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Need help, a mysterious MITS S-100 board

leiy

Experienced Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
247
HELP, a mysterious MITS S-100 board

I received a MITS 88-DRS Board recently.

I can't figure out what's the purpose of this board used for. I can't find any information about this board on Internet, even in MITS official document.

This board is clearly S100 bus board for Altair 8800 system, and it could be a MITS prototype product that MITS never give it to market

Does anyone know about this board? Please tell me. Thanks.

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Leiy,

I have sent you a private message.

It's the controller board for the MITS Altair DRS Digital Recorder System, which is also a mystery device. It was discussed at altaircomputerclub beginning with message #926.

Here's what I wrote about it back in 2006:

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mitsdrs9ph.jpg

"Here's a question for all of the hardcore Altair experts out there: What was the MITS Altair DRS?
I never heard of it. I have never seen any advertisements or documentation, nor do I recall seeing anything in the old Byte, Kilobaud, or Computer Notes periodicals. The device is a mystery to me, and I would think that no such device ever existed if I didn't have an actual front panel in my posession.
It was obviously designed to use the same size enclosure as the Altair 680 computer (dimensions are 10.75" x 4.375"), and the LED legends indicate that it was definitely a mag tape storage unit. The artwork is in the 8800b style, so this was a late entry into the MITS product line. I suspect that it was never actually released, but the front panel is certainly not a one-off mockup, so there must have at least been quite a bit of internal documentation and perhaps some ad copy.
That's all I know about it. Is there anyone out there who can enlighten me? What kind of tape drive do you think was mounted in that cutout (3.0" x 0.875")? For that matter, what do you think "DRS" means? Digital Recorder System?"
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There were several follow-up replies and some good guesses, but we never came up with a definitive description of the system, or even what "DRS" means for sure.

Altair Computer Club is at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/altaircomputerclub/

Message # 926 is at
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/altaircomputerclub/conversations/messages/926

Steve
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