From
, Wanganui, New Zealand (6th August, 2007)...
I remember the excitement at age 15 of collecting
my System 80 Blue Label from a Dick Smith agent in Havelock North in
1982. It wasn't my first computer - this was an upgrade from a ZX80
with which I had cut my teeth on for about 18 months previously. As
I was at boarding school, I could only use my System 80 during holidays,
however my computer appetite was being satisfied at school with their
multi-user Basic DEC system.
After a year or so, the yearning for disk drives & printer became
paramount. This was met with a NZ-made Expansion Unit, I recall from
a firm in Christchurch. It came with one Remex 80 track double-sided
drive. The printer was next, sourced in Hawke's Bay - it was a Super
5 brand. This was a 9 pin dot matrix clone of the Epson FX-80 and it
had NLQ. I remember the printer costing a heady $1000.
By 1985 I was at Tech where my peers had microcomputers as well. While
they had flashy colour graphics et al, none could match my System 80's
disk system, which was now twin Mitsubishi 80 track double-sided drives
- giving over 700K storage. I used it to wordprocess assignments, play
a few games, generally learn about microcomputers & Basic programming.
I was envious though of those that could program in machine language
- I just never applied myself to learn that.
In 1989 I went into business selling Land Rover new & used parts.
I wrote a stock system tailor-made for the business and with Lazywriter
& Visicalc - I had all the tools I needed to run the business. On
observing my System 80 set-up, other business owners with computers
(PC type), often showed envy at the speed with which I could switch
on & do useful things - particularly with my purpose built stock
control software. In 1996 I reluctantly retired my System 80 set-up
and ported the business system over to a PC base. The only reason being
I would soon be leaving the business and I figured I'd better get a
'normal' system installed for the new user.
Today if I was still in that business, I'm confident I would still have
the System 80 doing it's work - just to make a point that 8 bit micros
are cool. (I would however, probably relent and have a PC as well...)
It was a sad day in 1997 when a house-move required disposing of unnecessary
stuff. I never foresaw such a hobby as retro-computing in my future
and the System 80 was put out on the roadside for inorganic collection.
However, it maybe exists somewhere as someone scooped up the System
80 before collection, but alas they didn't take the expansion unit (probably
didn't realise what it was).
Forward to 2003 - while trolling the net I came across Ira Goldlang's
TRS-80.com site. This rekindled my 8 bit micro spirit, so I pondered
what should I now get, what have I always wanted. The answer was a TRS-80
Model III. They were just so expensive in NZ in their day, but I was
always envious of their all-in-one-cool-box design. Looking around NZ
for several months, I just couldn't find an existing Model III. Finally
I sourced one from Australia (Ian Mavric) and I was back in the game.
With the resources on Ira's site, I soon had more software & documentation
than I did in the 1980's. It wasn't long til that age old taboo came
up again - machine code/assembly language. This time I delved right
in to it and have become quite proficient at it over time.
I still use the Model III regularly, but have also veered on to another
micro - the TRS-80 Model 100 (a 8085 laptop of 1983). With a strong
user group still active, I've completed several assembly language projects
for this machine and currently I spend an hour or two each day on my
latest project for the M100 - a Basic compiler
All the best to the System 80 enthusiasts out there.
