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What kind of Kaypro model do I have?

J

juicylemon

Experienced Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
51
Location
Deventer, the Netherlands
I just got a Kaypro 2(I guess), but noticed that there are quite number of models and that numbering is strange.
On the case it says "Kaypro 2" (not Kaypro II). The motherboard has label that says "PC81-240A" and it contains the roms 81-146 and 81-232 from 1983.
Furthermore, it has 2 full height single sided floppy drives. One of them has a label with the year 1984 on it.
What kind of Kaypro do I have? Kapro 2, 2x, new kaypro 2, 2/83, 2/84?
I found these resources, but based on these, I cannot draw a conclusion:
http://www.yoy.org/kaypro/html/kayprohist.html
http://www.z80.eu/kaypro.html
 
The Kaypro technical reference manual shows a 2/83, 4/83, or 4/83 + 88 use the 81-232 rom. Are you certain they are single sided drives?
 
phogren said:
The Kaypro technical reference manual shows a 2/83, 4/83, or 4/83 + 88 use the 81-232 rom. Are you certain they are single sided drives?
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure that they are single sided drives.

This is a picture of the back of Kaypro. There's a Dutch address on it, but it is made in the US.
IMG_20130507_173317.jpg
Another remarkable thing is the label that says "120VAC", while we use 230V in the Netherlands, however the text above the fuse says 250VAC.
 
Sounds like a 2 to me, (aka the 2/84). The II (2/83) actually says II on it.

250VAC fuse is common.

The PSU does both 120/230 with the change of a jumper on the PSU board.
 
I agree that it looks like a 2/84. The labeling on the back looks like a later model. The single sided disks are a little confusing though. Is the BIOS a 24 pin or 28 pin?
 
phogren said:
I agree that it looks like a 2/84
Click to expand...
According to what I could find, the 2/84 should have a 81-292 bios and a 81-294 motherboard, while my machine has 232 bios and a 240 motherboard. Together with the full height single sided floppy drives, it fits the specs of a 2/83. Could it somehow be a 2/83 in a 2/84 case? BTW, the warranty seal was intact when I got it.
 
Kaypro naming seems to be fuzzy and downright bizarre in some cases. Even some of the sites quoted don't seem to have all the models and some of them are named something else in another source. Don't ask me for examples right now, as it's not at the forefront of mind but I have looked into the problems of Kaypro nomenclature in the past and it seems to be rather confused.

Here is one such conversation
http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=940

Tez
 
My bet is a dash of both.

As tezza points out, naming was crazy. It often had more to do with how many heads or drives it had, or what size, or a name change to denote a difference in the software package it came with... but not always.

Since machines were often imported and resold by 3rd party vendors, who knows what might have been done regarding service. Quite often, the tech manual simply says "replace mainboard" for things that *ought* to be a simple fix, like swapping a socketed chip. But that doesn't explain all of it.

Also makes me wonder if it was "refurbished" somewhere along the line (hence the warranty sticker)...

which brings me to Occam's Razor...

If it looks like a II inside (pan), and a 2 outside (cover), it was serviced or refurbished and someone somewhere else got the opposite...

Maybe? :)
 
Yes, lot of good advice.

But do a search of this site - we have been thru a lot of this in the past - it is very confusing especially when Kaypro was in a panic trying to just survive !

The Netherlands address we have info on also - just do a search

All the best and keep us informed on your progress to further increase the knowledgebase

Nice too see so much interest in Kaypros still !

Frank
 
Thank you all for your advises. I have searched the forum and found the thread on the dutch distributor before. I also found the technical manual from 1984. My machine fits the discription of the "Kaypro 2" on page 3-1(ssdd drive as well) and I have the rom version that corresponds to model 2/83, according to page 4-1, so at this moment I think that I have a 2/83.

I noticed something else during my search. There's a black round sticker on the back with a white "4" on it. On the internet I found a Roby with number 1, kaypro 4 with number 3, another kaypro 4 with number 2. What is the meaning of this sticker?
 
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