Slide of the interior of the Showroom at Wunderlich during demolition

Tony Furse had been working for some years on an all digital waveform manipulation system. Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel (of Fairlight) licensed the dual-processor computer designed by engineer Tony Furse around 1975 (Tony Furse was Motorola's consultant in Australia for the 6800 microprocessor and had previously worked on the design of integrated circuits for Fairchild in the USA).

During the development phase of the Fairlight Instruments CMI (computer music interface) series (the first digital …

Summary

Object No.

97/147/1

Object Statement

Physical Description

Digital computer, 'Qasar', computer monitor, keyboard, light pens (2) and cables (4), metal / electronic components / rubber / pvc / glass, designed by Tony Furse, made by Fairlight Instruments Pty. Ltd, Australia, 1974-1979

Computer: the Qasar is a beige rectangular metal cabinet which houses two 8inch floppy disk drives that have grey covers. The front panel also has various knobs and switches and it swings down on hinges to reveal the central processing unit and all boards (graphics, printer, memory etc.). There are vents along the top of the cabinet. Along the back there are various inlet and outlet pots, a lock, a fuse holder. The cabinet sits on two long narrow wooden feet that run along each end.

Monitor: the Fairlight computer monitor is housed in a matte black spatter finished plastic cabinet with contoured sides and a sloping top. The rear of the unit is marked with the makers name and has signal input connection points. The monitor sits on two narrow wooden feet that run along each end.

Keyboard: the qwerty alpha-numeric keyboard has white keys and is housed in a black painted metal form that complements the monitor. There is a solid wired cable covered with black plastic with a 9 pin end that runs out of the keyboard and connects to the Qasar.

Light pens (2): the two light pens are stainless steel with black plastic nibs and black plastic rings an inch from the nib. A coiled black rubber cable runs from the end of the pen and connects to the monitor.

Cables (4): the four cables are black plastic and have the following connections: domestic power plug to canon (3 pin power), canon to canon (3 pin), canon to canon (5 pin), 5 pin canon to D plug. Each are covered with black plastic and have either metal of plastic plugs.

Marks

Computer: in brown on front panel 'QASAR/DUAL PROCESSOR', in brown on back panel 'QASAR/FAIRLIGHT INSTRUMENTS PTY. LTD./SYDNEY AUSTRALIA', serial no 'SNQA 108001'.
Monitor: back 'FAIRLIGHT C.M.I.'.
Light pen: 'I.C.C./LP730/PN. 41007535-009/SN.85E 2571/U.S.Pat. 3475612'.
Light pen: 'Information Control Corp./LP-660-T-LL-AL-R/ P/N 41004546-022/ S/N 80G 1239'.

Short URL

https://ma.as/155713

Source

Credit Line

Gift of John Turnham, 1997

Acquisition Date

20 May 1997

Cite this Object

Harvard

'Qasar' digital computer 2022, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 23 March 2023, <https://ma.as/155713>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/155713 |title='Qasar' digital computer |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=23 March 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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