<![CDATA[Discussion Forum for all things Microbee

<![CDATA[Discussion Forum for all things Microbee - Buzzing About]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/ Tue, 10 Nov 2026 14:01:16 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[WA Microbee Meetup]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1127.html Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:09:41 +1100 shane.crozier]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1127.html <![CDATA[Happy 7th Birthday to the Forum & Repository]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1117.html Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:10:20 +1100 ChickenMan]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1117.html
In the past 12 months we have been busy and there has been many additions to the repository as well as a few of files updated and replaced with better quality scans, complete docs that had missing pages or software to later versions or to working versions.

AppliedTech-Pre-bee had 2 additional files
Documentation had .......180 additional files plus
Software had ................119 additional files plus 1 updated
Public had .................... 8 additional files
Vintage had ..................147 additional files plus 9 updated

So that's a total of 456 additional files added to the repository and 10 files updated in the last 12 months. These numbers are higher than last years (about a 2.5 times) however new material is getting much harder to find. This now makes a file total of the Repository to be just about 13,500 files all up, wow!
A big thanks to everyone that has contributed, bee it small or large, to help with both the forum and repository grow for the help to all our members and for the future. Lets see if this can be repeated in the next 12 months, though it is getting harder to find new material.

While the forum is mostly Microbee orientated, we do support all Australian Made and Produced Vintage computers plus 2 other imports that were well supported here in Australia, being the Exidy Sorcerer and Dick Smiths System 80. We are continually looking for new material to archive for the future, so if anyone can help with anything Microbee or any other Australian Vintage computer, bee it small or large, that would be greatly appreciated. We can image disks, scan docs, convert images to pdfs, dump tapes, read ROMS, etc for you if you cannot, just ask.

Happy 7th Birthday and thanks to everyone for their continued support.

Alan

Alan]]>
In the past 12 months we have been busy and there has been many additions to the repository as well as a few of files updated and replaced with better quality scans, complete docs that had missing pages or software to later versions or to working versions.

AppliedTech-Pre-bee had 2 additional files
Documentation had .......180 additional files plus
Software had ................119 additional files plus 1 updated
Public had .................... 8 additional files
Vintage had ..................147 additional files plus 9 updated

So that's a total of 456 additional files added to the repository and 10 files updated in the last 12 months. These numbers are higher than last years (about a 2.5 times) however new material is getting much harder to find. This now makes a file total of the Repository to be just about 13,500 files all up, wow!
A big thanks to everyone that has contributed, bee it small or large, to help with both the forum and repository grow for the help to all our members and for the future. Lets see if this can be repeated in the next 12 months, though it is getting harder to find new material.

While the forum is mostly Microbee orientated, we do support all Australian Made and Produced Vintage computers plus 2 other imports that were well supported here in Australia, being the Exidy Sorcerer and Dick Smiths System 80. We are continually looking for new material to archive for the future, so if anyone can help with anything Microbee or any other Australian Vintage computer, bee it small or large, that would be greatly appreciated. We can image disks, scan docs, convert images to pdfs, dump tapes, read ROMS, etc for you if you cannot, just ask.

Happy 7th Birthday and thanks to everyone for their continued support.

Alan

Alan]]> <![CDATA[Living in the '70s]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1100.html Wed, 23 Sep 2026 21:32:27 +1000 Graham72]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1100.html Do you remember Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manor column in Byte magazine and in particular his tales of Zeke and Zeke II, the S-100 systems on which he wrote fiction and did other pro tasks through the late 1980s. In 1979 he described the original Zeke in onComputing magazine:

Cromemco Z-80 CPU 64K RAM iCOM 8-inch dual floppy drive
Two 15-inch displays Memorex keyboard Diablo 1620 printer

This cost him USA$12,000. Assuming that's 1979 money, USA$55,000 in 2026. For a 64K system. "Glitches and all, this is so much faster than work on a typewriter that there's no comparison; I estimate that it saves me several months each year; months I can use for travel, or reading, or plain loafing."

S-100 systems aren't remembered the way other 1977 computers are, even though people were doing real work on them.

Summer 1979 onComputing magazine including Pournelle article : https://archive.org/details/197907OnComputingPremiereIssue]]> Do you remember Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manor column in Byte magazine and in particular his tales of Zeke and Zeke II, the S-100 systems on which he wrote fiction and did other pro tasks through the late 1980s. In 1979 he described the original Zeke in onComputing magazine:

Cromemco Z-80 CPU 64K RAM iCOM 8-inch dual floppy drive
Two 15-inch displays Memorex keyboard Diablo 1620 printer

This cost him USA$12,000. Assuming that's 1979 money, USA$55,000 in 2026. For a 64K system. "Glitches and all, this is so much faster than work on a typewriter that there's no comparison; I estimate that it saves me several months each year; months I can use for travel, or reading, or plain loafing."

S-100 systems aren't remembered the way other 1977 computers are, even though people were doing real work on them.

Summer 1979 onComputing magazine including Pournelle article : https://archive.org/details/197907OnComputingPremiereIssue]]> <![CDATA[Radical Computing]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1097.html Fri, 18 Sep 2026 20:03:28 +1000 Graham72]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1097.html
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/c.../107148762

Radical Computing is exhibiting at the National Communication Museum in Melbourne from 19 September 2026, until 21February 2027.]]>
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/c.../107148762

Radical Computing is exhibiting at the National Communication Museum in Melbourne from 19 September 2026, until 21February 2027.]]> <![CDATA[Microbee Poke and Peek colour registers for color basic 6.35p]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1085.html Wed, 09 Sep 2026 05:44:08 +1000 taren0305]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1085.html
Current foreground colour

Code:
POKE 156,n

Current background colour

Code:
POKE 157,n

Half-intensity background

Code:
POKE 158,n

I was curious where the microbee stored its colour address, so went on a hunt. its same as poke 646,? on commodore64.. much faster then color ??]]>
Current foreground colour

Code:
POKE 156,n

Current background colour

Code:
POKE 157,n

Half-intensity background

Code:
POKE 158,n

I was curious where the microbee stored its colour address, so went on a hunt. its same as poke 646,? on commodore64.. much faster then color ??]]> <![CDATA[ETI 9668 EPROM Programmer]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1077.html Sun, 30 Aug 2026 15:41:20 +1000 shane.crozier]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1077.html
It plugs into the IO Port (has a 15 way DIN) and is able to program 2716/32/64 and 2532 eproms.]]>
It plugs into the IO Port (has a 15 way DIN) and is able to program 2716/32/64 and 2532 eproms.]]> <![CDATA[The Fascinating Story of Zilog and the Z-80]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1071.html Sat, 22 Aug 2026 10:21:08 +1000 ChickenMan]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1071.html
]]>
]]> <![CDATA[Microbee's on 60 Minutes in 1982]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1062.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 09:52:18 +1000 ChickenMan]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1062.html kimjohn for bringing these to my attention.

On 4 April 1982, MLC School, Sydney made history as the first school in Australia to bring computers into classroom learning.
Each student in Kent House’s 5W class received a Microbee desktop computer, launching the pioneering Computer Aided Learning Project.
It was so groundbreaking that 60 Minutes filmed a segment, calling it “the first of its kind in Australia, and possibly the world.”

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story...Vx1sCU6qgA#

Also, the Prendiville Catholic College, Perth show off the Microbee being used back in 1986. Check it out also, at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C4x1GzPK1/ In the first 1986 pic, top left corner you see the Microbee Starnet server with HD.]]> kimjohn for bringing these to my attention.

On 4 April 1982, MLC School, Sydney made history as the first school in Australia to bring computers into classroom learning.
Each student in Kent House’s 5W class received a Microbee desktop computer, launching the pioneering Computer Aided Learning Project.
It was so groundbreaking that 60 Minutes filmed a segment, calling it “the first of its kind in Australia, and possibly the world.”

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story...Vx1sCU6qgA#

Also, the Prendiville Catholic College, Perth show off the Microbee being used back in 1986. Check it out also, at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C4x1GzPK1/ In the first 1986 pic, top left corner you see the Microbee Starnet server with HD.]]> <![CDATA[SINCLAIR QL]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1049.html Sat, 11 Jul 2026 20:16:38 +1000 Graham72]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1049.html
It was an interesting concept that also lives on today in emulation. So I thought can I port the original 2mhz bee to it. And the answer is yes. A Z80 core can be quickly coded and the 6545 can also be emulated. See attached code = flags need to be added.

However, I wont be pursuing it, my 5.29 emulation needs more smoke tests. The 1980s saw many systems that sadly the IBM/Apple behemoths annihlated. But fun to remember what may have been.

Any readers used one?

*I understand the later Samsung tape loops were so over-engineered they still work today.

.txt

z80core.disassembly.txt (Size: 3.09 KB / Downloads: 71) ]]>
It was an interesting concept that also lives on today in emulation. So I thought can I port the original 2mhz bee to it. And the answer is yes. A Z80 core can be quickly coded and the 6545 can also be emulated. See attached code = flags need to be added.

However, I wont be pursuing it, my 5.29 emulation needs more smoke tests. The 1980s saw many systems that sadly the IBM/Apple behemoths annihlated. But fun to remember what may have been.

Any readers used one?

*I understand the later Samsung tape loops were so over-engineered they still work today.

.txt

z80core.disassembly.txt (Size: 3.09 KB / Downloads: 71) ]]> <![CDATA[Adding assembly language code into Microbee BASIC?]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1031.html Fri, 22 May 2026 16:30:31 +1000 markfre]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1031.html
i.e. Most of the program in BASIC, but with some assembly language routines added in.

What ways were there? USR, Call or adding to REM statement?
Do you have examples?

Thanks.]]>
i.e. Most of the program in BASIC, but with some assembly language routines added in.

What ways were there? USR, Call or adding to REM statement?
Do you have examples?

Thanks.]]> <![CDATA[New Microbee History video on the @Littlecar Youtube Channel]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1027.html Sat, 16 May 2026 09:15:58 +1000 MbeeTech]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1027.html Thanks to Mr. Lurch for alerting me to it after Andy reached out, we've both been involved in the script.

It's compact at only 18 mins long, but does a great job of telling the major points and is well worth the watch.

Here's the link :

Australia's Greatest Computer? The MicroBee Story by LittleCar]]> Thanks to Mr. Lurch for alerting me to it after Andy reached out, we've both been involved in the script.

It's compact at only 18 mins long, but does a great job of telling the major points and is well worth the watch.

Here's the link :

Australia's Greatest Computer? The MicroBee Story by LittleCar]]> <![CDATA[50 years of Tiny Basic]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1019.html Fri, 01 May 2026 17:56:28 +1000 Graham72]]> https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-1019.html
Implementations soon flowed in. In January 1976, the first issue of Dr. Dobb’s Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia, Running Light Without Overbyte was published — the birthplace of Tiny BASIC in working code.

Two Tiny BASIC implementations published in DDJ would prove historically significant for Australian computing. The first, by Dick Whipple and John Arnold of Tyler, Texas, appeared in the January 1976 issue. The second, Palo Alto Tiny BASIC by Li-Chen Wang, appeared in May 1976 and later became the basis for Tandy’s TRS-80 Level I BASIC in 1977.

Whipple and Arnold took an unconventional approach: rather than using an assembler, they wrote their interpreter directly in octal! Fellow Tiny BASIC author Tom Pittman later described this as “a surprisingly popular Luddite methodology whose proponents have never survived long in the marketplace.” Harsh, but it speaks to the unmaintainability of code written without symbolic structure.

From Octal to MicroBee: The Lineage of MicroWorld BASIC

In January 1976, Dick Whipple and John Arnold published TBX — a Tiny BASIC interpreter for the Intel 8080 — in Dr. Dobb’s Journal. Written entirely in octal with no assembler, it supported variables named as a single letter or a letter followed by a digit (0–7). By May 1976 it had been paired with Robert Suding’s TV-Cassette Operating System for The Digital Group’s S-100 hardware.

Within a year, Whipple and Arnold commercialised an expanded version called **Basic Etc**, sold through Binary Systems Inc in Richardson, Texas. By July 1977, a disk-capable version — **Disk Basic Etc** — was announced. The product targeted the iCOM FD3712 dual 8-inch floppy drive (the MITS/Pertec/Altair standard). It assembled to roughly 12,000 bytes of 8080 code from a 6,000-line source listing, sold for $100, and retained the distinctive base-8 variable system (A0–Z7).

A business suite built on it included a general ledger package (CPA) and a letter-writing system (Write-On). By June 1979, both Whipple and Arnold were listed as Associate Editors of Kilobaud Microcomputing. That same summer, The Digital Group declared bankruptcy, which destroyed much of Binary Systems Inc’s primary customer base. The $100 source listing continued to be available by mail order.

In Australia, Applied Technology of Waitara, NSW, was selling S-100 hardware and software, including MicroWorld BASIC for the 2650 processor. Written in 1979 by Ian Binnie (with a manual by Martin Hood), this interpreter used the identical A0–Z7 base-8 variable naming convention.

Meanwhile, Sydney hobbyist Alan Peek had independently written a 2650 BASIC in 1978 that used only single-letter variables — confirming that the two-character base-8 system in MicroWorld BASIC was a deliberate design choice, not an obvious default.

In 1982, Matthew Starr was credited with MicroWorld BASIC for the MicroBee. The A0–Z7 variable convention survived intact into every MicroBee shipped — around 70,000 machines used in Australian and international schools — carrying the octal philosophy of the two Texas hobbyists forward six years and twelve thousand miles

Earlier, by 1981, Ron Harris had ported BASIC ETC to the Zilog Z80 for Dick Smith Electronics, producing Super-80 BASIC. The Super-80 Reference Manual explicitly states:

“Developed and written by John Arnold and Dick Whipple. Re-written and modified by Ron Harris for Dick Smith Electronics. Super-80 BASIC is based on a BASIC interpreter written in the USA by East Texas Computers, originally titled ‘BASIC ETC’.

Harris was closely connected to the MicroBee ecosystem — he also wrote EDASM (the Z80 Editor/Assembler that shipped as an optional ROM for the MicroBee) and co-authored the Graphic WordBee manual.

MicroWorld BASIC, written by Matthew Starr and burned into the MicroBee’s 16KB ROM from 1982 onward, thus shows the clearest surviving evidence of this lineage. Its variable naming convention of A0–Z7 (letter plus digit 0–7) is identical to that of BASIC ETC and distinct from Microsoft BASIC’s 0–9 range. This is not coincidence — it is a direct inherited trait from the 1976–77 octal implementation by Whipple and Arnold in Tyler, Texas, through Ron Harris’s Z80 port, and into every Australian MicroBee.

Dick Whipple continued working in electronics, particularly in Amateur Radio. He contributed to Nuts & Volts magazine and later published the two-book From Scratch series on Amazon 11 - 1) Build Your Own Computer and 11 -2) Build Your Own BASIC, the latter implementing Tiny BASIC on an FPGA. His author biography notes that he “was there at the beginning of the Microcomputer Revolution, programming an Intel 8080, first in machine code then in assembler” — a quiet acknowledgement of where it all started.

NB: “East Texas Computers” appears only in Australian publications with no other records found. It seems to have been an informal or trading name for Whipple and Arnold / Binary Systems???

references
"\micro_basic_2650_manual.pdf"
"\dick_smith_super80_brochure.pdf"
"\Creative_Computing_v05_n04_1979_Apr.pdf"
"\Interface Age 1979-03.pdf"
"\Kilobaud_Microcomputing_1979_June.pdf"
"\dr_dobbs_journal_vols 1-2-03.pdf"
\amazon.com.au\
\archive.org\
\microbee_repository\]]>
Implementations soon flowed in. In January 1976, the first issue of Dr. Dobb’s Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia, Running Light Without Overbyte was published — the birthplace of Tiny BASIC in working code.

Two Tiny BASIC implementations published in DDJ would prove historically significant for Australian computing. The first, by Dick Whipple and John Arnold of Tyler, Texas, appeared in the January 1976 issue. The second, Palo Alto Tiny BASIC by Li-Chen Wang, appeared in May 1976 and later became the basis for Tandy’s TRS-80 Level I BASIC in 1977.

Whipple and Arnold took an unconventional approach: rather than using an assembler, they wrote their interpreter directly in octal! Fellow Tiny BASIC author Tom Pittman later described this as “a surprisingly popular Luddite methodology whose proponents have never survived long in the marketplace.” Harsh, but it speaks to the unmaintainability of code written without symbolic structure.

From Octal to MicroBee: The Lineage of MicroWorld BASIC

In January 1976, Dick Whipple and John Arnold published TBX — a Tiny BASIC interpreter for the Intel 8080 — in Dr. Dobb’s Journal. Written entirely in octal with no assembler, it supported variables named as a single letter or a letter followed by a digit (0–7). By May 1976 it had been paired with Robert Suding’s TV-Cassette Operating System for The Digital Group’s S-100 hardware.

Within a year, Whipple and Arnold commercialised an expanded version called **Basic Etc**, sold through Binary Systems Inc in Richardson, Texas. By July 1977, a disk-capable version — **Disk Basic Etc** — was announced. The product targeted the iCOM FD3712 dual 8-inch floppy drive (the MITS/Pertec/Altair standard). It assembled to roughly 12,000 bytes of 8080 code from a 6,000-line source listing, sold for $100, and retained the distinctive base-8 variable system (A0–Z7).

A business suite built on it included a general ledger package (CPA) and a letter-writing system (Write-On). By June 1979, both Whipple and Arnold were listed as Associate Editors of Kilobaud Microcomputing. That same summer, The Digital Group declared bankruptcy, which destroyed much of Binary Systems Inc’s primary customer base. The $100 source listing continued to be available by mail order.

In Australia, Applied Technology of Waitara, NSW, was selling S-100 hardware and software, including MicroWorld BASIC for the 2650 processor. Written in 1979 by Ian Binnie (with a manual by Martin Hood), this interpreter used the identical A0–Z7 base-8 variable naming convention.

Meanwhile, Sydney hobbyist Alan Peek had independently written a 2650 BASIC in 1978 that used only single-letter variables — confirming that the two-character base-8 system in MicroWorld BASIC was a deliberate design choice, not an obvious default.

In 1982, Matthew Starr was credited with MicroWorld BASIC for the MicroBee. The A0–Z7 variable convention survived intact into every MicroBee shipped — around 70,000 machines used in Australian and international schools — carrying the octal philosophy of the two Texas hobbyists forward six years and twelve thousand miles

Earlier, by 1981, Ron Harris had ported BASIC ETC to the Zilog Z80 for Dick Smith Electronics, producing Super-80 BASIC. The Super-80 Reference Manual explicitly states:

“Developed and written by John Arnold and Dick Whipple. Re-written and modified by Ron Harris for Dick Smith Electronics. Super-80 BASIC is based on a BASIC interpreter written in the USA by East Texas Computers, originally titled ‘BASIC ETC’.

Harris was closely connected to the MicroBee ecosystem — he also wrote EDASM (the Z80 Editor/Assembler that shipped as an optional ROM for the MicroBee) and co-authored the Graphic WordBee manual.

MicroWorld BASIC, written by Matthew Starr and burned into the MicroBee’s 16KB ROM from 1982 onward, thus shows the clearest surviving evidence of this lineage. Its variable naming convention of A0–Z7 (letter plus digit 0–7) is identical to that of BASIC ETC and distinct from Microsoft BASIC’s 0–9 range. This is not coincidence — it is a direct inherited trait from the 1976–77 octal implementation by Whipple and Arnold in Tyler, Texas, through Ron Harris’s Z80 port, and into every Australian MicroBee.

Dick Whipple continued working in electronics, particularly in Amateur Radio. He contributed to Nuts & Volts magazine and later published the two-book From Scratch series on Amazon 11 - 1) Build Your Own Computer and 11 -2) Build Your Own BASIC, the latter implementing Tiny BASIC on an FPGA. His author biography notes that he “was there at the beginning of the Microcomputer Revolution, programming an Intel 8080, first in machine code then in assembler” — a quiet acknowledgement of where it all started.

NB: “East Texas Computers” appears only in Australian publications with no other records found. It seems to have been an informal or trading name for Whipple and Arnold / Binary Systems???