Interesting Sites
Here are several web sites that you may find interesting or helpful:
Evolution of Office Technology
At the request for a young reader, I have added this interesting website that brings back some memories of how we did school and office work in the past. I wore out many pencils. But how many of you can remember your first telephone number? My dad owned a small general store in the village of Beach Lake, Pennsylvania. As a business, we did not have a party line, but our private line was just two digits - 11. Of course everyone had to use an operator to place a call - no dial phones back then, either. You cranked the phone to wake up the operator. After awhile they had to add a third digit - 111. When I was in junior high, I was devastated to have to learn 7 digits for our phone number! OMG - what was the world coming to?! Enjoy.
Zenith Z-100 Computers on Wikipedia
Well, it is official. I had not noticed it in the past. The Zenith Z-100 has made it big time...
Vintage Computers is a website by John Shadbolt, who lives in the UK, that I just found while updating this page. His main interest in old computers are old business microcomputers, but he does list dozens of personal computers that includes a Z-121 All-in-one with pictures, so he deserves our support. Just watch the postage overseas - it is expensive.
Planemo, previously known as Antediluvian Designs, is a website by Eric Neilson in Plano, Texas. He has several vintage technology projects that he describes, one of which is a Z-100. He has scanned and has links for Z-100 manuals, publications and software, including the various versions of CP/M. He has also scanned ALL the issues of "REMark" magazine that you can now view on line. There is obviously lots to see, check it out and make it a favorite.
Mark Garlanger has established this website dedicated to preserving the history of the original Heathkit computers. They were initially released in 1977 and included the 8-bit H-8 and 16-bit H-11 systems. The H89 was released in 1979. He is interested in donations and hopes to eventually establish his own museum. He can be contacted through his website.
The Heathkit Virtual Museum is a virtual tour of many Heathkit products, and for awhile it was offline, but it is back now. Before the demise of the @home web server, I seem to recall there was a much more extensive line-up of products described, but it is mostly radios now. Give it a try.
The REMarks Newsletter is a new newsletter first published December 1, 2020 by Glenn Roberts. As Glenn states on his website, "This is an experimental publication to capture and share knowledge and experiences with Heathkit computers. It was inspired, in part, by the original "REMark" magazine, published for many years by the Heath Users Group. Each issue was to address one or more topics of interest to collectors, hobbyists and computer historians. Currently these are not being published on a fixed schedule, rather they will appear as material is available. However, the last article was back in 2022, so I don't know the present status. Contributions are most definitely welcome! Post ideas, suggestions and comments to the SEBHC google group mailing list." By the way, SEBHC is the Society of Eight-Bit Heathkit Computerists. Check it out. I'm sure Glenn would be interested in your thoughts and ideas for articles.
Old-Computer Museum - Site no longer here, taken down after hacker attacks, but hopes to return.
The Old-Computer Museum is a French web site (but in English) developed by Thierry Schembri and Olivier Boisseau. The site provided information on over 700 old computer systems from around the world, including the H/Z-89 and H/Z-100. Use the search window to locate the computer you desire information about. I hope it returns.
This website was created and is maintained by Steven Stengel, a vintage computer collector located in Orange County, California, a few miles south of Los Angeles. This site's intent is not to list or show all of the computers ever made, but to exhibit all of the computers in his personal collection, and some of the systems he is currently looking for. If you have questions or wish to donate, Steve can be reached by email at:
S-100 Computers is a website by John Monahan that is devoted to users of S-100 bus computers and concentrates on the CP/M family of operating systems. However, as of Feb 2025, this link no longer seems to work. If you find where he has gone, please let me know. His most recent work is development of an IDE Controller for use with CP/M. If you use CP/M you may wish to check this out.
Bill Wilkinson's Site describes his experiences with the Heath Company. A former electronics technician, he also includes troubleshooting help with separate sections for the H-19 and H-89 terminals.
Gene Buckle's Site provides an interesting step into the past, discussing numerous subjects about all the early Heathkit computers, including the H-8, H-89/90, and the H-100. He also provides an on-line copy of the first issue of "The Staunch 8/89'er", a newsletter for the H-8 and H-89 written by Kirk Thompson and later, Hank Lotz.
Herb Johnson's S-100 Site and Herb Johnson's Zenith Site and Herb Johnson's Z-100 Repair Site
Herb Johnson's S-100 Site provides a source of information regarding the S-100 bus computers, of which the H/Z-100 was one. Herb Johnson's Zenith Site provides an important remaining source of Zenith software, manuals, and parts. And, his latest, Herb Johnson's Z-100 Repair Site offers another important source of Z-100 repair information. You may also recall that Herb wrote a series of articles about the S-100 Bus for "The Computer Journal" in the 1990s as "Dr. S-100".
Harte Technologies provides an interesting site with manuals to a number of Heath/Zenith Computers, including the H/Z-89/90 series and the H/Z-100 series computers. For Z-100 specific documentation, add "Z-100/" at the end of the URL. This is a work in progress, but if you need a .pdf version of the Technical or Service Manual, this is the place to go. Be aware that these are LARGE documents and take awhile to download. The H/Z-100 schematics will be added in the near future. My thanks to Howard Harte, Barry Watzman, and the others who helped with this project.
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