Pre-Altair MITS Calculators
by Guy Ball
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) of Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA) is the same company that gave us the Altair computer. This was the first computer to be sold to the general public in large numbers and is felt to have played a large role in the personal computer revolution.
Prior to making the Altair (about 1973), MITS made electronic calculators -- both desktop and pocket-sized. At some point, the company leader, Ed Roberts, decided that calculators were not too profitable and entered into the world of computers (with the Altair).
The pocket calculator models we know about are the 150, 605M, 905M, 908M, 941M, 1206, 1209, and 1212. (Please contact me if you have any others.)
Below we have included some material on the MITS 908M thanks to Steve Shepard:
- MITS 1200-series calculator (1206, 1209, 1212) manual cover
- A sample MITS 1200-series schematic
- MITS 1440 sales flyer/advertisement
- MITS 1440 manual cover
- MITS 816 desktop manual contents
- Photo from a MITS 816 desktop manual of a view of the inner components
- MITS 908DM manual cover
- A sample of the MITS 908DM assembly instructions and schematic
- Photo of a MITS 908M
- Cover from 908M manual
- Ad from Popular Electronics, December 1973
Copyright 1999, Guy Ball.
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© Text & photographs copyright Nigel Tout 2000-2023 except where noted otherwise.