6.75 by 15 by 15.375 inches (17.15 cm × 38.10 cm × 39.05 cm)
The SWTPC 6800 Computer System, simply referred to as SWTPC 6800, is an early microcomputer developed by the Southwest Technical Products Corporation and introduced in 1975. It was built around the Motorola 6800 microprocessor, from which it gets its name. The SWTPC 6800 was one of the first microcomputers based around the Motorola 6800.[1]
The SWTPC 6800 is the progenitor of the widely used and broadly supported SS-50 bus. The SWTPC 6800 became one of the most popular 6800-based systems of its time, owing to its ease of use and ample documentation. Though rudimentary, the MIKBUG resident monitor built into ROM allows the immediate entry of program data after power-up, as opposed to other microcomputers of its day which required bootstrapping such software. Southwest Technical Products introduced the SWTPC 6800 in November 1975 for US$450 (equivalent to $2,500 in 2023) in kit form only. Any contemporary ASCII terminal can be used to interface with the SWTPC 6800.[2] SWTPC sold their own television-set-based terminal, for $275; a crude dot-matrix printer was another optional accessory, for $250.[1]
Southwest Technical Products followed up the 6800 with the S/09 in 1979 and the 69/K, 69/A, and 69/56 in 1980. All four replaced the Motorola 6800 processor of the original with its successor the 6809. The SWTPC 6800 can be converted to a S/09 with a system board kit sold by Southwest Technical Products, which is also compatible with existing 6800 peripherals and cards; while the 69/K, 69/A, and 69/56 features a redesigned system board and chassis that is incompatible with the 6800. The 69/K was sold as a kit, while the 69/A and 69/56 came pre-assembled (the latter featuring 56 KB of RAM as opposed to the 69/A's 8 KB).[3][4][5]
^ abMiller, Leslie (June 27, 1995). "Loyal users cling to comfortable old computers". USA Today. Gannett Company: 4D – via ProQuest.
^Nadeau, Michael (2002). Collectible Microcomputers. Schiffer Book for Collectors (Illustrated ed.). Schiffer Publishing. p. 122. ISBN 9780764316005 – via the Internet Archive.
^"The World's Most Powerful 8-bit Microcomputer" (Advertisement). Personal Computer World. 2 (3). Intra Press: 80. July 1979 – via the Internet Archive.
^Stark, Peter A. (July 1980). "Thoughts on the SWTP Computer System". Kilobaud Microcomputing: 100–108 – via the Internet Archive.
^"We Have a 6809 for You" (Advertisement). Byte. 5 (2). McGraw-Hill: i. February 1980 – via the Internet Archive.
The SWTPC6800 Computer System, simply referred to as SWTPC6800, is an early microcomputer developed by the Southwest Technical Products Corporation and...
officially announced their SWTPC6800 Computer System in November 1975. Wayne Green visited SWTPC in August 1975 and described the SWTPC computer kit complete...
system for the SWTPC6800 proved a hot-seller for Midwest in 1976, the company began products for general-purpose computers like the SWTPC. In 1977, they...
front intake fans. Enthusiast case featuring translucent panel casemod SWTPC6800 case with SS-50 and SS-30 buses—an early hobbyist machine Three of the...
Southwest Technical Products Corporation (SWTPC) produced the 8-bit SWTPC6800 and later the 16-bit SWTPC 6809 kits that employed the Motorola 68xx series...
reputation by offering expansions for the Southwest Technical Products (SWTPC) 6800 microcomputer. It later manufactured its own line of computers, called...
had been built around the 6800 also had options for the 6809 or switched to it exclusively. Examples include machines from SWTPC, Gimix, Smoke Signal Broadcasting...
Intel 8080 and Zilog Z80 versions Nord-100 LGP-30 LGP-21 Sage II SDS 940 SWTPC6800 SEL-32 both Concept-32 and PowerNode systems Sigma "Preserving Computing's...
Uiterwyk wrote MICRO BASIC 1.3 for the SWTPC6800 system), which SWTPC published in the June 1976 issue of the SWTPC newsletter. Uiterwyk had handwritten...
with 16 K of RAM for $685 you would get BASIC for free., Michael Holley's SWTPC Collection Home Page Allen, Paul (2011). Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder...
Processor Technology SAMDOS, original DOS for the SAM Coupé SDOS, for the SWTPC6800 from the Southwest Technical Products Corporation Sinclair QDOS, for the...
Motorola 6800 based microcomputer from scratch, designing and etching the printed circuit boards personally and then purchased and built a kit SWTPC6800 computer...
Initially, in the days of the SS-50 bus and SS-50C bus systems such as SWTPC, Gimix, and Smoke Signal Broadcasting, OS-9 was used more as a general purpose...
Products Corporation (SWTPC)'s 6800 microcomputer. Named the System 68, Gimix's computer featured an SS-50-bus motherboard (like the SWTPC), with fifteen 50-pin...
Helix Systems (in Missouri, United States) designed an extension to the SWTPC SS-50 bus, the SS-64, and produced systems built around the 68008 processor...
Daniel Meyer of SWTPC enlisted Ed Colle, an engineer who had worked at Datapoint on terminal design, to design the new TV Typewriter. The SWTPC CT-1024 Terminal...
any portable cassette player to be connected to the Motorola 6800-based micros from SWTPC. The CIS-30 was a success, and soon followed by similar devices...
Electronics Simon (computer), a relay computer (demonstrator) from 1950 SWTPC TV Typewriter Survey of 150 computers, Computing Now, September 1984 pp...
machine code, using octal. Robert Uiterwyk handwrote MICRO BASIC for the SWTPC (a 6800 system) on a legal pad. Steve Wozniak wrote the code to Integer BASIC...
Southwest Technical Products (SWTPC), who arranged for Robert Uiterwyk to provide his 4K BASIC interpreter program for the Motorola 6800 in KCS format. Several...
for DMA-capable, extended addresses, Motorola 6809 based computers; e.g. SWTPC, Gimix and others) Unicos (the version of Unix designed for Cray Supercomputers...