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

🗃 Related Systems

• Altair 8800
• IMSAI 8080
• Motorola EXORciser