NABU 1100 Computer System

NABU 1100 Computer System

hardware: computer system

Historical context

The NABU 1100 system was manufactured by NABU Manufacturing Corp. in the early 1980s. The system consisted of the the NABU 1100 computer (designed by Toronto-based Andicom -- one of the companies amalgamated into NABU) and the NABU 4404 display terminal (designed and manufctured by Volcer-Craig Ltd. -- another Canadian company merged into NABU).

Apart from being sold to Canadian customers through the Ottawa-based Computer Innovations retail stores (which become part of NABU as well), the system was internally used as software development platform for the NABU Network -- a novel cable TV-based delivery method for software and information using world's first cable-ready computers.

The NABU 1100 computer hardwer was hosted in a large cabinet with casters on it for manoeuverability. A drawer at the bottom of the cabinet was provided to store software and manuals.

The NABU 4404 display terminal was a stand-alone, ASCII, serial asynchronous computer peripheral that could be connected to any computer equipped with an RSC232C interface. NABU recommended other display terminals to be used with the NABU 1100 computer as well, such as the NABU 404, 3100, and 4416 terminals.

NABU 1100 technical specifications

• Bus: S-100
• CPU: Zilog Z80A CPU at 4 MHz
• RAM: 62 Kbytes
• ROM: 2 Knytes
• card slots for: CPU board (ACP-1101) floppy disk controller board (AFC-1100), I/O board (AIO-1100), and memory board (ADM-1000), and additional 4 user supplied boards
• external storage: two buil-in 8" Shugart diskette drives (SA850), double sided, capacity = 1600 Kbytes (unformated)
• ports: two RS-232C serial I/O, and parallel I/O

NABU 4404 Terminal specifications

• CPU: Zilog Z80A
• display: 12" anti-glare, 24 lines, 80 characters per line, normal or revers video
• keyboard: detachable, QWERTY, upper/lower case characters
• 8 switches to control the screen display
• ports: EIA RS232C communications interface
• data rates: from 110 up to 19200 baud
• options: serial and parallel interfaces, numeric key-pad and function keys, APL character set, ccoloured anti-glare display screen (amber or green)

NABU 1100 software and documentation

• CP/M operating system,
• NABU 1100 User's Manual, Manufacturing Corp., 1981December 1981,
• The NABU 1100 System: A Technical Guide, Nabu Manufacturing Corp., 1981,
• VOLKER-CRAIG User's Manual, VC4404 The CHAT Video Display Terminal, Volker-Craig/NABU, Rev. 3, March 1982,
• VC4404 Video Display Terminal, Service Manual, Volker-Craig, 198?
• SA850/851 Bi-Compliant Double Sided Diskette Storage Drive Service Manual, Shugart,
• NABU 3100 Users Manual, NABU Commercial Terminals Ltd., 198?
• NABU 3100 Service Manual (preliminary), NABU Commercial Terminals Ltd. August 3, 1983.

The museum has a NABU 1100  computer with the above mentioned software and documentation as well as NABU 4404 and 404 terminals.

NABU Manufacturing Corp.

donated by D.J. Knigh

H.16

Canada, 1980-1986