NABU Network

Families, schools, or individuals would purchase a NABU Personal Computer,[4] which would be connected via cable TV to NABU's servers.[5] In addition to normal PC capabilities of the time, the computer could download software and information content through the cable feed and could upload primitive information back up to the servers. Applications included games, the programming language Logo, news/current events, and rudimentary PC banking/shopping. At its peak, approximately 100 applications were available.

The NABU Network can be credited as being the first online version of fantasy baseball. The game, aptly named Managers Baseball, allowed for choosing teams based on the real names and statistics of MLB teams and players. Player performance in the game was based on real life player statistics and as a Manager you would draft your team and compete against another owner in a mock up game in a purely managerial role.

The NABU Personal Computer cost $950 CAD, approximately the same price as the wildly successful Commodore 64 at the time, and the network service cost $8 to $10 per month.[6]

(edit- some records show that the network service subscription included the computer.)

NABU Personal Computer

The heart of a NABU Personal Computer is a Z80A processor chip running at 3.58 MHz, 64 KB RAM, a Texas Instruments TMS9918A video chip with 16 KB RAM, and a General Instrument AY-3-8910 sound chip.[7][4][8] Data was served via a Gould SEL minicomputer. By default, the PCs lacked any individual offline storage, but an optional hard drive could be purchased.

The interface module included four socketed chips: a TR1865CL-04, a full-duplex UART, an SC87253P 8-bit microprocessor, an N8X60N FIFO I/O controller and a pre-programmed ROM. The remainder of the parts on the board were numerous 74LS series logic ICs. There was an RF module that down-converted signals from the cable connection and up-converted requests to be sent to the server. There were four circuit boards for frequency synthesis, data in and out and RF conversion and dual helical coil bandpass filters. Download speeds over the cable TV line were up to 6.4 Mbit/second.

The NABU service first became available in 1983 through Ottawa Cablevision and Skyline Cablevision, through the efforts of John Kelly and Bruce Hempell. The project was heavily subsidized by the Canadian government. A major weakness of the Ottawa network was the strictly one-way connection as it was implemented on Ottawa Cablevision. The NABU system itself was bi-directional, but most cable networks of that era did not support this feature due to the cost required for a bidirectional cable infrastructure — a "chicken and egg" problem that limited NABU's market potential.

The fact that network access was limited to the NABU Personal Computer, forcing the subscriber to buy it, was mentioned as problematic by 1984, with the company accumulating $5 million losses.[9][10] The same year Campeau Corporation, a major investor in NABU, pulled out.[11][12]

Another network was started in Japan. However, NABU never achieved commercial success and ceased operation in 1985.

York University Computer Museum (YUCoM) and Center for the History of Canadian Microcomputing Industry provides a display and a virtual tour of this and other Canadian inventions.[13][14][15][6][16][17][18][19] In 2009, the museum version was officially demonstrated, and in 2010, the development of a software emulator of the Nabu network began.[20]

• Teletext

Wikimedia Commons has media related to NABU Network.

• Hardware Photos
• Play Nabu Game Online "ASCII CORPORATION HELITANK, (C) NABU NETWORK CORP., 1983"
• IEEE Canada page describing NABU project
• YUCoM NABU Reconstruction Project
• Technical Documentation
• CP/M using a serial terminal