue Label)

Note the dark blue faceplate (as opposed to black) and the slightly different key arrangement.  The CLEAR key moves up next to the BACKSPACE, the arrow keys are repositioned in its place above the NEW LINE key, and the original SHIFT key has been reinstated!

On the bottom.  Designed for Australia (but also for Europe, and the U.S.A, and other places....).  Note a copyright notice for the BASIC Interpreter from Microsoft, which shows that 12k of the ROM at least was entirely legal.