LC80 — Mediated Wiki

{{short description|Educational computer}} {{Infobox information appliance | type = Microprocessor development board | image = Lc80offen.jpg | manufacturer = Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt | release_date = Mid-1984 | discontinued = {{circa}} 1986/87 | price = 720.00 M (without power supply) | cpu = U880 | cpu_speed = 0.9 MHz | memory = 1 KB | display = 6-digit seven-segment display | sound = Buzzer | storage = External cassette tape | os = LC 80.1 | successor = Robotron Z1013 (1986) }} thumb|The learning computer with power supply thumb|LC80 outside

The educational computer '''LC80''' was a single-board computer manufactured in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and intended for teaching purposes. It was the first computer that retail customers could buy in the GDR.

== History and development == The development of the LC 80 started in 1983.<ref name=vp_mem/> At the Leipzig Trade Fair in the spring of 1984 it was presented to the public.<ref name=rfe8407>{{cite journal |author=V. Löschner |author2=B. Kasper |title=Leipziger Frühjahrsmesse 1984 - Computertechnik |trans-title=Leipzig Spring Fair 1984 - Computers |language=de |pages=412, 430 |year=1984 |volume=33 |issue=7 |journal=Radio Fernsehen Elektronik |issn=0033-7900 |publisher=VEB Verlag Technik |place=Berlin }}</ref> Early in 1985 the LC80 was on the market, making it the first computer available to retail customers in the GDR.<ref name=vp_mem/> The computers Z 9001 and HC 900 that had been shown at the same spring fair, could not be manufactured in sufficient quantity and were thus available only to educational institutions.

{{quote|text=The learning computer LC 80 was developed in a very short period of time by a collective of the Consulting and Information Centre for Microelectronics of the Erfurt district in cooperation with the consumer goods department of VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" Erfurt. It was conceived in such a way that a device, which is as inexpensive as possible, allows a practical use of microprocessor technology by a broad circle of users. Prospective users are high school and vocational school students, students of electrical engineering/electronics, industrial control technicians and other interested parties. The LC 80 offers an almost unlimited field of application, ranging from hobby, school, training and continuing education to use in small industrial control systems. |author=Dr. Werner Kämpf, developer |source=<ref name=rfe8410>{{cite journal |author=Werner Kämpf |title=Lerncomputer LC 80 |language=de |pages=669–672 |year=1984 |volume=33 |issue=10 |journal=Radio Fernsehen Elektronik |issn=0033-7900 |publisher=VEB Verlag Technik |place=Berlin }}</ref>}}

The production probably ended around 1986/87.<ref name=vp_mem/>

== Technical details == The LC80 was programmed by entering hexadecimal machine codes via a built-in 25-key calculator keyboard (16 hexadecimal keys, 7 function keys, NMI, Reset). Programs could be saved and loaded via cassette tape or EPROM. Beside the CPU the board contained two PIO and one CTC integrated circuits as well as 1 KB of RAM and 2 KB of ROM.

Interfaces: * cassette tape interface * 12 programmable input / output lines, 4 Handshake lines, and 7 CTC lines * CPU-bus (unbuffered)

=== Export version === Based on a request from the United Kingdom, an export variant was developed. This version differed from the conventional LC80 in the following details: * wooden cabinet * 12 KB ROM * 4 KB RAM * keyboard template for chess program '' SC-80 '' (similar to the East German chess computer SC2) As the order from abroad did not come through in the end, only samples were manufactured of this version.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hc-ddr.hucki.net/wiki/doku.php/lc80/lc80e |title=LC 80 Export |author=Volker Pohlers |date=2017-07-28 |accessdate=2019-11-16}}</ref>

== Software and applications== Except for the operating system, no software was included. The manufacturer published a series of three booklets that contained software as hexadecimal machine code listings.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gunther Zielosko |title=Hinweise zur Anwendung des Lerncomputers LC 80 |trans-title=Notes on using the LC 80 learning computer |language=de |publisher=VEB Mikroelektronik „Karl Marx“ |place=Erfurt |url=http://hc-ddr.hucki.net/wiki/doku.php/lc80/dokumentation }}</ref> Software and applications were published in journals such as ''Funkamateur'' (Morse code trainer<ref>{{cite magazine |author=N. Denkes |title=Lerncomputer "LC 80" als Morseübungsgerät |trans-title=The learning computer LC 80 as a Morse code trainer |language=de |pages=29–30 |journal=Funkamateur |issn=0016-2833 |publisher=Militärverlag der DDR |place=Berlin |year=1986 |volume=35 |issue=1 |url=http://hc-ddr.hucki.net/wiki/doku.php/lc80/literatur/fa-86-01 }}</ref>) and ''Radio Fernsehen Elektronik'' (EPROM programmer,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Christiane Philipp |title=Programmieren des EPROM U 2716 C mit dem LC 80 |trans-title=Programming the EPROM U 2716 C using the LC 80 |language=de |pages=52 |year=1987 |volume=36 |issue=1 |journal=Radio Fernsehen Elektronik |issn=0033-7900 |publisher=VEB Verlag Technik |place=Berlin }}</ref> robot model control<ref>{{cite journal |author=Achim Liers |author2=Matthias Michel |title=LC 80 als Steuerrechner für ein Roboterfunktionsmodell |trans-title=Controlling a robot model using the LC 80 |language=de |pages=519–520 |year=1987 |volume=36 |issue=8 |journal=Radio Fernsehen Elektronik |issn=0033-7900 |publisher=VEB Verlag Technik |place=Berlin }}</ref>). Given the limited availability of computers in East Germany, the LC80 was even used to control scales underground in a potash mine.<ref>{{cite web |author=N. Denkes |title=Erinnerungen |trans-title=Memories |language=de |url=http://hc-ddr.hucki.net/wiki/doku.php/lc80/erinnerungen#n_denkes |date=2018-10-26 |accessdate=2019-11-02 }}</ref>

== See also == Other microprocessor development systems with a hexadecimal display and hexadecimal program entry: MEK6800D2 (1976), KIM-1 (1976), TK-80 (1976), MK14 (1977), Acorn System 1 (1979), Micro-Professor MPF-I (1981), PMI-80 (1982), TEC-1 (1983)

== References == <references>

<ref name=vp_mem>{{cite web |author=Volker Pohlers |title=Erinnerungen |trans-title=Memories |language=de |url=http://hc-ddr.hucki.net/wiki/doku.php/lc80/erinnerungen |date=2018-10-26 |accessdate=2019-11-02 }}</ref>

</references>

== External links == * [https://hc-ddr.hucki.net/ Homepage of Volker Pohlers] with LC80 section (in German) * [http://www.robotrontechnik.de/html/computer/lc80.htm LC80 at robotrontechnik.de] (in German) * [https://homecomputermuseum.de/sammlung/detailansicht/comp/Computer/show/lc-80/ LC80 at homecomputermuseum.de] (in German) * [https://floooh.github.io/tiny8bit/lc80.html Online LC 80 emulator]

Category:Computer-related introductions in 1984 Category:Z80-based home computers Category:Computers designed in Germany Category:Home computers Category:Goods manufactured in East Germany Category:Science and technology in East Germany Category:Early microcomputers