The Husky Hunter is a very special computer as it was designed to work in all environments (Aluminum alloy case). It is a rugged field computer.
It has military characteristics : it is waterproof (against accidental immersion) and shock-proof, and its autonomy can exceeds 45 hours (the endurance time of 45 hours is only achieved with Alkaline batteries, with NiCd they only last about 16 hour). The british army was using some Husky-Hunters in 1983.
It was also quite used by doctors and scientists in Africa or poor countries, where you need resistant and autonomous computers.
The Husky-Hunter has several programs in ROM: a small NULL modem transfer program and a terminal emulator. It has a also communication-oriented Basic to handle the RS232 and the bar-code reader.
In fact most applications developped for the Husky-Hunter consisted of data entries and then transfer of this data to bigger computers. Hence the RS232 serial port on a standard 25 pin "D" connector. Communications could be done up to a 4800 asynchronous baud rate. There were a wide range of protocols supported, including the IBM 2780 fully synchronous implementation (handshaking: RTS, CTS, DTR, DSR, RI, CD all selectable from BASIC).
The built-in Basic is also very powerful with graphic statements (CIRCLE, LINE, etc.). It is possible to redefine the characters and even the function keys.
Another very interesting fact is that there is a real time clock, so that the time of the day is software accessible.
Programs and data can be stored indefinitely in the battery supported memory of the Husky-Hunter. There's even a file manager running under the DEMOS operating system (CP/M compatible).
The Husky-Hunter can also be used to receive data from measurement systems and/or bar-code reader.
The hunter completed his IBM friendly ability with built in EBCDIC translation.
The keyboard was completely 'soft' and customizable with poke's from BASIC. The Husky's manual embraces proudly 'full compatibility with CP/M programs for z80 and 8080 procesors.
The Hunter was not the first model. The first Husky, released in 1981, was a bit less powerful, had a LCD screen of only 32 x 4 characters and a flat membrane keyboard like the Sinclair ZX-81.
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Contributors: Jaume Vega
Steve O'Hara-Smith reports:
I once got the opportunity to drop one from the balcony at Earls Court (empty stand below) - it was completely unaffected by the experience and was still running the program it had been running when I dropped it. Try it with a modern laptop or PDA :)
When I worked at the McDonalds in Croydon back in the early 90''s we used these for the time clock. It slid into a wallbox that had a built in Bar Code reader and we all had little plastic cards with our info. we would slide the card and hit In, Break, or Out. At the end of the shift the Hunter was pulled out of the card reader and uploaded into the main computer.
Hi folks I have tinkered with Huskies over the years and must say they were pretty special beasts! I have a friend who is 76 and still runs a one-man company doing pub stocktaking using a couple of Husky Hunters that I keep going for him. Says a lot about his stamina and the Husky! We are down to one tape drive for the units now which could be a problem - can anyone point me at any information of these drives? Regards anthonypattison@btinternet.com
Thursday 29th July 2010
Tony Pattison (Surrey UK)
I was just reading an article on the Coventry Evening Telegraph about how locals don''t appreciate some of the ''firsts'' Coventry was responsible for, including the bicycle and the handheld computer. I didn''t realise that the Husky was and made me proud to have been part of the company from 1985 to 1990, working in production with Peter Schofield, Doreen Dick and Richard Kantor. Really good memories working there, we were well looked after$ who can forget the visit of the Sky Bues in 1987 during the build up to the FA Cup win!
Although we left Coventry seven years ago, I look at the space where the Courtaulds building used to stand, and think of the good times I had there.
Great product that I was proud to have a small part in.
Wednesday 30th June 2010
Keith Reynolds (England)
NAME
HUSKY HUNTER
MANUFACTURER
Husky Computers Limited
TYPE
Portable
ORIGIN
United Kingdom
YEAR
1984
BUILT IN LANGUAGE
Extended Basic interpreter
KEYBOARD
QWERTY rubber keyboard, arrow keys, tiny space bar... 58 keys arranged in four rows of 15
CPU
NSC 800 4 (Z80 compatible)
SPEED
4 MHz
CO-PROCESSOR
NSC810 PIA (peripheral interface adapter)
RAM
80 kb (expandable to 144K, 208K, 352K, or 496K)
ROM
48 kb
TEXT MODES
40 x 8
GRAPHIC MODES
240 x 64 dot full graphic liquid crystal display
COLORS
monochrom LCD screen
SOUND
1 voice, 4 octaves range, programmable frequency & duration
SIZE / WEIGHT
21 x 15 x 3 cm / 1,15 kg
I/O PORTS
RS 232 (25 pin) - LEMO Port (used for Bar Code) - Tape
BUILT IN MEDIA
Optional Micro Tape
OS
DEMOS (CP/M 2.2 compatible)
POWER SUPPLY
4 x AA batteries
PERIPHERALS
Special car case with printer built-in and 12v power supply Suit-case with 12v power supply Waterproof suitcase Printer (80 columns) Micro-tapes numeric recorder (2 x 32k, 1200 bauds) 3.5'' disk drive
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