As a British kid in the 80s, I remember these well. They were made in Wales (hence the dragon). I didn't know anyone with one, but they were on the pages of the home computer press often enough. For suitable coding fun, I recommend INPUT magazine, which was published in the UK around 1984-5, and had listings for many of the popoular home machines at the time, including the Dragon models. They're all online at the Internet Archive.
Shortly after the Videotex terminal was released, Motorola made an application note which showed how to build a low cost color/graphics computer around a MC6809E CPU, a MC6847 VDG, and an MC6883 to provide the system glue. This reference design was not only used by Tandy for the later CoCos, but was also used by Dragon.
My girlfriends father had a Dragon 32 back in 1987. I remember playing chuckie egg on it. I didn't realise until getting into Vintage computers myself that it was based on the Tandy Color Computer. I always thought it was a great looking computer.
I collect old computers, consoles and standalone gaming devices from late 70's to 1990's, many of which i simply kept from being a child. The dragon 32 was popular in the 80's, but i had the Trs-80 colour 2 (64k). I used to borrow games from friends, and most worked fine. I have a dragon in my collection now. Probably easier to list what a haven't got 🥰
6:34 transformers don't generate a lot of heat, as the efficiency is quite high by nature. What's not efficient, is the old way, all devices of that age are "burning" the voltages down, to the desired value. Easy to spot by this huge heat sink, that at least just burns the not needed voltage difference to the air. That's the way it was before stepping voltages up and down as it's done today 🙂
I remember Dragon User magazine and most of the games were for 64k systems. I would cut pieces of code out or optimize them to get them to run on my 32K piggyback RAM upgraded Tandy Color Computer. Most of the time, I got them to work!
I used to sell these Dragons back in the mid 80's in the shop that I worked in at the time. First the Dragon 32 and later came the Dragon 64. It was a tough sell as it didn't have all the games that the C64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrums did, but it was a nice machine. Well built and looked more like a real computer compared to the C64 and ZX. Never heard anything about it being compatible with other machines (like a Tandy). Guess the Tandy was just as unknown here in Europe as the Dragon was in the US. It always responded with SN ERROR if some customer (kid) tried to enter some code on it 😆
Yeah, the Coco was way too overpriced in Europe and the UK (although it did have a fairly good following in places like Germany). It's one of the reasons that the Coco 3 was only sold in the 3 best markets for the Coco: USA, Canada and Australia. The Coco had a lot of games (at least 1,500; I only have a little over half on my site so far, and new ones are still getting released, including 2 in the last month), but Radio Shack only sold about 100-150 of those and didn't advertise the rest; they were all sold through mail order from magazines like Color Computer News, Rainbow, Color Computer Magazine, Hot Coco, Dynamic Color News and others.
Hi. I also sold Dragons back in the day. By your name I’ll guess you are Norwegian too? My experiences selling Dragons is the same as yours. We eventually started selling Amstrads, and that was a different story. We sold loads of those.
0:40 I cannot get over this picture. Not only is it absurdly adorable, but at the same time you can see the passion coming to fruition -- and for me, it is relatable to when I was a young girl :]
@@vintagegeek Be thankful you have some! I was always on the computer growing up -- we don't have a single photo, I basically lived my entire life on a computer so it's a shame.
Regarding the power supply, I would bet that thing puts out lots of heat. The ti99 did a similar AC step down external transformer with the acdc happening internally, and it gets uncomfortably warm. The company Keelog in Poland sells a new switch mode supply that does all acdc switching externally, and the 99 runs much cooler as a result. Doesn't look like they have one for the Tandy, though.
Dragon was one of many computer companies that popped up in Britain to take advantage of the computer boom that was pretty much brought about by Sinclair selling cheap computers to the masses, and Acorn selling BBC computers to schools. Basically, they wanted to land somewhere between the £800 BBC machines and the £125 Spectrum. Unfortunately, the C64 pretty much had that market sewn up already, and most of them disappeared(or went on to do other things, Amstrad stayed around until the end, but they made IBM compatible-ish machines, too) before long, leaving people who'd bought them in a limbo of sorts as software dried up. As someone already mentioned, the Coco was basically just Motorola's design spec for the 6809 CPU, the only part that could be copyrighted in any meaningful way is the BIOS code, and Dragon just wrote their own BIOS. Not fully compatible, but it got them a working computer to sell.
Cassette software was the most common option in the UK so it's not surprising that the provided software came in that format. If you think having the power-switch on the supply is odd, the Sinclair Spectrum didn't have any power switch - it turned on as soon as you plugged it in.
We had floppy drives for the Dragon in Europe, but Tano did not sell them in the US. They were planning to, but they probably dropped it when the Tano Dragon flopped there.
Calling the Dragon a clone of the Tandy CoCo is not really correct: both the CoCo and the Dragon are implementations of the MC6809 CPU with MC6883 SAM (MMU) reference design by Motorola.
Thanks that’s a valid point! I guess my own memories were so full of the Tandy CoCo I made that the point of comparison erroneously…really liked the Dragon!
As a British kid in the 80s, I remember these well. They were made in Wales (hence the dragon). I didn't know anyone with one, but they were on the pages of the home computer press often enough. For suitable coding fun, I recommend INPUT magazine, which was published in the UK around 1984-5, and had listings for many of the popoular home machines at the time, including the Dragon models. They're all online at the Internet Archive.
Shortly after the Videotex terminal was released, Motorola made an application note which showed how to build a low cost color/graphics computer around a MC6809E CPU, a MC6847 VDG, and an MC6883 to provide the system glue. This reference design was not only used by Tandy for the later CoCos, but was also used by Dragon.
My girlfriends father had a Dragon 32 back in 1987. I remember playing chuckie egg on it. I didn't realise until getting into Vintage computers myself that it was based on the Tandy Color Computer. I always thought it was a great looking computer.
The Amiga had the power switch on the external power supply also.
I collect old computers, consoles and standalone gaming devices from late 70's to 1990's, many of which i simply kept from being a child.
The dragon 32 was popular in the 80's, but i had the Trs-80 colour 2 (64k). I used to borrow games from friends, and most worked fine.
I have a dragon in my collection now. Probably easier to list what a haven't got 🥰
6:34 transformers don't generate a lot of heat, as the efficiency is quite high by nature. What's not efficient, is the old way, all devices of that age are "burning" the voltages down, to the desired value. Easy to spot by this huge heat sink, that at least just burns the not needed voltage difference to the air. That's the way it was before stepping voltages up and down as it's done today 🙂
i never even heard of the tano dragon before back in the 80s. the only computer i owned at the time was a trs-80 coco 2
yes, CCwriter etc. were for the color computer. so I'm pretty sure CC meant Color Computer
I remember Dragon User magazine and most of the games were for 64k systems. I would cut pieces of code out or optimize them to get them to run on my 32K piggyback RAM upgraded Tandy Color Computer. Most of the time, I got them to work!
Most of the games for the Dragon, both commercial and type-ins were for 32k. Virtually nothing, besides some business stuff required 64k.
I used to sell these Dragons back in the mid 80's in the shop that I worked in at the time.
First the Dragon 32 and later came the Dragon 64.
It was a tough sell as it didn't have all the games that the C64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrums did,
but it was a nice machine. Well built and looked more like a real computer compared to the C64 and ZX.
Never heard anything about it being compatible with other machines (like a Tandy).
Guess the Tandy was just as unknown here in Europe as the Dragon was in the US.
It always responded with SN ERROR if some customer (kid) tried to enter some code on it 😆
Yeah, the Coco was way too overpriced in Europe and the UK (although it did have a fairly good following in places like Germany). It's one of the reasons that the Coco 3 was only sold in the 3 best markets for the Coco: USA, Canada and Australia. The Coco had a lot of games (at least 1,500; I only have a little over half on my site so far, and new ones are still getting released, including 2 in the last month), but Radio Shack only sold about 100-150 of those and didn't advertise the rest; they were all sold through mail order from magazines like Color Computer News, Rainbow, Color Computer Magazine, Hot Coco, Dynamic Color News and others.
I worked for Intertan UK ltd. Such a shame they ceased trading in the UK 😢
Hi. I also sold Dragons back in the day. By your name I’ll guess you are Norwegian too? My experiences selling Dragons is the same as yours. We eventually started selling Amstrads, and that was a different story. We sold loads of those.
Not 100% sure that CoCo joysticks were compatible with Dragon joysticks. The ports were similar but maybe they used different commands?
Also your channel 3/4 select switch is our power switch on the Dragon 32
Hi Aaron. I started out with a Dragon 32.. in the UK. I had an Oki microline 80 printer which connects to the parallel port.
Great memories of writing BASIC code. I don't know how many times I got the syntax error but I still have nightmares about it. LOL
you should do longer videos!!
0:40 I cannot get over this picture. Not only is it absurdly adorable, but at the same time you can see the passion coming to fruition -- and for me, it is relatable to when I was a young girl :]
Honestly it was such a big part of my youth…it’s funny we only really have that one picture when I spent so much time on that computer!
@@vintagegeek Be thankful you have some! I was always on the computer growing up -- we don't have a single photo, I basically lived my entire life on a computer so it's a shame.
Regarding the power supply, I would bet that thing puts out lots of heat. The ti99 did a similar AC step down external transformer with the acdc happening internally, and it gets uncomfortably warm. The company Keelog in Poland sells a new switch mode supply that does all acdc switching externally, and the 99 runs much cooler as a result. Doesn't look like they have one for the Tandy, though.
A “rocket”. 🤣
Always liked Tandy. The first PC I ever got to use on a regular basis was my uncles Tandy Dos compatable machine.
Dragon was one of many computer companies that popped up in Britain to take advantage of the computer boom that was pretty much brought about by Sinclair selling cheap computers to the masses, and Acorn selling BBC computers to schools. Basically, they wanted to land somewhere between the £800 BBC machines and the £125 Spectrum.
Unfortunately, the C64 pretty much had that market sewn up already, and most of them disappeared(or went on to do other things, Amstrad stayed around until the end, but they made IBM compatible-ish machines, too) before long, leaving people who'd bought them in a limbo of sorts as software dried up.
As someone already mentioned, the Coco was basically just Motorola's design spec for the 6809 CPU, the only part that could be copyrighted in any meaningful way is the BIOS code, and Dragon just wrote their own BIOS. Not fully compatible, but it got them a working computer to sell.
Cassette software was the most common option in the UK so it's not surprising that the provided software came in that format. If you think having the power-switch on the supply is odd, the Sinclair Spectrum didn't have any power switch - it turned on as soon as you plugged it in.
We had floppy drives for the Dragon in Europe, but Tano did not sell them in the US. They were planning to, but they probably dropped it when the Tano Dragon flopped there.
@12:50 I think I speak for everybody when I say we'd rather hear the full version of the metal montage music from earlier.
Honestly I agree with you 100%
I'm not sure whether calling the Dragon a CoCo clone is entirely fair - both machines were pretty much just Motorola's reference design.
No. it's not RGB, it's composite + audio.
Yes. A rocket.
Amiga 500/600/1200 all have the power switch on the external PSU. Never seen those? :D
12:03 Elon Musk is that you?
Spacebar X
Calling the Dragon a clone of the Tandy CoCo is not really correct: both the CoCo and the Dragon are implementations of the MC6809 CPU with MC6883 SAM (MMU) reference design by Motorola.
agreed, they are more like "cousins"
Thanks that’s a valid point! I guess my own memories were so full of the Tandy CoCo I made that the point of comparison erroneously…really liked the Dragon!
what does tano stand for ?? thanks