SWTPc 6800
The SWTPc 6800 was one of the earliest computers based on the Motorola 6800 microprocessor, released in 1975 as a kit by Southwest Technical Products Corporation (SWTPc). It was designed for hobbyists and engineers who wanted an affordable, expandable system with good documentation.
The system included a serial interface for connecting to a terminal and supported expansion via the SS-50 bus. It became popular in part due to its relatively low cost and Motorola’s clean 8-bit architecture, which was often preferred by developers over the Intel 8080.
💡 Did You Know?
- The SWTPc 6800 helped popularise the SS-50 bus, which became a small ecosystem of its own.
- Many hobbyists used the system with a Teletype or video terminal and ran software like FLEX, an early disk operating system.
- SWTPc later introduced the 6809-based SWTPc 6809 and transitioned toward complete turnkey systems.