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Author Topic: Allsorts of interesting finds (Read 105766 times)

Offline XYBeR

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #60 on: 2019.May.09. 16:49:42 »
Is anyone have this game?

i wrote to every jarle who is accessible on the net, and today i have a new message in my inbox:

"You have found the right Jarle Midtun :-) Thank you for your fascinating and kind mail. Your English is good, no problem :-)
In 1985 I was 17 years old. Since 1981 I had owned a Vic-20. The world of computing was an amazing discovery. I remember countless hours writing programs with my friends, playing adventure games until the break of day, and reading all the news about the new technology in the magazines. In Norway we had 2 major computer magazines; "Hobbydata" (later called "Mikrodata", and even later "PC Mikrodata") and "Hjemmedata". As in most computer magazines the readers could send in program-listings and be rewarded with some money; a huge motivation for kids like us. As my friends advanced to Commodore 64, my humble Vic was soon too limited. In "Your Computer" (I believe it was from January 1984) I had read about an amazing new machine called Elan, and soon I found out it was going to be sold in Norway by a company called "ET Computers A/S" (chief salesman Roger Skoglund). During the summer/autumn of 1984 I received many letters from them telling me about the development and delays of the machine. In December 1984 it finally arrived. It was more expensive than the C64, but I had to buy this new amazing machine which now had got the name Enterprise. Many of my friends who had Commodores were quite envious when they saw it. There were three things that impressed me most; the design, the sound/graphics specs, and the advanced basic language. With financial help from my parents I ordered the Enterprise 64 and the Enterprise printer (MT-80+). Unfortunately I could'n afford a colour monitor, so I used a green monochrome Philips. I also ordered an adventure game, I think it was called Mordons Quest.This inspired me to write my own adventure game. At first I wanted it to be my assignment at school. It was primarily a text-adventure. The title "Dovregubben" referred to the underground creature in Norse mythology (in English called the Mountain King. Famous from the story of "Peer Gynt" made by Henrik Ibsen, with music by Edvard Grieg "In the hall of the Mountain King https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLp_Hh6DKWc ). Later I added the graphics. I remember that time was an important element in the game, so therefore I added a window where the sun/moon would slide in a curve across the sky to indicate the time. It was all programmed in basic. It was a huge task, and I learned a lot as I progressed. Great fun! It was well received at school, and I was encouraged to send it to PC Mikrodata, as I did, together with another adventure game called the Ice Dragon. The magazine copied them to tapes and sold them to their readers. I got kr.500 for the game, a humble sum of money considering the amount of hours spent in front of the screen. But the most important thing was to get the acknowledgement from my friends and other computer enthusiasts. I have no idea how many copies they sold, but I do remember getting a couple of letters asking me for clues to solve the game (One of them was even from Greenland !). Nevertheless, it was surely no commercial success. I used the Enterprise for another 2-3 years until I bought an Amiga 500. During that time ET Computers A/S published a few user magazines called "The Enterpriser" which I have at least one copy of (nr.4 1986). Unfortunately its only in Norwegian.
Today I am a teacher and a collector of vintage computers. Sometimes I take an old computer to school to let them have a look "under the hood", just to make them understand the basics of the technology.  Luckily I still have my Enterprise 64 (together with quite a few other machines from the 80s), but unfortunately the printer was sold many years ago. I haven't tested it for years but I hope it still works fine. Maybe some electrolytic capacitors have to be replaced after all this time. If I'm lucky I might find a copy of Dovregubben, either as a cassette or a printout of the program-listing somewhere in the house. If you are interested in a copy I will try a search. I could also make a scan of the copy of "The Enterpriser" if you'd like. Let me know.

As I wrote this letter I got quite motivated to dig out my old Enterprise and give it some attention. I took a look at your web-site and I am very impressed with what You have done. By the way, do you know if someone has developed a SD-card reader for the Enterprise and where I can order one ? It would be lovely to try out some of the tape-files that can be found on the Internet.
PS: PC Mikrodata was a Norwegian magazine published by Computerworld Norge. I guess the magazine had a "sister"-company in Denmark which published many of the same articles. Norwegian and Danish are very similar languages and can easily be read in both countries.
PS II: I have added a photograph of some of the documentation mentioned above.

Kind regards,
Jarle Midtun"

I hope that Jarle will connect to this forum ;)
« Last Edit: 2019.May.09. 17:23:11 by XYBeR »

Offline SlashNet

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #61 on: 2019.May.09. 17:58:10 »
Wow! :smt038
Nice to read that!


I'll add two new articles from magazine Mikrodata #2 (march-april) 1985 [NO].


1. INFORMASJON - RAPPORT FRA BELLA CENTER: https://sites.google.com/site/enterprise128k/home/internet-obzor/articles/1985/1985-march/1985-03-04-mikrodata-2-march-april_1

Coverage from computer show in Copenhagen.

2. REPORTASJE - LET 85 – med spill i fokus: https://sites.google.com/site/enterprise128k/home/internet-obzor/articles/1985/1985-march/1985-03-04-mikrodata-2-march-april_2

Coverage from "LET 85" computer show in London. Nice photo inside the EC booth (Hm... Light coloured cassete recorder case?).
Maybe SteveNew can made better quality scan?
« Last Edit: 2019.May.09. 18:20:57 by SlashNet »

Offline SteveNew

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #62 on: 2019.May.09. 18:33:50 »
@XYBeR Fantastic! I was very close to writing an old-style letter to his old address - seems family still lives there - and me not being on FB - great work!!

@SlashNet I did not have the full magazines anymore - and I did not have that specific magazine - but great stuff.

Now I just look out for a new Norwegian/Scandinavia member :D Let us hope that Jarle joins.

BTW: How do you tag members in a reply? Tried with @ - which I thought was common :smt087

Offline XYBeR

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #63 on: 2019.May.09. 18:40:56 »
@XYBeR Fantastic! I was very close to writing an old-style letter to his old address - seems family still lives there - and me not being on FB - great work!!

@SlashNet I did not have the full magazines anymore - and I did not have that specific magazine - but great stuff.

Now I just look out for a new Norwegian/Scandinavia member :D Let us hope that Jarle joins.

BTW: How do you tag members in a reply? Tried with @ - which I thought was common :smt087

Jarle is a true polyhistor, just google his name, so i find him here: http://www.atelier-midtun.com/

What is even more interesting in his mail that he had a buyer from GREENLAND. Enterprise was everywhere :(


Offline Zozosoft

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #64 on: 2019.May.09. 18:44:20 »
You have found the right Jarle Midtun :-)
Great news! :smt038


Quote
In December 1984 it finally arrived.
Wow! Then it is will be one of the first machines what are sold!
Can he make a photos of machine when he digged out? (Including S/N :-) ) And if he open it for some repair then inside photos also will be interesting.

Quote
Great fun!
And nice story!

Quote
I haven't tested it for years but I hope it still works fine. Maybe some electrolytic capacitors have to be replaced after all this time.
Two problems possible.
1) as he say the capacitors, especially at the early machines built with Philips capacitors. C9 are the most critical, if it is lost their capacity then kill TR2 transistor and will no +12V for the video circuits (screen will broken and running).
2) keyboard membrane tail can crack at the mother board connector then some keyboard rows or columns will not work. Need to cut few mm at the connection end. Will work until the next crack :-) Possible buy brand new membrane.

Quote
If I'm lucky I might find a copy of Dovregubben, either as a cassette or a printout of the program-listing somewhere in the house. If you are interested in a copy I will try a search. I could also make a scan of the copy of "The Enterpriser" if you'd like. Let me know.
Yes, both are interesting! Also the ET letters. And the ELAN thing :-)

Quote
I took a look at your web-site and I am very impressed with what You have done.
Which sites sent to he?


Quote
By the way, do you know if someone has developed a SD-card reader for the Enterprise and where I can order one ?
There is the email address for order.

Quote
I hope that Jarle will connect to this forum ;)
I'm also!

Offline XYBeR

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #65 on: 2019.May.09. 19:08:26 »
Great news! :smt038

Wow! Then it is will be one of the first machines what are sold!
Can he make a photos of machine when he digged out? (Including S/N :-) ) And if he open it for some repair then inside photos also will be interesting.
And nice story!
Two problems possible.
1) as he say the capacitors, especially at the early machines built with Philips capacitors. C9 are the most critical, if it is lost their capacity then kill TR2 transistor and will no +12V for the video circuits (screen will broken and running).
2) keyboard membrane tail can crack at the mother board connector then some keyboard rows or columns will not work. Need to cut few mm at the connection end. Will work until the next crack :-) Possible buy brand new membrane.
Yes, both are interesting! Also the ET letters. And the ELAN thing :-)
Which sites sent to he?

There is the email address for order.
I'm also!

(kapacitáltam, hogy regisztráljon. mindent, amit tud, el fog küldeni - vagy ide, és akkor látjátok, vagy nekem, de akkor azonnal felrakom ide)

I relayed the information to him and asked to register here. If he send anything, i will repost to here

Anyway i just ocr-ed Jarles mail from ET Computers AS:

TIL VARE KUNDER
NÅ KOMMER ENTERPRISE 64

Dette brevet er fra ET Computers AS - et nyetablert firma som skal markedsføre 4. generasjons computeren ENTERPRISE 64 i Norge.
ET Computers AS vil ogsæ levere pereferiutstyr og programvare til ENTERPRISE.

Til tross for den store internasjonale etterspørselen er ET Computers AS lovet en forsendelse pa 300 ENTERPRISE 64 i ær.
De første maskinene vil bli levert direkte til dem som allerede har bestilt computeren.

La oss for orden skyld oppsummere hva ENTERPRISE består av.
- 64 KRAM (utbyggbar til 3,9Mb)
- 48 KROM (utbyggbar til 112 KROM)
- Z80A, 4MHZ prosessor med utvidet memory mapping til 4 Mb.
- 1x RS232/423 serie port
- 1x Centronics parallell port
- Ekspansjonsport med 64 linjer for tilkobling av ekstra ROM/RAM pakker, dobbel floppystasjon, modem/PRESTEL adapter, utbygging med ekstra prosessor etc.
- Høyoppløselig fargegrafikk (672x512 punkter), 256 taraer.
- Stereo lyd, 4 kanaler
- fullt utbygd tastatur (QWERTY standard) med 69 taster inkl. 8
programmerbare funksjonstaster med 2 nivåer.
- Norsk tegnsett som standard.
- Innebygget styrespake som bl.a. styrer skrivemarkøren.
- Avansert innebygget operativsystem.(strukturert med inndeling i kanaler)
- Fullt strukturert BASIC med bl.a. DO-LOOPS med WHILE og UNTIL, samt IF og ELSE blokker. Meget høy aritmetisk nøyaktighet.(10 siffer)
Mulighet for definering av egne BASIC kommandoer.
- Tekstbehandlingsprogram/skjermeditor ligger ferdig i maskinen.
- Nettverk for opp til 32 computere som standard.
- Norsk brukermanual pg over 200 sider.
- Imitruksjonskassett med bl.a. flere ekstra BASIC kommandoer.

ALTSÅ EN MEGET KRAFTIG 4. GENERASJONS COMPUTER.

Prisen på ENTERPRISE 64 som beskrevet ovenfor er Kr. 4.780,- inkl.mva, FOB vårt lager pg Kolbotn.

ET Computers AS har nå startet den norske avdelingen av ENTERPRISE klubben.
Medlemskap i denne klubben får du ved 4 returnere det vedlagte påmeldings-skjema.
Medlemskap i klubben er satt tit Kr.150,- pr. år, men ved innmelding nå får du tilsendt det første nummeret av klubbladet gratis.
Vennligst send påmeldingen til:

ET Computers, AS
Tømteweien 4
1410 KOLBOTN

Vennig hilsen

Roger Skoglund
Salgsjef


Google Translated:

TO BE CUSTOMERS
NOW ENTERPRISE COMES 64

This letter is from ET Computers AS - a newly established company that will market the 4th generation computer ENTERPRISE 64 in Norway.
ET Computers AS will also provide reference equipment and software for ENTERPRISE.

Despite the great international demand, ET Computers AS is promised a shipment of 300 ENTERPRISE 64 in honor.
The first machines will be delivered directly to those who have already ordered the computer.

For the sake of order, let us summarize what ENTERPRISE consists of.
- 64 KRAM (expandable to 3.9Mb)
- 48 KROM (expandable to 112 KROM)
- Z80A, 4MHZ processor with extended memory mapping to 4 Mb.
- 1x RS232 / 423 series port
- 1x Centronics parallel port
- Expansion port with 64 lines for connecting extra ROM / RAM packs, double flop station, modem / PRESTEL adapter, expansion with extra processor etc.
- High resolution color graphics (672x512 dots), 256 tare.
- Stereo sound, 4 channels
- fully developed keyboard (QWERTY standard) with 69 keys including 8
programmable function keys with 2 levels.
- Norwegian character set by default.
- Built-in joystick that includes: controls the writing cursor.
- Advanced built-in operating system (structured with channel division)
- Fully structured BASIC with eg. DO-LOOPS with WHILE and UNTIL, as well as IF and ELSE blocks. Very high arithmetic accuracy (10 digits)
Possibility of defining own BASIC commands.
- The word processor / screen editor is finished in the machine.
- Network for up to 32 computers by default.
- Norwegian user manual on over 200 pages.
- Imitation cassette with eg. several additional BASIC commands.

ALSO A VERY POWERFUL 4. GENERATION COMPUTER.

The price of ENTERPRISE 64 as described above is Kr. 4,780, - incl. VAT, FOB our stock at Kolbotn.

ET Computers AS has now started the Norwegian department of the ENTERPRISE club.
Membership in this club you get at 4 return the enclosed registration form.
Membership of the club is set to kr.150, - pr. year, but upon registration you will be sent the first number of the club leaf for free.
Please send the registration to:

ET Computers, AS
Empty road 4
1410 KOLBOTN

Sincerely,

Roger Skoglund
sales Manager

Just looked the address of ET Computers: https://www.google.com/maps/@59.7945971,10.8053276,3a,86.1y,68.88h,78.37t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNoYTcyq8Xsxl_67onRG1pw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DNoYTcyq8Xsxl_67onRG1pw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D82.580765%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
« Last Edit: 2019.May.09. 19:56:19 by XYBeR »

Offline endi

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #66 on: 2019.May.09. 20:07:58 »
(kapacitáltam, hogy regisztráljon. mindent, amit tud, el fog küldeni - vagy ide, és akkor látjátok, vagy nekem, de akkor azonnal felrakom ide)

wow!!! new programs???
Vigyázat! Szektás vagyok! :)

Offline XYBeR

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #67 on: 2019.May.09. 20:11:21 »
wow!!! new programs???

maybe. time will tell

Offline gflorez

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #68 on: 2019.May.09. 23:37:21 »
Yesterday I was disappointed at finding that Jarle Midtun put his Enterprise equipment on sale on 1985.

Now I am glad that only the printer was sold....
« Last Edit: 2019.May.10. 09:53:09 by gflorez »

Offline MrPrise

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #69 on: 2019.May.10. 13:22:49 »
Nice detective work XYBer! :-) He has not sent me any email about signing up yet.


Offline XYBeR

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #71 on: 2019.May.17. 17:16:52 »
Nice detective work XYBer! :-) He has not sent me any email about signing up yet.

Thanks and imagine: I have been able to reach Robin Ketelaars, editor of the Dutch newspaper called Enterface with similar methods.
He still has a 64 and a 128 (he will write the serial numbers), and he promises that if he can dig up any interesting stuff, he will send it.

Offline gflorez

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #72 on: 2019.May.17. 17:48:27 »
Great!

We still have some missing EnterFace numbers.

Offline XYBeR

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #73 on: 2019.May.17. 18:17:00 »
Great!

We still have some missing EnterFace numbers.

Yep, i'm know, as he wrote: "I will see if i have copies, should have a harddisk lying around with them". So fingers crossed!

Offline SlashNet

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Re: Allsorts of interesting finds
« Reply #74 on: 2019.May.18. 01:48:43 »
Сontinue with pocessing SteveNew's scans:

Hi-Fi Elektronik #8: https://sites.google.com/site/enterprise128k/home/internet-obzor/articles/1985/1985-august/1985-08-hi-fi-elektronik-8

Populær elektronik vol.19 #1: https://sites.google.com/site/enterprise128k/home/internet-obzor/articles/1986/1986-january/1986-01-populaer-elektronik-vol-19-1


And meanwhile found archive with deutch magazine MC - Die Mikrocomputer-Zeitschrift

MC 1984.11 Die Qual der Wahl (pages 102-104)
https://ntxdhxgzadrdathx.myfritz.net/mc-zeitschriften/1984/mc-1984-11.pdf

MC 1985.05 Mephisto - nicht nur Schach (page 124)
https://ntxdhxgzadrdathx.myfritz.net/mc-zeitschriften/1985/mc-1985-05.pdf
OCR: https://sites.google.com/site/enterprise128k/home/internet-obzor/articles/1985/1985-may/1985-05-mc---die-mikrocomputer-zeitschrift-5

MC 1985.06 ad Ernst Mathes Mephisto PHC-64 - 1090.- (page 33)
https://ntxdhxgzadrdathx.myfritz.net/mc-zeitschriften/1985/mc-1985-06.pdf

MC 1985.07 same ad Ernst Mathes Mephisto PHC-64 - 1090.- (page 29)
https://ntxdhxgzadrdathx.myfritz.net/mc-zeitschriften/1985/mc-1985-07.pdf

MC 1985.08 same ad Ernst Mathes, but price is cheaper: Mephisto PHC-64 - 899.- (page 25)
https://ntxdhxgzadrdathx.myfritz.net/mc-zeitschriften/1985/mc-1985-08.pdf

MC 1985.09
same ad Ernst Mathes, but price is cheaper: Mephisto PHC-64 - 899.- (page 33)
ad (page 151)
https://ntxdhxgzadrdathx.myfritz.net/mc-zeitschriften/1985/mc-1985-09.pdf

MC 1985.11
Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin (page 16)
Eigenwilliges Basic (page 74-75)
https://ntxdhxgzadrdathx.myfritz.net/mc-zeitschriften/1985/mc-1985-08.pdf
OCR: https://sites.google.com/site/enterprise128k/home/internet-obzor/articles/1985/1985-november/1985-11-mc---die-mikrocomputer-zeitschrift-11
« Last Edit: 2019.May.19. 21:53:45 by SlashNet »