9 Dec
1998
9 Dec
'98
10:17 a.m.
< Okay, I have something that may interest you. One of Northstar's
< first products, was a floppy disk drive, that could be used with
< Altairs (among others). I have a pair of these 5.25" drives in an
< aluminum/wooden cabinet.
Yes, the board and the drive were released about the same time as their
z80 cpu. it was late '76.
The NS* horizon box with the wood cover and all (about 20" wide) was later
by nearly a year in mid'77 for shipments as kits.
< upgraded, etc. I don't remember the exact dates, but it seems that
< it was built in 1977.
About right.
<
< I have reason to believe the drives are original; one still has the
< N* nameplate attached thereto. The wooden top cover is in decent
< shape, has a small bit of wood chipped from a front corner.
Very common. Mine is near mint.
< If this is interesting, I can get more particulars-- especially
< corrolation of the dates with the actual Altair/Imsai/N* product
< release timelines.