stanleyruppert
Experienced Member
I’m restoring Digital Electronics Corporation 6800 briefcase systems from 1976.
It is a complete 6800 based microcomputer system in a briefcase - $3500 base + $500 Training Expansion
I’m seeking feedback from anyone who’s used the systems and any other documentation that might be out there.
I haven’t found much other than the few ads linked below and my manuals I’ve scanned (links below)
Was given the units as surplus in 1979 to experiment / learn with. Lead to an entire tech career.
Recently pulled them out of storage and working to resurrect them.
Have two systems, one complete with training expansion board and a second system wo trainer and broken printer.
Manufactured by:
Digital Electronics Corporation
415 Peterson St.
Oakland, CA 94601
Ad for the DE68 Byte November 1976:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JudyyWQl1pJcoIB7CFWsW7CkwqjOcSMC/view?usp=sharing
Ad for the DE68 Microcomputing Digest Jan/Feb 1977:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oP_oO239WEFE-B0FgU759X1dsfSfjM-u/view?usp=sharing
Ad for the DE68C (later / updated version) Byte Jan 1978:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S4O6e48zU2KxfQzho_JOG51oSwmVkic_/view?usp=sharing
Photos of my unit:
DE68 briefcase bottom with Keyboard, printer, tape, display:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BIbvYXQORTfIinjqoLJNcHBMZ-xcv7od/view?usp=sharing
DE68 briefcase top with Motherboard and DT100 training expansion unit side by side:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/138TcuP0tgQ561FVVDZmbYguWueFkxNxj/view?usp=sharing
DE68 motherboard detail:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qpdhZv5bOqs4sCtwXDy2EjQAE6a-fteA/view?usp=sharing
DE100T training expansion unit detail:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1otFtf4vcu8TirwETpUMYyrh9T80GboXH/view?usp=sharing
Used in a EE class - documentation provided by the Digital Electronics Corp:
Introduction to Microcomputer Architecture Programming, and Application
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley 1977
162 pages
link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QRHPmRdGvpDl6-DOXM963m09xO7zoacI/view?usp=sharing
From the DE68 Guide:
The DE68 is a completely self-contained 8-bit microcomputer with a full complement of built-in “micro-peripherals” for easy programming and applications. Standard system features include:
* Central processing unit based on the 6800 microprocessor
* Fully buffered DE68 buses for direct system expansion
* 1K Bytes of user-RAM; expandable by 4K, 8K, or 32K bytes
* Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA) available for communication with external user hardware
* Real-time clock
* 20-Character alphanumeric display (VFD)
* 96-Character ASCII coded keyboard
* Micro-cassette digital tape unit for mass storage of up to 100,000 bytes per cassette, with a data transfer rate of 300 bytes/second
* Debug operating system for mnemonic debugging. This powerful firmware (5.5Kbytes) allows the user to operate on system memory using standard 6800 instructions mnemonics and Debug commands, (Examine, Change, Search, Move, Load, Dump); to set breakpoints, single-step, and trace through software. Mnemonic translator and disassembled are standard.
* System power supplies provide +5, +12, and -12 volts (unregulated) available to the user.
* A 20-Column electric discharge line printer is available as an option to provide the user with silent, hard copy system output at a rate of 5 lines per second.
All of the above DE68 features are incorporated into a lockable suitcase for easy transport.
DT/100T — (expansion teaching board) connecting to the DE68:
From the DT/100T Guide
53 pages July 1977
link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dpGe5pATfnye3JnycWFjPxR9eHfOiwNi/view?usp=sharing
DE/100T is a printed circuit board with the following functional parts:
a) Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA). This is a programmable interface chip through which the DE68 may communicate with the DE/100T over the 8-bit data bus.
b) Real-time clock. This clock operates at a frequency exactly two times that of the AC power line. The clock may be used to generate time interrupts to the DE68 processor, through the PIA.
c) Six common-cathode 7-segment LED displays, with separate enabling transistors for each digit.
d) Sixteen discrete LED lights, in a 4x4 array, with a single enabling transistor
e) Random number generator. These two cascaded 4-bit counters are driven by a 10 MHz oscillator to simulate a random data source for data acquisition experiments. IF the data sampling frequency is low (for example, that of the maximum real-time clock interrupt frequency of 120 Hz), this source appears quite random.
f) Hexadecimal keypad that has 16 key switches with common ground
g) BCD-to-7 Segment Decoder. This chip accepts 4-bit BCD inputs and generates the appropriate display code to drive the LED displays.
h) 4-to-16 Decoder. The 16 outputs of this chip are used to selectively enable the 16 discrete LEDs, and the 16 hexadecimal keypad switches.
It is a complete 6800 based microcomputer system in a briefcase - $3500 base + $500 Training Expansion
I’m seeking feedback from anyone who’s used the systems and any other documentation that might be out there.
I haven’t found much other than the few ads linked below and my manuals I’ve scanned (links below)
Was given the units as surplus in 1979 to experiment / learn with. Lead to an entire tech career.
Recently pulled them out of storage and working to resurrect them.
Have two systems, one complete with training expansion board and a second system wo trainer and broken printer.
Manufactured by:
Digital Electronics Corporation
415 Peterson St.
Oakland, CA 94601
Ad for the DE68 Byte November 1976:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JudyyWQl1pJcoIB7CFWsW7CkwqjOcSMC/view?usp=sharing
Ad for the DE68 Microcomputing Digest Jan/Feb 1977:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oP_oO239WEFE-B0FgU759X1dsfSfjM-u/view?usp=sharing
Ad for the DE68C (later / updated version) Byte Jan 1978:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S4O6e48zU2KxfQzho_JOG51oSwmVkic_/view?usp=sharing
Photos of my unit:
DE68 briefcase bottom with Keyboard, printer, tape, display:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BIbvYXQORTfIinjqoLJNcHBMZ-xcv7od/view?usp=sharing
DE68 briefcase top with Motherboard and DT100 training expansion unit side by side:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/138TcuP0tgQ561FVVDZmbYguWueFkxNxj/view?usp=sharing
DE68 motherboard detail:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qpdhZv5bOqs4sCtwXDy2EjQAE6a-fteA/view?usp=sharing
DE100T training expansion unit detail:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1otFtf4vcu8TirwETpUMYyrh9T80GboXH/view?usp=sharing
Used in a EE class - documentation provided by the Digital Electronics Corp:
Introduction to Microcomputer Architecture Programming, and Application
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley 1977
162 pages
link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QRHPmRdGvpDl6-DOXM963m09xO7zoacI/view?usp=sharing
From the DE68 Guide:
The DE68 is a completely self-contained 8-bit microcomputer with a full complement of built-in “micro-peripherals” for easy programming and applications. Standard system features include:
* Central processing unit based on the 6800 microprocessor
* Fully buffered DE68 buses for direct system expansion
* 1K Bytes of user-RAM; expandable by 4K, 8K, or 32K bytes
* Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA) available for communication with external user hardware
* Real-time clock
* 20-Character alphanumeric display (VFD)
* 96-Character ASCII coded keyboard
* Micro-cassette digital tape unit for mass storage of up to 100,000 bytes per cassette, with a data transfer rate of 300 bytes/second
* Debug operating system for mnemonic debugging. This powerful firmware (5.5Kbytes) allows the user to operate on system memory using standard 6800 instructions mnemonics and Debug commands, (Examine, Change, Search, Move, Load, Dump); to set breakpoints, single-step, and trace through software. Mnemonic translator and disassembled are standard.
* System power supplies provide +5, +12, and -12 volts (unregulated) available to the user.
* A 20-Column electric discharge line printer is available as an option to provide the user with silent, hard copy system output at a rate of 5 lines per second.
All of the above DE68 features are incorporated into a lockable suitcase for easy transport.
DT/100T — (expansion teaching board) connecting to the DE68:
From the DT/100T Guide
53 pages July 1977
link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dpGe5pATfnye3JnycWFjPxR9eHfOiwNi/view?usp=sharing
DE/100T is a printed circuit board with the following functional parts:
a) Peripheral Interface Adapter (PIA). This is a programmable interface chip through which the DE68 may communicate with the DE/100T over the 8-bit data bus.
b) Real-time clock. This clock operates at a frequency exactly two times that of the AC power line. The clock may be used to generate time interrupts to the DE68 processor, through the PIA.
c) Six common-cathode 7-segment LED displays, with separate enabling transistors for each digit.
d) Sixteen discrete LED lights, in a 4x4 array, with a single enabling transistor
e) Random number generator. These two cascaded 4-bit counters are driven by a 10 MHz oscillator to simulate a random data source for data acquisition experiments. IF the data sampling frequency is low (for example, that of the maximum real-time clock interrupt frequency of 120 Hz), this source appears quite random.
f) Hexadecimal keypad that has 16 key switches with common ground
g) BCD-to-7 Segment Decoder. This chip accepts 4-bit BCD inputs and generates the appropriate display code to drive the LED displays.
h) 4-to-16 Decoder. The 16 outputs of this chip are used to selectively enable the 16 discrete LEDs, and the 16 hexadecimal keypad switches.