I built this system in 1975 and used it heavily until 1984. During that time I enhanced it with newer, more powerful boards. After I finally got my first IBM PC I continued to use it until 1987. In 1987 I had to move so I packed it up. It was in storage until April, 1999. Here's its current running configuration.

• 4mhz Z80 CPU
• 64kb of memory. Only 60kb being used, the 4kb 'hole' is used by cards that have onboard PROMs or memory mapped I/O.
• Dual 8" double density diskette drives.
• Two serial ports, one for a terminal and one for a modem.
• One parallel port, the output used for a printer, the input for a homebrew keyboard.
• A 25 line by 80 character per line video board.
• North Star 5 1/4" hard sector diskette drive (which unfortunately is no longer functional).

System Configuration

• MITS Altair 8800 (original model, not an A). Click here for a view of the inside of the system.
  • 3 four slot expansion boards giving a total of 12 slots (11 working).
  • North Star ZPB-A 4mhz Z80 processor board
  • Fulcrum Omniram 64kb static memory board
  • Fulcrum VIO-X Video Board
  • Morrow Disk Jockey 2D double density diskette controller
  • Processor Technology 3P+S I/O Board
• All the original documentation for all the hardware. This even includes the white MITS 3 ring binder.
• Dual Morrow Disk Jockey 2D disk drives Along with the diskette system I'll include:
  • The copy of Disk/ATE and VBasic that came with the Morrow Disk Jockey 2D system. Includes all documenation.
  • A couple of bootable CP/M 2.2 diskettes. One configured to come up using the video board installed in the system and the other configured to come up using a standard 9600 baud ADM-3 terminal emulator. CP/M documentation and the original CP/M diskettes are not included.
  • A diskette containing everything you need to change the CBIOS and then SYSGEN CP/M. Includes (obviously!) the source for the CBIOS.
  • Some blank floppies.
• A "Quick Start" Guide to help you cable up the system and get it going.

More things you might want to know

• I replaced the original power transformer with a Parasitic Engineering upgrade.
• One of the S100 connectors is bad. The pin 2 contact has broken.
• While the front panel is fully functional, all functions do not work with the diskette controller card installed. This is normal, the auto-jump circuitry on the card and the front panel have some conflicts.
• I've modified the back panel by turning two of the DB25 size holes into one opening large enough for the diskette controller cable to pass thru.

End of Auction Options

This system will be sold in its running configuration. At the end of the auction the high bidder will have two options:

1. Decline to take the Disk Jockey 2D dual diskette drive system and controller card. This will reduce the high bid by $200 and reduce the shipping charges a bit.
2. Purchase any or all of the 3 original MITS brand cards that came with it for $75 each:
   • The orginal 8800 CPU card
   • 1K static memory card
   • SIO-B Serial I/O card