|
NAME |
Mini-Scamp Microcomputer |
|
MANUFACTURER |
Dick Smith Electronics (Australia) |
|
TYPE |
Computer Kit |
|
ORIGIN |
Australia |
|
YEAR |
1977 |
|
KEYBOARD |
No keyboard, but switches on front panel. |
|
CPU |
SC/MP National Semiconductors |
|
SPEED |
0.67 MHz (each instruction takes 4 clock cycles) |
|
RAM |
256 bytes |
|
ROM |
None |
|
TEXT MODES |
None |
|
GRAPHIC MODES |
None |
|
SIZE / WEIGHT |
11 x 9 x 4 inches (W x D x H) / 3 lb |
|
I/O PORTS |
None |
|
POWER SUPPLY |
12 VDC built-in |
|
PRICE |
Unknown |
|
Mini-Scamp
|
|
Mini-Scamp
The Mini-Scamp microcomputer kit was produced in Australia in 1976. It was a Dick Smith Electronics (DSE) kit from the days when Dick Smith actually owned and ran Dick Smith electronics. The design was published in "Electronics Australia" (EA). It was based on the SC/MP CPU from National Semiconductors. It boasted a massive 256 bytes of RAM (yes Bytes not Kbytes) - this was 4 times more than the earlier model. It had no ROM or EEPROM of any kind. |
|
The complete user interface consisted of
18 toggle switches, 2 pushbuttons and 9 LEDs.
Binary code was entered into the RAM by dialing up the data byte and address in binary using toggle switches. Pressing the deposit button stored the byte in memory. The LEDs showed the current contents of the memory location. After the program was entered in this manner one of the switches on the right was flipped from DMA to run mode and the code was executed. The micro could display bytes on the LEDs and read bytes from the data switches - the request LED was there to signal the user to enter a byte and press deposit. No problem with Y2K bugs, viruses or hackers here. |