Dragon 32

In the early 1980s Dragon Computer Systems introduced the Dragon 32 in Europe to some reasonable success. The Dragon 32 was modeled after the Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer with some notable improvements including a full-sized keyboard. The Dragon was somewhat TRS-80 compatible and most CoCo cartridges would work in the Dragon.

The Dragon 32 in my collection came with a few accessories including Joysticks and a little software but I'll be unable to test it out until I get a converter that allows me to plug it in.

(Submitted June 9, 2008 20:08:33 by K.L.Smith)

I have a Dragon 32 & Dragon 64 and the original Dragon twin 5&1/4 floppy drive, along with a mountain of games. Applications, Roms etc all in full working order. Are these now collectors items or worth Holding on to ?.

(Submitted May 4, 2008 19:07:31 by Jason)

I have recently purchased a game listed on the label as 'Dragon Data Limited' Ghost Attack (c) 1982 A0103 Illegal to copy. I can't seem to find this game in any listing. Does anyone know nything about this. Perhaps its a beta game?

(Submitted April 27, 2008 02:40:28 by Richard Clarke)

Attn Brian Dickson - I think the text only game you are refering to was called Mansion House Adventure

(Submitted February 20, 2008 14:33:58 by DJ)

I have recently tried several emulators, if you want one the best is a emulator called Xroar, it's a fantastic well written 32bit one. Others seem to be unable to reproduce sound (XP doesn't allow 16bit applications to access sound) It's also faithful to the 20 minutes wait for a game to load!!! (This is a good thing)

(Submitted February 12, 2008 15:15:08 by Neil Meadows)

hi there, i used to have a dragon 32 and i think its still in my parents loft !!! with games. but i wanted to know if anyone has managed to get DRAGON MOUNTAIN into a format that i can use on my laptop

(Submitted December 16, 2007 20:13:23 by ron lafferty)

in 1985 i bought a dragon 32 but it had the dragon 64 motherboard; $200i added 32k ram and picked u the eprom so it ran as a 64 it was a great start to move on up to windows about 10 years later. thanks dragon;for helping to start a 30 computer support career.

(Submitted November 10, 2007 15:32:11 by Harji)

Wow..... I actually remember the day my dad and I went to Boots and picked up my first computer - a Dragon 32, back in 1993. That was a defining moment in my life, I knew from that moment onwards I was going into computers. The Dragon 32 was the best thing ever. I still remember the arguements I had with my friends in school as we all desparately defended our computers. We had different playground camps, i.e. the Commodore boys, Spectrun and BBC. The Commodore boys always had the edge. Never knew why the Dragon never had a lower case character set, but always appeared on screen as reverse video. I can still picture the OK ) prompt. My Dragon is in the attic, being preserved for eternity. ;-)

(Submitted September 27, 2007 06:11:53 by Aram Sabates)

Hi! Anyone would buy an original Dragon 32 with a large collection of cassetes? Contact me to negotiate the price!

(Submitted September 17, 2007 07:18:14 by John)

Nice to know that Dragon 32 is still around! I have (in the attic one Dragon 32+ one 64 and lots of software to it. The 32 was my first computer smuggeled in from the UK because they were too expensive in Norway in 1982. Learnt lots from using it for packet radio and logging contacts having hamradio as the main hobby at the time. John, Fredrikstad, Norway.

(Submitted July 30, 2007 10:23:37 by Andrew)

I had built my first ZX81 from kit then migrated to the Dragon 32. I was a lovely machine and I miss it. I used to write my own games for it. However, I am convinced it had a sensor that knew when I was looking at it. As everytime a was loading a program from cassette and I happen to glance at it the transfer would fail and I'd have to start again!

Did anyone have the problem of placing the cassette deck? I had to put the cassette deck on the left hand side with the cable going round the back of the machine otherwise it would not load anything at all.

Glad to see the good old Dragon 32 is still remembered.

Andrew

(Submitted April 12, 2007 08:18:44 by Damian Elsen)

One word: Shocktrooper.

Does anybody know where I can source a power adaptor for my Dragon 32. I recently unearthed the machine but the power adaptor is long since lost.

(Submitted February 2, 2007 09:30:44 by john molyneux)

i am interested in buying dragon software (tape or cartridge) especially boulder crash,stone raider or up periscope.

(Submitted December 29, 2006 16:43:23 by Scabby)

I would love to find an emulator! and that game that played tanks against tanks, I cannot even remember the name!!!

BOLO FOREVER!

(Submitted December 29, 2006 16:42:03 by Scabby)

Wow man I started on a dragon 32, I must have pulled that thing in all direction learning op code programming on it, A great little computer because the company that manufactured it published EVERY little port and subroutine which ment if you wanted you could learn all it had to offer. I remember one day typing in a program to read a thermomiter reading only to realise mine was broken)? so I decided to change the code to read into memory about 10 seconds of Tim Blake, then playing it through the TV screen speaker afterwards. 6 months later yamaha announced they had released the first Sampling Keyboard onto the market but I had already done it!!! ahh memories!

(Submitted December 29, 2006 14:46:40 by Michael)

Gary asked if anyone had re-written Quest - I didn't see a reply - can I ask the same question? Surely someone must know about this game which was very addictive!!

(Submitted December 9, 2006 20:30:08 by Jon Qualey)

I noticed in this artical about the Dragon 32 that the original purchase price is unknown.

In a book I have titled Digital Retro, published in 2004 by Sybex in the U.S.A., the Dragon 32 is shown as being originally priced at 199 British Pounds in 1982.

(Submitted November 23, 2006 09:30:17 by Al Hartman)

If anyone in the U.S. is interested in a Dragon Computer, you can get one from: http://www.cadigital.com/computer.htm

$35.00 + Shipping

(Submitted November 14, 2006 11:26:10 by Rob)

Yep, I bought one. Really glad I did as it forced me to learn basic. Actually getting proficient enough to rectify the mistakes in the Dragon User programs was a real breakthrough. I learnt so much from that machine that I went on to buy an Atari 2650? before moving onto PC's. I now program Excel VBA, SAS, HTML and Access for a major UK bank and have been involved in technology ever since. Never been on an IT training course of any kind in my life! And all because the Dragon forced me to learn the hard way!! Kids nowadays won't learn anything from CD based games. Bit of a shame really.

(Submitted November 9, 2006 08:56:54 by dragon)

dragon is the best

(Submitted October 5, 2006 15:17:01 by Daniel Fry)

If anyone has a Dragon 32/64 to sell please contact me. I miss all the old games lol and if anyone wants to chat about these old games let me know!

(Submitted September 2, 2006 08:21:23 by Ian Hughes)

Yeah, I had a Dragon back in the day. I remember came in late one night after a heavy night on the beer. He peed all over my computer, in the morning i just stuck it outside and dried it off. Booted up perfectly the next day. Robust little bugger it was. I remember Tyrant of Athens by some guy called Lothlorien - top game. Agree, modern gaming is crap....or is it i'm just getting old? Anyway, glad to have been there in the early years when computing was just taking off......aaah halcyon days.

(Submitted August 25, 2006 10:32:05 by (a href=mailto:noemail)Richard(/a))

A while back ago, I found an online company (Cloud-9) that deals with hardware, software, and service for the Color Computer. They even have some amazing upgrades for the CoCo. I imagine much of the stuff should be compatable with the Dragon. Their site is also part of a Web Ring so it should be a good source for links to other related sites.

The url is http://www.cloud9tech.com

(Submitted August 21, 2006 15:19:09 by Ian Belgian)

Anyone got a Dragon 64 or disk drive+interface for sale? I would be willing to pay good money for it.

(Submitted August 13, 2006 11:06:03 by tracy harris)

We had a dragon 32 and it was amazing. Remember the adventure game SEAQUEST. It was really basic but hours of fun trying to solve the clues.

(Submitted August 3, 2006 04:04:52 by bwriter)

To Brian Dickson: The first game you mention sounds like Ugh to me. I think there was also a pterodactyl and the object of the game was to collect its eggs and transport them to a cave. Great game.

(Submitted June 24, 2006 03:59:24 by BRIAN HADWIN)

I have a dragon 32 together with about 100 mixed programme tapes and some Dragon magazines Also a specially adapted tape recorder I would like to sell these - Open to offers I live in Wakefield, UK

(Submitted June 21, 2006 10:38:10 by Gary)

Does anyone know if anyone has created a version of the old Dragon Game Quest that will run on the pc I used to play that old game that was wrghten in Basic all the time and I would like to get a copy that will run on the PC

(Submitted June 10, 2006 12:15:39 by david morgan)

Dragon went to Spain because GEC bought them then disappeared from site. My opinion was GEC wanted OS9 for military use.

I remember running a word processor, spreadsheet and printing - from a Dragon 64 (that is 64K) computer in parallel using OS9.

(Submitted May 23, 2006 12:22:02 by Simon Hardy)

Visit www.dragon-archive-online.co.uk to revisit the 1980s and the Dragon 32/64.

(Submitted May 20, 2006 15:47:10 by sausage)

I had a dragon 32 in about 1983 and used to buy all the computer magazines at the time including `dragon user` , computer and video games and my favourite, personal computing today. They all used to have games programs but they were print outs and you had to spend hours typing them in only to find that you almost always got an error message when you typed `run` and it would say stuff like `error at line 1040`. I remember the number of times i felt like throwing the thing through the window, then the next months edition it would say `sorry folks we made a mistake` and would print the correction but by then you could never be arsed to retype the thing again. oh those early days of computer fun.

(Submitted May 18, 2006 02:47:18 by Craig G)

Brian Dickinson - I think the game your referring to was Franklin's Tomb. A text only adventure that my parents helped me with too. It also had a sequel called Adventure in Space, which led on form the ending of Franklin's Tomb. If anyone has the originals of those I would appreciate you contacting me.

(Submitted March 30, 2006 05:52:42 by mazhar said)

Hello. I need a dragon 32 disk drive and dragondos controller interface. anybody out there got these?

(Submitted March 17, 2006 07:34:32 by pete williamson)

I have the latest gaming pc, but am totally bored. Todays games are much too comples. I'm bidding for a dragon 32 on ebay cos i want to get back to gaming fun.

(Submitted March 12, 2006 13:50:25 by Javier)

I also had a dragoon 32, my favorite game was the lunar rover Patrol, spent hours playing with, I sold it a pile ago of years, but she has enchanted to me to remember old times

(Submitted March 4, 2006 17:50:11 by darryl)

Can anyone remember what the tank strategy game for the dragon was called, i think it involved hexagons of sorts with a sort of overhead map.

Darryl...

(Submitted December 21, 2005 07:25:58 by billsmith)

the game i think you are refering to was called Cuthbert goes walkabout. Hours of fun....

(Submitted September 6, 2005 13:13:41 by Brian Dickson)

I had a Dragon 32 too, before we got a Spectrum. Could anyone please identify a couple of games for me? I got it for my 13th birhtday in 1983 and it was a cassette (not cartridge) and was a version of the top down maze games where you had to avoid asoreted monsters, and one of the monsters was a dinosaur. Can't remember much beyond that. And I also got a pure text adventure in the traditonal Dungeons And Dragons mould. And one of the puzzles was that there was a waterfall hiding a secret door and you had to go through the waterfall. My Mum used to help me with that one in the morning before I went to school. Appreciate any help!

(Submitted July 26, 2005 13:50:51 by Simon iggulden)

I had a Dragon 32 back in 1982. I had hours of fun with my brother Andrew. loading games by tape and having to get the volume just right. At the time it was right up to date and it had a wow factor. Now i'm tapping away on my new dell 5000. Still it great to look back on the good old days Simon...... Simon

(Submitted July 23, 2005 06:59:55 by bleach)

i would like to buy a dragon 32.if thee is one for sale please contact me.

(Submitted May 10, 2005 17:12:19 by (a href=mailto:)egriffin(/a))

.......and after that release of the 64, they went belly up.

(Submitted January 11, 2005 21:54:37 by chris)

Anyone know of any DragonDOS cartridges out there for sale by any chance, Id like to get hold of one for my Dragon, which I still have, so I can revive some of the software I wrote and bought - which is on disk...If not I will try the old PC convert route, to get the software on an emulator - but somehow isnt the same as the real thing!

(Submitted November 28, 2004 06:30:05 by Kevin Lawton)

I think you'll find the Dragon pre-dates the Tandy Co-Co by a couple of years. They are both similar as they are based around a 'reference design' from Motorola. I've got two '32s and a '64 - all working. They had a 'ROM cartridge' slot, into which you could plug a disk interface and connect either 5.25 or 3.5 drives. A version of the Flex-9 op system was available (like on the SWTPC upgrade). Also - they can be networked ! A great little machine which deserved to survive longer than it did. Always looking to 'collect' more Dragon-related stuff when it is offered. Cheers, Kevin.

(Submitted October 29, 2004 06:48:21 by chris)

Not quite sure how/why I found my way to this site (!?) but I had a Dragon 32 in early 80's. If I remember correctly, if you had 'POKE 65495,1' as the first line of you Basic program, it significantly increased the CPU clock speed! (but after a while it would start behaving strangely!) Go on, try it!

(Submitted October 13, 2004 06:40:03 by dermot crossey)

I have a Dragon 32 computer working well.I just pulled it out of the loft, joysticks,many games and extra added memory.Vols of print paper.Can you advise me what I should do with this Dragon?

(Submitted September 6, 2004 02:30:12 by Johann Klasek)

Some missing/correcting data:

ROM 16K (including Microsoft Extented Colour Basic) Speed above is wrong: the CPU 6809E run at 0.9 MHz (with 1.8 oscillator frequency). OS Options: in addition to the well distributed Flex and OS-9 (Level I), Forth as language/OS combo was really attractive on this machine. Couriosities: In the early nineties I created a floppy disk interface to the Commodore 1541 disc drive (connected to the real slow serial interface), including a Basic extension (to load from tape) with several disc access commands. Contact me for details.

(Submitted August 21, 2004 08:39:41 by Tom Shute)

A couple of years after the dragon 32 was released, the Dragon 64 hit the market.

Description
Manufacturer	Dragon Data Limited
Model	Dragon 32
Date Announced	1982
Date Canceled	Unknown
Number Produced	Tens of Thousands
Country of Origin	UK
Price	??
Current Value	$5-$100

Specifications
Processor	Motorola 6809
Speed	.9 MHz
RAM	32K
ROM	Unknown
Storage	Cassette Tape
Expansion	Cartridge Slot
Bus	N/A
Video	Several resolutions to 256x192
I/O	Parallel, Serial
OS Options	Flex and OS-9 (Level I) as well as Forth as an OS and language

Notes	The Dragon 32 was basically a TRS-80 Color Computer clone. It wasn't 100% compatible, but the specifications were nearly identical and much of the TRS-80 software library would run on a Dragon.

Related Items in Collection	Joysticks, some software, manual
Related Items Wanted	Additional software. Tape player.