Parasitic Engineering's Equinox 100 Minicomputer
7 hours ago
- #Vintage Computing
- #Hobbyist Hardware
- #Tech History
- Parasitic Engineering was founded in 1975 by two Oakland hobbyists in response to faulty Altair memory boards from MITS.
- The company's name was inspired by a MITS newsletter criticizing 'parasite companies', leading Howard Fulmer to choose it over Symbiotic Engineering.
- Parasitic Engineering's first products included a clock controller board and improved power supply for the Altair, later teaming up with George Morrow to create the Equinox 100 minicomputer in 1977.
- The Equinox 100 featured an intelligent front panel with octal display, S-100 bus improvements, and was priced under $700 as a kit, but sales were limited due to competition from the Zilog Z80.
- The company pivoted to TRS-80 products like the Maxi-Disk floppy drive system in 1979, claiming innovations such as the first TRS-80 system with 8-inch drives and CP/M, before dissolving in 1982.