The Robotron A-5105 was intended to be used in former Eastern Germany schools where it should replace the outdated KC line of computers. Therefore, it was also called BIC which stands for "Bildungscomputer" ("educational computer")..
Up to 16 computers could be linked into a network which was comprised of one teacher computer and several pupil systems. Each station could access the printers and plotters.
A monochrome monitor was attached to the case but one could also connect a colour RGB monitor or a TV set.
The network software was called BICLAN. The machine ran SCPX, a special version of the CP/M operating system. The RBASIC interpreter was also in ROM.
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Information and corrections from Heiko Hahn (Germany):
Some of the information on your page is related to a different computer, the Robotron A 5120, which is a typical CP/M business system. The numbering of Robotron computers has been somewhat strange.
Your picture of the A 5105 shows the computer and the disk drive box - in fact, the whole computer is built into the part that also contains the keyboard. At the left upper part of the keyboard, you can see the module port. The modules are compatible with the KC 87 modules. Because of the political changes of 1989, only very few A 5105 machines were made.
The same case design was used by Robotron for another computer, the "KC compact" which was an Amstrad CPC clone. Like the A 5105, the KC compact remained a rarity, as these old-fashioned machines proved to be unsellable after 1989, when western computers became available in former Eastern Germany.
We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system,
please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.
Please consider donating your old computer / videogame system to Old-Computers.com or one of our partners from anywhere in the world (Europe, America, Asia, etc.).
You can find an emulator for A5105 (and other robotron boxes like the KC85/3) at http://www.jens-mueller.org/jkcemu/index.html
Wednesday 29th June 2016
mbx
One funny notice about the system: it was able to handle 16 different colors, nevertheless it came only with a green monochrome monitor so that it was impossible to see the different colors.
Wednesday 18th July 2007
Oxy (Germany)
http://www.robotron-net.de/
Thursday 21st April 2005
linkman (Slovak republic)
NAME
A5105
MANUFACTURER
Robotron
TYPE
Professional Computer
ORIGIN
Germany
YEAR
1988
BUILT IN LANGUAGE
RBASIC interpreter
KEYBOARD
Typewriter style, 69 keys with 5 function keys and arrow keys
CPU
U880D (8-bit Z80 clone)
SPEED
3.75 MHz
RAM
64 KB (48 KB available with RBASIC) up to 128 KB
VRAM
Unknown
ROM
40 KB
TEXT MODES
40 or 80 columns x 25 lines
GRAPHIC MODES
320 x 200 (16 colours) or 640 x 200 (4colours) dots
COLORS
16
SOUND
3-voice stereo output. Built-in speaker
SIZE / WEIGHT
Keyboard: 1.8kg, main unit: 10.5kg, display: 11kg
I/O PORTS
Tape drive 2 joysticks Z80 bus connector 2 parallel ports 2 serial ports audio stereo RGB, TV aerial Local net (500 Kbit/sec, 100 m, 16 stations)
