Microbee Cases, Badges and Labels

Cases

A number of different style cases were used to house the Microbee as it evolved.

Case Style	Images	Applicable Models	Notes
Kit	{image needed here}	Microbee Kit	This case type was supplied only with the original Microbee kit. It consists of 2 parts: A folded black anodised aluminium base plate. A black or beige coloured moulded Noryl (plastic) top cover. Early kits used the black cover and later kits used the beige. The top cover is attached to the base plate with 4 self tapping screws, 1 in each corner.
Standard	Standard Case Top View Standard Case Bottom View	All Standard models	This case replaced the original kit style and was offered as a upgrade option for owners of the earlier kit machine. It is constructed of injection moulded plastic and has 3 parts: Base, coloured off-white/light grey. Keyboard surround, coloured black. Top cover, same colour as the base. The 3 parts are assembled using 6x M3 screws. There are a series of separate peripheral ports at the rear of the case marked (from left to right as viewed from the rear) as: Power - 1x or 2x round ports. The right port provides access to a 5 pin DIN socket carrying power, video output and cassette interface signals. The left port, if present, is unused. User Port - not used by any standard Microbee. Expansion Interface - either a 50 way expansion bus or 34 way floppy drive port, depending on model. Serial Port - a 25 way D socket providing an RS232-like serial port. I/O Port - a 15 way D socket providing an 8 bit parallel port.
Premium	Premium Case Top View Premium Case Bottom View	All Premium models, including Premium Plus.	This case is very similar to the Standard case with these variations: The keyboard surround has a larger cutout to accommodate the 4 additional Premium arrow keys. The top cover incorporates a hole underneath the badge to allow ventilation airflow. Individual peripheral ports at the rear have been merged into a single wide slot. The top cover has the same peripheral name markings as the Standard case, but has only 3 holes in total: Power - 2x round ports. These are unchanged from the 2x DIN port Standard case. A single slot providing access to sockets for the Expansion Interface, Serial port, Parallel port and CGA video output.
Delta	256TC Case Top View 256TC Case Bottom View	TeleTerm & 256TC	This case was originally developed for the Microbee "Delta" project which never proceeded to production. It was subsequently repurposed to house the TeleTerm and 256TC instead. The case has 5 main parts: Top cover - injection moulded plastic, coloured off-white/light grey. Base - injection moulded plastic, coloured black. Rear panel - folded aluminium, painted matt black on the external face with white port/control labels. Internal disk drive/power supply mounting bracket - folded aluminium, unpainted. Keyboard module - unpainted steel base, grey-green plastic top, grey-green and blue coloured keytops. The main parts are assembled using 11x round head self tapping screws (3mm x 9mm). The rear panel is also attached to the 3x port sockets using 6x D port post screws. Ports and controls available at the rear of the case are (from left to right as viewed from the rear): Power - 1x round port providing access to a 5 pin DIN socket carrying power, video output and cassette interface signals. Reset - a push button that resets the machine. Colour - a 9 way D socket providing CGA video output. Volume - internal speaker volume control. Expansion slot - unmarked and normally unused, but can provide access to the internal 34 way floppy drive port for connecting an external drive. Serial Port - a 25 way D socket providing an RS232-like serial port. Parallel Port - a 15 way D socket providing an 8 bit parallel port.

Badges

The Standard and Premium cases feature a prominent branding badge at the rear of the top cover. The badge design evolved over time and does not appear to be a directly linked to changes in Microbee series or models, though there is some correspondence. Adding to the mix, customers were able to purchase a separate case upgrade at any time and most likely the current badge design would have been supplied with that new case regardless of whether that was a normal match for the customer's particular machine. The information presented here is based on a study of Microbee Online journals and brochures and should be considered as a guide only.

Badge	Model Association	Notes
Series 1 16K Badge	Series 1 16K Standard models: Microbee Kit (with upgraded case) Microbee 16K Microbee 16K Plus Microbee 16K IC	This is a scan of an original badge with some graphical editing carried out to replace missing patches of black paint and to remove scratches.
Series 1 32K Badge	Series 1 32K Standard models: Microbee Kit (with upgraded case) Microbee 32K Microbee 32K Plus Microbee 32K IC	This image has been produced by editing the 16K image. The colour and font used are close approximations of the original 32K badge.
Series 1 64K Badge	Series 1 64K Standard models: Microbee 64K Microbee 64K Plus	This image has been produced by editing the 16K image. The colour and font used are close approximations of the original 64K badge.
Series 2 Badge	Series 2 Standard models: Advanced Personal Computer (APC) Personal Communicator (PC) Educator Experimenter Some early Series 3 and DRAM Standard models
Series 3 Badge	Series 3 Standard models: PC85 Personal Communicator (PC) Educator DRAM Standard models: 64K Computer in a Book (CIAB) 128K Small Business Computer (SBC)	Manufactured from a piece of pressed copper with 'microbee' and the logo raised to create a 3D badge.
Premium Badge	Premium models: PC85 64K Computer in a Book (CIAB) 128K Small Business Computer (SBC) Some late Series 3 Standard models Some late DRAM Standard models	Features 12 small cooling slots Not used for the 128K Overdrive Premium model

Labels

Adhesive labels were attached to various model Microbees. These are mainly used to identify a particular model or to highlight particular features or options fitted.

Label	Usual Location	Applicable Models	Notes
{"Coloured 16K IC" image needed here}	Top cover - front right corner.	Microbee 16K IC
{"Coloured 32K IC" image needed here}	Top cover - front right corner.	Microbee 32K IC
Norwegian 32K IC Label	Keyboard cover - bottom right corner.	Norwegian Microbee 32K IC	This monochrome label was found applied to a Norwegian 32K IC. It has not been found on any Australian machines to date.
{"8K" image needed here}	Top cover?	Series 2 Experimenter
Series 2 16K Label	Top cover?	Series 2 Educator
Series 2 32K Label	Top cover - front right above Series 2 Personal Communicator label.	Series 2 Personal Communicator (PC)
Series 2 64K Label	Top cover - front left corner.	56K SRAM models: Microbee 64K Microbee 64K Plus Series 2 Advanced Personal Computer (APC)	This label does not reflect the true amount of SRAM fitted (actually 56K)
Standard Colour Label	???	Standard models with Colour option fitted
{"Series 2 Experimenter" image needed here}	Top cover - front right corner.	Series 2 Experimenter
Series 2 Educator Label	Top cover - front right corner.	Series 2 Educator
Series 2 Personal Communicator Label	Top cover - front right corner.	Series 2 Personal Communicator (PC)
Series 2 Advanced Personal Computer Label	Top cover - front right corner.	Series 2 Advanced Personal Computer (APC)
Series 3 32K Communicator Label	Top cover - front right corner.	Series 3 32K Communicator	This image has been produced by editing a Series 3 128K Dynamic image.
Series 3 64K Dynamic Label	Top cover - front right corner.	64K Computer in a Book (CIAB)
{"64K RAM" image needed here}	Keyboard fascia right side - behind the Backspace key.	64K Computer in a Book (CIAB)
Series 3 128K Dynamic Label	Top cover - front right corner.	128K Small Business Computer (SBC)
128K RAM Label	Keyboard fascia right side - behind the Backspace key.	128K Small Business Computer (SBC)
PC85 Label	Keyboard fascia right side - behind the Backspace key.	PC85
Premium Series Label	Keyboard fascia left side - behind the ESC key.	Premium models
Premium Plus Label	Top cover - front right corner.	Premium Plus+
Student Station Label	Top cover - front left corner.	Beenet Student Station?
Star Network Work Station Label	Top cover - centre rear, just below the Microbee badge.	Star Network Workstation
Viatel Label Set	DEL and BREAK keytops and keyboard fascia.	Standard Models with Viatel upgrade option fitted. Premium models have only the keytop labels fitted (see Notes).	The Viatel upgrade option for Standard models was supplied with 3 labels. The first 2 labels are attached to the top of the DEL and BREAK keys to mark Viatel specific functions. The third "VIATEL" label is attached to the keyboard fascia right side - behind the Backspace key. Later Premium models have Videotex (ex-Viatel) functionality included as standard. These models only have the 2 keytop labels fitted. The keytop labels had a hard and limited life so may no longer be in place on machines today.
Australian Made Label	Centre of base (underneath). Covers the injection moulding sprue mark.	Standard models
Quality Control Accepted Label	Inside the case on the metal keyboard frame	All except Microbee kit and Premium Plus kit