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+--- Thread: History of the Canadian Cypher Z80/68000 Single Board Computer (of the 1984-1986 era) (/thread-1057.html)
History of the Canadian Cypher Z80/68000 Single Board Computer (of the 1984-1986 era) - RRCA-RCL9 - 27-07-2026
https://github.com/rcl9/Cypher-Z80-68000-Single-Board-Computer-1984-by-Motel-Computers---History-and-Documentation
This retro-computing article strives to provide a historical snapshot, archive and description of the short lived Cypher Z80/68000 single board computer which was designed, built and sold by Motel Computers of Willowdale Ontario in the 1984-86 era. It was believed at the time that CP/M-based computers would (ideally) remain the dominant operating system well into the early to mid 1980s. The Cypher SBC arrived in the 1983-1984 era when CP/M-68k and 68000 CPUs were becoming more readily available. What the designers of the Cypher computer did not foresee was the rise and dominance of the IBM PC, DOS and 8086 processors which would have been a prime reason that the company disbanded the project in 1986. Tech manuals, schematics, historical advertisements and a history of Motel Computers is provided.