ACE History: Introduction to DeFactoAbout three years after the Association of Computer Experimenters was born, back issues of their Ipso Facto newsletter were published in a thick volume called DeFacto. The following DeFacto preface by Michael Franklin describes the origins of ACE and introduces the bus and I/O conventions adopted by the club. [Please note that because there's no straightforward means of putting a bar over text in HTML, the convention of placing a tilde ("~") character in front of the signal name is used here to denote negation.] INTRODUCTION The Association of Computer Experimenters (ACE) was founded in the spring of 1977 largely as a result of the efforts of Tom Crawford and Eugene Tekatch. Eugene had been requested by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Canada to produce a CPU board and to give an introductory course on micro computer technology and application to its members. He chose the RCA m.p.u. and designed the TEC 1800 system, adopting products from his company's industrial controller-processor line. The course commenced in the winter of 1977 and proved extremely popular. Some 600 people attended the three day seminars in the first few months. Tom was one of those students. Both Tom and Eugene recognized the increasing popularity of the new "micro computing" hobby, and the strong interest of course participants in carrying on beyond the seminars. The idea of a hobby users group was born. Tom co-opted the support of friends and fellow course participants, and with Eugene's help, produced issue 1 of Ipso Facto, a 12 page newsletter sent out to all course participants. The popularity of the newsletter prompted a second issue and a call to interested people to form a club. The first meeting was held in the Dofasco steel works in Hamilton in September 1977. From the early efforts of a few interested people, ACE has grown to more than 575 members, has become a club of international stature, and publishes the most significant source of 1802 micro processing user-information in the world. The club newsletter, Ipso Facto, is published six times a year and averages 50 pages per issue. In the intervening three years, the members have grown with their hobby. The first elementary machine language programs to turn on the "Q" light or display static bit patterns with the 1861 have given way to sophisticated control programs, higher level languages and personalized monitors. Hardware development has also advanced. No longer content to put together someone else's kits, members have designed and built memory boards, I/O devices, and currently, work is underway on a floppy disk controller board. In order to facilitate hardware expansion, and to provide some commonality to the myriad buss and software assignments adopted by Tektron, Netronics, Quest, RCA and home brewists, ACE adopted a standard buss pin assignment and software configuration. Articles in DeFacto and Ipso Facto conform to these standards unless otherwise referenced. The club has adopted the following 1802 signal outputs:
The 44 pin buss adopted by ACE utilized the following pin assignment: Buss Pin Assignment
The 1802 is coming of age, and the articles in DeFacto and Ipso Facto are proof of that maturing. The diversity of articles, reflecting the capabilities and interests of the members are reproduced here for all to benefit, to learn, and to enjoy. Happy computing! Michael E. Franklin [ Home ] |