UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Powered By Google Custom Search Vintage Radio and TV Service Data

Go Back   UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum > Specific Vintage Equipment > Vintage Computers

Notices

Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment.

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 9th Jun 2020, 5:09 pm   #1
TonyDuell
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,188
Default Softy 1

Thinking about SC/MP machines with video outputs, does anyone else remember the Softy 1?

It was sonewhat similar to the MK14, a single PCB with an SC/MP, 8154 RAM/IO, monitor ROM (I think a 2708), RAM (1K in a pair of 2114s, etc). It had a video output that seems to have worked much like the SoC VDU, although it was 0-9 and A-F _only_ and displayed a byte from RAM as a pair of such characters. It was also an EPROM programmer for 2708s.

No idea where you'd find one or the documentation for it now but anyway...
TonyDuell is offline  
Old 9th Jun 2020, 5:31 pm   #2
SiriusHardware
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,482
Default Re: Softy 1

To be honest I would have said that it -was- an EPROM programmer - the name, and that feature, are all I remember now.
SiriusHardware is online now  
Old 9th Jun 2020, 5:33 pm   #3
TonyDuell
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,188
Default Re: Softy 1

I think it was advertised as an EPROM programmer, but actually it was more like an MK14 + VDU+programmer. You could certainly run your own programs on it.
TonyDuell is offline  
Old 9th Jun 2020, 5:48 pm   #4
philoupat83
Pentode
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Toulon, France
Posts: 239
Default Re: Softy 1

see
http://www.bygonebytes.co.uk/Softy.html
philoupat83 is offline  
Old 9th Jun 2020, 5:53 pm   #5
SiriusHardware
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,482
Default Re: Softy 1

Great find Phil - that's probably why I have it fixed in my head that all 'Softys' are eprom programmers, as the later ones definitely were.
SiriusHardware is online now  
Old 9th Jun 2020, 8:11 pm   #6
philoupat83
Pentode
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Toulon, France
Posts: 239
Default Re: Softy 1

hello sirius
thanks internet or have all this is wonderful.
I am working on an EPROM programmer MM1702 that I want to adapt to an EPROM MM5204
with step-by-step encoder wheel for now
philoupat83 is offline  
Old 11th Jun 2020, 7:32 pm   #7
Slothie
Octode
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Newbury, Berkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,287
Default Re: Softy 1

I remember the Softy range of programmers. I got the impression that the Softy 2 could be made to run programs too, and you could see the memory on the screen. It's possible that was true of the Softy 1 too. I remember it being the first cheap programmer for hobbyists but for me still a little too expensive to justify. I ended getting one for my PET which didn't work with the ROM version I had, so I reverse engineered it and wrote a basic program with machine code bits for the critical timing. Not sure what happened to it - I may still have it somewhere!
Slothie is offline  
Old 11th Jun 2020, 8:53 pm   #8
Outrun_uk
Heptode
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Liverpool, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 704
Default Re: Softy 1

I had a Dataman S3 but lent it out a few years ago and not seen it since. A great feature was the live emulation, load the code in and you could mess around with it and then simulate it in the PCB under test before burning a ROM.
Outrun_uk is online now  
Old 12th Jun 2020, 2:56 am   #9
Karen O
Rest in Peace
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Bridgnorth, Shropshire, UK.
Posts: 787
Default Re: Softy 1

I've frequently had recollections of an advertisement for a hobby computer, the distinctive feature of the ad being a screenshot of a page of hexadecimal. Up until now I've drawn a blank in trying to recall the identity of this computer. Perhaps this is it?
Karen O is offline  
Old 12th Jun 2020, 9:08 am   #10
Slothie
Octode
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Newbury, Berkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,287
Default Re: Softy 1

Quote:
Originally Posted by Karen O View Post
I've frequently had recollections of an advertisement for a hobby computer, the distinctive feature of the ad being a screenshot of a page of hexadecimal. Up until now I've drawn a blank in trying to recall the identity of this computer. Perhaps this is it?
I'm pretty sure that is the Softy 2 as I recall the adverts you describe. I also recall a lengthy review of it in one of the magazine's I used to get (ETI, PE, EE and Wireless World) but random checks of magazine's I have downloaded don't seem to have turned up the advert or for that matter the review (which I'm not surprised at considering my search strategy!) I'd have to do a more organised search through the January issues and their year indexes over the eighties.
Slothie is offline  
Old 12th Jun 2020, 6:48 pm   #11
SiriusHardware
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,482
Default Re: Softy 1

Maybe try looking at the advertiser's indexes - that's if you can recall what the makers of the Softy called themselves, or were they always Dataman?
SiriusHardware is online now  
Old 12th Jun 2020, 9:08 pm   #12
Slothie
Octode
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Newbury, Berkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,287
Default Re: Softy 1

The ads up to 1983 are Dataman but not the ad I remember. I'll have to keep an eye out for Lloyd Research or Stag too I guess.
Slothie is offline  
Old 12th Jun 2020, 10:34 pm   #13
SiriusHardware
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,482
Default Re: Softy 1

It couldn't be ads for the Scrumpi III you're both thinking of?
SiriusHardware is online now  
Old 15th Jun 2020, 5:44 pm   #14
Timbucus
Octode
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK.
Posts: 1,362
Default Re: Softy 1

The Magazine you are looking for is PCW in October 1981 which has both the Ad you seek and the review... It is available to download on archive.org

Click image for larger version

Name:	SoftyAdOct1981PCW.jpg
Views:	166
Size:	82.7 KB
ID:	208542
Timbucus is offline  
Old 15th Jun 2020, 9:42 pm   #15
TonyDuell
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,188
Default Re: Softy 1

That's the Softy 2 I think. The Softy1 is a bare PCB similar in form factor to the MK14 board. No case. 21 keyswitches I think (at least real switches, not a rubber keyboard). Also one of those Astec modulator cans and a ZIF socket (it programs 2708s, and I think 3-rail 2716s). Main ICs are an INS8060, INS8154, a couple of 2114 RAMs, a 2708 containing the monitor firmware.
TonyDuell is offline  
Old 15th Jun 2020, 9:57 pm   #16
Timbucus
Octode
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK.
Posts: 1,362
Default Re: Softy 1

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post
That's the Softy 2 I think. The Softy1 is a bare PCB similar in form factor to the MK14 board. No case. 21 keyswitches I think (at least real switches, not a rubber keyboard). Also one of those Astec modulator cans and a ZIF socket (it programs 2708s, and I think 3-rail 2716s). Main ICs are an INS8060, INS8154, a couple of 2114 RAMs, a 2708 containing the monitor firmware.
It is the two but, I thought it may have been the advert with the HEX onscreen that Karen and Slothie were looking for. Phil linked to a picture of the Softy1 in #4 - I assume that is the one you are thinking of?
Timbucus is offline  
Old 15th Jun 2020, 10:06 pm   #17
Slothie
Octode
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Newbury, Berkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,287
Default Re: Softy 1

Tony, That's the ad I was thinking of. One of the reasons I was having a hard time finding it was I wasn't looking Dar back enough. I had it in my head it was after 1982...
Slothie is offline  
Old 18th Aug 2020, 10:16 am   #18
Buzby123
Heptode
 
Buzby123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Culcheth, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 637
Default Re: Softy 1

I used a Softy 1, brilliant bit of kit in its day !.

Our company got it to program EPROMs, which was its main function.

However, it had another feature that I used a lot. It had a ribbon cable with a DIL header that plugged into the target device, where the EPROM would normally be. This mapped the RAM of Softy into the EPROM space on the target.

Development time was halved as there was no chip swapping between programmer and target.

If the addressing on the target was changed to map Softy into RAM, you could even watch code running !.

I just wish I still had one. It's of the right era for today's MK14 and Scrumpi revivals.

Cheers,

Buzby
Buzby123 is offline  
Old 18th Aug 2020, 6:49 pm   #19
Buzby123
Heptode
 
Buzby123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Culcheth, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 637
Default Re: Softy 1

Well, I never expected this !.

After posting here this morning I went clearing out some old folders of stuff. Physical ones, not computers.

One folder had some papers from when I worked for an arcade company. Mostly circuits of PSUs for testing monitors.

In amongst them was a schematic for SOFTY.

Also there are the circuit and instructions for the add-on module to let SOFTY program single-rail EPROMS.

( My scanner seems to have cropped the right hand edge, but if anyone really needs it I can try again. )

Now, this is a vintage SC/MP device I'd really like to see revived.

Cheers,

Buzby
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	SOFTY schematic 200dpi.jpg
Views:	153
Size:	52.0 KB
ID:	213830   Click image for larger version

Name:	SOFTY pricel list 200dpi.jpg
Views:	119
Size:	54.3 KB
ID:	213831  
Buzby123 is offline  
Old 18th Aug 2020, 7:18 pm   #20
TonyDuell
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,188
Default Re: Softy 1

I didn't realise that the P4000 EPROM copier and EP4000 EPROM emulator/programmer were related to the Softy. I have all these units, and all are SC/MP based.

I have reverse-engineered circuit diagrams of the P4000 and EP4000 (and I think they may be on the obvious web page for those units now). I also have scanned the Softy user manual (including the circuit). My internet connecction is a bit shaky at the moment, hopefully that will sort itself out soon and I can then offer any/all of those circuits to anyone interested.
TonyDuell is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 3:02 pm.


All information and advice on this forum is subject to the WARNING AND DISCLAIMER located at https://www.vintage-radio.net/rules.html.
Failure to heed this warning may result in death or serious injury to yourself and/or others.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.