1973 Don Lancaster TV Typewriter

The TV Typewriter first appeared on the cover of the September 1973 issue of Radio Electronics Magazine. It's inventor, Don Lancaster, was an engineer working at Goodyear Aerospace developing high resolution radar screens for the military. This was the very first device that allowed a person to 'typewrite' words on the screen of their television set. Although not a computer per se, it introduced the world to the concept of affordable home computing. It cost around $120 to build in 1973 and had to be assembled completely by the end user. This particular unit was built between 2014 and 2018 by owner Brad Hodge using 95% vintage parts and components. It's a fully authentic piece and best of all, it works!

1974 Mark-8 Mini Computer Kit

The Mark-8 mini computer was designed by Jon Titus, a graduate student, in 1974. Titus' computer, available only in kit form, was just the third computer *ever* to feature a relatively new innovation: the microprocessor, or CPU. It used a 0.5mhz (that's right, half a megahertz!) CPU and could be configured for up to 4 kilobytes of memory. The project was featured on the cover of Radio Electronics Magazine in July of 1974, beating the (eventually much more popular) Altair 8800 by several months. The machine consists of six boards. To build the kit, you could pay $5.00 to Radio Electronics and they would send you a construction guide containing the plans, including the patterns for the printed circuit boards. Titus also arranged to have approximately 400 sets of printed circuit kit boards made available for those who did not want to make their own, from a company called Techniques. We are very privileged to have one of less than 20 surviving examples. We have nine pristine, unbuilt kit boards (the six main boards plus three extra memory boards to expand to the full 4K). Our unbuilt boards are believed to be the only unbuilt set in existence! We also have two original copies of the Radio Electronics Construction Guide for the project. The picture in our gallery is of the CPU board.

1976 Processor Technology Sol-20

In 1976 an entrepreneur and an an engineer, Bob Marsh and Lee Felsenstein, were owners of a company called Processor Technology. Processor Technology came into existence with their VDM-1, the first video 'card' for the Altair. In 1976 they melded the VDM-1 into a component of a general purpose microcomputer called the Sol. Initially conceived as an 'intelligent terminal', the Intel 8080 powered Sol became a computer in its own right and could run programs written in Assembly or other languages such as BASIC. The Sol-20 was one of several models they offered. This iconic machine created the form factor home computers would follow for years after: a complete circuit board, keyboard, power supply and case all neatly assembled together. The Sol-20, pictured here, became iconic with its center cut walnut sides, making wood a popular feature of computer cases for several years to come.... or at least until fire regulations forbade it. Our Sol-20 is one of approximately 10,000 made. These are quite rare machines and we are fortunate to have a (mostly) working example.

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