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Cyhist Jun 11 1997 E
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Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 14:42:34 -0500
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: "David S. Bennahum" <davidsol@panix.com>
Subject: CM> Bulgarian computers.
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Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
I recently spent several days in Bulgaria, and came back home with a PRAVETZ-82 microcomputer. The Pravetz 82 uses a cloned 6502 microprocessor, and is entirely built out of "reverse engineered" Apple IIs. From 1982 through 1984, these 8-bit Bulgarian clones were shipped throughout the former Soviet block, and were the main microcomputer source in that part of the world. It looks just like an Apple II-- the same industrial design-- but inside the chips have cyrillic notation, and the ROM has been expanded so the ASCII table can sustain both the entire Latin characterset, along with a cyrillic character set. A key marked "LAT" (in cyrillic) switches you in and out of both alphabets.
The Bulgarians also built copies of the IBM 360 family, among others (VAXes too). These were sold to socialist countries at a time when the West either had these machines under embargo, or the cost was too high to expend precious hard currency on. Approximately 300,000 people worked, during the peak, in the electronics industry in Bulgaria. Of these, 120,00 were engineers, programmers, and researchers.
I am wondering if any of the IBM folks on this list encountered these Bulgarian (or other ex-socialist copies) machines, or if they heard, through the grapevine, about them. IBM had an office in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, starting in 1934, where business machines were sold. This office apparently existed until the mid-1970s (!!), and some Bulgarians cliam that Big Blue decided to cooperate, albeit quietly, with this piracy, figuring that spare parts and software needs would come their way. Today IBM has an office in Sofia, and many of the government agencies, and companies, use IBM. Does anyone know more about this?
The Pravetz-82 is a wild piece of computer machinery. I need to get a 220 volt transformer, and figure a way to connect it to a US monitor. Once I do, I should be able to use old US Apple II software on it. The engineers claimed that the machine was 99.99% compatible with the original. Approximately 40,000 to 60,000 Pravetz-82 comptuers were built and shipped. I am not sure how many made it to North America.
best,
db
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: "David S. Bennahum" <davidsol@panix.com>
Subject: CM> Bulgarian computers.
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
I recently spent several days in Bulgaria, and came back home with a PRAVETZ-82 microcomputer. The Pravetz 82 uses a cloned 6502 microprocessor, and is entirely built out of "reverse engineered" Apple IIs. From 1982 through 1984, these 8-bit Bulgarian clones were shipped throughout the former Soviet block, and were the main microcomputer source in that part of the world. It looks just like an Apple II-- the same industrial design-- but inside the chips have cyrillic notation, and the ROM has been expanded so the ASCII table can sustain both the entire Latin characterset, along with a cyrillic character set. A key marked "LAT" (in cyrillic) switches you in and out of both alphabets.
The Bulgarians also built copies of the IBM 360 family, among others (VAXes too). These were sold to socialist countries at a time when the West either had these machines under embargo, or the cost was too high to expend precious hard currency on. Approximately 300,000 people worked, during the peak, in the electronics industry in Bulgaria. Of these, 120,00 were engineers, programmers, and researchers.
I am wondering if any of the IBM folks on this list encountered these Bulgarian (or other ex-socialist copies) machines, or if they heard, through the grapevine, about them. IBM had an office in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, starting in 1934, where business machines were sold. This office apparently existed until the mid-1970s (!!), and some Bulgarians cliam that Big Blue decided to cooperate, albeit quietly, with this piracy, figuring that spare parts and software needs would come their way. Today IBM has an office in Sofia, and many of the government agencies, and companies, use IBM. Does anyone know more about this?
The Pravetz-82 is a wild piece of computer machinery. I need to get a 220 volt transformer, and figure a way to connect it to a US monitor. Once I do, I should be able to use old US Apple II software on it. The engineers claimed that the machine was 99.99% compatible with the original. Approximately 40,000 to 60,000 Pravetz-82 comptuers were built and shipped. I am not sure how many made it to North America.
best,
db
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