DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments Computer Fun (United Kingdom)
Date of introduction: | 1990 | Display technology: | LCD |
New price: | Display size: | Graphics | |
Size: | 9.5" x 12.5" x 2.5" | ||
Weight: | 2 pounds 3 ounces | Serial No: | 5181571 |
Batteries: | 4*AA cells | Date of manufacture: | wk 27 year 1990 |
AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | USA | |
Precision: | Integrated circuits: | TSP50C44 (CSM44017), TSP60C19 (CMM19040), HD44102, HD44105 |
|
Memories: | |||
Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
Nothing
else than the British speaking edition of the Computer Fun
introduced two years earlier in the United States.
Please remember that American
English and British English are different,
e.g. "color and math" vs. "colour and maths". For that
reason Texas Instruments developed a new set of Speech-ROMs just for United
Kingdom. Everything else is identical with the original US-version of the
educational toy.
Dismantling
this Computer Fun manufactured in July 1990 by Texas Instruments in the United
States for the British speaking market reveals a rather complex printed circuit board
(PCB). The design of the Computer Fun is centered around four different Integrated
Circuits:
• TSP50C44/CSM44017: TSP50C50 VSP (Voice Synthesis Processor) with 8-bit microcontroller and 16k Bytes Mask ROM for both program and voice and
128 Bytes + 16 Nibbles RAM • TSP60C19/CMM19040: VSM (Voice Synthesis Memory) with 256k Bits • Hitachi HD44102: Column Driver for monochrome dot matrix liquid crystal display with 4-bit and 8-bit Interface for up to 50 columns • Hitachi HD44105: Common (Row) Driver for monochrome dot matrix liquid crystal display with 4-bit and 8-bit Interface for up to 32 rows |
The regional definition of the Computer Fun is accomplished with different Mask Versions for the ROMs of both the VSP and VSM:
• American Voice: TSP50C44/CSM44012 and TSP60C19/CMM19006 • British Voice: TSP50C44/CSM44017 and TSP60C19/CMM19040 • German Voice: TSP50C44/CSM44024 and TSP60C19/CMM19xxx |
In other countries the Computer Fun got not only other voices, even the keyboard layout changed. Don't miss the German Computer Fun.
Later a similar product was sold with the Mouse
Computer.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, July 12, 2005. No reprints without written permission.