Sirius Systems Technology Computers

Victor Vicki Portable

Overview

The 'Vicki' portable computer from Sirius is one of those rare computers that I have been fortunate to own but can find little information about or at least that was the case when I first created this page back in 2012, as of 2022 more information and archived software has very recently surfaced.

From what I can tell, Vicki - or at least the version I have - is a luggable version of the Victor 9000/Sirius 1 computer from 1984 and is backward compatible with the aforementioned computer. It is a 16-bit computer that uses the Intel 8086 CPU clocked at 5MHz (with support for an optional 8087 floating-point co-processor) and has 256KB RAM. Weighing at over 11KG and measuring 457x213x330 cm, the computer has a built-in 9" monochrome (green) screen that can show 25 lines of 80 characters in text mode and in graphics mode has a resolution of 800x400 pixels. There are 2 double sided 5 1/4" floppy drives which provide a maximum of 2.4Mb of storage, which is the same format used by Victor 9000/Sirius 1. The keyboard has 98 keys including a numeric key pad and 16 function keys; the keys are software definable and can be configured for different character sets.

You can see the Vicki computer below:

At the back of the computer is a 25 pin serial port (RS 232-C, maximum 9600 baud), a parallel Centronics port, a mains socket and a fuse holder and at one side is a air grill with a fan behind. On the front is a brightness knob, a reset switch, a power switch, the screen and the two floppy drives. The keyboard is connected to the main unit with a telephone style connector; the keyboard clips to the front of the computer when not in use. There is also a pull-out compartment on the bottom for storing of the mains lead when not in use and a carry handle at the bottom.

Here is a link to a brochure on the Vicki:

http://www.1000bit.it/ad/bro/sirius/Victor-Vicki-Protable.pdf

Here's a video of a Vicki booting from YouTube user DRDOS256:

Software

Various archived Victor Vicki software:

https://archive.org/details/software?query=Victor+Vicki+

Technical

Please always use caution when using any technical information, double check your wiring.

Parallel port pinout

1 Data strobe

2 D1

3 D2

4 D3

5 D4

6 D5

7 D6

8 D7

9 D8

10 /ACK

11 Busy

12, 18, 30, & 31 all NC

17 Pshield

Remaining connections are GND.

Serial (RS232) pinout

1 FG Frame Ground

2 TD Transmitted Data (from Sirius)

3 RD Received Data (to Sirius)

4 RTS Request To Send (from Sirius)

5 CTS Clear To Send (to Sirius)

6 DSR Data Set Ready (to Sirius)

7 SG Signal Ground

8 DCD Data Carrier Detect (to Sirius)

15 TC Transmitter Clock (to Sirius)

17 RC Receiver Clock (to Sirius)

20 DTR Data Terminal Ready (from Sirius)

22 RI Ring Indicator (to Sirius)

24 TTC Transmitter Clock (from Sirius)

Remaining connections are unused.

Victor Vicki Desktop

Most people seem to know 'Victor Vicki' as a portable computer (see the Victor Vicki Portable section) but Vicki was used for at least one desktop version that was released after the luggable computer but as with the portable version there is currently very little information online.

On a Twitter post, user Anders Carlsson mentions at least 3 models:

"I've got the desktop Vicki, an 8088 build. I think they even made a Vicki 286, for a total of 3 but I'm not entirely sure."

https://twitter.com/computermuseum/status/835608180147240960?lang=en-GB

I found photos of the Vicki 286 online, which is a tower type desktop:

https://wiki.preterhuman.net/Victor_Vicki_286

Here is a video of a different type of Vicki desktop booting by YouTube user sicromofty sicromofty, with unfortunately no indication of the CPU, etc.:

A user (not the uploader) identifies the model as 'victor vicki 2721-2'.

Here is another video of a Vicki desktop by (German) YouTube user MarNoWeb:

It looks to be the same as the computer in the previous video.

Translating the text in the video description we get the following information:

Make & Model: ACT Ltd. - Victor Vicky

Year: 1987

CPU: Intel 8088 ~ 4.77MHz

RAM: 512KB - 640KB (my SETUP: 640KB)

MEMORY: 1x 5 1/4" floppy (360KB); 1x 20MB MFM HDD

OPERATING SYSTEM: MS DOS 3.20

OUTPUT: 12" amber / mono picture tube

Model 2851-2

I first found out about the Vicki 2851-2 thanks to Mr. Vanmarsenille who has provided photos and details and thus the information in this section relates to his 2851-2 and may differ to other 2851-2 PCs.

A photo of the 2851-2 (with non-Victor keyboard and non-Victor monitor) can be seen below powered on running VICTOR MS-DOS version 3.30c:

The 2851-2 looks similar to the Vicki 2721-2 (see the previous section) but the front panel does not have the small square cover to the right of the keyboard connector and this 2851-2 features two 5.25" floppy drives (which both have a disk loaded in the above image). The drives are by Matsushita and have markings 'JU-552' and 'LR55468' as possible model numbers, a Google search of 'JU-552' informs us the drive is Double Density.

As with the Vicki Portable (see the Victor Vicki Portable section) the 2851-2 has a very similar 'VICTOR vicki' badge to the luggable on its front panel. There is what looks to be a green power light in the middle and further down to the left is a 9-pin mini-DIN connector for a mouse and to the right a full-size 5-pin DIN connector for a keyboard. These connectors are wired to the motherboard which sits further back in the computer case.

The CheckIt program was run on the computer revealing it has an 8088 CPU running at 7.16MHz without a numeric processor along with 512KB of RAM. The 2851-2 scored 548 Dhrystones in the CPU speed test, putting it just above a Turbo 8. On the video speed test the 2851-2 was rated at 2104 CPS, and the math speed 10.8K Whetstones.

The motherboard is quite compact, measuring approximately 18 x 27cm, which puts it as similar size to the modern Micro-ATX motherboard. It has a couple of identifiers on the PCB which are 'PPPCG2006C' and 'NEC-14T'. Googling 'PPPCG2006C' doesn't come up with anything and while 'NEC-14T' does produce search results it appears that 'NEC-14T' doesn't denote any particular product but we do at least know NEC made the motherboard. One of the chips has a date of '87 on it, so if the 2721-2 was indeed released in 1987 the 2851-2 is also from that year or later.

Some of the features of the motherboard are:

x3 8-bit ISA sockets.

x2 8 position DIP switches, likely for settings (monochrome/colour monitor, etc.).

x3 unpopulated 18 pin IC sockets. Possibly to add additional RAM.

x1 unpopulated 40 pin IC socket. Unknown purpose.

x1 Toshiba T4770 IC. Unknown purpose.

x1 MB653170 CRTC3-B. Unknown, could be a CRT controller.

x1 SED9420C CMOS data separator for FDD.

x2 28-pin socketed chips, likely BIOS ROMS. One has a label with the following written on it:

Z-11V

(SYSTEM)

1987 VER 1.00VH

©KYOCERA

And the other:

Z-11V(C.G.)

1987

©KYOCERA

Kyocera is a Japanese company that in April 1983 produced a battery-powered laptop computer running on the Intel 80C85, known in Japan as Kyotronic 85 and sold in the U.S. as the Tandy Model 100. NEC also made their own version called the NEC PC-8201A. Clearly Kyocera had some experience with PC type computers prior to the 2851-2 and it would seem they supplied the BIOS ROMs for the 2851-2.

The PC has a serial/parallel port card and HDD controller card (no hard drive attached) fitted, which likely are original, however, the owner has also installed an ISA XT card that allows a compact flash card to be used as a hard drive.

Here is a back view of the computer:

As can be seen on the left side in the above photo there is a male IEC mains connector for powering the computer, labelled as 'INPUT AC 230V', and a female IEC mains socket for providing power to a monitor, designated as 'OUTPUT AC 230V-0.2A'. It became quite common for computers to have dual mains sockets, one for connecting to a monitor, from the mid-80s, allowing for a single mains household socket to power both a PC and monitor. However, around the mid-90s computers typically had just the one mains connector, partly because of energy-saving regulations.

Further across, the internal power supply's fan can be seen against the grill, and below it there is a label with various information:

MODEL 2851-2 PERSONAL COMPUTER

230V~50/60Hz 145W

VICTOR TECHNOLOGIES

Note that the owner lives in Belgium, hence the computer is rated for 230V; it's interesting that 'INPUT AC 230V' is also stamped on the computer case rather than just on the label, which could be changed for different countries. Nonetheless it tells us that the 2851-2 was at least sold in Europe.

In the middle is some kind of plastic blanking cover, possibly for a modem card should one be installed, and a label to the right of the cover likely refers to the DIP switches on the motherboard. The warning that the display unit may be damaged if the DIP switches are set incorrectly was indeed a reality with older CRT monitors. Below the label we see illustrations of a printer, with what looks to be a parallel port below in the form of a female DB-25 connector, and a monitor, with a female DE-9 connector under it which is likely CGA/EGA.

To the right we can see the three ISA expansion slots labelled 1 to 3, with the connectors for the serial/parallel card visible; male DE-9 connector for serial and female DB-25 connector for parallel.

Victor V286P

The Victor V286P (model number 2501-2-44) is a mains powered luggable computer from Kyocera on behalf of Victor (formally Sirius), released in 1989. It's appearance and technical spec is very similar to the 1986 Toshiba T3100, not surprising since Kyocera manufactured PC clones for Datatronic AB, who had become the new owners of Victor Technologies. The computer features an orange plasma screen (640 X 400), 3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive, integrated keyboard (85 keys US version/86 keys non-US), and 3.5" hard drive, contained within a laptop-like form factor weighing almost 8kg and measuring 38 x 32 x 10.5 cm. The V286P uses an AMD 80L286 CPU running at 10MHz (optional 80287 math coprocessor supported), 1MB RAM, 64K ROM (IPL, BIOS, setup, diagnostic), and 128KB VRAM.

Above the keyboard are the volume switch (3 levels), parallel port function selector (FDD A/PRINTER/FDD B), power indicator, CRT indicator, HDD status indicator, FDD status indicator, and key status indicators (caps lock, num lock, and scroll lock).  

At the back of the computer we have the power switch, 3-pin mains power in connector with 120V/230V switch above it, DE9 CGA video out port with mono/colour switch, DB25 Centronics port, fan outlet, and DE9 RS-232C connector.

To left of floppy drive is mouse connector and to left of that (closest to keyboard) is tenkey pad connector.

Although the built-in keyboard lacks a numeric pad, certain keys can be put into numpad mode, and provided with the computer was a 17 key 'tenkey' pad (model number 2501-10-01) which served as an external keypad that could be connected to the computer. Note: tenkey (also, ten key/10key) generally refers to the number pad of a keyboard and originates from adding machines that had an arrangement of keys labelled 0 to 9 (although later models had additional keys). Incidentally, Victor used to manufacture tenkey mechanical adding machines before moving on to calculators and then computers.

When the computer is powered on the built-in screen will be used but you can switch to an extrernaly connected monitor by Pressing the End, Ctrl and Alt keys, which will diasble the built-in display. To switch back to the internal display, press the Home, Ctrl and Alt keys together. Note however that switching between displays isn't possible if either the built-in screen is set to 640 x 400 graphics mode or the CRT monitor is set to the Hercules monochrome graphics mode.

Operating the machine is straightforward: start by switching on the power to any attached peripherals (if applicable) then turn the computer on. When switching off, power off the computer before turning off the power to the peripherals . When using floppy disks, insert the disk after the computer is powered on and take it out before switching power off (make sure the disk access light is off).

When the computer boots it will run power-on tests, and should there be an error you will be given the option to resume using the F1 key or enter the setup program by pressing the F2 key. The setup program lets you set the date, time, external disk drive type, internal and external hard disk type, extended memory amount, co-processor setting, and display mode. Enter the required information for each setting (see pages 2-17 to 2-19 of the Users guide), using the Enter or arrow keys up and down to skip entries if needed. Once the various settings have been made, pressing the Esc key allows you to leave the setup program, which will trigger a prompt, asking you if the setup information is correct and if so, press the Y key, which will reset the computer and begin the booting process again. If you decide, however, you still need to make changes then press the N key.  Setup information is retained in the battery backed CMOS RAM. 

To boot MS-DOS, after powering on the computer, put the MS-DOS disk into drive A (usually the internal drive) and after the initial system checks have been made, a brief beep should sound and MS-DOS will load. A system configuration report will be displayed along with the current date, which can be altered by entering the correct date, or press Enter to skip modifying the date. The current time will then be shown, which you can change if required, and following that the MS-DOS log-on message will be displayed, announcing the version and copyright.

At the time of writing this there weren't many videos of the V286P on YouTube but I'll share the ones I found. The following video shows what appears to be a German V286P (notice the 'Ö' and 'Ä' on the keyboard) booting and running a German version of MS-DOS V5.00:

Next is a video showing a V286P booting Windows 3.1:

The V286P looks to have a US keyboard layout even though the software is in French.

Here is a higher quality video of another German V286P booting MS-DOS:

Next is a brief video of Prince of Persia being played on a V286P:

All content of this and related pages is copyright (c) James S. 2012-2026