Photos of 1970s Homebrew Computer Setups

[CommodoreZ]

To get a better idea of what the common homebrew or kit computer enthusiast was working with in the 1970s, I've been on the search for photographs of the workspaces and computers of the era. Preferably photos taken during the 70s, or perhaps the 80s that show how they were arranged and what peripherals were connected to them, what references and debugging tools might be nearby, that sort of thing. I've seen a few good examples like Terry Ritter's Mark-8 kit, the Simplex-III homebrew, whatever Jef Raskin was working on, the Chaos Computer, Steven K. Roberts' 8008 homebrew, this great IMSAI setup, and of course Bob Lash's blue computer.

Are you aware of any other photos of homebrews or kits not in the above examples? If so, I would love to see them.

 

[Moonferret]

I hadn't seen the Jef Raskin photos before, pretty cool
Some interesting (Although poor quality) photo's of the SCELBI lab here...

SCELBI Computer Museum - Gallery

 

[Eudimorphodon]

this great IMSAI setup

It looks like they're using the monitor from a Viatron System 21 with that. I wonder if a bunch of them ended up as industrial surplus when the company cratered.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Dunno, but I still have two Four-Phase monitors. Similar vintage. The guts have been replaced with OEM "kit" innards, retaining the original CRT. Still work fine, the last I checked. They were purchased surplus.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Although I was an early adopter of micros (I still have a very old MITS 8800 sitting on a shelf). I was always leery of falling into the "cannon" trap. Story follows:

A small town somewhere in the US midwest had concerns about one of its denizens--a developmentally disabled fellow who would wander the streets and annoy people. The town council met and decided that something needed to be done. So they approached the fellow and said "The town would like to employ you to maintain one of our most cherished artifacts--a cannon left over from the Civil war placed in our town square to commemorate those sons who fought in that conflict. Sadly, the cannon has become rather tawdry-looking and we need someone to keep it clean and polished. For taking care of our cherished cannon, the town would like to hire you for the sum of $10 per week." The fellow agreed and every day, rain or shine, he could be seen in the town square washing and polishing the artillery piece. However, one day, he failed to show. A week went by and no cannon-polisher. Finally, the police, fearing the worst, paid him a visit. Much to their relief, he was fine and in good spirits. "Why aren't you out taking care of our town cannon?", the chief of police asked. "Don't need to", our hero said. "I've saved up enough to buy my own cannon."

 

[Eudimorphodon]

Dunno, but I still have two Four-Phase monitors. Similar vintage. The guts have been replaced with OEM "kit" innards, retaining the original CRT. Still work fine, the last I checked. They were purchased surplus.

What's awesome about the Viatron monitor is it has that honkin' wide metal case, but hidden inside is a tiny stripped down Motorola TV.




I had a twin of that TV (but with a khaki green case instead of black) on my bedside table for years in the 1990s; it was undoubtedly at least 20 years old when I paid a buck or two for it at a garage sale.

 

[Chuck(G)]

My first monitor connected to my TV Typewriter was an old Zenith portable B&W hot chassis tube job. Won it in the 1960s in a church raffle.

 

[CommodoreZ]

My first monitor connected to my TV Typewriter was an old Zenith portable B&W hot chassis tube job. Won it in the 1960s in a church raffle.

Do you happen to have a photo of that setup handy?

 

[Chuck(G)]

No, sorry. I wasn't much for the bother of film cameras back then. (I still have my Nikon F2S, however). Some of my co-workers thought the MITS box was a toy. Can't blame them when they worked on computers like this: