Thread: BK-0010, the only soviet home computer

Recently I quite occasionally found some sites dedicated to BK-0010 -- the first (and, I'm afraid, last) mass-produced soviet home computer.

Oh, the feel of nostalgia. Do you remember the golden time, when if somebody was in need of certain software, he did not go to Gorbushka to buy a pirated CD, but just wrote it himelf?



Some technical data for BK-0010:

CPU: K1801VM1, analog of DEC LSI-11;
RAM: 32 Kb (normally 16 Kb usable RAM + 16 Kb reserved for videobuffer)
ROM: either FOCAL interpreter + MSTD (monitor/debugger), or BASIC
Video: 256 * 256 * 4 colors (color mode) or 512 * 256 (B/W mode)
Sound: software-controlled squeaker
External storage: tape recorder

Some screenshots:



LOGO interpreter at work



Cool multicolor demo

And here are some games! Can you imagine home computer without them?



Minesweeper clone



Tetris, you see.



Blockout (3D Tetris) clone



Chess



Reversi




Color lines (outstanding work!)

hmm, and what about ZX-Spectrum clones? Where was LOTS of them in 80-th, factory-made and home-made. They was usually named БК too

Originally Posted by ST

hmm, and what about ZX-Spectrum clones? Where was LOTS of them in 80-th, factory-made and home-made. They was usually named БК too

Correct, but they were *clones*, not original designs. There were no much original ideas, IMHO. BTW, is there any Spectrum clone with name starting from БК? Never heard of one...

(Well, strictly speaking, it wasn't *only* soviet-made HC. There was, for example, the huge family of very primitive HC's based on "Radio-86" with Intel-8080 analog ("Mikrosha"/"Irisha"/etc...) These seem to be "original" too -- but not especially interesting, with very poor graphics (actually, pseudographics), and a very limited supply of software. Briefly, they are no match for BK.)

Finally, neither "Agat" (poor Apple-II clone, one of the ugliest PC's I seen in my life ) and "Korvet" (MSX clone) were original designs.

Well, Spectrum clones had using only Western CPU "Z-80A", and design wasn`t 1:1 copy from original ZX, I rather say what Soviet-made Spectrums was "ZX-compatible" (many models was not 100% compatible, lots of games didn`t work on it )

Well, I had "БК-001-Форум"...it was "ZX-compatible"

BTW, I think it wasn`t a problem to make original home computer, but for Spectrum was thousands of "free" software, games and so on.

PS. When I was a kid, I really wanted to understand, how my computer works...so later I went in Technical State University, and finish it few years ago. Now I know how it works

Wow, when did the BK-0010 come out? Was it the russians who invented Minesweeper?!?

Originally Posted by ST

Well, Spectrum clones had using only Western CPU "Z-80A", and design wasn`t 1:1 copy from original ZX, I rather say what Soviet-made Spectrums was "ZX-compatible" (many models was not 100% compatible, lots of games didn`t work on it )

Well, I didn't say what they were 100% clones -- they were not. For example, all of them seem to have something absolutely different from original Spectrum "ULA" (simple microchip responsible for generating video, controlling keyboard and periferials) -- so they produces SECAM-compatible video output instead of PAL one, as original Spectrum did.
But, anyway, they were almost 100% Spectrum-compatibles, and it was a key to success.

Originally Posted by ST

Well, I had "БК-001-Форум"...it was "ZX-compatible"

OK, maybe. Just never heard about it.

Originally Posted by ST

BTW, I think it wasn`t a problem to make original home computer, but for Spectrum was thousands of "free" software, games and so on.

Precisely, that was the problem. Not just to design something new -- but to make it popular enough to have a essential software base.
For example, after Spectrum, Sinclair Research created QL. Although it was much more powerful (16bit CPU, 128/256 Kb RAM, etc), this project just failed, mostly because of lack of software.

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Wow, when did the BK-0010 come out?

Serial producted was started in 1985, and (officially) ceased in 1993.
"Non-official" BK's were made even later, maybe even until present day.
According to http://bksoft.by.ru/, last program for BK was developed in 1998.

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Was it the russians who invented Minesweeper?!?

This would be great -- but, I'm afraid, not.
Most probably, BK "Minesweeper" was made after Windows 3.0 was out (this was 1991, AFAIK).

A couple more of nice pics.

The very first models of BK0010 had an unusual membrane keyboard:



Nice looking, but very unpractical (especially when lot of typing was needed).
The contacts weared out quickly...

Here is BK-0010 in full factory complectation: with power adapter, external ROM module (black box laying atop), various cables and manuals.



Later model, BK-0011 had 128 Kb RAM and could work with floppy drive.

GREAT thread! It is certainly bringing back the memories. I used to play with LOGO for hours on Apple II back in the computer lab days (mid-late 80s). My first computer was an Atari XE, probably around 1987, then I got an Apple IIGS in 1989. First PC was in 1992, and I quickly learned how to build them. I haven't been "into" PC hardware for about five months and already I'm completely lost with the new stuff. It just changes so fast. All my old PC buddies make fun of me because now the only computer I use is my Apple iBook G4.

But it is really, really neat to learn that the Soviet Union produced home computers, as Western propaganda would have us believing you still had computers the size of a Ural truck in the 1980s! It reminds of the Soviet joke, "Our watches are the fastest, our computers the biggest!"

Anyhow, really cool thread, guys. Just over three weeks until I arrive in Moscow!

Ooh now I want one. Pretty...

I had recorded some music intros from my favorite games from past. here it is: (Nether Earth, Frost Byte, Ocean conquist), achtung, 300kb each!

http://kusu.narod.ru/mus1.mp3
http://kusu.narod.ru/mus2.mp3
http://kusu.narod.ru/mus3.mp3
http://kusu.narod.ru/mus4.mp3

Originally Posted by ST

I had recorded some music intros from my favorite games from past. here it is: (Nether Earth, Frost Byte, Ocean conquist), achtung, 300kb each!

http://kusu.narod.ru/mus1.mp3
http://kusu.narod.ru/mus2.mp3
http://kusu.narod.ru/mus3.mp3
http://kusu.narod.ru/mus4.mp3

Oh, the beustiful sound of my childhood. It's like an afterglow... Thank you, ST!

yeah, my too...

Ох, приятное чувство -- ностальгия.

Вообще-то, у меня появилась мысль: не ограничиваться одной БК-шкой, а открыть еще несколько веток посвященных компьютерам нашей молодости. Или это уже будет перебор? Ваше мнение?

Компьютеры была большая редкость. Я вспоминаю только какую-то приставку советского производства со строгим набором игрушек... Ничего серьёзного.

Ну может, ликбез не повредит, кто знает?

Scorpio-это ты про ЕС, ДВК и РОБОТРОН?

Originally Posted by ST

Scorpio-это ты про ЕС, ДВК и РОБОТРОН?

Ну, в принципе, можно и их вспомнить -- тоже кое-какие воспоминания юности у меня с ними тоже связаны.
Но, в первую очередь, я имел в виду домашние компьютеры. "Микрошу" и всякие вариации на тему; наши аналоги Спектрума; "Поиск"; возможно еще что-нибудь?

У у, Spectrum, было дело! Лично спаял и настроил лет 15 назад . После многочисленных upgrades была достигнута конфигурация со 128k памяти, 5.25" дисководом и звуковым процессором. Написали напару с приятелем программулину на Z80 ассемблере для студий кабельного телевидения, показывавшую расписание передач и даже умудрились ее продать в пару мест - это был мой первый програмистский заработок.

Для ностальгирующих: можно поиграть в некоторые игры для Спектрума на онлайн эмуляторе, например в мою любимую Elite:
http://www.spectrum.lovely.net/Elite.html

Я училась программировать на языке "Рапира" в ОС "Школьница". А потом своими руками разбирала последнюю списанную БЭСМ-6