The Galaksija was a build-it-yourself computer designed by Voja Antonić. It was featured in the special edition Računari u vašoj kući of a popular eponymous science magazine, published late December 1983 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Kits were available but not required as it could be built entirely out of standard off-the-shelf parts. It was later also available in complete form.
A monochromic image is composed of one color. The term monochrome comes from the Ancient Greek: μονόχρωμος, romanized: monochromos, lit. 'having one color'.
The hardware of Galaksija Plus was created by Nenad Dunjić and software by Milan Tadić in 1985. The goal was to enhance original Galaksija while keeping the original goal of keeping things inexpensive and simple for the constructor.
Continuing to use Static RAM in Galaksija Plus would have significantly increased the cost, so designers decided to switch to dynamic, built out of 4416 chips. Larger memory prompted the need for faster cassette tape data recording rate, which was increased to 1200 bit/s by modifying another piece of firmware.
In telecommunications and computing, bit rate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time.
In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for the device's specific hardware. Firmware can either provide a standardized operating environment for the device's more complex software, or, for less complex devices, act as the device's complete operating system, performing all control, monitoring and data manipulation functions. Typical examples of devices containing firmware are embedded systems, consumer appliances, computers, computer peripherals, and others. Almost all electronic devices beyond the simplest contain some firmware.
Having enough memory to store the bit map and since Galaksija's own CPU directly drove the video signal, video generation hardware did not have to change significantly. Video generation routine was modified to take the raw video data from the new video memory instead of relying on character set ROMs. Some games for original Galaksija used to do a similar trick, albeit in a limited fashion due to restrictive memory capacity.
In computing, source code is any collection of code, possibly with comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source code. The source code is often transformed by an assembler or compiler into binary machine code understood by the computer. The machine code might then be stored for execution at a later time. Alternatively, source code may be interpreted and thus immediately executed.
The final hardware upgrade was addition of AY-3-8910 sound-generation chip, providing contemporary-standard sound to Galaksija without the need to use tricks such as with the cassette tape port (see original Galaksija).
Galaksija Plus featured new software additions: Graphic primitives in BASIC language - commands to draw lines, boxes, circles, other graphic primitives as well as drawing text on graphical screen with different font. Additional firmware (ROM C) also featured Full Screen Source Editor and soft scrolling.
The dinar was the currency of the three Yugoslav states: the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia between 1918 and 2006. The dinar was subdivided into 100 para. In the early 1990s, economic mismanagement made the government bankrupt and forced it to take money from the savings of the country's citizens. This caused severe and prolonged hyperinflation, which has been described as the worst in history. Large amounts of money were printed, with coins becoming redundant and inflation rates reaching over one billion per cent per year. This hyperinflation caused five revaluations between 1990 and 1994; in total there were eight distinct dinari. Six of the eight have been given distinguishing names and separate ISO 4217 codes. The highest denomination banknote was 500 billion dinars, which became worthless a fortnight after it was printed.
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor or main processor, is the electronic circuitry within a computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and input/output (I/O) operations specified by the instructions. The computer industry has used the term "central processing unit" at least since the early 1960s. Traditionally, the term "CPU" refers to a processor, more specifically to its processing unit and control unit (CU), distinguishing these core elements of a computer from external components such as main memory and I/O circuitry.
Read-only memory (ROM) is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be electronically modified after the manufacture of the memory device. Read-only memory is useful for storing software that is rarely changed during the life of the system, sometimes known as firmware. Software applications for programmable devices can be distributed as plug-in cartridges containing read-only memory.
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information.
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe.
The Jupiter Ace by Jupiter Cantab was a British home computer of the early 1980s. The Ace differed from other microcomputers of the time in that its programming environment used Forth instead of the more popular BASIC.
The Commodore 128, also known as the C128, C-128, C= 128, is the last 8-bit home computer that was commercially released by Commodore Business Machines (CBM). Introduced in January 1985 at the CES in Las Vegas, it appeared three years after its predecessor, the bestselling Commodore 64.
The Electronika BK is a series of 16-bit PDP-11-compatible Soviet home computers developed under the Electronika brand by NPO Scientific Center, the leading Soviet microcomputer design team at the time. It was also the predecessor of the more powerful UKNC and DVK micros. First released in 1984, they are based on the К1801ВМ1 and were the only "official" Soviet home computer design in mass production.
The Acorn Atom is a home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd from 1980 to 1982, when it was replaced by the BBC Micro. The Micro began life as an upgrade to the Atom, originally known as the Proton.
The Compukit UK101 microcomputer (1979) is a kit clone of the Ohio Scientific Superboard II single-board computer, with a few enhancements for the UK market - notably replacing the 24×24 screen display with a more useful 48×16 layout working at UK video frequencies. The video output is black and white with 256 characters generated by a two kilobyte ROM. It has no bit-mapped graphics capability. The video is output through a UHF modulator, designed to connect to a TV set.
The BBC Master is a home computer released by Acorn Computers in early 1986. It was designed and built for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and was the successor to the BBC Micro Model B. The Master 128 remained in production until 1993.
The Tangerine Microtan 65 was a 6502 based single board microcomputer, first sold in 1979, which could be expanded into, what was for its day, a comprehensive and powerful system. The design became the basis for what later became the ORIC ATMOS and later computers, which had similar keyboard addressing and tape I/O as in the Microtan 65. The Microtan 65 had a single step function that could be used for debugging at the hardware level. The computer was available as ready-built boards or as kits consisting of board and components requiring soldering together.
The EACA EG2000 Colour Genie was a computer produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA and introduced in Germany in August 1982. It followed their earlier Video Genie I and II computers and was released around the same time as the business-oriented Video Genie III.
Pecom 32 was an educational and/or home computer developed by Elektronska Industrija Niš of Serbia in 1985.
Galeb was an 8-bit computer developed by the PEL Varaždin company in Yugoslavia in the early 1980s. A grand total of 250 were produced by the end of the summer of 1984, before being replaced by Orao.
The NEC PC-6000 Series was a series of 8-bit home computers introduced in November 1981 by NEC Home Electronics (NEC-HE). There were several models in this series, such as the PC-6001, the PC-6001 MK2 and the PC-6001 MK2 SR. There was also an American version, called the NEC TREK, or NEC PC-6001A. It was followed by the PC-6600 Series.
The Research Machines 380Z was an early 8-bit microcomputer produced by Research Machines in Oxford, England, from 1977 to 1985.
The Spectravideo SVI-738 X'Press is an MSX1 compatible home computer manufactured by Spectravideo from 1985. Although compatible with the MSX 1.0 standard, it incorporates several extensions to the standard ; many are hardware-compatible with the MSX 2.0 standard but the system as a whole is not, leading to it being referred to as an "MSX 1.5" computer.
The Dick Smith Super-80 was a Zilog Z80 based kit computer developed as a joint venture between Electronics Australia magazine and Dick Smith Electronics. It was presented as a series of construction articles in Electronics Australia magazine's August, September and October 1981 issues.
The LINK 480Z was an 8-bit microcomputer produced by Research Machines Limited in Oxford, England, during the early 1980s.
Oric was the name used by Tangerine Computer Systems for a series of home computers, including the original Oric-1, its successor the Oric Atmos and the later Oric Telestrat models.
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