Draft:CUB (computer)

The CUB and CUB-Z (Calculator Universal de Birou, "Universal Office Computer") were microcomputers manufactured by ICE Felix in Bucharest during the 1980s.[1] The CUB was based on the Intel 8080, while the CUB-Z used the Z80A—hence the appended Z. The CUB-Z was produced from 1986 to 1989,[1] before being superseded by the HC 88.[2] Both models were used in administration, education, office automation, and computer-aided design.

ICE Felix manufactured approximately 255,000 office computers in total by 1989.[3] In that year, Romania was the second-largest producer of electronic computing systems in the Eastern Bloc after the Soviet Union.[3] Computer production in Romania was highly centralised in the Electronic Computer Enterprise (later ICE Felix), established in 1972.[4] The CUB and CUB-Z ran CP/M, the dominant operating system for 8-bit office computing in the 1980s. When the CUB-Z was superseded by the HC 88 in 1989, the HC 88 retained CP/M compatibility alongside ZX Spectrum BASIC, combining the roles of office workstation and home computer in a cheaper, more compact package.[2]

CUB

The CUB, based on the Intel 8080 processor, comprised a single-board central unit, an alphanumeric monitor, a conventional keyboard, and one or two single-density floppy disk drives.

The central unit supported up to 64 KB of memory, of which 2–16 KB was allocated to self-test and monitor programs. The display showed 24 rows of 80 columns, with characters displayable in normal, inverse, or adjustable-brightness modes. The QWERTY keyboard had 78 keys, some of which were software-assignable.

External storage consisted of one or two floppy disk drives (5¼- or 8-inch) with a total capacity of 512 or 1,024 KB (double-sided, single density). An optional 132-column dot matrix printer running at 150 characters per second could be connected.

The operating system was CP/M (single-user, single-task), under which BASIC, Pascal, COBOL, and other languages were available.

CUB-Z

The CUB-Z consisted of a module with an integrated 12-inch monochrome monitor (green-on-black), connected via ribbon cable to the disk unit (two 3½- or 5¼-inch drives in a single enclosure).[1] Compared to the M118, the CUB-Z's Z80 processor (replacing the 8080) offered improved performance in a significantly smaller form factor.

The monitor program (comparable to a BIOS) was advanced by Romanian standards. The computer featured a simple tone generator programmable via monitor routines, as well as graphics capabilities (also accessible through monitor routines). The CUB-Z could communicate with other systems via its serial interface using the Kermit protocol.

Software included a BASIC interpreter and compilers for C, Pascal, Turbo Pascal, Fortran, COBOL, Forth, and the Z80 assembler.[1]

In conjunction with the CPP 286 programmable console (manufactured by Automatica Bucharest), the CUB-Z could be used for programming, archiving, and validating programs for programmable logic controllers, including offline simulation and online execution.[1]

CUB CUB-Z
Processor Intel 8080 Z80A
Clock speed 3.5 MHz
ROM 2–8 KB EPROM 2–8 KB EPROM
RAM 64 KB 64 KB
Text display 25 × 80 25 × 80
Graphics resolution 512 × 256 pixels 512 × 256 pixels
Operating system CP/M CP/M
Interfaces 2× serial (RS-232), 1× IEEE 488, 2× parallel 2× serial (RS-232), 1× IEEE 488, 2× parallel

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "CUB Z". Retro IT Museum, Arad (in Romanian). Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b "HC 88 – HC 2000: sisteme de tip Home Computer produse la ICE". Electrokits (in Romanian). Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Este înființată „Fabrica de Calculatoare Electronice"". Cronica IT&C (in Romanian). Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  4. ^ Goodman, Seymour E.; Jarmoszko, A. Tomasz; Geipel, Gary L. (December 1988). Computer Technologies in Eastern Europe: The Impact of Reform (PDF) (Report). National Council for Soviet and East European Research. Archived from the original on 2022-12-25. Retrieved 2026-02-15.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Bibliography

  • A. Petrescu, F. Iacob, Gh. Rizescu et al., Totul despre… Calculatorul personal aMIC. Vol. 1, Editura Tehnică, Bucharest, 1985.

See also


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