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 MOS / CSG KIM-1 Microcomputer Trainer?
 by Ian Matthews of Commodore.ca Feb 15, 2003  Last uUpdated April 8, 2006

MOS KIM-1 History:Commodore MOS / CSG KIM1
In August 1974 eight Motorola employees including Bill Mensch and Chuck Peddle quit and went to work for a small chip manufacturer called MOS Technologies. By June of 1975 they had developed samples of the 6502 processor and wanted a system to demonstrate it's power.  The chip was only US$25 at a time when the lesser Motorola 6800 was selling for $200.

1976 Advert Buy a MOS KIM-1 for $245 In 1976 MOS build the worlds first single board computer the KIM-1.  Of course it used the 6502 (clocked at 1 Mhz) and it came with 1K RAM, built in ROM, Hex Keypad, LED Display, 15 bidirectional input/output ports and a Cassette Interface.  These machines came fully assembled although they lacked a power supply. 

It became apparent that the machine was more capable than originally intend.  Instead of being used just a basic training device, companies were using it to control mechanical machines like factory equipment and Universities were using it for real education.  As you can see in this 4 page brochure, MOS went on to develop expansion boards such as:

  • KIM-3: 8K Memory Expansion Module

  • KIM-4: Motherboard: to interface with up to 6 other boards

  • KIM-5: Resident Assembler/Editor: to enter, edit and store assembly language programs

 

The KIM-1 was produced until about 1981 and became a Commodore's first (and successful) computer product.

KIM-1 Manuals, Schematics and More:

MOS KIM-1Magazine Articles:

http://www.ping.be/kim-1__6502/  http://www.kim-1.com/hwman.html

KIM1 Pictures:
Click any image to enlarge it

MOS KIM1 - Rev A

From Vern Graners http://www.kim-1.com/gallery/

Commodore KIM1 - Rev F

From Vern Graners http://www.kim-1.com/gallery/

Commodore KIM1 - Rev F

A Blue Board

32K RAM Expansion Card for KIM1

From Vern Graners http://www.kim-1.com/gallery/

MOS "Visable Memory Board"

One super high tech video card

From Vern Graners http://www.kim-1.com/gallery/

Commodore KIM1 FULLY Expanded

This amazing system was built in 1980 and sold in January 2003 for US$2000! It has 40K, a monitor, an eprom burner, a printer and anything else you can think of.

Courtesy of Ron Rega

http://my.en.com/~w8gmh/KIM-1/kim1001.htm

Standard Monitor

I have never seen a monitor attached to a KIM other than this one. After doing research for this page, I found a small number of people have successfully expanded their KIM's to included a monitor.

This picture courtesy of Ron Rega

http://my.en.com/~w8gmh/KIM-1/kim1001.htm

Expansion Card

This motherboard connects to the expansion connector of the KIM-1 as shown in the photos. It provides the regulation for +5 and +12 volts for the KIM. It contains 8 slots for additional boards. Standard S-100 configuration.

Courtesy of Ron Rega http://my.en.com/~w8gmh/KIM-1/kim1001.htm

PolyMorphic VTI Expansion Board

The PolyMorphic VTI board provides the interface for the video monitor and the keyboard. The output is composite video. Each character is a 7 x 9 matrix, so that each ASCII character has 9 memory blocks 7 bits wide in the ROM.

Courtesy of Ron Rega

http://my.en.com/~w8gmh/KIM-1/kim1001.htm

Wameco EPM-2 EPROM Memory Board

The Wameco EPM-2 EPROM Memory Board contains the video/keyboard driver, system monitor, EPROM Programmer software and Ziptape software on EPROM. It is capable of 32K of programmed 2716's or 16K of 2708 EPROMS. It is currently configured from $C000 to $D8FF using 2516's (single voltage 2716)

Courtesy of Ron Rega http://my.en.com/~w8gmh/KIM-1/kim1001.htm

 
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