Sirius Systems Technology Computers

Sirius Victor Vicki

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:

Most people seem to know 'Vicki' as only the portable version but the name was used for at least one desktop version that was released after the luggable computer. 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 so that certainly exists:

https://wiki.preterhuman.net/Victor_Vicki_286

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

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

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

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 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.

All content of this and related pages is copyright (c) James S. 2012-2023