Compupro pickup

[Dokken]

I know nothing about this thing, but the S-100 stuff has always fascinated me. This one was supposedly used in a NOAA station back in the day. An old timer on FB marketplace was cleaning out his garage.

It has: viasyn pc video 229g, compupro ram22, cpu 8085/88, floppy controller card, compupro system support 1, compupro interfacer 4. Very clean and is supposed to work.

I'll get to it someday and I'm sure I'll have questions!

 

[tradde]

Nice.

 

[Dokken]

I have no intentions of selling this, but I'm very unfamiliar with the comparable values. Limited eBay history for this setup I can see and nothing complete. Out of curiosity, would anyone give an estimated value range for this system?

 

[atariquest]

Is this from Spring Hill, TN? I noticed one on FB the other day. I live in College Grove.

This was made at the end of S-100 computers era. It tried to go head to head with the IBM PC and we all know how that turned out. It is a hybrid in a couple of ways: it has both 8-bit and 16-bit processors, it outputs to an IBM compatible monochrome or CGA monitor as well a composite, and most unusual of all is the ability to use an IBM XT keyboard. The build quality on the late CompuPro/Viasyn gear is very good. My guess is there will be very few things wrong with it.

Marvin

 

[hmb]

I have no intentions of selling this, but I'm very unfamiliar with the comparable values. Limited eBay history for this setup I can see and nothing complete. Out of curiosity, would anyone give an estimated value range for this system?

CompuPro S100 boards sell for an average of around $150 each. The PCVideo board is very hard to find and could sell for twice that. The enclosure with no cards in it will typically sell for a minimum of $500. I expect you would be able sell the complete system for at least $1250.

 

[hwrdmltn]

That's a keeper for sure....

 

[seaken]

That era of computers is my favorite and fascinates me. Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention to "collecting" old computers until most of that stuff was either destroyed or the cost to acquire it for a collection was more than I wanted to pay. I also don't really have the skills to repair or refurbish it. But it still interests me because that was when I was actively looking at computers for our business. There were several choices before IBM and compatibles took over the market I was in (small mom and pop business). My FIL ended up buying a NorthStar Advantage for the business. But I remember seriously recommending CompuPro and Tandy systems. Eventually we switched to IBM PC's and MS/PC DOS.

I still have the Advantage but I mostly play with PC's and PC Clones these days. I will look forward to hearing how successful you are in setting up your "new" CompuPro system.

Seaken

 

[hmb]

I have no intentions of selling this, but I'm very unfamiliar with the comparable values. Limited eBay history for this setup I can see and nothing complete. Out of curiosity, would anyone give an estimated value range for this system?

A few pointers for when you decide to get this system running:

As pointed out above, the PCVideo board is designed for use with a PC/XT keyboard and your choice of a CGA or MDA display. You can use a more common PS/2 keyboard with it by using an adapter like this one:

PS/2 to XT Keyboard Converter

Use PS/2 (or AT with passive adapter see related products below ) keyboards on PC and XT systems such as IBM 5150 and 5160.

monotech.fwscart.com

... and an MDA/CGA to VGA adapter like this one:

EternalCRT - MDA/CGA/EGA to VGA Converter Box

Note: Semiconductor shortage is greatly delaying the production of new stock. It may be a few months or over a year away. New and improved, smaller version! Convert MDA, Hercules, CGA, and EGA video signals to VGA for use with a modern monitor. Run your vintage PCs with their native video cards...

monotech.fwscart.com

CompuPro's boot disks for systems of this vintage were all on 8" floppy disks. Boot disk image files for CompuPro's systems are readily available from several software repositories on the web. If you don't have real 8" drives, a Gotek device emulating an 8" drive, connected to CompuPro's 8" floppy drive controller port via a 50-to-34 pin adapter, works fine.

Your system can run any version of CompuPro CP/M 2.2, with the console on a serial terminal connected to the "System Support 1" board.

You will get more out of your system configuration using CompuPro CP/M 8-16. Later versions of CompuPro's CP/M 8-16 were able to use the PCVideo board as the console, and could run both CP/M-80 and CP/M-86 applications on the same system.

Better still, your system hardware (with the 256K of memory provided by the RAM22, and the CPU85/88) is capable of running CompuPro Concurrent DOS 8-16 up to version 4. That operating system could run CP/M-80, CP/M-86, and "well behaved" early MSDOS applications.

 

[Dokken]

Is this from Spring Hill, TN? I noticed one on FB the other day. I live in College Grove.

Yes, that's likely the same one! The seller was sharp as a tack and we shared many old ham/computer war stories. Very knowledgeable and friendly guy but his health has declined so he was getting rid of it.

 

[Dokken]

A few pointers for when you decide to get this system running:

As pointed out above, the PCVideo board is designed for use with a PC/XT keyboard and your choice of a CGA or MDA display. You can use a more common PS/2 keyboard with it by using an adapter like this one:

PS/2 to XT Keyboard Converter

Use PS/2 (or AT with passive adapter see related products below ) keyboards on PC and XT systems such as IBM 5150 and 5160.

monotech.fwscart.com

... and an MDA/CGA to VGA adapter like this one:

EternalCRT - MDA/CGA/EGA to VGA Converter Box

Note: Semiconductor shortage is greatly delaying the production of new stock. It may be a few months or over a year away. New and improved, smaller version! Convert MDA, Hercules, CGA, and EGA video signals to VGA for use with a modern monitor. Run your vintage PCs with their native video cards...

monotech.fwscart.com

CompuPro's boot disks for systems of this vintage were all on 8" floppy disks. Boot disk image files for CompuPro's systems are readily available from several software repositories on the web. If you don't have real 8" drives, a Gotek device emulating an 8" drive, connected to CompuPro's 8" floppy drive controller port via a 50-to-34 pin adapter, works fine.

Your system can run any version of CompuPro CP/M 2.2, with the console on a serial terminal connected to the "System Support 1" board.

You will get more out of your system configuration using CompuPro CP/M 8-16. Later versions of CompuPro's CP/M 8-16 were able to use the PCVideo board as the console, and could run both CP/M-80 and CP/M-86 applications on the same system.

Better still, your system hardware (with the 256K of memory provided by the RAM22, and the CPU85/88) is capable of running CompuPro Concurrent DOS 8-16 up to version 4. That operating system could run CP/M-80, CP/M-86, and "well behaved" early MSDOS applications.

Fantastic info. The seller asked if I had any 8" drives and he mentioned this boot process. Gotek it definitely my preferred method of getting stuff running reliably. But I do love me some real floppy drives.