HP Series 80: Difference between revisions

The Hewlett-Packard series 80 of small scientific desktop computers was introduced in 1979, beginning with the popular model 85 targeted at engineering and control applications.

The HP-85's typewriter-style desktop case contained a 5" CRT screen, a tape drive (DC-100 cartridges, 210 kBytes capacity, 650 bytes/s transfer) and a thermal printer. It could be expanded through four module slots in the back that could hold memory modules, ROM extensions, or interfaces such as RS-232 and GPIB.

The machines were built around an HP-proprietary CPU running at 625 kHz (0.6 MHz, sic!) and had a BASIC interpreter in ROM. Programs could be stored on DC-100 cartridge tapes or on disk/tape units connected through GPIB.

Despite the comparatively slow processor, the machines were quite advanced compared to other desktop computers of the time. The standard number format was a 12 digit (decimal) mantissa with exponents up to +/-499, and the interpreter supported a full set of scientific functions at this accuracy.

They also included graphics functions (on screen and hard copy) in the standard model and could easily be expanded in hardware and software - for example, matrix operations could be added to the BASIC interpreter through option ROMs. For the larger HP-86 and HP-87 series, HP also offered a plug-in CP/M processor card.

The basic model HP-85 without options was priced at $3250 in 1980, which would be equivalent to approximately $7600 in 2005 dollars^[1].

Models

Model	Year	Price	Remarks
HP-85A	1979	$3,250	16K RAM, 32K ROM; 5" CRT, 32×16 text or 256×192 graphics; tape drive, printer
HP-83	1981	$2,250	HP-85 less printer and tape drive
HP-86A	1982	$1,795	external composite monitor, no tape drive or printer, 64K RAM
HP-87	1982	?	9" 80×16 (256×128) display, no printer, no tape, built-in HPIB; 32K RAM
HP-85B	?	?	update to HP-85A; 64K RAM; mass storage ROM included
HP-86B	?	?	update to HP-86; more memory built in
HP-87XM	?	$2,995	update to HP-87; 128K RAM
HP-9915A/B	1980	?	industrial rack-mount version of HP-85A without screen or keyboard, I/O ROM and Program Development ROM built in

ROM extensions

I/O	to access GPIB, serial and parallel (GPIO) interfaces
Mass Storage	to access diskette/disk drives on GPIB. Built into 85B, 86, 87.
Plotter	including screen-dump to external dot matrix printer
Advanced Programming
Electronic Disk	using parts of RAM as a disk drive
Matrix	Mathematical matrix operations including inversion (solving linear equation systems)
Assembler
Program Development
MIKSAM	file management
EMS	access to SS-80 compatible mass storage
Service

Hardware extensions

82936A ROM drawer for up to 6 of the above ROMs (max 1 per unit)

82903A 16K Memory module for HP-85 (max 1 per unit)

82908A 64K Memory module for HP-86/87

82909A 128K Memory module for HP-86/87

82967A Speech synthesis module

82900A CP/M System for HP-86/87. Contains a Zilog Z80 microprocessor and 64 Kbytes dedicated RAM

82928A System monitor for assembly development

82929A Programmable ROM drawer for standard EPROMs

Interfaces

82937A HP-IB Interface (GPIB, IEEE-488, IEC625)

82938A HP-IL Interface

82939A RS-232 Serial Interface

82940A GPIO Interface (general-purpose 4 × 8bit parallel)

82941A BCD Interface (parallel, 11 binary coded decimal digits + sign)

82949A Printer Interface (Centronics parallel)

82950A Modem (110/300 bps, Bell 103/113)

82966A Data Link Interface (to connect to HP1000/3000 hosts)

External links

• http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp85.htm
• http://hpmuseum.net/exhibit.php?class=1&cat=9
• http://www.series80.org/

• Repairing the HP-85 tape drive

Notes

1. ^ Inflation Conversion Factors for Dollars