Pied Piper computer

Title

Pied Piper computer

Subject

hardware: home computer

Description

The Pied Piper was designed in the early 1980s by Semi-Tech Microelectronics Corp. (STM) and advertised as a portable, low-cost, versatile business computer. It was sold with the Perfect Software package. The Pied Piper consisted of a CPU unit in plastic enclosure with a built-in keyboard and a single diskette drive. The computer had a keyboard cover which enhanced the computer's portability. It could use any standard TV set or a monitor as a display terminal. In 1983, the Pied Piper was shown at the NCC show in Anaheim, California and at the Fall Comdex show in Las Vegas.

The computer operated under the  CP/M 2.2 OS and was
sold with software package from Perfect Software Inc. Optional software included MBASIC (Microsoft), dBase II (Ashton-Tate), WordStar (MicroPro International), and Multiplan (Microsoft).

Hardware:
  • CPU: Z80A CPU
  • RAM: 64 Kbytes
  • VRAM: 2 Kbytes
  • ROM: 8 Kbytes
  • display: text mode only (24 lines x 40 or 80 characters), 16 colors
  • keyboard: QWERTY, 62 keys
  • ports: serial  RS232C port, parallel printer port, RF Modulator port, external diskette drive port
  • diskette drive: 5.25 inch (164 Kbytes, formatted)
  • expandability: expansion for two boards, optional external diskette drive, interface for hard drive 
The museum has a Pied Piper, model PPC 001, serial number 100983189 and the following software and documentation:

Software and Documentation:
  • PerfectWriter (with manual), Perfect Software (1983)
  • PerfectSpeller (with manual), Perfect Software (1983)
  • PerfectCalc (with manual), Perfect Software (1983)
  • PerfectFiler (with manual), Perfect Software (1983)
  • Modem Master (with Modem Communications Manual), Semi-Tech Microelectronics (1983)
The computer was purchased on December 17th, 1983 at Gladstone Electronics -- one of the most popular computer stores in Toronto  in the early 1980s.

Creator

Semi-Tech Microelectronics Corp

Source

[no text]

Publisher

[no text]

Date

[no text]

Contributor

[no text]

Rights

[no text]

Relation

[no text]

Format

Hardware

Language

[no text]

Type

Hardware

Identifier

H.18

Coverage

[no text]

Online Submission

No

Contributor is Creator

[no text]

Files

Citation

Semi-Tech Microelectronics Corp, “Pied Piper computer,” York University Computer Museum Canada, accessed October 7, 2025, https://museum.eecs.yorku.ca/items/show/23.

Output Formats