Model III serial number

[resman]

While doing some badly needed floppy drive maintenance on my Model III, I notice the serial number seems to be rather low. Not knowing the total number of Model IIIs produced, I wondered if this made my unit a fairly early one:

This machine came from the Paradise Storage Unit sale and left for dead. Some video potentiometer cleanup, case fixes, floppy maintenance, and a few blown RIFA caps and its computing like it's 1981.

 

[TRS-Ian]

Nice find!

Did it have an RFI shield over the motherboard? That's how you tell the real early Model IIIs, they didn't have an RFI shield over the mobo.

 

[resman]

Nice find!

Did it have an RFI shield over the motherboard? That's how you tell the real early Model IIIs, they didn't have an RFI shield over the mobo.

Ah, thanks for the info. Yes, this machine has the MB shielded. The floppy drives are a little different from each other and the paint is all worn off around the palm area, so it had plenty of use. Oddly the screen doesn't have any noticeable burn-in.

 

[gp2000]

It doesn't mean much but there's an easy way to tell if you have an early Model III ROM.

Go into BASIC and at the prompt hold down the S key and then press P. If the machine appears to freeze then you have the early ROM where S and P held down at the same time sends the screen to the printer.

Just press <BREAK> to unfreeze.

Unless you have a a printer in which case you can also just wait for the screen to print.

 

[resman]

It doesn't mean much but there's an easy way to tell if you have an early Model III ROM.

Go into BASIC and at the prompt hold down the S key and then press P. If the machine appears to freeze then you have the early ROM where S and P held down at the same time sends the screen to the printer.

Just press <BREAK> to unfreeze.

Unless you have a a printer in which case you can also just wait for the screen to print.

No freeze. So, aside from a small-ish number on the label underneath the machine, this appears to be a pretty run-of-the-mill Model III. At least it works well.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Petrofsky]

In that photo the "CATALOG NO." appears to be "26-1068", which is very peculiar because that's a Model 4 catalog number.

I'm guessing that's just a jpeg compression artifact, and that it actually says "26-1066". That catalog number is for the top-of-the-line Model III (2 disks, 48k RAM, RS-232 interface), which wasn't introduced until catalog RSC-6 in September 1981, a year after the original Model III line-up was introduced. (The 26-1066 replaced the 26-1063, which was the same but with only 32k RAM.) (The system was expandable to 48k from the get-go, but during the first year there was no preconfigured 48k model: you had to buy a smaller-memoried system and an upgrade.)

If the "SERIAL NO. 0001490" means you have the 1490th 26-1066, then that would explain why you have such a low serial number, but none of the first-year weirdness.

 

[resman]

In that photo the "CATALOG NO." appears to be "26-1068", which is very peculiar because that's a Model 4 catalog number.

I'm guessing that's just a jpeg compression artifact, and that it actually says "26-1066". That catalog number is for the top-of-the-line Model III (2 disks, 48k RAM, RS-232 interface), which wasn't introduced until catalog RSC-6 in September 1981, a year after the original Model III line-up was introduced. (The 26-1066 replaced the 26-1063, which was the same but with only 32k RAM.) (The system was expandable to 48k from the get-go, but during the first year there was no preconfigured 48k model: you had to buy a smaller-memoried system and an upgrade.)

If the "SERIAL NO. 0001490" means you have the 1490th 26-1066, then that would explain why you have such a low serial number, but none of the first-year weirdness.

I went back and inspected that sticker, which honestly is a pretty crappy sticker, but it *really* looks like 26-1068 even though it says Model III on the same sticker. But the machine does indeed have the RS232 port (never noticed that before). So, if anything, I found I have the RS232 interface. Thanks!

 

[vwestlife]

It looks like 26-1066 to me with a bit of ink bleed on the last 6. For example, compare it to the 60 Hz that also looks like it says 80 Hz.

 

[Satyr Icon]

It doesn't mean much but there's an easy way to tell if you have an early Model III ROM.

Go into BASIC and at the prompt hold down the S key and then press P. If the machine appears to freeze then you have the early ROM where S and P held down at the same time sends the screen to the printer.

Just press <BREAK> to unfreeze.

Unless you have a a printer in which case you can also just wait for the screen to print.

Oh, that's interesting. I go way back and never managed to hear about that one. We need that diffed, disassembled, and commented somewhere.

I had given up hope of the Model 3 Level 1 ROM being unearthed, but it happened!

 

[resman]

Oh, that's interesting. I go way back and never managed to hear about that one. We need that diffed, disassembled, and commented somewhere.

I had given up hope of the Model 3 Level 1 ROM being unearthed, but it happened!

Just to be clear, that isn't what I have. This is the 48K, 2 floppy, RS-232 equipped top-of-the-line machine from late 1981.

 

[Torch]

Don't you have exact dates either stamped on the bottom or hand written on various parts inside?
I have my original Model III that I received when I was around 12 years old. My uncle bought it brand new in '81, noticed how much I liked it and gave it to me a few months later (after I passed the Level I and Level II BASIC courses at the RS computer center, which he also paid for). It has 1981 dates and no shielding. I wasn't allowed to use it during prime time because it took out every TV in the house! Hard to believe it's been part of my life for 37 years now.
A while back I picked up another Model III off Craigslist for $25 and it has a date stamped on the bottom next to the tag, Dec. 22, 1982. It also has the hand written dates on the inside.