Category: Tandy

The underdog of 1977 Trinity

The Story of the Tandy RadioShack
TRS-80 Model 1

In 1977, three computers came onto the market in the U.S.: the Apple II, the Commodore PET and the Tandy TRS-80. While Apple and Commodore were also noticed in Europe, Tandy remained largely unknown – unjustly, as this article proves. Author’s note: This article tells the story from the perspective of Germany.

My own Tandy TRS-80 Model 1 Level II from 1981, with Expansion Interface, Tape Recorder and externel Floppy Disk Drives.

The year 1977 is generally regarded as the “big bang” in the history of microcomputers — and certainly rightly so. Until then, computers were mainly something for companies, universities or government institutions. In 1977, many people began to realize that microcomputers could also find their way into many private households in the future. The clunky giant boxes of the past or the do-it-yourself kits for a handful of nerds now became affordable, compact and, for the first time, easy-to-use systems for the desktop.

Continue reading “The underdog of 1977 Trinity”

Privileg 1200 Electronic Typewriter with printer interface

The Privileg electronic 1200 typewriter was built for the mail order company “Quelle” in the former GDR.

At the time when dot-matrix printers were still predominant, i.e. until the 1990s, it was difficult to get a proper straight-line printer for affordable money. Laser printers were often too expensive for private households at that time, and dot-matrix printers had just this typical print image, which was not acceptable for a thesis, for example. The situation did not improve until the mid-90s, when inkjet printers became cheaper and cheaper and their typeface improved. But see yourself the Privileg electronic 1200 daisy wheel typewriter with printer interface in action on the Tandy TRS-80.

Continue reading “Privileg 1200 Electronic Typewriter with printer interface”

Joystick Adapter for Tandy Color Computer

The Tandy Color Computer is indisputably a gaming machine. There are also large software archives for it on the Internet. But many games need a joystick. Unfortunately the CoCo has a different joystick connector than the Ataris and Commodores and therefore CoCo joysticks are hard to get today. I was also looking for a way to use my joysticks from the C64 or ATARI for the Tandy Color Computer. I found a build instruction for a simple adapter board on this page: https://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-tandy-1000-digital-joystick-adapter.html

You can buy ready-made adapters on eBay, but since the construction of the circuit didn’t look very complicated and the parts were available for a few Euros, I decided to build one myself.

Continue reading “Joystick Adapter for Tandy Color Computer”

Tandy TRS-80 Model I Level II

My new love … the Tandy TRS-80 Model I Level II from 1981 🙂

My Tandy TRS-80 Model I with Level II BASIC, expansion interface, green monitor and double floppy.

At the beginning, however, we had a somewhat bumpy start – but more on that later.

The history

Tandy … what? Such a question you only hear in Germany. Yes, indeed, the computers of the company Tandy Radio Shack were less common in Germany and are therefore hardly known today. In contrast, every child in this country knows Apple and Commodore. However, the TRS-80 Model I belongs to the so-called “1977 Trinity”, as byte Magazine called it. At that time, three manufacturers launched the first home computer for the mass market in the USA at relatively the same time: Apple with the Apple II is certainly the most famous representative, Commodore brought out the PET 2001 and Tandy put a cheaper alternative on the market, the TRS-80 (TRS stands for Tandy Radio Shack and the number 80 points to the Z80 CPU).

Continue reading “Tandy TRS-80 Model I Level II”