Z80 Aussie Vintage Tech - The Talking Electronics TEC-1 Computer
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
- #retro #computer #technology The Talking Electronics TEC-1 is an Australian vintage computer originally produced from 1983 until the mid 1990s. It is a single board Z80 computer with 2kb of RAM and ROM, as well as sound! I just got this last week and have been itching to try it out. So here we go!
Talking Electronics Website -
www.talkingelectronics.com/ind...
Talking Electronics TEC-1 Kit Boards are available here -
bennvenn.myshopify.com/produc...
00:00 - Intro
06:17 - Overview of TEC-1 Board
10:02 - Doing the Experiments
22:55 - Singing and Displaying
30:00 - NIM Game
32:50 - Luna Lander Game (w SFX)
35:12 - Invaders
38:23 - Conclusion - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Took a few more days than I though - I had a bit of fun with sfx for the Luna Lander around 34:00 or so. Also I goofed when describing the RAM - it is 2kb x 8 bit, not 6116. 6116 is the model number. Probably goofed elsewhere too, because I'm a goof.
Worth the wait!
Gee, Beave!
I guess I had added this and another video from you to my "Watch later" playlist because they showed on the suggestions (as I watch a lot of retro computing videos/channels), and after the two I decided to subscribe yours too :)
@@robsku1 Many thanks!!
With the CAD version, the board was modified so it took the smaller switches. The colorful ones were somewhat bouncy. I was also the project manager for the TEC-1. It was my idea, and I commissioned John to do the dev work for me, because I didn't have the skills at the time. - Ken Stone.
We didn’t produce heaps, but we’re pretty proud of what we did.
Great to see the TEC1D gseeing some limelight.
I still have my TEC somewhere! Oh the fun of doing hand-assembly on paper...
The name of the company, "Talking Electronics" came about because Colin Mitchell really did want to get into computers that talked. It's just that there was quite a lot to learn before he got there! TE made a lot of their early popularity on the back of FM "bugs" - wireless mic transmitters, basically. Most of them were really good, with some creative circuits and low power. They also had a lot of model train related kits, too, and a couple of other things.
When the TEC arrived, of course they added kits for expansion: the 8x8 LED matrix was popular, but there were a number of other things. The Z80's port-based architecture made it easy to add things like that.
Doubt Australia Post had anything to do with it being quick. They'd have sent it up to Brisbane, then Melbourne, off to Perth, back to Brisbane, maybe a stop in Sydney and when the holidays have finished it'll be put on a plane outbound 🤣
Looking forward to continuing this video 👍
Yeah Canada Post is same. I guess this was an accident lol
@@TechTimeTraveller There's some longstanding Commonwealth postal arrangements that make things from AUS/UK about the same speed and price if not better in terms of shipping to us in Canada.
The last time I got a TEC-1 board (reproduction 1D) it took SIX WEEKS to get from Sydney to Melbourne.
Just found your channel. I built one of the TEC-1's back in the day and still have it in a drawer somewhere. The TE monthly magazines were great for learning electronics, which I went on to use in my 41.5 year career with a certain railway company in Melbourne.
Thanks for covering this and looking forward to your Microbee review, of which I had many models.
Cheers mate.
Weirdly enough I was at the Retro Computer Fair in Canberra, Australia today and saw one of these in the flesh for the first time, then within minutes you uploaded a video on the same thing. It feels slightly freaky! As you say, this one seems a lot more friendly than some other SBC out there!
This is awesome, I didn't know Australians had native computers.
Yep they had a number of them.. the EDUC-8, the DG680, DREAM, etc. Pretty neat machines overall.
@@TechTimeTraveller That's pretty awesome. I'm looking into computers from other nations, especially Non-Nato ones. Are there still companies that make their own computers down there?
@@madcat789 The TEC is still made. I think most of the other companies are defunct - victims of the Wintel consolidation. @Mr Lurch's Things would probably know better than me on that one.
Does the Fairlight CMI counts as computer? :-D
It seems like back in the day every non 3th world country had at least one even low population ones like Finland.
As an Australian, I thoroughly endorse every stereotype of Aussies presented in this video. 👍
Join the Facebook group, lots of projects and information. The TEC was Australia's arduino of the 80s built my TEC as a teenager mid 80s along with the add-on boards. They also produced the Dedicated micro, which was a z80, rom, and 2 X 8bit output, there was an expansion IO board with 8 inputs and another 2 X 8bit outputs. Really fond memories of the TEC. Using the IO board It may have even been possible to hack an old cordless phone back in the day to scan through the pairing codes and connect to someone else's base station.......yes it may have been possible...
The LC-80 Lerncomputer ("teaching computer") from East Germany also had a speaker and it would play "Popcorn" when powered up.
Looking forward to building my TEC-1! I've been in the PC community for many years but only just now getting into 8-bit machines and learning that we actually made these models here in Australia. Never even heard of them previously. Very cool.
This was a cool video in and of itself! No worries about the Mindset video, just cool to see you doing fun things.
Excellent video and collection! Thanks for sharing!
Any time!!
@@TechTimeTravellervery happy to see a fellow Canadian TH-camr with great videos!
I am really surprised that this system continued to be sold into the 1990s. I would have expected that the hobbyist community would have moved-on to something with more features.
I recall seeing that Invaders game implemented in an LCD calculator. This would have been around the same time as the TEC (ca. 1983).
It was mostly bought for teaching low level Z80 programming in schools.
The invaders game on the calculator was a little earlier. A friend had one I borrowed during 1981 - and would play it in class! It is where I got the idea for the version in the TEC-1.
I love my Microbee!
Break out the Vegemite and Tim Tams. It looks like they had to get pretty creative to create these games for this system.
I did the CAD version of the PCB for TE in 1990. It was a faithful copy of Ken's hand-made layout with some minor design revisions to improve expandability.
Fascinating! So there was still demand for something like this then? I wasn't seeing these kind of single board machines much where I lived at the time.
@@TechTimeTraveller 1990 was a big time for the TEC. Issue 15 was being written and a lot of bold changes were afoot eg lcd display, Jmon monitor, tape support, games being sold on tape. This was being driven by pseudo-staff member Jim mainly, as TE had changed focus to one off single topic magazines being the main focus. TE then got into legal difficulties with the FM bugs side of the business and I think that basically killed the business by about 1995 or so.
That and the general death of electronics as a hobby and the borader loss of electronics as an industry in this country.
If you want to know more about the TEC, have a look at the Ready?Z80 channel, he demonstrates add-ons and the latest TEC-1F computer
Great video. Thanks.
I really appreciate the detailed run through of my old ROM. 39 years old
Y means "you", I means "me" as in the computer. There are 23 matches, each player takes either 1,2,3 matches and the loser is left holding the final match. Still my favourite.
I’ve always felt Canadians and Australians are like the younger siblings of the USA. We both hang out together and visit our older USA brother in jail once a month
I just finished building my TEC-1F using a pcb found on ebay. It is a lot of fun!
I love how it was wrapped like a candy bar
Dang.. now I'm hungry.. :)
Great vid
NIM isn't the kind of "match game" you're thinking of, they're talking about literal matchsticks.
You have a pile of 23 matchsticks and you can take either 1, 2, or 3 on your turn and the computer will take 1, 2, or 3 on its turn and you're trying to get to the point that after your final turn there's one left to force the computer to take the last one.
the syntthisisers buillt from those magazines are so cool
My town (Derby KS) still has an operating Radio Shack franchise, although they did recently downsize.
I hadn't heard that about Whistler, I should ask me in law about that since he visits more than me. Lol yep I was expecting a talking computer from that name, reminds me of the metaphorical use of "naked" tending to be a letdown to me.😄
Looks good for the era, true not many of anything had a speaker. I'm more of a graphics junkie but they really did an impressive amount with such limited sight & sound capability.🙂
We have a huge Oz ex-pat community in southwestern BC. You'd almost think Whistler was part of Australia, that's how often you run into the accent up there - with folks working/skiing etc. I've even started pronouncing it 'whis-lah' because I'm so used to hearing it that way. A little piece of Australia thousands of miles away!
awesome!
I thought it was some name for a podcast but this is possibly better.
Put this tiny Aussie thing on a 3D printer table and program it by r8unning G code such that the head pushing the buttons. :)
Is there a complete schematic of the board you have using the 74ls273 parts ? Also is the source code and hex dump available for the 2716 you have ? Awesome video !!!!
By pressing down a special key It plays a little melody....
Nice Kraftwerk Reference :
nice little mschine
Now I wonder where my AT1616 MC68000 Minix computer is. Found my Microbees.
Lovely vid as always.
BTW... how am I not subscribed to you? I swear I thought I was. Anyways, fixed. +Sub.
Thank you!
@@TechTimeTraveller I assure you it's well-earned. You have remarkable content about remarkable machinery. I wish I could be so lucky.
11:30 surely it's "designed for TE" with "TE" being "Talking Electronics"?
Yes. At the time I recorded I was confused about the small case T for some reason. But then it made sense.
I would assume the standoffs were supposed to be at the bottom of the PCB to prevent shorting and the seller moved it to the top for shipping.
That makes sense! Doh!
Awesome computer.
You said that expansions can be added to the computer but I didn't see an expansion port on Board.
Also, the ROM starts from 0x00 to its capacity, followed by RAM [2K], the extra socket is IO mapped or memory mapped ???
Curious to know.
Cheers
There's an unpopulated chip socket with "expansion port" labeled on the PCB underneath it. That's probably where the expansion interface is, best guess.
The magazine gives some details here: www.talkingelectronics.com/TE-1-15_pdfs/TE-Issue10.pdf The expansion is done off that socket that's to the right of the RAM chip. On some TEC's it's just an empty set of pads, but the previous owner opted to put a socket there. I'm not sure how it is mapped, but I think it's in the mag there.
@@xPLAYnOfficial Correct!
Dude, cool video, but PLEASE insulate your power connections. ;)
The feedback from the speaker is actually really nice compared with the "none" feedback that a lot of these old trainer computers provided.
The background of this video is very white.
It's bc the US sellers are slow to get things packaged and sent.
0:35 the graphic 😂😂
I absolutely love it haha
Seems a bit strange not to have the buses on an edge.
It's surprisingly not that uncommon with old singleboard computers.
lulz gbatemp 32:20
i think it meant "2 different kinds of beeps"
The Multitech MicroProfessor MPF-1 had a speaker.
Forgot about that one!
And the Synertek SYM-1... I wonder if there are any more?
That number pad layout is unacceptable. Had they ever seen a telephone before?
Wow
0:20 Two fellow commonwealth nations vs not.
Ya but can it print Crysis?
Any idea why Newfoundlanders sound like they're Irish?
The accent varies depending on where in the Province someone is from. Overall many, if not most, Newfoundlanders are of Irish ancestry. That country contributed a very large share of the European-descended population.
As an aside, it is worth the cost of a visit there: the people are friendly, the food is really good, and the scenery is amazing. I have been once, and I really want to return.
They have a lot of Irish ancestry over there.
You don't sound very Austral... oh yeah. lol
4:43 - So bummed.
I know... :(
I did design a speech module add-on for it, which was published in Issue 15. Based on the SPO256-AL2 chip.
There is a good video here th-cam.com/video/gpGwZ6Qdce0/w-d-xo.html which is basically the same design as I did back in around 1987.
Wait, you don't own any Dick Smith Computers?
Haven't been able to grab one of those yet. I think many of the DS machines were rebrands of others weren't they?
Honestly I believe they all were.
14:16 IMO we who are involved in STEM fields should always default to "theory" meaning scientific theory, which doesn't have anything to do with guessing but is a description or explanation of a system in more general terms.
also I think we should do our best to get lay people to stop using "theory" to mean anything else, this misreading has long been too convenient of an excuse in perpetuating ignorance (re: evolution etc.)
No speech chip? What a ripoff!
Fake. If this was from Australia, it'd all be upside down...
Nah, it's genuine. He was using it the wrong way round. :P
@@wimwiddershins Ah, these Austria jokes never get old.
If you want to do a video with a Votrax ... contact me.
Always interested.. I think digital group had a votrax card for their machine. They're speech synthesizers right?
@@TechTimeTraveller that sounds right. several computers and arcade machines used that chip.
Check out this video I put out a month ago about q*bert. And if you want to do a video on them I can supply the votrax.
th-cam.com/video/ER0t3IYygDw/w-d-xo.html