Discussion Forum for all things Microbee - Repository Additions

Microbee Admate DP-80 Notes

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:19:23 +1000

This a single page A4 in size I found hidden in some of my paperwork.

It outlines possible problems winding paper backwards in the printer and includes a simple screen dump Basic program that you can include in your own Basic program.

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Documentation\Articles folder we placed

microbee_admate_DP-80_notes.pdf

Some Microbee Games from Under4MHZ

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 22:57:15 +1000

Thanks to Under4MHZ for making these games available to run on the Microbee. They are some old classic puzzle games converted to run on the Microbee.

These were posted in the Forum years ago, thought it would be good to put them on the one bootable disk.

The games are -

Diamond Dash
Pegged
Pitman
Vexed

Further information and screen shots, see

DIAMOND DASH, see https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/...age-2.html
VEXED, see https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-523.html
PEGGED, see https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-546.html
PITMAN, see https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-537.html

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Software\Games folder we placed

Under4MHZ_Games_ss80.dsk

More Portapak Disks

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 12:31:41 +1000

Thanks to Rod for providing some 5.25" Portapak disks to be imaged that came via exidyboy . They were imaged via the Greaseweazle as SCP files and then used HxC to convert to DSK files.

All were 80 track double sided normal Portapak disks, the same as the ones in the repository currently. They all boot with

Portable Computer Company PortaPak-II
55k (tpa) CP/M vers 2.25a ©1985
SoftwareSourcePtyLtd©1985

which is a later version of CP/M than whats in the Repository. But, not having a working Portapak or an emulator, these files cannot be fully tested.

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Vintage\Portapak\Disks folder we placed

portapak_hostterm.dsk
portapak_kermit.dsk
portapak_telephone.dsk
portapak_word.dsk
portapak_yam.dsk

Excalibur 64 CP/M Manual and others

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:47:51 +1000

Thanks to DaveC for making all these available from his newly acquired Excalibur 64. All cleaned up and converted to searchable PDFs as usual.

CP/M FDOS & UTILITIES MANUAL

CONTENTS
1. AN INTRODUCTION TO CP/M FEATURES AND FACILITIES
2. CP/M ASSEMBLER (ASM) USER'S GUIDE
3. ED: A CONTEXT EDITOR FOR THE CP/M DISK SYSTEM USER'S MANUAL
4. CP/M DYNAMIC DEBUGGING TOOL (DDT) USER'S GUIDE
5. CP/M INTERFACE GUIDE

So in the MbeeTech Vintage repository in the Excalibur_64/Manuals folder we placed

excalibur_cpm_fdos_and_utilities_manual.pdf

basic_quick_reference_guide.pdf <-- these in the Vintage/Excalibur_64 folder
chars_memory_map_kbd_matrix_notes.pdf
excalibur_intro_letter.pdf
extended_basic_commands.pdf

Adelaide Micro User newsletter update for the System 80

Sat, 11 Jul 2026 11:21:03 +1000

Thanks to kimjohn for providing an original of the February 1984 issue for scanning. Scanned at 600dpi and converted to a PDF as usual. A4 in size and 20 pages long.

The copy we have in the repository has the bottom 1/3 of every second page either missing or totally unreadable. This was originally obtained from the trs-80.org site as a black & white scan. This is now replaced with a colour fully readable issue. Its full of comments, tips, updates and many program listings, both Basic and Assembler.

The amun_1984 yearly ZIP file was updated also to include this issue.

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Vintage\System-80\Documentation\Newsletters\Adelaide_Micro_User_News folder we replaced

amun_1984_02.pdf <-- updated

amun_1984.zip <-- updated to include the above

Excalibur 64 Newsletter and Basic Manuals & updates

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 11:15:03 +1000

Thanks to DaveC for making scans of these available. After much clean up, they we converted to searchable PDF's. All A4 in size, scanned at 600dpi and range from 6 to 37 pages long.

We now have a copy of the missing Newsletter #2 dated June 1984. It includes
1. RS-232 The Vital Connection.
2. EXCALIBUR 64 RS232C PORT SETTINGS
3. TERMINAL Program for TAPE users
4. PROGRAMS FOR THE EXCALIBUR
5. More modifications for the Excalibur
6. LIGHT PEN CIRCUIT BOARDS
7. DODGEM - Basic listing
8. MANUAL ERROR UPDATES
9. USEFUL MEMORY LOCATIONS FOR THE EXCALIBUR
and much more.

For Excalibur Basic 1.01 there is a 6 page reference manual and for Basic 2.10 there is now an early Preliminary Manual, updated Technical Data Manual and an updated Tutorial Manual. The existing Excalibur Basic 1.01 notes was renamed to Excalibur Basic 1.10 notes also. The excalibur_basic_2.10_manual was also renamed to include "preliminary" in its name.

A new MANUALS sub-folder was created and some existing manuals un-changed or re-named have been moved into it also.

So in the MbeeTech Vintage Repository in the Excalibur 64\Newsletter folder we placed

excalibur_64_news_#02_84_06.pdf

excalibur_basic_1.01_notes.pdf <-- in the new Excalibur_64\Manuals folder
excalibur_basic_1.10_notes.pdf <-- renamed
excalibur_basic_2.10_manual_preliminary.pdf <-- renamed
excalibur_basic_2.10_manual_prelininary_early.pdf
excalibur_basic_2.10_technical_data.pdf <-- updated
excalibur_basic_2.10_tutorial.pdf <-- updated

Excalibur 64 ROMs, Pictures and Newsletter

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:52:23 +1000

Thanks to DaveC for making all these available from his newly acquired Excalibur 64.

The current ROMs in the Repository came from the unit I had which had a Hi-Res video card fitted and therefore updated roms to handle it. They contain Extended Basic ver 1.1 (in 16k & 8k eproms) while these new ROMs have Basic ver 2.1 (in 2 x 8k eproms) with no Hi-Res video card. MAME Emulator is currently configured to use the Hi-Res ROMs. A photo of the 2 new main ROMs is also included. The existing ROMs in the Repository have been re-named to better describe them.

The current GENEX 3 Character ROM supports descending letters like "qypgj" but this new ROM is slightly different.

DaveC also obtained a bare main and keyboard PCB so was better able to scan them rather than the photographs we have in the repository. So these pictures have been updated with the better quality scans.

DaveC also provided a new Newsletter with his project of producing an updated PCB, Version 6, for the Excalibur 64. Hopefully, there will be more to follow. Also included was a Basic Listing of a program for producing "FOR SALE" labels.

So in the MbeeTech Vintage repository in the Excalibur 64 folder we added the following.

IC17_V2.1.bin <-- in the ROMs folder
IC24_V2.1.bin
GENEX_IC43.bin
IC17_V1.1_extended.bin <-- renamed rom_1.bin
IC24_V1.1_extended.bin <-- renamed rom_2.bin

excalibur_mb_rev5_bottom.png <-- in the Pictures folder
excalibur_mb_rev5_top.png
keyboard_board_bottom.png
keyboard_board_top.png
excalibur_roms_labels.png

excalibur_64_news_#49_26_06.pdf <-- in the NEWSLETTER folder

for_sale_listing.pdf <-- in the PROGRAM_LISTINGS folder

Turbo Speed for Premium Microbee procedure

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 10:32:59 +1000

Thanks to PhilipH for making this 4 page document available. It originally appeared in the Vol7 No7 (Sept '89) SMUG Newsletter, which we dont have.

Written by Tony Ellis in 1989 and explains the simple process to upgrade your Premium Microbee to run at 6.75 MHz rather than the standard 3.375 MHz.

... this upgrade shows how you can upgrade your Premium to have GT stripes - in fact to go twice as fast. As a bonus the speed is controlled by software compatible with the Peter Broughton's software. So if you run 'PB' then changing speed is simple - just use a function key to do the job. In addition, if you have the status line active, it will indicate the current speed setting.

The changes are very inexpensive - in fact you only need a few pieces of wire! MicroBee when they designed the Premium left several chips with spare gates, sections of chips unused, so will take advantage of this fact.

You may have to upgrade your Z80 & PIO chips to a higher speed version to run reliably at the higher speed. I have a Z80B in my 128k Premium when I upgraded mine way back in the '80's.

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Documentation\Articles\Technical folder we placed

turbo_speed_for_premium_bee.pdf

MBEECATSE, BEEVIEW, MBUGDISKS & SCANNER utilities

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:59:42 +1000

Thanks to Graham72 for making all these utilities available. All run in a PC Browser to view, extract, list, open, etc BASIC MWB files in the MBUG Disk collection, as well as others.

MBEECATSE
This is the original MBEECAT (see ***MBEECAT.HTML*** — From Concept to Catalogue) but updated to now include the BEEHIVE BBS section of the Walnut Creek CP/M CD-ROM and the collection of MWB files from Ftp.omen.com.au.

BEEVIEW
It manages the Microbee software catalog and views tokenised .mwb programs. Click OPEN FOLDER to select the folder containing your I.js and MBEECATSE.html files — the catalog loads automatically. To view a program, select an entry and click ▶ SHOW PROGRAM — the .mwb file is extracted from the embedded ZIP and detokenised into a BASIC listing. Click LOAD .MWB to view any .mwb file directly from you HD.

MBUGDISKS
Is a single-file, browser-based catalogue and viewer for the complete non-BASIC software library of the Melbourne MicroBee Users Group (MBUG). It indexes 3,940 files across 184 CP/M-formatted floppy discs distributed by MBUG in mid 1980s to the early 1990s. An extensive User Manual PDF is also provided. It now handles better the files in Crunch, LZH & ARC form.

SCANNER
Lists all the LBR/LQR/ARC/ARK files within the MBUG disk collection and their contents.

All the above are in the one ZIP file, just copy the contents, including the new I.JS file, to the same folder that you initially setup for MBEECAT over writing the *.JS files.

mbeecatse.jpg (Size: 162.4 KB / Downloads: 59)

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Software\Applications folder we placed

MBEECATSE+OTHERS.zip

a.js <--- zip file includes all these files
b.js
BEEVIEW.html
I.js
MBEECATSE.html
MBUGDISKS1.1F.HTML
MBUGDISKSv1.1F.pdf
SCANNER.HTML

Two more Garry Francis Adventure disks for the Microbee

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:40:47 +1000

Thanks to cpc-power site for making Amstrad CP/M disks available. The games were extracted and copied to a Microbee disk together with the Microbee VESSA Infocom Loader. Thanks to Garry Francis for writing them also.

The disk consists of 8 x Z5 files and is menu driven using the Z5 Microbee VESSA Infocom loader. All are new adventures written in 2025.

You can exit the Adventures with Q or QUIT, followed by a Y and you will be returned to the Menu. However, you MUST re-boot the disk to be able to run another game.

1. A Taste of Terror
2. Caribbean Treasure
3. The Time Crystals of Cythii
4. Unknown Dimension
5. Tin Star
6. Wild West
7. Desperados
8. The Wrath of Anubis

disk3.jpg (Size: 80.34 KB / Downloads: 48)

Garry Francis Adventure disk 2 has been updated and now uses a Menu. Because there was room both on the disk and menu, so another game was added. I had to rename the VESSA.COM down to VES.COM to enable it to be run from the Menu. So the game list now is -

1. Acid Rain
2. Captain Cutters Treasure
3. Danny Dipstick
4. Lost Ark
5. The Samurai and the Kappa
6. The Mystery of Winchester High
7. Hangman's Gulch

disk2.jpg (Size: 71.37 KB / Downloads: 48)

Walk thoughts are also included for all of the adventures, these all came from https://solutionarchive.com/ and written by our member Warrigal, thanks. Use BISHOW (F forward, B backwards) or Transfer to view them, both are on the disk. They also have Maps for most of the games there also. Use ONLY if you really get stumped.

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Software\Games\Adventure folder we placed

garry_francis_adventure_disk3_ds80.dsk

garry_francis_adventure_disk2_ds80.dsk <-- updated

Adventure No. 37 disk for the Microbee added

Fri, 29 May 2026 22:15:11 +1000

Thanks to cpc-power site for making Amstrad CP/M disks available. The games were extracted and copied to a Microbee disk together with our Microbee Infocom CP/M Loader. More to follow.

The disk consists of 8 x Z3 files and is menu driven using the Z3 Microbee Infocom loader. All are new adventures written in the last few years and many from PunyJam #1 & #3 competition.

1. A Clean Getaway
2. A1RL0CK
3. Blorp!
4. Falling to Pieces
5. Fantasy Dimension
6. Lucid Night
7. Death Number Four
8. Craverly Heights

Walk thoughts are also included for all of the adventures, these all came from https://solutionarchive.com/ and written by our member Warrigal, thanks. Use BISHOW (F forward, B backwards) or Transfer to view them, both on the disk. They also have Maps for most of the games there also. Use ONLY if you really get stumped.

You can exit the Adventures with QUIT, followed by a Y and you will be returned to the Menu. However, you MUST re-boot the disk to be able to run another game.

advent-37.jpg (Size: 166.8 KB / Downloads: 65)

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Software\Games\Adventure folder we placed

adventure_37_ds80.dsk

MBEECAT.HTML — From Concept to Catalogue

Wed, 20 May 2026 09:16:07 +1000

Thanks to Graham72 for his endless pursuit to creating a menu driven catalogue of all the MWB files in the MBUG's 186 disk catalogue. There are 1199 MWB files that can be searched for and even extracted. All this in one HTML coded file for you to run in a browser on your PC. Further description of the development process of this file from Graham -

What began as an ambitious attempt to emulate SQL Server functionality on a
Microbee computer — running SQLBEE in BASIC on a Z80 machine emulation
within ubee512 — evolved through several distinct phases before reaching
this release. A complex process: editing 3 DAT files, batch concatenation,
ngrok exposing a local server, and users accessing live data. It was built,
it worked, and it served its purpose - an index of every .mwb file in the
MBUG disk catalog. Claude and Grok AI assisted in fast project realisation.

Then a 'what if"- using Gemini AI to workshop a scope review - embedding
data directly into the HTML itself rendered the entire pipeline
unnecessary, and allowed extraction of the actual .mwb programs. Two hidden
text areas — one holding 1,199 program descriptions, one a base64-encoded
ZIP blob of every MWB file across 74 MBUG discs — transformed a distributed
system into a single self-contained file. The ngrok tunnel was deprecated
after only five days.

From that foundation, refinement followed refinement. A CRT warm-up
animation builds the display section by section, each sweeping in from the
top like phosphor warming on glass. The MBUG emblem — bee over Australia —
holds the screen until the catalogue emerges over it. Sortable columns,
live search, async ZIP decoding, and a fixed 11-row layout ensure the
experience is fast and consistent.

Spelling corrected. Footer restored. FLAG fields stripped. Version
incremented. With special thanks to ChickenMan for version reviews.

Sometimes the best architecture is the one you outgrow in five days.
*MBEECAT.HTML v1.2 — May 2026. GJU*

mbeecat.jpg (Size: 128.97 KB / Downloads: 59)

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Software\Applications folder we placed

MBEECAT.HTML

Pictures of Microbee computers and additional Hardware

Fri, 15 May 2026 20:58:07 +1000

This is a collection of additional pics of various Microbee models in addition to those we already have in the Repository. Also, there is a collection of addon hardware. These have all been collected from a multitude of sources, including from MbeeTech, me, kimjohn, ebay, Facebook, etc. so thanks to all.

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Documentation\Pictures\Microbees folder we placed

128k_premium_&_disk_drives.jpg
128k_standard.jpg
16k_kit_with_upgraded_case.jpg
256TC-SE.jpg
32K_IC_Danish.jpg
32k_series2.jpg
64k_series2_with_floppy.jpg
64k_series3_ciab.jpg
Microbee_Series_2_Educator.jpg
premium_plus+.jpg

in the new Microbee\Documentation\Pictures\Hardware folder we placed

50_way_expansion_unit.JPG
altronics_eprom_programmer.jpg
automodem.jpg
beemodem.jpg
beemodem_300baud.jpg
beetalker.JPG
beethoven.jpg
buzzboard.jpg
cga_to_hdmi_upscaler.jpg
colour_board.jpg
colour_board_analogue.jpg
Computer_In_A_Book_boxed.jpg
Computer_In_A_Book_disk_drive.jpg
dp-100_dot_matrix_printer.jpg
dp-80_dot_matrix_printer.jpg
dreamcards_disk_controller.JPG
Experimenters Board Kit.jpg
keyboard_upgrade_kit_premium.jpg
kit_power_cable.jpg
MbeeTech_mug.png
microbee_coreboard_extenders.jpg
microbee_daisy_wheel_printer.jpg
microbee_data_recorder.jpg
microbee_data_recorder_t2.jpg
microbee_eprom_programmer.jpg
microbee_monitor_3010.jpg
microbee_monitor_7030h.jpg
microbee_monitor_m15.JPG
microbee_monitor_m18.jpg
microbee_monitor_m35-2.jpg
microbee_monitor_sv-1290x.jpg
microbee_monitor_vm-1210s.jpg
microbee_monitor_vm-1210s_black_face.jpg
microbee_premium_cartons.jpg
microbee_rs232_tester.jpg
microbee_rs232_tester_back.jpg
microbee_sbc01_dual_drive_back.jpg
microbee_sbc01_dual_drive_front.jpg
monitor_stand.jpg
mouse.jpg
njs_eprom_expansion_board.jpg
power_pack_10v.JPG
power_pack_12v.jpg
power_pack_9v.jpg
power_supply_12v_1a_+_grey_cable.jpg
printer cable.jpg
printer_cable_packaged.jpg
rom_expnsion_board.jpg
smart_model_controller.png
telcom_1.2_rom.jpg
unknown.jpg
viatel_board.jpg
viatel_board_and_stickers.jpg
wifiser.jpg

A Brief History of Microworld BASIC article

Tue, 05 May 2026 17:29:12 +1000

Thanks to MbeeTech for providing this Wordstar document that was found on a Basic source code disk.

It was written by Garner Annett and dated 25 May 1987 with a small update on 9 June 1988. It covers the history of Microworld BASIC from version 5.00 through to the last version 6.35 and includes both ROM and floppy drive versions. We have most of the versions available in the Repository.

The Wordstar doc was loaded into Wordperfect on my Win 11 PC. It natively supports Wordstar 3.0, 3.3 and 4.0 versions and then saved out as a MS Word document. A couple of minor layout issues were fixed, margins adjusted and saved out as a PDF.

So in the MbeeTech Repository in the Microbee\Documentation\Articles folder we placed

MicroWorld_Basic_History.pdf

Super Expansion Board for the Super-80

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 08:48:46 +1000

Thanks to gg for providing pictures of the PCB and schematics of his Super Expansion Board. After much cleanup they are now converted to readable PDF files.

The Super Expander Board provides Joystick, Paddles and Centronics Printer ports as well as user Input and Output ports.

So in the MbeeTech Vintage Repository in the Super-80/Documentation/Hardware/PCB folder we placed

super-80_expansion_board_pcb.pdf

super-80_expansion_board_schematics.pdf <-- in the Documentation/Hardware//Schematics folder