So what the heck did I just pick up?

[Brent Hilpert]

On 2019-Aug-30, at 7:24 PM, John Ames via cctalk wrote:
> Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
> my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
> it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
> like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
> claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
> inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
> or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
> much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
> Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
> attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
> still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
> so I'll have to drop them a line...
> 
> Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?
> 
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpg
> http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg


"couldn't spot anything that ... looked like a CPU"

By what criteria? Were you just looking for 'large' chips?
Might you have overlooked an 8008 or 4004? - they were in 'small' 18 & 16 pin DIPs.
Given the mid-70's appearance (confirmed by Chuck's 1976 ref) those would have been possibilities for the task.

If there's no single-chip microproc in there, there might be a minimal CPU built out of multiple chips.
"Microprocessor" in that era was sometimes used in a wider sense than just single-chip-processor.
ROMs or EPROMs for firmware could be another hint as to architecture.