I FINALLY FOUND IT! Behold Elektronika MS 1504, the ONLY SOVIET LAPTOP EVER.

[@Ondrejbartak]

More of the cat using computers please :-)

[@ChernobylFamily]

Just wait for it..)

[@muffinbra]

🐆🐆🐆🐆🐆🐆

[@cdl0]

The use of three screws to secure the case was quite innovative. All modern devices nowadays have dozens of one-way clips and indestructible glue. 🙂

[@ChernobylFamily]

I'd call it 'reverse innovative' as screws were introduced first :)

[@cdl0]

@@ChernobylFamily They were way ahead of their time with "right to repair"! 🙂

[@Sashazur]

All old computers used normal screws and were easy to take apart.

[@Рашка-у8й]

​@@ChernobylFamilyIt goes way beyond mere screws. Ruso-soviet manufacturing hadn't discovered the magic of phillips screw heads - unlike the developed world, they used flat head across the board. Glory to kremlinite dear leaders and the red army for this 💪🚀

[@KrotowX]

And screws was MUCH easier for repairs. Nowadays anything is made for planned obsolescence and waste production.

[@ruben_balea]

It seems easier to reverse engineer some of the experimental chips than to figure out how the power supply was made. The motherboard on the other hand looks beautiful!

[@ChernobylFamily]

We believe Toshiba prototype will help with this. The PSU is very much destroyed, but there is a hope.

[@160rpm]

@@ChernobylFamily Honestly looks like they stole the motherboards out of something else, compared to the PSU. Incredible to see these two levels of production in the same device

[@ChernobylFamily]

What is interesting, a prototype of the PSU was way better than a final product. No one knows why.

[@160rpm]

@@ChernobylFamily probably because nobody really cared. Product wasn't selling well, so they felt no-one would notice anyway. Maybe someone stole the money that was supposed to be for the PSU pcbs and did some crap like this by hand, haha. It does look like some soviet homebrew stuff which also looked very terrifying

[@kyle8952]

@@160rpm USSR never seemed to throw away manufacturing equipment, only add modern ones alongside. If you look at 1980s Soviet TVs there was old vacuum tube models as well as ones built fully with chips and remote controls. Sometimes old equipment would be used to produce entirely new designs, or even categories of product that didn't exist when that equipment was made. The idea was that one old factory and one new factory will together produce more than just a new factory alone. Of course, better would be two new factories...

[@SockyNoob]

This reminds me of Asianometry's videos on Soviet computing history plus videos about weird 80s and 90s laptops. It's definitely something I'd love to see more of, hence why this channel is one of my favorites. It's rare we westerners get to have a real look at what you guys had. Schools here hardly talk about early computing history and definitely completely gloss over Soviet computers, which is a shame because it's equally as impressive despite the Soviet computers having completely different standardization to western and east Asian ones and ultimately having to be abandoned due to that. I have to wonder if schools in former Soviet states even talk about Soviet computers or do they also only talk about western ones?

[@droopy_eyes]

I'm from past soviet-occupied country and was a school kid during transition era. I didn't know Russia or soviet-colonies did make or produce any computers until recent times. Every electric device from that era is rubbish, and Russians stole their most successful designs from Japans and USA. Standardization difference was caused by stretching resources. So instead of 1 great device, you'd get 22 very poorly made ones. And no. No one said a good word about commies unless they were commies themselves. That's some weird stockholm-syndrom idea you presented there.

[@Stealth86651]

Needs more cat, thanks for the video/effort, it's appreciated.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Meow! He will appear in next puuurrrrfect episodes!

[@hydrolifetech7911]

That part where the cat insert the disk is gold!

[@ijunkie]

I'm here for the cat.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Mñau. In fakt i write oll scenarioz for dis videoz. Sorry for mistakes hard tu type wiz paws.

[@ijunkie]

CUTE!!! lol @@ChernobylFamily

[@TheProgrammerGuy]

I like that you're using Norton Commander, that was my favorite in the early 90's.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Yeeeesss my too!. Though this is not a Norton Commander, it is Volkov Commander. It is a functional clone which was written in Ukraine on assembler. NC was availalble, but the idea was to make NC work on much, much more limited resources than NC normally requires. As far as I remember, VC consists of a single file of 64 kb or so.

[@pwalk4160]

Nothing beats the intuitive 2 panels of NC, in many so much easier to do file operations in those days than in today's GUIs.

[@the_kombinator]

Volkov Commander - I saw this widely used in Poland in the 90s.

[@jnharton]

@@pwalk4160Much less mousing around and clicking, I'm sure. :D

[@aspenmayer]

@@ChernobylFamily I learned about VC from a former Czech boss doing hardware/software repairs and support!

[@Bata.andrei]

I hate the gold "recyclers" that destroy rare and invaluable electronic components for a few dollars.

[@ChernobylFamily]

However, I have to say that I managed to re-educate a few of them, in the meaning they now google first, then do something.

[@dustinandtarynwolfe5540]

Yes but invaluable is more like unvaluable 99 percent of the time in these cases

[@cassis1018]

@@Bata.andrei well, you are at least half way there, it is a bit like slave work.

[@MomMom4Cubs]

I appreciate that.

[@federicomarintuc]

My grandfather told me he was kind of an auditor on the USSR in the early 80s and used to carry a computer the size of a sewing machine and would have a TV and printer at his will on every factory he visited and hotel he stayed. Would have loved to have a portable PC the size of this

[@___Hermitage]

They were probably made exactly for guys like him

[@RonJohn63]

That describes 1980s luggable computers (KayPro, Compaq Portable, etc). They had built-in CRTs, which might be different from your grandfather's system.

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

A 7805, 7812, and 7912 with some caps on a solder proto board and you're set. Awesome Soviet copy!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Might be, might be...

[@nerissacrawford8017]

'Reaaally carefully, reaaally slowly' Picture of demon core in the background 🤣

[@ChernobylFamily]

Actually, it was an example of the internal Chernobyl Zone humor:)

[@MarkMcCluney]

I remember such machines, Compaq for example, and always liked them. It's such a shame the power supply is junk but I know you can sort it out. Thanks for showing us Alex, I really enjoyed this one.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you!

[@anarchy_79]

Compaq made great computers. One of the best computers ever made in my opinion is the Compaq Mini 110c netbook. It was perfect, and so pretty, and functional.

[@gorak9000]

This thing looks like a nearly exact copy of a Toshiba T1200 (or similar model). They definitely started with one of those and cloned it

[@Underestimated37]

@@anarchy_79 until HP bought them out then the quality went down the drain, before that they were a big respectable player in the market, and HP just absolutely wrecked their business.

[@rudiniemeijer8869]

I had not seen this combination of VLSI and DIP chips before, and was baffled by the components (especially the chip-like-with-holes) on the motherboard. Thanks for taking the time to take this machine apart and show the inner workings. Really enjoyed this video.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you! Those with holes are usual, that is just a side effect of the technological process of production - that is where a manipulator has been holding a metal part for proper alignment.

[@RonJohn63]

"I had not seen this combination of VLSI and DIP chips before". The specific chips, or the general notion of VLSI chips in DIP packages?

[@juanfelipecopete9368]

In the Soviet Union they knew how they built computers and strove to keep up with the West. They even proposed to create their own OGAS network that would be the Soviet internet. Unfortunately the political leadership in Moscow did not see the potential of this technology.

[@ChernobylFamily]

When we had talks with actual developers of a few notable computer systems, they were far less optimistic in their opinions about those times. I'd warn against calling OGAS as 'Internet' in any way; it was more a decision system with very narrow purpose. Viktor Glushkov very well explained it in his books.

[@singletona082]

Still, very interesting. @@ChernobylFamily

[@belstar1128]

Most soviet computers in the late 80s were still mainframes without a screen

[@ChernobylFamily]

@belstar1128 i certainly agree about mainframes, but all them had terminals, so technically, screens were present, and looking on some software (SVM, PRIMUS, etc) - cannot say it was any different experience than working with e.g. DOS. Console is a console, after all...

[@belstar1128]

@@ChernobylFamily I noticed most of them were like printers and had no screen. and even with cga you could do a lot more than with a terminal

[@poptartmcjelly7054]

I have an old soviet computer named "Byte" in English or "Bait" when converted straight from cyrillic. I also have the book that came with it and it's quite funny. For starters in page 64 of the book they have instructions how to code in BASIC a program that draws the flag of the soviet union. The motherboard inside is a 10 layer PCB, which is crazy.

[@raven4k998]

you see Russia used to have smart people before they killed them all off with war

[@rrb6544]

would love to see that program or manual

[@solartaire1]

Man, that bit at 9:54 showing the recreation of Louis Slotin's ill-fated experiment made me spit out my coffee. Well played.

[@ChernobylFamily]

The reason behind this "joke" is that the laptop has been given by a friend, and it costs >1.5K now, and that flat cable is very fragile; summing all three up my hands were seriously shaking.

[@ulasturkmen965]

Thanks a lot to the tabby cat for its crucial contributions to this great video.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you for diz purrfekt komment! *actively pawing*

[@olafzijnbuis]

Amazing! Look at the use of screws. At the time everything in the West was put together using Phillips head screws. Ca 1984 I took a day trip to East Berlin. There was a trade show going on. They were so proud of a controller for a machine that used EPROMS... At that time my desktop computer was a 3270 terminal on a mainframe with thousands of users. And I used Altera EPLDs at the time. Wat a failed system it was...

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you for sharing! About screws... yes, all of them were like pictured. Everywhere.

[@Brfff]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing a detailed video about this rare machine!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Happy to see you here! Thank you!

[@Brfff]

@@ChernobylFamily you are like my drug dealer, but for vintage Soviet computers ... always providing the good stuff! ;) {Note: I don't actually have a drug dealer ... I spend all my money on old computers!}

[@georgewilson7432]

Excellent video. Quite glad I found this channel.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Welcome aboard! Check our previous episodes as well!

[@aryehyehudahajzenberg9503]

Great video ! Thanks a lot ! Keep up the excellent work and may God bless you always !

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thanks, you too!

[@itabiritomg]

13:18 comparing the quality of the motherboard with the quality of the power supply board, it is very difficult to believe that both were produced by the same company. And, if they had the tools to make a board with the quality of the motherboard, there is no justification for making another part with the precarious quality of the power supply board. Adding to this, the Latin characters, I conclude that the motherboard must have been manufactured by a foreign supplier, possibly Chinese.

[@ChernobylFamily]

A funny detail that PSU prototype was very industrial. Probably, they decided to go for a cheaper handmade solution. The board is belrusian, latin characters were widely used in Soviet tech - just software sometimes was foreign and could not consume Cyrillic.

[@kaitlyn__L]

A couple of those print ads for the thing have a pretty cool aesthetic. I’m not surprised many people didn’t decide to shell-out for a laptop though, even in the west almost no one had a laptop until the mid-to-late 00s, unless you were a businessman. Pretty neat that there were probably only ~1500 of these. I liked your little rant about how metal scavengers should’ve just resold them for their intended purpose. The same comes up for people who broke into railways for electrical cable over here, they’d melt it and sell it for scrap copper even though a highly-engineered high-purity high-current power cable sold for WAYYYY more.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Actually, I located a few of those magazines in sale; so will get them and make high-quality scans later.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@ChernobylFamily ooh, looking forward to that! I definitely have a bunch of friends who’d love to see those, or use them for inspiration for retro-futuristic ads in their own art

[@ChernobylFamily]

@kaitlyn__L i've made a bonus content with software on Patreon, at least will update there. Those magazines normally sold in book-like annual collections, so will try to find not for all money in the qirld.

[@freeculture]

$550 sounds "cheap" to "western" eyes, until you factor in the average wage of the day and the incredibly long waitlists (if you even manage to get in!). 14 year old overpriced foreign cloned technology, sounds about right for socialism. Just think what people had in 1994 elsewhere in the world... The demos seem designed to exhibit the product in some fair for the great leader to praise.

[@frostwise87]

Great video as always, I wish my cat was so excited about retro computing :)

[@ChernobylFamily]

You can do it! You just need to do proper food management:)))

[@jjforcebreaker]

That's a very cool find, thanks for covering it!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thanks for watching! Check our other videos!

[@alisharifian535]

In Soviet Union you didn't enable the turbo mode, the turbo mode enabled itself.

[@ChernobylFamily]

I am afraid in that collective regime of peace and love it was enabled by default.((

[@michaelallen1432]

In Soviet Union, you didn't enable turbo mode, you just slowed down so the computer was faster in comparison.

[@alisharifian535]

@@michaelallen1432 That could be a solution too.

[@amihartz]

don't y'all think this same joke over every single video relating to 20th century eastern european history gets a bit old

[@alisharifian535]

@@amihartz it is not an ordinary capitalist joke,it is "our joke".

[@KrotowX]

I seen these. The problem with computers at end of USSR was in people heads. Not many knew about them nor imagined how to use them for productivity. Also huge prices and lack of software slowed adoption. It changed though and fast.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Exactly.

[@baihui7349]

USSR was investing in another countries to develop computers and software such as Bulgaria then exported to USSR .We produced a lot computers for the military .

[@cygil1]

Also Soviet authorities distrusted computers because they (correctly) feared people using them to share politically incorrect information.

[@deaddycruel]

are you dumb or what?

[@thedungeondelver]

Serious question though: are all the board-mounted components hand soldered or did the Soviets have wave soldering and pick and place tech at that time?

[@ChernobylFamily]

I believe at top factories they had pick and place, logically they had to. Though I am really not sure. Sometimes it is very much visible when it is really hand-soldered.

[@u2bear377]

Kiev 'Elektronmash' did have wave soldering. And there was domestically designed DIP chip placement machine named 'AVUMIS' (Rus.: "АВУМИС", "АВтомат для Установки МИкросхем" = 'automatic chip placement machine'). The name is kinda pun on 'VUM' ("[завод] ВУМ") which is another name for 'Elektronmash' of Kiev.

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@u2bear377 thank you for this clarification

[@monoamiga]

Such a great video, great content and great channel!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Superthanks! Wait for more soon!

[@excessionary]

Oh, I forgot to ask: Are the demonstration floppy disk images backed up somewhere? It might be fun to try running it on other computers. I'd certainly give it a go.

[@ChernobylFamily]

I'll put them on Patreon

[@TheFriendOfLucifer]

Wait are those serial numbers engraved or did they use a soldering iron? Either way, they were done by hand...

[@ChernobylFamily]

You mean on the bottom of the laptop? Hot needle typically.

[@TheFriendOfLucifer]

@@ChernobylFamily Yeah, those. Nothing screams quality like a serial number etched in by hand by hot needle ...

[@jamesfatula5824]

I knew it was a Toshiba clone I had similar one and I loved ur cute cat being curious about the laptop

[@ChernobylFamily]

Mñau!

[@theenchiladakid1866]

Where do you put the AK mag?

[@ChernobylFamily]

Into the expansion slot, obviously.

[@HAL9000system]

Dude, you killed me with that fade out to the image of the demon core when removing the floppy wire conector. What about the elektronika MK-85...can we consider it that 1st "portable computing equipment" of the ussr? Amazing job with the videos, spasibo bolshoe!

[@ChernobylFamily]

You cannot imagine how my hands were shaking :)))) as for mk-85, never had it in my hands but very formally yes, we can say call it that way. P.S.: In Ukrainian, we say "duzhe djakuju"

[@HAL9000system]

@@ChernobylFamily Приносимо свої вибачення за лінгвістичну "помилку"! Велике спасибі з Іспанії!

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@HAL9000system cheers!

[@santonopoulou]

Subscribed for the cat. Stayed because an amazing history and well researched video! Great content

[@ChernobylFamily]

Welcome aboard! Today - a new video!

[@kaliperwheastone6499]

Thank you very much for the review of this old laptop, and for the historical details of its manufacture. Very cute cat and very professional. Many greetings.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Dis is Fuzik, kat. Senk u for your purrrrfekt koment! I wil apiir in next episodes. Meow. Sorry for typoz, it iz hard tu typ with paws.

[@kaliperwheastone6499]

😹👍@@ChernobylFamily

[@ChernobylFamily]

I am sitting in ze boks. How did you knou dat?

[@lainwired3946]

If this was owned by you and not a friend, would you have tried to bypass the power supply and just give 5 and 9V directly via wires or clips to get it running for a demo? Or is the way the power is delivrted into the mobo too complex also?

[@ChernobylFamily]

But this is exactly - literally exactly - what we did, check that section's timecode in the video description to find it (i am on a phone now, can't point)

[@lainwired3946]

@@ChernobylFamily sorry i was comme ting as i was watchung because it was so interesting!!

[@ChernobylFamily]

@lainwired3946 no worries! I am super happy you enjoyed!

[@MarkMcCluney]

I just sat down for a cuppa' tea after finishing work for the day - perfect timing!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Haha! Enjoy!

[@rustkitty]

I have a feeling whoever stripped those chips from the PSU didn't own the whole device to sell intact. If it was someone working in the warehouse where the laptop has already sit unopened for months or years, they must've thought it will never be sold. So there is no harm stripping out some interesting components and putting the rest back into the box. Nobody will ever notice because it will rot here the warehouse until clear-out straight into a landfill. Still, they wouldn't dare to just steal the whle laptop and leave behind an empty box because that would be too obvious during inventory.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Actually, it is a very good point.

[@connordane7008]

A bit of an unusual question, but have you ever considered doing reviews on soviet electric guitars? Not really computer related, but it's an interesting thing I don't see many youtube videos delving into. I own an Odessa Rhythm Solo from around 1972-1986, and can barely find any information or history of these kinds of guitars online. Even just finding listings of them for sale currently or already sold can be a chore, but with what little I have managed to uncover, it seems to be a very interesting topic.

[@ChernobylFamily]

To be honest, we know nothing about those, so it is doubtful we will be able to make something meaningful.

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

I’ve only seen a few of your videos so far, but I just subscribed… but anyway, were there any other Soviet electronics brands aside from Elektronika? Were there any imports back then?

[@ChernobylFamily]

There were, and there were imports from Socialistic bloc as well.

[@TheFanOrTheMask]

love this channel, very informative :) excellent work

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you!

[@ironhead2008]

You know, if the expansion port is basically an extension of the ISA bus, there might be a noninvasive way to attach a modern fixed disc solution like the XT-IDE. Tex-elec has a very tiny card that would fit nicely in that unused battery compartment. Figure out the pinout, have the right sized card edge made (maybe PCBWay), and then solder a ribbon cable on and route it into the battery compartment. As far as the PSU is concerned, I know the Amiga community swears on the Mean Well PSUs. I'd put it in an external enclosure, make a new expansion plate and solder in the multipin connector of your choice and build a matching cable to the external PSU. Basically adapt the Amiga solution to the computer. This assumes the scrappers trashed the orignal PSU beyond repair. Regardless, I bet you could fit a battery holder (say, 3 triple As) in that battery compartment to power the clock chip and get it on a more modern DOS variant. All in all kind of a slick computer.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you! I believe that original Toshiba cards will work - after all this is nearly 1:1 clone.

[@ironhead2008]

Hmm, so there might be XT-IDE adaptations out there for it. That'd simplify things to be sure!@@ChernobylFamily

[@Brfff]

You'd need more pins for an ISA bus though, wouldn't you? :(. The Amstrad PPC uses a DB25 and a DC37 connector to present the full 62-pin ISA bus, and the Visual 1083 Commuter I'm working on at the moment uses a DC62. There's probably just enough pins on a DB25 for a floppy interface though. /Brett

[@ironhead2008]

@@Brfff Minuszerodegrees has the maintenance manual for the T1100+ for download which includes a pinout of the expansion bus connector. It's a 60 pin connector that seems to carry the full ISA bus. Also there's at least 1 guy on r/retrobattlestations that adapted the XT-CF card to the Toshiba expansion bay connector, complete with 3D printed shield for easy swapping of cards. He was also mooting the idea of building a combo card that added an Adlib card. You could also add a ram expansion, too. Cramming all of that would be challenging but would be worth it if only to play Tetris on a Soviet PC clone at a coffee shop in Kiev or Lviv!!!

[@Brfff]

Although, watching on ... there is that 60-pin internal interface ... is that the one you're referring to? If you could find the pinout then definitely, you could conceivably design an interface board (XT-CF-Lite) that plugged directly into it ... and it wouldn't matter if it were Soviet 2.5mm or Western 2.54mm pitch as you could design the PCB to fit either. I'm doing similar for the Amstrad PPC at the moment, trying to cram an internal CF board inside the machine. /Brett

[@youria2559]

At the same time the Compaq LTE 286 was on the market, and the LTE 386 was just introduced, totally crushing this thing in every mentionable aspect except for gaining fitness and/or straining your back.

[@R2D2G7]

Це ж треба заморочитись настільки аби знайти що де та звідки було здерто..... Моє шанування!

[@ChernobylFamily]

:)

[@excessionary]

Thank you for an excellent review and retrospective. I own a descendant of the Toshiba T1100 - the slightly later T3200, but it is less useful as a laptop due being designed without a battery. You've given us great overview of this very unique machine, while also delving into its history and how it came into existence. That context makes the video far more interesting than just a tour of the computer on its own. With the rarity of this machine and how many computers are pillaged for gold, I'm surprised that you were able to find one to review, let alone a copy of the manual. Well done. If you don't mind my asking, was this part of a personal collection belonging to DrPass, or does he have a museum? Fuzik inserting the floppy disk got a chuckle out of me!

[@ChernobylFamily]

The last time I had this kind of machine in my hands in ~2009, for a few days. It was dead completely. Never could imagine I'd have one again. DrPass has a collection, so he provided us with this for a review.

[@jepolch]

Yeah I was going to say it's a copy of the Toshiba T1100.

[@xjr358]

Wow, great video! Thanks! I had one of these S/N 1372 july 1993

[@ChernobylFamily]

Wow!

[@kepakpl]

I had toshiba T1000 and this one is Very similar in ports arrangement (external and internal), and even component’s arrangement. The power supply looks here like a pure madness and my main board has a lot less chips and more of them were smd ( im not surprised). My toshiba had rare citizen floppy with different ribbon cable, but this looks like normal FDD

[@ChernobylFamily]

Actually upon further inspection, in this very laptop the drives are from 2008. I mean, original were not any much different (normally there would be TEAC as far as i remember), but I'm surprised that someone took them out at some point. There could not be soviet drives - they did not exist as a mass product.

[@mihaceban4668]

Крутая штука.Держать в руках не приходилось.Видел первый раз на обложке журнала ТМ,в одном из номеров начала 90-х.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Думаю, як раз ту обкладинку (1992 #4) ви можете побачити у відео.

[@alberthodge631]

nicely done, very informative.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you!

[@AndrewFremantle]

Can anyone provide details (in particular a date) for that quote from Gorshkov? I'm wondering if I was alive when that quote was uttered.

[@ChernobylFamily]

It is not clear whether he actually told that, however, the developers of Micro-80 (specifically, S. Popov) claim he did, a citation: "So, in 1980, filled with the desire to tell everyone and show how great it is - the microprocessor and computer - we began to poke around everywhere. We visited various organizations (ITM and VT, INEUM, NII Schetmash...). And there, of course, everyone had their own plans and ideas. On occasion, we managed to show the device to the Deputy Minister of the Radio Industry of the USSR, Gorshkov. I must say that this ministry supervised almost all the production of computer technology in the USSR. I will never forget the incredible leadership wisdom. Literally: "Guys, stop fooling around. There can't be a personal computer. There can be a personal car, a personal pension, a personal dacha. Do you even know what a computer is? A computer is 100 square meters of space, 25 service personnel, and 30 liters of alcohol every month!"

[@AndrewFremantle]

So it sounds like 1980, and I'm guessing not the very beginning of 1980. So I very well might have been alive when that conversation was had. And here I am, with my computer in my pocket, and on my desk, and in my backpack. Thanks for the clarification! @@ChernobylFamily

[@johnsavard7583]

The color scheme, and general appearance, resemble a Toshiba laptop, of which I would tend to think this is an imitation. Ah, you got around to mentioning that.

[@ChernobylFamily]

I really wonder how would look a laptop if they would design it from scratch.

[@antonstefanov2146]

@@ChernobylFamily very rare to see them design from scratch, guns, cars.. they just copy

[@85snn6]

Do you need a 9v 3a power supply to connect it?should the current be constant or alternating? I want to check, I'm afraid I'll burn that)

[@ChernobylFamily]

Oh... this is the problem, we do not have a reliable information. Seemingly there were even variations of a PSU.

[@nateofnazareth7785]

I'm curious about the keyboard, as are some people I know in the keyboard community. The switch mount on the pcb resembles Mitsumi miniature mechanical, but it's soviet, so it can't be that. Any way to show?

[@MrWaalkman]

Nice looking cat & computer! Any idea where I could find a replacement LCD for a MK-85?

[@ChernobylFamily]

If we'd know the part number, then there is a chance to find in the old stock...

[@MrWaalkman]

@@ChernobylFamily I'll take a look, thanks!

[@brettany_renee_blatchley]

Looks exactly like my old Bondwell.

[@Damien.D]

What a fantastic piece of history. Impressive to see all of the chips made especially for it. I wonder what is the one with holes in the packaging?! It's more than unusual! I'm really sad to see the power supply butchered... it's so beautiful, all made in with bodge wires. Very time consuming process to build things... Maybe later ones had a more cleanly made power supply that you can retro engineer to save this one? Thanks for sharing this comprehensive explanation about this time capsule!

[@VolodymyrTorkalo]

Holes are windows for erasing memory using UV light

[@sootikins]

@@VolodymyrTorkalo Are you sure about that or are you making an educated guess? It seems like a bizarre way to make a erase window - surely the Soviets had seem western UVPROMs with quartz windows before.

[@VolodymyrTorkalo]

@@sootikins i am sure. It's common also for older western chips. Google "UV EEPROM eraser" Eeprom used to store firmware and erased on factory or during repair

[@ChernobylFamily]

No, those are not. I will explain below.

[@ChernobylFamily]

For EEPROM they had windowed chips, the same like in the west. Those oval openings are a side-effect of the technology of production - in the middle of them it is possible to notice a few holes that are for the manipulator which positions the metal parts during forming/shaping. The crystal itself is sealed in the center.

[@UltimatePerfection]

I wonder if this thing could run Pajitnov's original build of Tetris, or is it using a different CPU.

[@ChernobylFamily]

This may run the earliest PC version of that. Pajitnov's Tetris was made on Elektronika-60, which is PDP-11 architecture machine, while this is a very usual PC.

[@UltimatePerfection]

@@ChernobylFamily Ah, I see.

[@The-Future-Is-The-Past-]

nice video as always. the demo program and construction of the power supply is very interesting

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you very much! Well, I wonder if that demo is actually a copy of a toshiba one. Among files there is egavga.bgi, so it is obviously written on Turbo Pascal, but did they copy ot or not, is thevopen question.

[@jeraldehlert7903]

This looks very much like it was assembled by hand and hand soldered. That's fucking crazy. I love it.

[@ChernobylFamily]

"Screwdriver production"

[@agranero6]

I never saw a DIP IC with two holes on it (except for mouse optical sensors). I imagine the reason for that, like for them to be attached to heat sinks for instance. There is a so big contrast between the quality of the motherboard and the quality of the power supply that I question if the it was sourced from already existing projects.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Those are for positioning during production, it is manufacturer-specific thing. They do not serve any other purpose.

[@Xpurple]

I love the detailed video, Спасибо!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Glad that you liked! P.S.: Im Ukraine we say "дякую".

[@loganmacgyver2625]

do you have any archived images of the demo programs? I would like to see them for myself, translate a few things etc

[@squirrelarmor]

Fascinating! Thank you!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Glad you enjoyed it! Check other episodes!

[@daleglass7349]

Soldering on the closeups seems to need work. At 13:15 there are a few suspicious joints visible.

[@KeritechElectronics]

That's a very interesting laptop! Some of the Soviet assembly techniques are the same as in the Lell PSR drum machine I restored; it's all pretty elegant though. I would never expect a Japanese display in a Soviet device though. Oh, and I saw a screenshot of Block Out! i liked this game when I was a kid in the early '90s with a PC XT/AT at home.

[@ChernobylFamily]

As later things were produced, as more often there appeared foreign parts; we have that old video about ES1849, there is intel 80286 and a foreign chipset...

[@dieseldragon6756]

Oh my goodness...I _might_ still have a copy of BlockOut for the x86 somewhere in my old software library! 🎮💾😀

[@Brfff]

Is the СНП111 connector for the keyboard Soviet 2.5mm pitch or Imperialist 2.54mm/0.1" pitch?

[@ChernobylFamily]

2.54

[@BlackEpyon]

From my experience with twisted nematic displays like this, the solid blue screen is likely just the contrast cranked all the way up. The artifacts on the LCD look to be scratches in the polarizer film from somebody drawing on it with a pen or something. If you can find a junked donor LCD, even a modern one, you could probably trim to fit and get that fixed. As for the backlight, you'll likely need to get the -15v rail working on the power supply, or connect an external supply long enough to find out if the CC tube is still good. The 60-pin internal expansion connector is likely an ISA bus if this is a true XT-compatible clone, so you could probably design a CF-IDE card for it if you can find a pinout. As for the power supply... Eh. I don't even know where to start with repairing that, especially without schematics or even knowing what those missing components are. Personally, I'd just build a new one from scratch, as DC buck converters and voltage inverters are inexpensive, and easy to use. That might not be a "proper" restoration, but it would at least be functional. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you very much for this.

[@haraldschuster3067]

Did they copy just the 8086 or also the 8087 co-processor? The motherboard, I must say, is a beauty. The soldering is perfect, the protection layer still 100% and hasn't aged one bit and the circuit board seems to be made of high quality epoxy - unlike the power supply that looked a lot like Pertinax. Also astonishing how many wires were used with the power supply when you already have a circuit board.

[@ChernobylFamily]

They cloned 8087 as well, under the name КМ1810ВМ87, though it was relatively rare and I never had it in my hands; speaking about the quality - at that point Belarus factories had it quite high. But what really surprised me, that yes, that PSU looks like a makeshift solution while its prototype was built in more industrial way; my guess that they realized the production won't be too big, so it was cheaper to go for this handmade stuff. But, I might be wrong.

[@szabodaniel9447]

Was the display in the cockpit of the Su 27 fighter jet lcd? If yes, it must have been backlit.

[@ChernobylFamily]

I have doubts any of those were.

[@volo870]

Those were small CRTs. I believe even Americans updated military avionics to LCDs only in the late 90s. I looked it up. Even the "spaceship" F/A-18E/F/G Super Hornet was originally equipped with color CRTs.

[@szabodaniel9447]

@@volo870 I had been in the cockpit of a Ukrainian Su 27 at an airshow 12 years ago. The display had a brightness adjustment button and was totally flat plus its colour was blueish. Aren’t CRT displays curvy and grey-silver?

[@volo870]

@@szabodaniel9447 You made me go on a googling frenzy through old forum posts and snippets of documentation. My findings are as follows: both HUD (индикатор на лобовом стекле - ИЛС) and tactical display (индикатор прямого видения - ИПВ) were both originally monochrome green CRTs. They were equipped with quite large brightness knobs for comfortable day/night operations. Very nice footage of those blinking screens may be seen in “Su-27 Flight & Cockpit Footage HD” video on KZbin (the screens are the same for pilot and copilot). I doubt that Ukrainian Su-27 could receive Su-27M upgrade package that was refitted with LCD MFDs, as in 2009 (around the time of Su-27M upgrade) russia embargoed sale of Su-27 parts to Ukraine. Are you sure that it was Su-27 that you saw? There is a slight chance that you saw Ukrainian Su-27-1M version, but those are very rare and probably still classified.

[@volo870]

@@szabodaniel9447 Upon a closer look at “Su-27 Flight & Cockpit Footage HD” at 25% speed - the screens redraw the image in parts, not scanlines, which makes them vector CRTs, not raster. That makes these screens even more interesting!

[@snap_oversteer]

Nice to see one disassembled, I knew about it's existence and that it was a clone of the early Toshiba laptops, but I never realised how much similar they are even inside - having repaired T1200 some years ago this looks almost identical layout and plastics wise.

[@ChernobylFamily]

I wonder if pinout of the Toshiba PSU is the same. In other words, if it is pissible to put in here a Toshiba PSU.

[@snap_oversteer]

@@ChernobylFamily It looks kinda similar, but i don't have it here by me so I can't check. I know that schematics for these old Toshibas are online so it might be worth to take a look. Also these Toshiba PSUs are notoriously unreliable so I would suggest only comparing the pinout, not actually looking to buy one 😁

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you for the hint!

[@85snn6]

Thank you so much for the video! And how much does such a laptop cost now?

[@ChernobylFamily]

Roughly ~$1.2-+1.7K, but if you are very lucky, it can be something around 800. In this condition.

[@85snn6]

@@ChernobylFamily Understood, thanks! I have such a computer, maybe you need a photo of the power supply to help restore yours?

[@ChernobylFamily]

We returned it to the friend who provided it for the video, so it indeed will be useful as he wants to restore it.

[@85snn6]

@@ChernobylFamily Write an email, I can send it there if necessary.

[@ChernobylFamily]

[e-mail]

[@tttdrr2293]

Awesome looking. Made from big metal ingot, like tank.

[@mfbfreak]

Ahaha, that demon core :D And send my regards to the kitty assistant, he's doing a great job. I wonder what else he can fix!

[@ChernobylFamily]

A screwdriver is a very untrustworthy tool, you know...)

[@intel386DX]

Fantasic machine hope you will be able to run it! BTW Belarusians have one more interesting peace of hardware in the early 90's It is a spectrum ZX clone called Alf (Ельф) it is made to be lice console with cartrages and all the games are western games translated in Russian. The funniest thing is that the controllers are clone of famicom ones, but mirrored 😅(D-pad is on the right side and the buttons are on the left, yes there are 2 buttons but doing the same)

[@ChernobylFamily]

It is interesting, I did not know about that machine; will check on it - thank you!

[@RTheren]

Question is.... does it also eat cats?

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@RTheren AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. You won the internets today.

[@intel386DX]

@@RTheren only capitalist cats 😂😁 LOL

[@CribCrazy]

Hello, im not sure if you will see this comment but I was wondering. Do you know any places where you can purchase old Soviet computers like the DVK-2 ?

[@ChernobylFamily]

Well, I search by gold scrappers, recyclers... occasionally such stuff appears on internet marketplaces... but all that is always very expensive, or very damaged.

[@thecandyman9308]

A glimpse into an alternate past. Fascinating. Genius. асио дру.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you..)

[@techsalesandmore3649]

If you can't fix the PSU, would you maybe let us see the laptop going using a modern PSU? It would be so cool to see this laptop going again. Even if it wasn't original PSU!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Happily will do as soon we'll understand the pinout.

[@stphinkle]

The outer design looks similar to old Toshiba Laptops of the late 1980s or very early 1990s.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Yes, it is a clone of T1100Plus.

[@j7ndominica051]

I love the star of the show, the orange cat. Laptops were status symbols, not something to rely upon for work or entertainment, with limited battery life and odd input devices. Would be cool to finally get abundant gold on Earth. People would laugh at crimes commited for a piece of metal. "Collectors' items" are a big scam.

[@ChernobylFamily]

I'd say this cat himself is a status symbol!

[@alexdhall]

​@@ChernobylFamilyYes cats just *know* they are royalty! 😹😻

[@egonsabols2801]

Eveb didnt know that there was soviet laptop.Thanks for amazing content and way video is made Greetings from Latvia 🇱🇻

[@arostwocents]

I love the Soviet keeping ZX Spectrum alive as a consumer computer for years. Modern homebrew from Russia is SO MUCH BETTER than anything commercially released and nearly all homebrew. Zosya Entertainment are 😮

[@arostwocents]

Rubinho Cucaracho the most fun driving game! Their scrolling fighter is incredible too. So colourful and shows how masking can eliminate clash.

[@ClimateScepticSceptic-ub2rg]

Cat is talented.

[@kd5byb]

Love your cat!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Purrr!

[@PhantmZero]

i wonder if there are any more readily keyboards available from the time who were using the same alps clone micro switches as this keyboard used on the laptop.

[@someonesomewhere7403]

It was a copy of Japanese Toshiba laptop from 1985. It was obsolete by the 90’s but hey, it’s better than no computer at all.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Very true.

[@dmitryche8905]

Что-то опять скоммуниздили

[@cguldogan]

One big question in my mind: How did you convince the cat to play in the video?

[@ChernobylFamily]

A more correct question is how we manage to keep him out of other shots :)

[@МишаняТихий-ч4г]

Интересно, МС 1504 это функциональный аналог Тошиба Т1100. Видел ролик на Ютьюб, как умелец сумел запустить на Тошибе windows 1.0. По идее и на МС 1504 это тоже должно пойти, но почему-то никто не пробовал до сих пор

[@andycristea]

What about the chip with two holes in it? Great video!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you! Those oval openings are a side-effect of the technology of production - in the middle of them it is possible to notice a few holes that are for the manipulator which positions the metal parts during forming/shaping. The crystal itself is sealed in the center.

[@andycristea]

@@ChernobylFamily Thanks! I've never seen a package like that. That Russian 3.5 inch floppy drive looks amazing too!

[@ChernobylFamily]

@andycristea that one is indeed Russian, I do not remember the factory, but it was made there; also there were a few other, more compact prototypes designed by Elektronmash here in Ukraine, but there is no much information on them.

[@alpcns]

The windowing demo program (showing the graphic capabilities in various windows) reminds me of a Turbo Pascal demo of the same era.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Hm, right!

[@beakytwitch7905]

I really enjoyed this ! Firstly you tracked the engineering history, and as a person who also does this, it is fun. Secondly you have a lovely sense of humour with discussion of Dollars and "polite conversations with cold-eyed people"... Subscribing... 😂❤😊

[@FxrFromRussia]

Найс ревью, комрад. Сенкс фор йо джоб. Энд пис ту йор хаус.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Глед зет ю лайкд ит.

[@wacholder5690]

Now: that was pretty interesting. I worked with early Toshiba Laptops quite a bit back then and still own a T-3200 and T-1600 (of which I don't know if they are still in working order to be true). But comparing the inards with a Toshiba there are quite some similarities. In the Soviet Union it was quite common to reverse engineer western products. This one came quite near. But for what expense ... Thanks for sharing !

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thanks for sharing!

[@poptartmcjelly7054]

My Sega Genesis Nomad was made in 1996 and just 2 years before this was the best Russia had to offer. Crazy.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Yes. Technically, the laptop in question is not russian, it is from Belarus (it does not make it any better, just we, who lived in other republics under FORCED umbrella of the ussr, find calling all with words "russia" pretty... not good)

[@TheotanyaSama]

Considering the state of shape of the PSU and since you know the different voltage rails, it's certainly better and easier to build one from scratch than trying to repair this one. For the non-booting problem, there is two short flashes of one of the LED, on some BIOS, 2 short beep means a problem of parity of the RAM or a problem with the Video memory. Maybe it's also the case here (but the problem will be finding identical ICs or even equivalent ones if there are ones)

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you!

[@AClownsWorld]

Thanks for bringing this info to my brain, really appreciate it :)

[@ChernobylFamily]

Happy to help!

[@senilyDeluxe]

Don't expect people who break things apart for scrap metal to be able of logical thought. They cut IEC and figure-8 cables instead of just unplugging them.

[@ChernobylFamily]

...that's why I called my question 'philosophical'..((

[@karlm9584]

This looks very similar to Tandy 1400LT. Same specs as well. I still have mine from the late 80s.

[@andrefixa]

Hi alex, i have a soviet EPROM programmer, but i dont understand its manual, could you help me? Greetings from Italy!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Hey, sure! On desktop (!) computer go to About Channel tab and there is a button to write us an email. Write all details and we will help.

[@andrefixa]

@@ChernobylFamily thanks a lot!

[@andrefixa]

@@ChernobylFamily Done! i sent you an e-mail, again, thanks a lot

[@ChernobylFamily]

check your email.

[@nicolek4076]

Clever cat. Reminds me of my Archie of happy memory.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Glad that you liked me!