Commodore 116

Commodore 116
Type:	Home Computer
Producer:	Commodore
Price:	99 £, (199 DM, ca. 100 €)
Released:	1984
Discontinued:	1985
Processor:	MOS 7501/8501 @ 0.885/1.76 MHz
Memory:	16 KByte, upgradeable
OS:	BASIC 3.5
Info:	Part of the Commodore-264 series, sold only in European Countries

The Commodore 116 (AKA the C116) was part of Commodore’s low-cost 264 series (which also included the C16 and Plus/4). Commodore intended it as a cheap Sinclair ZX Spectrum competitor, hence the small case and rubber keyboard. It sold 51,000 units in Europe between 1984–1985, with roughly 44,000 sold in Germany.

The C116 uses an advanced version of Commodore BASIC (v3.5), meaning the three 264-series models were not software or hardware compatible with the earlier C64. The 1531 datasette & 1551 disk drive only work with the Commodore-264 series, though adapters are available.

Layout

Right side

• Power switch

Back side

Commodore 116 back side

• Power connector (power; 2 pins) for the power supply unit
• Reset button
• Serial bus (serial IEEE-488, 6-pin, I/O) to connect a diskdrive 1541/70/71/81 or printer MPS-801/802/803, VIC-1515/1525/1526
• Cassette/datasette connector (cassette port round mini DIN, 7-pins; I/O) to connect a cassette recorder (Datasette) 1531
• Main memory expansion (264 Expansion Port; 50-pin; I/O) to connect cartridges or the disk drive 1551
• Two joystick connectors (Joy1 and Joy2, round mini DIN, 8-pins, I) to connect a joystick
• Audio-/video (8-pins; O) to connect a monitor and/or a stereo audio equipment

Left side

• TV connector (RF modulator outlet; O) to connect a TV aerial socket (depending on the version NTSC or PAL)

Mainboard

Commodore 116 packing

• CPU: MOS 7501 or 8501 with 0.885/1.76 MHz clock frequency (controlled by TED) - average approx. 1.1 MHz.
• Memory: 16 KByte RAM, with 12277 free usable under BASIC, expandable to 64 KByte.
• ROM: 32 KByte in total, consisting of:
  • CBM BASIC V3.5 (16 KByte) ($8000-$BFFF; 32768-49151)
  • KERNAL (14 KByte) ($D800-$FFF9; 55296-65529)
  • Charset (2 KByte) ($D000-$D7FF; 53248-55295)
• Graphics: TED 8360
  • Display in text mode (either capitalization / graphic characters or uppercase / lowercase) 40 (columns) × 25 (lines) characters or in graphic mode (HiRes) 320×200 pixels or 160×200 pixels, as well as graphics with 5 lines text mode at 320×160 or 160×160 pixels
  • Colors: 121 (15 colors in 8 shades and black)
• Sound: TED 8360 is also used to create sounds and can form 2 independent voices with tones of over 4 octaves (about 28 notes without overtones) or noises.
• Keyboard: 60 rubber keys (QWERTY), multi-assigned
• Miscellaneous:
  • Power Supply: 9 V DC provided by power supply unit with 220 V at 50 Hz

Block diagram

Purchase packing list

A C116 package (1984) consists of:

• Computer (C116)
• Power Supply
• Manual Commodore 116 (ring binder)
• Aerial cable
• Commodore warranty card
• Commodore extra guarantee
• Interference free certificate
• Cardboard package
• Styrofoam shells top and bottom

Links

Wikipedia: Commodore 116