MITS Altair 8800

I acquired my Altair 8800 (along with an 8800a) shortly after starting this site and decided to document its arrival and "restoration" a bit.

The machines came via UPS and, predictably, got bounced around quite a bit in transit. It's a shame the UPS folks missed all of those red "fragile" labels all over the boxes. Then again, it's obvious why they prefer the color brown... Fortunately, everything was double boxed and survived pretty well.

I had purchased these computers based upon a few grainy pictures so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Once I unboxed the units I was able to assess what they really looked like. The machine was definitely used, but it wasn't beat up so badly that it wasn't reparable. Some of the dents and scratches in the case are permanent, but the basics look pretty good.

The interior was dusty and somewhat rusty (around the transformers), but basically sound as well. This unit had a RAM card bouncing around free from shipment. I re-slotted it before snapping this shot.

The cards actually showed the most wear and tear in this system. The CPU card shows signs of having been inserted and removed A LOT. It also seems that a previous owner used pliers on the corners of the cards to get them out. They still work, however, which is the most important part. This Rev 0 CPU card has the especially rare Intel 8080 chip. Most Altairs were powered by the Intel 8080A

The Altair Disk subsystem consisted of two boards and the disk drive. Here is the first of those boards.

This is the second of the Altair disk boards. The connector on the first one hooks up to this one and then the cable hooks up to the remaining pins on both boards.

The MITS SIO-2 (2 serial ports) board was a mainstay of Altair systems, connecting them with terminals, teletypes and all sorts of other peripherals. This machine had one installed and had the hardware to activate both ports.

The 2k/4k EPROM board used in both of my Altair systems came from the Solid State Music company. 1702a EPROMS were used to store the boot loader for the disks and potentially paper tape or cassette tape.

The Altair 8800 came with 32k of RAM on 4 Seals Electronics 8k Static RAM cards. It seems to run properly with these, but I can't imagine that the power supply supported this much draw.

After removing the cards and then removing the chassis from the case you can get a good feel for how these Altair's were built.

A look inside reveals the power supply and the 4 slot motherboards chained together. This machine was built from a kit. In many places it shows.

After carefully cleaning the chassis, checking the wiring and re-soldering a few wires that had come loose I applied power to the machine for the first time. There was no smoke or burning! Eventually I added all of the cards back in, one at a time, to see if they were operable. There were no nasty surprises throughout this operation.

Once the machine was in order I pulled out one of the disk drives to see what would happen. I inspected the unit, but didn't dismantle it or clean it all that thoroughly. It too powered nicely and without smoke or flames. Sadly, I don't yet have the expertise to get the machine and the drive to talk to each other.

Here's the drive with the cover removed showing the Altair disk controller board and the beefy Pertec disk drive.

The original owner of the Altairs in my collection came across some additional documentation after a move. Included were the manuals for the disk drives, the 8800a and almost all of the S-100 cards supplied with the machines!

One of these days I need to rebuild this site. As a prelude I'm starting to practice taking pictures. The following, while not yet all that good, are far better then the bulk of the photographs on this site ... for now.

By request I've put up three new pictures. These are of the bare MITS 4 slot motherboards as originally shipped with the Altair computers (both top and bottom) and of the Altair front panel. Each of the following thumbnails links to a MUCH bigger picture (about 4 MB for the boards, about 5 for the front panel) so beware of the wait if you click on one!

The two images above link to 300 DPI scans of the Altair 4 slot motherboards. The rev 0 and rev 1 boards are both pictured. The top (connector side) and bottom (solder side) of the boards was scanned to facilitate reproduction.

If anyone does use these scans to reproduce either of these boards, please let me know. I'm pretty sure I'd be interested in some.

The thumbnail above links to a 300DPI scan of an Altair 8800 front panel. There are a few nicks and scratches on it, but the condition is exceptional considering the age of the machine. The scan gets a little fuzzy at the center because I couldn't lay the plate perfectly flat on my scanner. It's pretty good, though.

The scan should be of sufficient quality to reproduce an Altair front panel accurately. If you use it for that, please let me know. I'd be interested in cleaned up ones for some display units.

I've recently acquired a handfull of early paper tapes for the Altair. These contain an Assembler, Editor, Monitor, BASIC, boot loaders and more. I'm hoping to get these read in to a machine and dumped to disk so I can reproduce them here. As soon as I find the time. . .

(Submitted May 27, 2008 15:19:07 by bob)

i have had one of the 8800 in pile for a long time took it out and cleaned it up looks like new, found a ram card as well and books working fine as far as i can tell. thiking abt putting on ebay , but for now having some fun with it running some small prg's

email @ ka2fwn @ yahoo dot com

(Submitted May 15, 2008 14:11:48 by scott)

I have 3 vintage microcomputers + many, many extras. I have an Altair 8800, Imsai 8080 and SWTP 6809 system. They are currently listed on ebay. If someone makes me a reasonable offer for one or all, I will take them off of ebay. You can see them at ebay by searching for buyncell in the title and descriptions.

You can see them here:

http://tinyurl.com/5pa7eb http://tinyurl.com/5olb92 http://tinyurl.com/62n28v

You can email me at: taggart at taggarts.org

Thanks,

Scott

(Submitted May 12, 2008 10:40:06 by Chris)

One of my HS students uncovered an Altair bought at bossladys (see post, below) computer store in 75. Here are some pics on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrischampion/sets/72157605014721292/

They're licensed Creative Commons, noncommercial use only. I release them to vintage-computer if they wish to use them on this site, provided they carry a link back to my Flickr site.

(Submitted April 24, 2008 19:28:01 by andrew benicasa)

I just acquired a 8800 with 2 8 inch drives and would like to know if anyone could help me determine their value?

(Submitted April 23, 2008 17:11:10 by Chris)

I have an Altair 8800 very nice condition with two large disk drives I might even be able to get the manuals. I had hoped to start a small computer museum but was told to take it away. I can and will take pictures of it for the buyer. The individual who trained on it is retirig soon and he has the manuals and says it still works. He was surprised I had it hidden away with my Commodore Lisa and Apple II and Commodore C. Make me an offer it needs a good home.

(Submitted December 28, 2007 00:33:23 by jk)

Been looking for one of these for a while. If anyone has one in very good condition, please email me. Thanks.

(Submitted November 15, 2007 17:06:37 by brad)

Your pictures are fantastic! Do you know any places where you can get these?

(Submitted October 30, 2007 11:01:08 by Justin Gale)

Hello. I recently came across an MITs case which appears to be the 8800. The motherboard and front panel are missing, as well as the cards. All that remains in the case and powersupply. I am wondering waht the value of these parts may be.

(Submitted September 13, 2007 12:07:50 by greenmeanie)

I am loking for one of these computers for my collection. email me

(Submitted September 4, 2007 15:40:24 by kw)

There was one sold on ebay a couple years ago for over $(us)9000. At the time, that was well over $10,000cdn.

I've been offered a tax receipt for around that much by a museum. Somehow, I just can't bring myself to part with it, no matter how bad I need the money. :(

(Submitted June 10, 2007 17:43:07 by Richard Chang)

I am interested in buying a Altair 8800. I prefer one that is in good running condition with the documentation. Please contact me. Richard Chang. Ideally, I prefer to communicate with someone close to the North Eastern United States of America.

(Submitted May 24, 2007 09:20:12 by Misty)

WOW! I am doing a Power Point Slide On this and I was wondering if you can send me some more information. it would be GREAT!! Thanks.

(Submitted May 19, 2007 18:37:00 by alex)

Where can i buy one???

(Submitted April 24, 2007 22:29:02 by Marty Geist)

If you need to put or would like to put YOUR Paper Tapes on Your (modern pc, HardDisk, CD), I have a way to do this through a friend of mine We did it in a round about way but It worked !!! We read the tape into a Data General Nova 1200, and it talked to the PC and transfered it to a file. I don't have my old Nova at present, but my friend does, So I can still do it. Just in case you would like a back-up !!!! Thanks Marty

(Submitted April 24, 2007 14:50:08 by Marty Geist)

About 1977 or 78 , I bought an Altair 8800b, which I had for quite a few years, one day a solder bridge came loose and I think shorted the +12 volt line to the + 5 volt line. needless to say It quite working. that was about 1981 or so, I tried to fix it, but ended up tearing up most of the boards, trying to take the Ic's out. Since then I have used sockets on all my boards. I don't have any of it anymore, it got lost and trashed and given away after that. I am currently trying to WireWrap up a CPU Board and make one, using schematics that I have gotten off of the internet. I also have a North Star/IMSAI with a Z80 CPU Board and many CPM 8 Floppies, which still works, But I would like to build my own Altair, I am half way through the WireWrapping of the CPU Board, and then can try it in the IMSAI. Thanks Marty

(Submitted April 3, 2007 21:45:32 by Dustin)

Hi. My father recently gave me his two Altair 8800's. one has a dazzler card in it. I also have a diskdrive, a keyboard monitor set, all of the manuals, my fathers notes and additional chips and cards. I am looking to sell these computers and ran across this site. My father kept them in good condition in the garage for many years. send me an email if you have questions or are interested. I am in the process of taking photos of all the parts so i should be able to email pictures in the near future.

Thanks.

(Submitted March 20, 2007 01:52:53 by Nando Favaro)

In the mid 1985, I bought an ALTAIR 8800b system It had: -an office desk -built-in 8800b computer -build-in Hard Disk Controller -build-in 5Meg + 5Meg removable Hard Disk (Pertek)

It was an amazing machine.

Now, I only have the desk.

-Nando Favaro (Canada)

(Submitted March 19, 2007 07:49:13 by (a href=mailto:)James(/a))

Can it run Windows XP? What's gaming like on this machine?

LOL only joking :P Nice set of pictures you have

(Submitted March 15, 2007 18:59:41 by jara)

Very excellant site. I remember my first altair I built. Was in the military at that time, and in Germany, when I received it there. Didn't finish it till I had to return to the states (in 1975). I also built a machine based on the 4004 before that with a whopping 1K memory! And one with the 8008 too. Those were the days!

(Submitted March 3, 2007 15:50:09 by bosslady)

My (ex-)husband & I started the first computer store in Dayton, OH, in Sept 1975 to sell Altair kit computers. What memories the photos on this site bring back! Teletype machines, paper tape, boot loaders, ADM-3 video monitors, daisywheel printers (45 characters per minute and ) $1,000 each), 110 baud modems that you pressed the phone handset into; eventually 5 1/4 and then 8 floppy diskettes that you had to remember to mount and unmount or you would mess up the directory to your files! Oh my, those were the days. I soldered many boards — CPU's, memory, interfaces. I was always amazed when they actually worked. I've often wondered what our terrific technician, Dave, is doing now. We used to tell customers that he spent most of his time playing checkers with the Maytag repairman.

(Submitted February 9, 2007 13:08:22 by (a href=mailto:na)James Ross the cheetomaster(/a))

I am doing a history day project on this. Does the Altair 8800 use a moniter, if so can you please post a pic of it and it being used.

(Submitted January 4, 2007 20:19:17 by Joti Mondal)

COOL

(Submitted December 27, 2006 20:39:30 by roger)

Anyone selling an Altair 8800 in good shape please contact me! Thanks

(Submitted December 9, 2006 20:56:06 by Daniel)

I was studying The history of the Altair computer and I need to say that your web site is the very best I have read for a look inside the hood of the 8800. Thank you for sharing this with the world. I will return many times to enjoy the site. Thank you again! Dan from Ohio

(Submitted December 4, 2006 18:54:45 by Shea)

So what would you use this thing for back then?

(Submitted November 8, 2006 19:20:13 by Shawn)

I am looking to buy a S Altair 8800a can you please email the details on how to buy one. Thanks

(Submitted November 8, 2006 08:20:55 by N888 MSBCS)

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE BOOT LOADER CODE SEQUENCE. ALSO PLEASE COMMENT ON THE REQUESTS TO REUSE INFORMATION ON THIS WEBPAGE (I.E. http://www.vintage-computer.com/altair8800.shtml ) AS I WOULD LIKE TO USE SOME AS SOURCE MATERIAL FOR MY OWN WORK.

(Submitted November 6, 2006 20:06:36 by greenmeanie)

I would like to find a cheap Altair for personal use and to bring to local schools for show and tell. Local to connecticut would be nice.

(Submitted October 24, 2006 11:11:31 by Cindy)

Hi...I am interested in buying an Altair 8800. Please email me if you have details!

(Submitted October 12, 2006 12:14:49 by Frank Kelly)

I biult an Altair and had a whopping 4k of dynamic memory. Used an audio cassette player to load Altair Basic, and then wrote basic programs to track OSCAR ham satellites. Built a video monitor as well for output on a TV screen and used an old teletype machine for a printer! It all worked.

One day I did a literal translation of Altair basic into ascii characters and one section of the code came across with Bill Gates name in it as the author.

(Submitted October 1, 2006 07:45:21 by Rich)

This is the best feature on the Altair I have seen. Thanks for the look inside. My first PC was a Commodore Plus4, that I taught myself BASIC on. Today I build my own PC's and use the Linux OS.

(Submitted October 1, 2006 01:58:38 by azfar)

I am amazed to see the first ever sucessful home computer.But in want to know more about the facilities it had.

(Submitted October 1, 2006 01:56:30 by azfar)

i am amazed to see the first ever sucessful home compute.But in want to know more about the facilities it had.

(Submitted September 9, 2006 18:06:10 by Thomas Mullin)

Eric & I, both had Mr. Scott as our teacher in electronics. 1975, what a year, my first computer, my first wet dream. Since I had been programming a 4004 over in the Math department, Scott recruited me to come in an hour early before school and toggle in the boot program for his Altair. At least Scott didn't spray paint the computer flourescent green like the rest of his equiptment. I remember the day Scott came in holding up the punched tape of Microsoft Basic he illegally copied from a friend. He thought we would be interested, but it just collected dust on the shelf.

(Submitted July 19, 2006 10:34:51 by Eric Hvinden)

This was actually the first computer (type) that I used. It was during sophomore year in high school (Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach, CA). It was in 1975. Our electronics teacher said he bought this instead of a VW he was eyeing at the time. It had tape drive, and no boot loader. You hand entered the Boot Code, to get the boot ready for the cassette tape, this loaded a BASIC Interpreter. If the boot went correct, and the tape loaded, you got an OK on the monitor. We typed programs into it. One fun one was a paper tape punch. You would type in a name, word or phrase, and it would print out on paper tape. This started my life long love of computers. My next one was a BENDIX G-15 with DRUM Memory...Before Vic-20, C-64 and PC's. I am not a network admin. Great fun. Thanks for bring back good memories!!!

(Submitted July 6, 2006 21:57:32 by Hans)

I am amazed to see that people actually try to make money off 'my' Altair 8800. Not exactly the spirit when I used it. We tried to open up the world for you, and succeeded. And now you commercialize it like everything else you touch..

Yeah yeah I know.. Going to get my coffee now ;-)

(Submitted June 19, 2006 08:47:12 by Tanzil Asghar)

i am selling the original PC first built at 30 dollars, any one interested in it please e-mail me, it is also signed by Bill Gates and has a copy of triumph of the nerds with it. Thanks!!!`

(Submitted May 25, 2006 12:09:07 by Ethan)

I would like to purchase one of these machines. I recently saw them on a movie called Pirates of Silicon Valley and I wanted to purchase one for myself

(Submitted May 15, 2006 05:09:42 by Jack)

I am interested in buying an ALTAIR 8800. Please email me details.

(Submitted March 16, 2006 22:56:46 by Lou DePasqua)

Looking for a Altair 8800 computer. Call 847-877- 1739

(Submitted March 9, 2006 06:44:02 by (a href=mailto:)kayla (/a))

the first altiar ever shipped was lost in the mail

(Submitted January 5, 2006 10:20:37 by canvic)

The Altair has done so much for me i can not even began to explain!!!! i'm totally in love with it!

(Submitted October 30, 2005 18:14:23 by Andrew L. Ayers)

I have recently purchased an Altair 8800 for $100.00 from an electronics junkyard here in Phoenix. It is in what appears to be OK condition, although it is really dirty. It is missing its top cover (if anyone can tell me how I might get this replaced, and whether it would affect value, I would be interested). I am afraid to power it up in the condition it is in. I plan to clean it up, and check the power supply and other areas thoroughly before doing so. It has what appears to be the Z80 card, 4 16K cards, a parallel/serial port card (no cables, though), and a drive controller card. The front panel is in great condition. If anyone can point me to further help on this machine, it would be helpful to say the least. I am scouring google in the meantime. Thank you!

(Submitted October 5, 2005 11:03:37 by Erik Klein)

I have never seen an Altair sell for $10,000 - even in Canadian dollars!

I have seen a few break $3,000 for complete, clean systems but most tend to fall within the $1,000 to $2,500 range.

Depending on your tax receipt you may or may not be in better shape donating it.

(Submitted October 5, 2005 10:48:16 by kw)

Hi. I have an original Altair 8800 that works, or did the last time i turned it on. The local museum curator has offered me some kinda tax receipt for it, but when i see numbers like $10,000 i think it might be better to sell it :)

(Submitted July 29, 2005 19:45:37 by Dick Frank)

Once a MITs dealer in Orlando. We are downsizing in Sept. Have large collection of S-100 stuff. If you are interested e-mail me or phone at 407-847-3449. I have inventory including one 8800A chassis. Thanks Dick Frank

(Submitted July 19, 2005 17:34:50 by Chris)

I have a very nice IMSAI 8080 for sale with lots of cards inside including the rare video card. I will give details and pics to anyone interested. I am asking 1200.00 + shipping.

(Submitted June 6, 2005 15:06:02 by victor reyna)

estan exelentes las imagenes, que lastima que solo de esta forma se pueda conocer la antigua tecnologia.

(Submitted May 25, 2005 11:06:36 by (a href=mailto:)Anthony(/a))

Thanks for the pics. You helped me with my Senior research!

(Submitted May 11, 2005 10:34:06 by kenneth r garrett )

I have one altair 8800 computer i wish to sell fast no resonable offers will be refused. it is in excelent condition and i do have pictures available. can you help me find a buyer before i try ebay?? thanks

(Submitted May 10, 2005 03:16:53 by bee)

heyas u r tres cool.......ritio u r hot shtuff and so is ur website i think u r cool and so is ur altair :P i wannt oneeeeeeeeeeeeee :'( will sum1 giv me one as a bday prezzie pleeeeeeeease

(Submitted May 10, 2005 02:11:04 by fish)

heyhey im doing an assignment on desktop computers and was wondering if i could please use some photos from your website?

(Submitted May 6, 2005 08:36:44 by Jim Swartz)

Erik, I would like to have permission to use a print of the Altair 8800 from your site in my soon to be published book, Seeing David in the Stone. I will certainly credit your site in the book. jim

(Submitted April 15, 2005 17:57:29 by victor rains)

hello Iam interested in buying your itme please I want to know the last price that you want to sale it. I want to hear from you , Pls i urgently expect your reply as soon as possible. Thanks in anticipation. Best Regards victor rains victor_rains@yahoo.ca

(Submitted January 7, 2005 06:51:47 by Morgann)

I would like to buy an altair.. i am offering $10, 000 for th one in the best shape! i need it for a job at work that we are reasearching them! please contact me

(Submitted January 7, 2005 06:42:04 by Morgann)

I would like to buy an altair.. i am offering $10, 000 for th one in the best shape! i need it for a job at work that we are reasearching them! please contact me

(Submitted January 6, 2005 13:32:42 by Erik Klein)

For those seeking an Altair I'd suggest places such as eBay and the Vintage Computer Marketplace (marketplace.vintage.org) for a quick buy.

Posting here is certainly good and you may get a response directly or because I repost many of these requests to the Computer Collector Newsletter (http://news.computercollector.com)

Best of luck!

Erik

(Submitted January 6, 2005 09:52:17 by Emanuel Beier)

Where have you by the altair 8800?

(Submitted January 6, 2005 08:00:47 by Emanuel Beier)

I would like to by an atair 8800 computer

(Submitted January 1, 2005 19:48:16 by Lynn)

I would like to buy an Altair 8800. If you have one you would like to sell please email me. thanks.

(Submitted December 18, 2004 22:00:41 by John)

I am looking to buy a Altair 8800 or 8800A or B model. If you have one to sell send me mail please.

(Submitted December 12, 2004 01:08:40 by SiMdOwMaN)

That machine looks great! I'm going to get an Altair 8800 too when I grow up. All you need to do now is to connect the Monitor, the Keyboard, and the Mouse on your system. Since it's a really old computer, try loading MS-DOS on it, and see what happens.

(Submitted December 4, 2004 20:55:05 by (a href=mailto:)Kestas(/a))

I'm looking to buy an Altair, if you've got one to sell can you please e-mail me at kestas.j.k [AT] gmail [DOT] com

Thanks,

(Submitted November 22, 2004 01:17:06 by Kevin)

I would like to buy any altair 8800 please e-mail me.

(Submitted October 12, 2004 17:07:37 by Nando Reis)

Hey any one looking to sell a max 1 year old in perfect shape Altair 8800 between $150.00 to $200.00

(Submitted September 22, 2004 08:35:23 by Paul)

I have an Altair 8800 in my attic that hasnt been used for as long as i can remember. Anyone wants it for 50 bucks please email me.

(Submitted August 27, 2004 09:39:36 by Paul Houser)

I'ld like to buy one that hasn't been built yet, if you know of a place I can get one, please contact me.

(Submitted August 27, 2004 08:22:42 by Dan W)

Anyone looking to sell an Altair 8800 in good condition, please contact me.

(Submitted August 24, 2004 17:09:10 by Bill)

I would be interested in buying one of these units contact me using the link on this page with price and list of parts, etc.

(Submitted June 28, 2004 10:01:35 by Irene)

It is in good shape looks just like yours. My husband got it from a friend and her husband had a computer retail store many years back. He passed away many years ago. The computer has two manual books on it. Irene

(Submitted June 28, 2004 09:38:41 by Irene)

Hi I would like to know if you would like to buy another ALTAIR 8800.. Irene

(Submitted June 7, 2004 09:08:41 by Ana)

Olá este é o altair

Description
Manufacturer	Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS)
Model	Altair 8800
Date Announced	1/1975
Date Canceled	Late 1970s
Number Produced	Unknown
Country of Origin	USA
Price	Approximately $400 in kit form, Approximately $600 assembled.
Current Value	$1,500 - $3,000

Specifications
Processor	Intel 8080 or 8080a
Speed	2 MHz
RAM	256 bytes to 64K
ROM	Optional. Usually Intel 1702 EPROMs at 256 Bytes each for various bootstrap loaders.
Storage	Optionally: Paper tape, cassette tape, 5.25" or 8" disks.
Expansion	Initially 4 slot motherboards with room for 4 in the case (16 slots total). Later MITS motherboards available with 18 slots.
Bus	S-100
Video	None
I/O	Optional Serial and Paralell
OS Options	MITS DOS, CP/M, Altair Disk BASIC

Notes	The Altair 8800 was far from the first "Personal Computer" but it was the first truly successful one. The Altair is generally credited with launching the PC revolution in earnest. Microsoft was founded to make software (BASIC) for the Altair.

Related Items in Collection	Altair 8" Disk drives with controller cards, ADM-3A terminal, ASR 33 teletype, various software including Altair Disk BASIC, Altair DOS, Fortran, Timeshare BASIC, etc. Manuals for all hardware and software.
Related Items Wanted	Additional software and working disk drives. Interrupt controller, PROM programmer, PROM board.