Heathkit H8

The H8 was a computer company Heathkit in kit form and was sold from 1977. He was the first computer for the home user. The basic kit cost to launch U.S. $ 375.

Technology

The computer based on an Intel 8080A. He had the basic configuration of a keyboard with 16 keys for entering octal data. To display data from an LED display seven segment display was installed. The basic kit ROM was included with a size of 8 kB. In addition, memory cards were available with a size of 4 kB each, with which the main memory could be expanded up to 32 kB. For the connection of external devices, the system had a proprietary 50-pin bus. The system was operated with the operating system HDOS.

However, the kit alone was not yet operational. It was at least requires a H8 -1 memory extension card for U.S. $ 140. In addition, the system could be expanded to include the following components:

• Datasette H8 -5 for the price of 110 U.S. $
• H9 terminal with screen and alphanumeric keyboard for 530 U.S. $
• H10 paper tape reader / puncher - for U.S. $ 350

From 1978, a floppy disk drive with two drives for the price of 675 U.S. $ was available.