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Husky Hunter/Hunter 2

This is a little document i put together in the pin out for the ports as his info was not out there. Can be found in the manual.

Manual: https://archive.org/details/HuskyHunterManual

Hunter 2 Manual: https://archive.org/details/husky-hunter-2-manual

ROM Dumps: Husky Hunter EPROMS

Git ROM Dumps

Husky Hunter

The husky Hunter was most likely released in 1984 although some sources reference it as 1983. Old-Computers.com does this in one page.

The Husky Hunter has a NSC800N-4 4MHz Z80 compatible CPU, the crystal runs at 8MHz. Most of the motherboard is RAM, 80KB base (expandable to 144KB, 208KB, 352KB, or 496KB) . It has a far higher resolution display of 240x64 that can do graphics. Has RS-232 serial communications. Sound is 1 voice, 4 octaves range, programmable frequency & duration & runs on 4 AA's for quite a long time. The NSC810 CPU uses multiplexing for the data bus / lower 8 address bits. Some models have an EL backlight.

The OS is DEMOS, CP/M compatible which gave a great compatibility for the time with software & computer systems. There are a few versions of DEMOS which are mostly updated between models or revisions of Husky Hunters.

The Husky Hunter to the left is running a custom OS GUI in RAM, sadly I lost the software when the battery's died.

Another quirk of the Husky Hunter is when the internal battery is depleted it won't turn on. You have to put the battery's in & wait for it to charge before it turns on. Then when it does turn on it does not stay on until you set the clock. You have to hold down a key, I recommend the shift key so you can hold the machine on with out it doing random stuff. Set the clock, then after that type FORMAT into the console other wise it can crash randomly due to random data in the RAM. The quirk is the same with the Husky Hunter 2 machines.

Some generic CP/M software that can run on the Husky Hunter can be found here: http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/

Most Husky Hunters use two 256KB EPROMs, the older models use the full six EPROM sockets. There might have also been options where more EPROMs were used. But there also were options loaded into RAM from the factory.

You can also see the NSC800N-4I low power Z80 clone & the 8MHz crystal below it. You can also see its main support chip the NSC810AN-4I that is pretty much like a co-processor/north-bridge. It handles RAM timings & I/O for the Husky Hunter.

https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/95859/NSC/NSC810AN-4I/A.html

Front RAM card, LED & evil NiCAD battery is visible here. The chips to the right are memory addressing chips, as the Z80 can only natively address a max amount of RAM/ROM or 64KB, bank switching is incorporated to use more RAM/ROM.

Some of the older Husky Hunters used DIP packages but later switched to SMT RAM on the motherboard.

Side view under the LCD, can't see much form this angle. Don't know why I took this shot.

The front case of the Husky Hunter. The keyboard uses a membrane which is pretty standard for 80s computers & modern computers. The DB25 connector is also wired up to the LEMO connector & plugs into the motherboard.

The view of the board when you open the machine. Interestingly, while there are foot prints for other EPROM's, the sockets for them are not there. Also common in all HUSKY computers is each corner of the EPROM is soldered in place. This will be to increase the ruggedness of the computer so the chips don't fall out.

Reverce Engineering Effort

Quite an extensive effort has been made to try & reverse engineer these machines, it has never been fully completed but we do have a MAME emulator.

Husky Hunter: MAME
Husky Hunter 2: MAME
MAME Hosted By Me: MAME
Potential Replacement Display: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/635765367.html

Ash Evens went though the effort of putting a schematic together & also building a board layout. Sadly the project has not ever been completed.

Chip layout in the schematic view.

One of the chips that is in the Husky Hunter.

After contacting Ash after quite a while as he is on Discord, he sent me the Eagle files of the project. Turned out it was really easy to convert them to KiCad project files. So I converted them gave them a quick look & have seen some differences between the Hunter 1 & Hunter 2 boards. These all seem to be related to the display, the rest of the system seem to be the same. But now I have the files, I have something to start off of & finish the schematic & board layout. I will likely create two files & concentrate on the MK1 Husky first.

Manual: To Be Scanned

Husky Hunter 2

The Husky Hunter 2 is the same machine as the Husky Hunter. The only difference is a larger screen. The screen is the same resolution as the Husky Hunter with the same graphics capability. They were also capable of containing more RAM which would mean more programs.

Both these units have 496KB of RAM, most of it was be used as a RAM disk. There is a floppy drive that can be connected to these machines, but I don't have it sadly.

The Husky Hunter 2 motherboard is pretty much the same as the Husky Hunter. This version has the EL backlight display option, the display also is connected to the motherboard via a plug in cable not the horrible one that disintegrates in the older Husky's, makes them a lot easier to work on.

The LCD module takes up half of the top case in the unit. It uses a newer revision of the Husky Hunter display chip set, will probably try driving an older display with one of these at some point just for fun.

The DB25 serial connector is the same & is spaced out to the same LEMO connector. Silica Gel bags are in all the Husky computers.

LM200 Husky LCD

So as it turns out the LCD's used in the MK1 Husky Hunters are a standard display module from the 1980s. They are available today but are rather expensive. However we do have a datasheet available so it is possible reverse engineer the protocol & make a modern replacement.

Here is a link to the datasheet: https://archive.org/details/lm-200-hitachi-copy_202511

That process will be added as I get round to do it. I have created my own pin out & also noted down what the pins do in my projects notebook.

The display on AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/i/33036620706.html

Physical display dimensions as shown in the datasheet.

The pin out to the connector & also what the options are for are shown here. Also you can see the voltages & frequency's the display operates at.

Demo Code Listings

Some of this demo code can be seen in advertisements for the Husky Hunter that were released back in the early 80s. The HMS Bounty being the most shown. Fun fact, BOUNTY was the code name for the Husky Hunter project.

DEMO1.HBA

5 CUROFF:SCREEN1
10 FORi=1TO10:NEXTi
20 FORI=1TO18STEP2
30 CIRCLE(0,0),I,1
40 CIRCLE(239,0),I,1
50 CIRCLE(0,63),I,1
60 CIRCLE(239,63),I,1
70 NEXTI
90 CHAR1:LOCATE8,1
100 PRINT"Husky Computers"
140 LOCATE12,2
150 PRINT"presents"
160 CHAR4
170 LOCATE4,3
180 PRINT"HUSKY HUNTER"
190 FORI=1TO2100:NEXTI
200 CLS
210 CHAR3
220 LOCATE12,1
230 PRINT"HIGH RES"
240 LOCATE12,3
250 PRINT"GRAPHICS"
260 FORI=1TO999:NEXTI
270 CLS
280 FORI=0TO30STEP2
290 CIRCLE(120,31),I
300 NEXTI
310 FORI=1TO31STEP-2
320 CIRCLE(120,31),I
325 SOUNDI,100
330 NEXTI
340 FORI=31TO1STEP-2
350 CIRCLE(120,31),I,0
355 SOUNDI,100
360 CIRCLE(120,31),I,0
370 FORI=30TO0STEP-2
390 NEXTI
392 CLS
395 FORI=1TO100:NEXTI
400 LINE(99,63-41)-(126,63-27),1,BF
402 LINE(96,63-44)-(133,63-24),1,B
403 LINE(96,63-44)-(92,63-46)
404 LINE(133,63-44)-(129,63-46)
405 LINE(96,63-24)-(92,63-26)
406 LINE(92,63-46)-(129,63-46)
407 LINE(92,63-46)-(92,63-26)
408 PSET(130,63-26),(130,63-30),(130,63-32),(130,63-34)
409 LINE(131,63-24)-(131,63-10)
410 LINE(96,63-24)-(96,63-10)
411 LINE(94,63-26)-(94,63-14)
412 LINE(127,63-24)-(127,63-14)
413 LINE(96,63-17)-(131,63-17)
414 LINE(96,63-17)-(94,63-21)
415 LINE(131,63-17)-(127,63-21)
416 LINE(94,63-21)-(127,63-21)
417 FORI=1TO999:NEXT
418 LINE(100,63-40)-(125,63-26),0,BF
419 CHAR0
420 FORJ=1TO30
421 LOCATE103,26
422 PRINT"DVW"
423 LINE(101,63-27)-(124,63-27)
425 NEXTJ
426 LINE(99,63-41)-(126,63-27),1,BF
460 CLS
470 FORI=1TO250:NEXTI
490 FORI=0TO63
500 LINE(56,I)-(183,I)
505 SOUND64-I,30
510 NEXTI
520 FORI=0TO63
530 LINE(119,63)-(119-I,0),I+1
540 LINE(120,63)-(120+I,0),I+1
550 NEXTI
560 FORI=0TO63
570 LINE(119,63)-(56,I),I+1
580 LINE(120,63)-(183,I),I+1
590 NEXTI
595 FORI=1TO500:NEXTI
600 FORI=0TO63
610 LINE(119,63)-(56,63-I)
620 LINE(120,63)-(183,63-I)
630 NEXTI
640 FORI=0TO63
650 LINE(119,63)-(56+I,0)
660 LINE(120,63)-(183-I,0)
670 NEXTI
680 FORI=63TO0STEP-1
690 LINE(56,63-I)-(183,63-I),0
695 SOUND64-I,30
700 NEXTI
720 CLS
730 CHAR1
740 LOCATE3,1
750 PRINT"5 Different character sets"
765 LINE(16,11)-(224,11)
767 FORI=1TO200:NEXTI
770 CHAR4
780 LOCATE8,3
790 GOSUB1000
800 LOCATE8,3
810 GOSUB1030
820 CHAR3
830 LOCATE12,3
840 GOSUB1000
850 LOCATE12,3
860 GOSUB1030
870 CHAR2
880 LOCATE8,3
890 GOSUB1000
900 LOCATE8,3
910 GOSUB1030
920 CHAR1
930 LOCATE12,3
940 GOSUB1000
950 LOCATE12,3
960 GOSUB1030
970 CHAR0
980 LOCATE96,24
990 GOSUB1000
999 GOTO5
1000 PRINT"ABCD/xyz"
1010 FORI=1TO999:NEXTI
1013 BEEP
1020 RETURN
1030 PRINT" "
1040 RETURN

DEMO2.HBA

10 CLEAR:CUROFF:SCREEN1
20 CIRCLE(120,31),30
30 LINE(119,3)-(119,6)
40 LINE(121,3)-(121,6)
50 LINE(145,31)-(148,31)
60 LINE(120,56)-(120,59)
61 LINE(92,31)-(95,31)
70 PSET(134,7),(144,17),(144,45),(134,55),(106,55),(96,45),(96,17),(106,7)
71 T$=TIME$:MI=VAL(MID$(T$,4,2)):HR=VAL(LEFT$(T$,2)):SC=VAL(RIGHT$(T$,2))
72 AM=MI*6+270:IFAM>359THENAM=AM-360
73 AH=HR*30+270:IFAH>359THENAH=AH-360
74 XM=FIX(23*COS(AM*PI/180)):YM=FIX(23*SIN(AM*PI/180))
75 XH=FIX(15*COS(AH*PI/180)):YH=FIX(15*SIN(AH*PI/180))
80 AG=SC*6+270:IFAG>359THENAG=AG-360:TI=500
90 IFAG>359THENAG=AG-360
100 TH=AG*PI/180
110 LINE(120,31)-(120+XS,31+YS),0
120 YS=FIX(25*SIN(TH)):XS=FIX(25*COS(TH)):LINE(120,31)-(120+XS,31+YS)
121 LINE(120,31)-(120+XM,31+YM)
122 LINE(120,31)-(120+XH,31+YH)
123 CHAR1,1:LOCATE1,1:PRINT" ";TIME$;" "
150 SOUND100,10
155 IFAG=270THENGOSUB200
160 TU=VAL(RIGHT$(TIME$,1))
170 IFTI=TUTHEN160
180 TI=TU:AG=AG+6:GOTO90
200 AM=AM+6
205 IFAM>359THENAM=AM-360
210 TH=AM*PI/180
220 LINE(120,31)-(120+XM,31+YM),0
230 XM=FIX(23*COS(TH)):YM=FIX(23*SIN(TH)):LINE(120,31)-(120+XM,31+YM)
240 IFAM<>270THENRETURN
250 AH=AH+30
255 IFAH>359THENAH=AH-360
260 TH=AH*PI/180
270 LINE(120,31)-(120+XH,31+YH),0
280 XH=FIX(15*COS(TH)):YH=FIX(15*SIN(TH)):LINE(120,31)-(120+XH,
290 RETURN

DEMO3.HBA

1 CLS:CUROFF
10 SCREEN1
12 REM 49),(213,49),(214,50)
20 CHAR4:LOCATE4,1:PRINT"HUSKY"
30 CHAR2,1:LOCATE3,3:PRINT"HUNTER"
35 LINE(15,26)-(14,38),1,B
40 CHAR1,0:LOCATE1,4:PRINT" BIG CAPABILITY"
50 PRINT" small PACKAGE."
60 LINE(0,0)-(125,63),1,B
70 CHAR0,0:LOCATE128,1:PRINT"The worlds most "
80 LOCATE128,8:PRINT"advanced hand held"
90 LOCATE128,16:PRINT"portable micro ,"
91 LOCATE128,24:PRINT"HUSKY HUNTER is "
92 LOCATE128,32:PRINT"CP/M compatible ,"
93 LOCATE128,40:PRINT"has up to 208K of"
94 LOCATE128,48:PRINT"ram and powerful"
95 LOCATE128,56:PRINT"communications. "
100 INCHR"",A:SCREEN0
110 KEYOFF:CLS
120 PRINT" A B C D "
130 OPCHR15,4,0
140 PRINTCHR$(124);:OPCHR15,39,0:PRINTCHR$(124);
150 OPCHR15,12,0,124,124
160 OPCHR15,21,0,124,124
170 OPCHR15,30,0,124,124
180 FORI=1TO7
190 OPCHR15,2,I
200 PRINTSTR$(I);CHR$(124);
210 NEXT
220 OPCHR15,4,1:PRINT"< 734.1> 45.82 -98.42 798.11";
230 OPCHR15,4,2:PRINT" 543.72 5438.63 ";
240 OPCHR15,4,3:PRINT" 480.76 85.64 764.11";
250 OPCHR15,4,4:PRINT" 314.09 -94.85 45.23";
260 OPCHR15,4,5:PRINT" 824.64 407.45";
270 OPCHR15,4,6:PRINT" 134.87 9845.49 ";
280 OPCHR15,4,7:PRINT" 3487.45 49.76";
290 OPCHR15,0,0:PRINT"";
295 INCHR"",A:CLS
300 CIRCLE(44,31),31
310 LINE(44,31)-(66,9)
320 LINE(44,31)-(44,62)
330 LINE(44,31)-(15,41)
340 CHAR0
350 LOCATE30,16:PRINT"41%"
360 LOCATE6,0:PRINT"UK"
370 LOCATE24,44:PRINT"20%"
380 LOCATE6,56:PRINT"USA"
390 LOCATE54,32:PRINT"39%"
400 LOCATE72,48:PRINT"Europe"
410 CHAR4:LOCATE14,1:PRINT"ACME Ltd"
420 CHAR1,1:LOCATE12,3:PRINT"Profit Distribution"
430 LINE(87,26)-(87,38)
440 CHAR1,0:LOCATE16,4:PRINT"Fiscal Year"
450 LOCATE18,5:PRINT"1983-84"
460 INCHR"",A:SCREEN0
500 SCREEN1
510 LINE(0,0)-(239,63),1,B
520 FORI=0TO239STEP8
530 PSET(I,59)
540 PSET(I+1,60),(I+2,60),(I+6,60),(I+7,60)
550 PSET(I+3,61),(I+4,61),(I+5,61)
560 NEXT
570 LINE(50,60)-(45,50)
580 LINE(45,50)-(45,46)
590 LINE(45,46)-(39,40)
600 LINE(39,41)-(34,46)
610 LINE-(37,49)
620 LINE-(42,44)
630 LINE(45,46)-(62,46)
640 PSET(63,47),(63,48),(64,49)
650 LINE(45,50)-(150,50)
660 PSET(151,49),(152,48),(152,47),(153,46)
670 LINE(153,46)-(173,46)
680 LINE(173,46)-(155,60)
690 LINE(173,46)-(194,40)
700 LINE(145,50)-(145,10)
710 LINE(145,10)-(193,40)
720 LINE(71,50)-(71,15)
730 LINE(71,15)-(45,46)
740 LINE(108,50)-(108,1)
750 LINE(108,1)-(71,15)
760 LINE(108,1)-(145,10)
770 LINE(61,24)-(78,20)
780 LINE(58,39)-(84,34)
790 LINE(98,11)-(115,7)
800 LINE(95,25)-(121,20)
810 LINE(92,42)-(127,36)
830 LINE(132,34)-(158,29)
840 FORI=64TO150STEP10
850 PSET(I,53)
880 PSET(155,51),(155,50),(156,49),(157,53),(158,53),(159,52)
890 PSET(158,48),(160,50)
891 PSET(37,18),(37,17),(36,16),(35,16),(34,16),(33,17)
892 PSET(38,16),(39,16),(40,16),(41,17)
893 CIRCLE(0,0),15
894 PSET(210,51),(210,50),(209,49),(208,49),(207,49),(206,50)
895 PSET(211,49),(212,49),(213,49),(214,50)
900 CHAR0,1:LOCATE174,8:PRINT"HMS Bounty"
910 LINE(173,7)-(233,15),1,B
999 INCHR"",a:SCREEN0:GOTO1

PIANO.HBA

10 CLEAR:GOSUB9000
20 CUROFF:SCREEN1
100 LINE(20,24)-(25,20),1,BF:LINE(20,21)-(20,41),1
110 LINE(35,29)-(40,25),1,BF:LINE(35,26)-(35,46),1
120 LINE(27,24)-(28,23),1,BF:LINE(20,41)-(35,46),1
130 PRESET(25,20),(25,24),(20,20),(40,25),(40,29),(35,25)
140 LINE(45,10)-(225,10),1:LINE(45,50)-(225,50),1
150 LOCATE49,35:PRINT"c d e f g a b c d e f g a b c"
160 FORI=45TO228STEP12:LINE(I,10)-(I,50),1:NEXTI
170 FORI=55TO230STEP12:IFI=79ORI=127ORI=163ORI=211THEN190
180 LINE(I,10)-(I+4,30),1,BF
190 NEXTI:RESTORE9600
200 LOCATE72,55:PRINT"Watch the bouncing ball....."
210 READF:IFF=255THEN400
220 IFF=0THEN300
225 IFF>14THENK=2ELSEK=3
230 CIRCLE(x(F),Y(F)),2,K:SOUNDF(F),150:CIRCLE(X(F),Y(F)),2,K-1
240 GOTO210
300 FORI=1TO2:NEXTI
390 GOTO210
400 FORI=1TO20:NEXTI
410 READF:IFF<>255THEN220
500 FORI=0TO120STEP4:LINE(I,0)-(I+3,63),1,BF:LINE(239-I,0)-(236-I,63),1,BF:NEXTI
510 CHAR4:PRINT"The End"
520 INCHR"",K:IFK<>31THENCLS:GOTO20
530 SCREEN0:CURON:GOTO9999
9000 F=0:X=0:Y=0:I=0:J=0:K=0
9010 DIMF(30)
9020 DIMX(30)
9030 DIMY(30)
9040 RESTORE9500
9050 FORI=1TO30:READF(I):NEXTI
9060 FORI=1TO30:READX(I):NEXTI
9070 FORI=1TO30:READY(I):NEXTI
9100 RETURN
9500 DATA121,107,095,090,080,071,063,059,052,046,043,038,034,030,028
9510 DATA114,101,255,095,076,067,255,056,049,255,041,036,032,255,027
9520 DATA051,063,075,087,099,111,123,135,147,159,171,183,195,207,219
9530 DATA057,069,081,093,105,117,129,141,153,165,177,189,201,213,225
9540 DATA045,045,045,045,045,045,045,045,045,045,045,045,045,045,045
9550 DATA020,020,020,020,020,020,020,020,020,020,020,020,020,020,020
9600 DATA6,0,0,0,8,6,0,0,0,0,6,0,0,0,8,6,0,0,0,0,7,8,7,0,5
9610 DATA0,0,0,6,7,6,0,4,0,0,0,0,6,0,0,0,8,6,0,0,0,0,6,0,0
9620 DATA0,8,6,0,0,0,0,7,8,7,0,5,0,0,0,6,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
9630 DATA0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,6,4,6,4,255
9899 DATA255
9999 END

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