4051: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:02, 11 December 2022

Tektronix 4051

Graphics-capable desktop microcomputer

Produced from 1975 to (?)

Manuals

4051 GPIB Hardware Support
Tektronix GPIB Programming Guide (4050 series, TM5000 series)

4050 series manuals @ bitsavers
Tektronix 4051 BASIC Reference Guide (OCR)

(All manuals in PDF format unless noted otherwise)

Manuals – Specifications – Links – Pictures

The Tektronix 4051 is a graphics-capable desktop microcomputer produced by Tektronix in the late 1970s through the early 1980s. The display is similar to the Tektronix 4010 terminal, using a direct-view storage CRT display (like an analog storage scope) to avoid the need for video RAM.

An all-in-one design, the 4051 includes display, keyboard, CPU and a 300 kByte DC300 quarter-inch cartridge tape drive in a single desktop case, and includes a GPIB interface. A simple operating system and BASIC interpreter are stored in ROM.

The storage tube display allows the screen to retain images drawn to it, eliminating the need for frame-buffer memory, and allowing the resolution to be as high as the display hardware can handle - logical coordinates are 1024 by 1024 of which the physical screen displays 1024 by 780. This type of display does not require a raster buffer memory, so all memory can be dedicated to programs and data.

The 4051 is based on an 8-bit Motorola 6800 CPU running at 1 MHz, and normally shipped with 8 kB of RAM expandable to 32 kB using 8 kB modules.

The remaining 32 kB of address space is reserved for ROM, which can be expanded using one or two external ROM cartridges of 8 kB each. The ROM includes six character sets and an extended dialect of BASIC including various vector drawing commands.

Option 1 adds a Data Communication Interface 021-0188-00 that attaches to the rear of the 4051 via a card-edge connector and provides an RS 232 port and two slots to accept expansion ROM cartridges/packs.

The 4051 was released in 1975 for the base price of $5,995 (2020 value $28,960). Adding the optional RS-232 interface allowed it to emulate a Tektronix 4012 terminal.

Key designer of the 4051 was Hiro Moriyasu.

Links

General Information

Museums

Videos

Tek 4051 at work @ YouTube
4051 introduction @ YouTube - part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6 / Emulator

Software

Tektronix 4051/4052/4054 Program Files (GitHub repository)
4051 firmware listings (microfiche scans) @ bitsavers

Pictures

Front view
Keyboard
4051 with 4924 GPIB cartridge tape drive
4051 with connected DPO - WP1110
4051 with connected DPO - WP1110
021-0188-00 Option 1 Data Communication Interface
Back side detailed view
Back side detailed view
021-0188-00 Option 1 Data Communication Interface
021-0188-00 Option 1 Data Communication Interface
021-0188-00 Option 1 Data Communication Interface
Inside view
RAM board
main board
Screen without frame
Power supply
Power supply
ROMs closeup
4051 ad

Advertising

4051 advertising in Electronics magazine 1976

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 ==See Also==
+* [[Patent US D244614S]]
 * [[021-0188-00]] '''Option 1''' Data Communication Interface
 * [[4051F10|4051F10 - RS-232 Printer Interface]]