{"id":19931,"date":"2024-11-07T15:48:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T20:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?page_id=19931"},"modified":"2025-05-13T10:09:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T14:09:24","slug":"vin16","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/","title":{"rendered":"Netronics Explorer-85"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Netronics Explorer-85<\/h2>\n<p>[Vin16]<\/p>\n<p>The Netronics Explorer-85 was a personal computer introduced in 1979, notable for its use of the Intel 8085 CPU, flexible S-100 bus expansion, and innovative serial port that automatically matched the baud rate of an attached terminal. Its claim to fame lies in its modular, hobbyist-friendly design-users could start with a basic motherboard and expand up to 64 KB RAM, floppy disk support, and a variety of S-100 peripherals, making it accessible and customizable for early personal computing enthusiasts. It was not a mass-market success and remained popular mainly among hobbyists and early adopters in North America.<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-21122\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"Netronics Explorer-85\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-2048x1538.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250512_194645884-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Manufacturer<\/strong>: Netronics R&amp;D Ltd<\/li>\n<li><strong>Type<\/strong>: Personal computer<\/li>\n<li><strong>Release Date<\/strong>: 1979<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost at release<\/strong>: USD $150 (CAD ~$700 adjusted for inflation)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost with peripherals<\/strong>: fully expanded system with all peripherals (Level B\u2013E upgrades, max 64 KB RAM, and floppy support) could reach ~$525 USD in 1982 (CAD $2,500 adjusted for inflation)<\/li>\n<li><strong>MIPS<\/strong>: 0.2-0.5 (200 &#8211; 500 KIPS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW36078203 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW36078203 BCX0\">Hardware Specifications<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CPU<\/strong>: Intel 8085 microprocessor running at 3.072 MHz.<\/li>\n<li><strong>RAM<\/strong>: 256 bytes (base), expandable up to 64 KB (with S-100 memory boards).<\/li>\n<li><strong>ROM<\/strong>: 2 KB monitor ROM (expandable with Microsoft BASIC and CP\/M support).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bus<\/strong>: S-100 bus with 2 slots on motherboard, expandable to 6 slots with expander card.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Storage<\/strong>: Cassette tape interface (standard); optional floppy disk controller via S-100 expansion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\">Operating System &amp; Programming Languages<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW136206418 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"my-0\"><strong>Operating System<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Monitor ROM (built-in machine code monitor)<\/li>\n<li>Microsoft BASIC (ROM-based interpreter)<\/li>\n<li>CP\/M (with sufficient RAM and storage expansion)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-0\"><strong>Supported Languages<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Microsoft BASIC (for general-purpose programming)<\/li>\n<li>Assembly language (via the monitor and third-party assemblers)<\/li>\n<li>CP\/M allowed use of additional languages such as FORTRAN, COBOL, and others, provided compatible software was installed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Notables<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The Netronics Explorer-85\u00a0 was notable for being a kit computer, allowing hobbyists to assemble and expand it themselves.<\/li>\n<li>Its serial port featured a unique auto-baud detection: after reset, the user pressed the space bar on a terminal, and the firmware would automatically match the baud rate-a rare feature at the time.<\/li>\n<li>Unlike most S-100 bus computers, the Explorer-85\u2019s large motherboard integrated the CPU and circuitry, with only two S-100 bus sockets (expandable to six), making it more compact and affordable.<\/li>\n<li>It included a front-panel interrupt button, letting users interrupt a crashed program and return to the debugger without losing work-a helpful tool for developers and tinkerers.<\/li>\n<li>The system was highly modular, sold in levels from a bare motherboard to a fully expanded computer with up to 64 KB RAM and floppy disk support.<\/li>\n<li>The Explorer-85\u2019s place in computing history is as a flexible, hobbyist-oriented personal computer that helped popularise home computing and hands-on computer assembly during the late 1970&#8217;s and early 1980&#8217;s.<\/li>\n<li>The Explorer-85 was available internationally, including in the UK under the similar-sounding but unrelated &#8220;Newtronics&#8221; brand<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Donated by<\/strong>: Arlen Michaels<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/explorer-85.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-19933 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/explorer-85.jpg\" alt=\"Explorer-85\" width=\"353\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/explorer-85.jpg 480w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/explorer-85-240x365.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/explorer-85-400x608.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/explorer-85-160x243.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/explorer-85-360x547.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 353px) 100vw, 353px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Netronics Explorer-85 [Vin16] The Netronics Explorer-85 was a personal computer introduced in 1979, notable for its use of the Intel 8085 CPU, flexible S-100 bus expansion, and innovative serial port that automatically matched the baud rate of an attached terminal. Its claim to fame lies in its modular, hobbyist-friendly design-users could start with a basic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":19704,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Netronics Explorer-85 - School of Computer Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Netronics Explorer-85 The Netronics Explorer-85 was a personal computer introduced in 1979, notable for its use of the Intel 8085 CPU, flexible S-100 bus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/\",\"name\":\"Netronics Explorer-85 - School of Computer Science\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-07T20:48:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-13T14:09:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"Netronics Explorer-85 The Netronics Explorer-85 was a personal computer introduced in 1979, notable for its use of the Intel 8085 CPU, flexible S-100 bus\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vintage Computing\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Vintage Computing Collection\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Netronics Explorer-85\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/\",\"name\":\"School of Computer Science\",\"description\":\"Carleton University\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Netronics Explorer-85 - School of Computer Science","description":"Netronics Explorer-85 The Netronics Explorer-85 was a personal computer introduced in 1979, notable for its use of the Intel 8085 CPU, flexible S-100 bus","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/","name":"Netronics Explorer-85 - School of Computer Science","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-11-07T20:48:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-13T14:09:24+00:00","description":"Netronics Explorer-85 The Netronics Explorer-85 was a personal computer introduced in 1979, notable for its use of the Intel 8085 CPU, flexible S-100 bus","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin16\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vintage Computing","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Vintage Computing Collection","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Netronics Explorer-85"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/","name":"School of Computer Science","description":"Carleton University","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"acf":{"banner_image_type":"none","banner_button":"no"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19931"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21143,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19931\/revisions\/21143"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}