Vintage RCA COSMAC VIP CDP1802/Elf Computer - Box, -




Item History & Price

Information:
Reference Number: Avaluer:6855374Brand: RCA
MPN: COSMACModel: COSMAC
Original Description:
Description:
(The television appearing in the pictures is NOT included - you will need to find an old monitor, or TV with direct video in - I got mine from a Goodwill store for $2.99.)

In the August 1976 issue of Popular Electronics, RCA Engineer Joseph Weisbecker presented his COSMAC Elf project. Mr. Weisbecker followed up with an additional three articles which expanded the basic Elf, and many other people wrote articles presenting hardware and software for this tiny comput...er. In very short order, other companies jumped in with CDP1802-based systems which were similar to the Elf. Not wanting to lose their momentum, RCA quickly introduced the VP-111, or the COSMAC VIP (formally the RCA COSMAC VIP18S711.)

This particular computer was a part of a computer museum. I received the computer when the museum folded, and have had it for a few years (I could not let it go when I donated most of the other museum pieces to another museum.) Unfortunately, after five years of un- and under-employment, I need to let go of some of my prizes.

In addition to the VIP board, this also includes the plastic case, the video and tape recorder interface cabes and the power supply. The television in the pictures was shown to prove that the computer works, but it is not included in this auction. This VIP comes as originally outfitted, with 2K of ram, but there are sockets on the board for another 2K bytes of RAM. Search Jameco, or Digikey for the 2114 1K x 4, RAM chips - you will need 4 of these, and then just plug them into the sockets for U20-U23 - see page 77 in the manual.

I plugged the VIP in and the PWR and Q LED lights lit up and it produced a tone. Following the instructions in the included manual, I was able to examine and modify the memory. Take a look at the pictures, and you can see that I was able to get the sample "COSMAC" display (from the manual, page 29) to work. (The television is NOT included.) Actually, I modified the demo display a bit by creating an underline and clearing a bit more of the display. I did not play around with (err, Test!; yeah, I meant test) it any further (although I did tell my wife that I didn't want to sell it after playing with it. ;-) ) As you can see, it appears to be in great working shape.

Due to the age of this computer this is being sold as-is, and has not been tested beyond what I described and what you can see in the pictures.

I printed out the Instruction Manual (VIP-311) for this computer, and am including it with the computer. This manual includes the entire listing of the Chip8 language, which Joseph Weisbecker created to allow owners of a minimal 1802 system to write games (and other programs.) The entire language interpreter takes only 512 bytes (not 512K!)

Web information:
The user manual for the CDP1802 processor itself is called the MPM-201 and can be found with a quick Google search (I searched for "RCA 1802 manual" and it was the first hit) at bit savers on Trailing Edge's web site. (Sorry, but E-Bay no longer allows me to post the URLs for the manuals. :-( )

There is a very active group working on, and with, the 1802 family of computers. You can find them on the groups io site, just search for "cosmacelf". There is also a great web site dedicated to the Elf/1802 family. You can find this group from Google (again, I searched for "cosmac elf" and it was right after the Wikipedia hit. The site is actually just called cosmacelf, and it is a .com site. There are tons of files on the 1802 and the Elf to be found there.

Also on Cosmacelf's web site, is a large library of 1802-based system publications. Click on the Publications menu at the top, and browse from there. If you then click on Newsletters, you can find (all?) the issues of Ipso Facto and QuestData - two magazines with lots of information about 1802-based systems. Most of that information can be adapted to the VIP computer.

Matthew Mikolay, a software engineer, who is into 1802-type vintage computers, has a lot of information about RCA 1802-based computers. If you search for his name (it should be the mattmik one) and then click on the vintage computers link, it will take you to a page with Chip8 information (including a tutorial that he wrote) and (I believe) the entire collection of RCA's newsletter/magazine VIPer. VIPer was the RCA newsletter for owners, and users, of their VIP computer.

BYTE magazine, December 1978, pp. 108–122, has an article by Joseph describing his "new" programming language. Also, Wikipedia has a pretty good article about Chip8, and at the bottom of the article (under Further reading) is a link to the actual Byte Magazine issue (go to page 110 in the PDF, that is page 108 in the magazine.)

The Elf II was a similar computer, produced by Netronics. Tom Pittman wrote a book ("Introduction to Programming in Tiny Basic" on his web site: Itty Bitty Computers - just search for "tom pittman tiny basic" and go about 3/4 of the way down the page) on Tiny BASIC for that Netronics Elf. If you would like a good introduction to computer programming, straight out of the 1970s, you should be able to convert Tom's book to this VIP computer. This will give you quite a bit of material to play (err, experiment) with.

If you do not win this auction, but would like to play with an 1802 computer, take a look at the EMMA02 Elf Emulator: just search for "emma 02 elf emulator" - it is right there on the hobby-site pages. Among MANY other systems, Emma can emulate this VIP system.

Again, due to the age of this computer this is being sold as-is, and has not been tested beyond what I described and what you can see in the pictures.



    Similar items


  • Vintage Rare Rca Cosmac Cdp18s020 Cdp1802 Evaluation Kit Board Computer Elf

    Vintage Rare Rca Cosmac Cdp18s020 Cdp1802 Evaluation Kit Board Computer Elf

  • Rca Cosmac Vip Vp 711 Vip Microcomputer Rare Early Vtg Box Interface Processor

    Rca Cosmac Vip Vp 711 Vip Microcomputer Rare Early Vtg Box Interface Processor

  • Vintage Rare 1979 Rca Cosmac Vip Computer Cdp18s711 Preassembled By Rca

    Vintage Rare 1979 Rca Cosmac Vip Computer Cdp18s711 Preassembled By Rca

  • Vintage 1980s Rca Cosmac Vip Video Interface Processor Model Vp111

    Vintage 1980s Rca Cosmac Vip Video Interface Processor Model Vp111

  • Vintage Rca Cosmac Rare Bare Microboard 1980s Computer Item Cdp18s652b Nos

    Vintage Rca Cosmac Rare Bare Microboard 1980s Computer Item Cdp18s652b Nos

  • Vintage Rca Drive – In Speakers With Junction Box.  Cool But

    Vintage Rca Drive – In Speakers With Junction Box. Cool But

  • Vintage Texas Instruments Ti - 99/4a Computer - Box,  Games,  Manuals & Speech Synth

    Vintage Texas Instruments Ti - 99/4a Computer - Box, Games, Manuals & Speech Synth

  • Vintage Timex Sinclair 2068 Personal Color Computer Box & Programs

    Vintage Timex Sinclair 2068 Personal Color Computer Box & Programs


    • You might also like


Avaluer          About Us          Privacy Policy          Contact Us          UP
© 2022, avaluer.net, Inc. or its affiliates