The EDUKIT

...under construction...

The EDUKIT 1802-based single board computer (SBC) trainer system was similar to an expanded COSMAC Elf and was offered by Modus Systems Ltd. in Britain in the early 1980s. The company described it as a low-cost educational microcomputer.

Dr. Anthony Berk designed, developed and sold the EDUKIT. There is not much information about this very rare system on the Internet.

I got in contact with Dr. Berk, and, unfortunately, all of his materials have "gone away" over the last 40 years. However, he did give me permission to publish any documentation I could find for download by enthusiasts in the 1802 retrocomputing hobbyist and collector community as "free, non-commercial use". (thank you)

I then found Ashley Buckner, who has an EDUKIT, and gave me three documents he had, with permission to share them. They are linked to below. (thank you)

I am in the process of re-creating the manual with 98%+ similarity to the original, which will include a cleaned up component overlay and circuit diagram schematic, and will make it available here when I am done, along with additional information, documentation and imagery as time allows.

Original documents:
 
   • edukit-manual.pdf   (~71 MB)
   • edukit-circuit-diagram.pdf   (~3.5 MB)
   • edukit-component-overlay.pdf   (~3.5 MB)

Additional information from a magazine advertisement:

Technical Specifications
** CMOS 1802 Processor (RCA) – excellent MPU for control.
** 256 bytes of RAM – plenty for learning machine codes.
** Hexadecimal display – large and readable.
** Full hex keyboard – positive "click" type switches.
** Full manual – starts at soldering, ends with control circuits.
** Loudspeaker output – simple audio experiments.
** Excellent for all ages from secondary school level upwards.

The EDUKIT has proven a great success providing an excellent introduction to silicon chip technology from the bottom upwards. Many schools and colleges are using the kit, and sales now extend world wide. The machine is not meant to form the basis of a large and expandable personal computer system. The EDUKIT teaches all those things which a purely BASIC running machine cannot; i.e . the basis of hardware electronic control, down-to-earth Bits and Bytes, Machine Code, etc. – and all this at a really throw away price. The manual is written by Dr. A. A. Berk to impart educational understanding from the beginning.

Full Kit price in 1980 = £38.95 + 80p PP + VAT. (approx. US$70 in 1980, or US$210 in 2016)

The April 1980 issue of the British magazine Practical Electronics contains a review article on the EDUKIT. A 17 MB PDF scanned document was found on the American Radio History magazine archive. (formerly at AmericanRadioResearch.com and now at WorldRadioHistory.com) There is also a link to the June issue on their archive page, which mentions EDUKIT.

Direct link: Practical-Electronics-1980-04.pdf   (~17 MB)
Archive link: American Radio Research magazine archive