The DREAM 6800 Computer

This computer first saw the light of day as a series of articles that featured in
the May, June, July and August 1979 issues of the now-defunct magazine Electronics
Australia and it reappeared in a follow-up booklet entitled Microprocessors and
Personal Computers, published in 1980.

The DREAM 6800 (Domestic Recreational Educational and Adaptive

Microcomputer incorporating the Motorola 6800 microprocessor) was designed by
Michael J Bauer from Brisbane's Deakin University. It is not particularly
sophisticated but at the time offered those handy with a soldering iron the opportunity
to build a simple computer that would be a lot of fun to use. It offered programming
in two languages: native 6800 machine code and a strange but quite powerful
language called CHIP-8 (Comprehensive Hexadecimal Intetpretive Programming- 8
bit). In its basic form, the language features thirty-three two-byte instructions and had
been developed at the RCA Laboratories in the US by one Joe Weisbecker in the 70s,
principally for those interested in writing their own games programs. RCA also
developed a computer called the COSMAC VIP, that could run programs written in
CHIP-8. At the time it was termed a "high level" language but it would hardly even
begin to qualify for that description nowadays. Still, writing CHIP-8 programs was,
and still is, fun and of particular interest to MicroBee users is the fact that a CHIP-8
interpreter, cleverly linked to MicroWorld BASIC, was written by a Melbourne
solicitor, Lindsay Ford and enhanced CHIP-8 still further by providing additional
instructions. It is to be hoped that it will eventually be able to be run on MicroBee
emulators such as PicoMozzy but it does require direct disc access to function, as
much of it is menu driven.

The CHIP-8 interpreter and monitor program in the DREAM 6800 is housed
in ROM and is termed CHIPOS. It begins at COOOH and ends at C3FFH so in all it
occupies lK of memory. Imagine any version of Windows being capable of that? (An
unfair comparison you might well say - and you would be conect, of course). Saving
and loading programs is taped-based, and utilises the "Kansas City Standard" with
frequency shift keying (FSK) frequencies of 1200Hz and 2400Hz at a rate of 300
bits/second. Screen resolution is 64 pixels wide by 32 pixels high (no, I'm not
kidding!) and direct memory access (DMA) for the screen begins at OlOOH and
extends for 256 bytes (i.e. to OlFFH). There is no colour. Programs are run in
memory beginning at 0200H and, for very long ones, it is possible to use an additional
area from 0080H to OOFFH.