PC8800
An Emulator of Intecolor Industrial Terminals

PC8800 is a software emulator of ISC/Intecolor 8001 and Intecolor 8800 and 3800 series color graphic terminals designed to run on PC hardware.   It can be an attractive replacement solution for users of these terminals who are facing an increasingly difficult and expensive maintenance problem.

The standard build of PC8800 emulates 8001 terminals with standard V2.79 and V5.79 firmware and 8800 and 3800 Series terminals with standard V1.x and V2.x firmware. It also emulates the Aydin 5219 terminal equipped with Aydin's Geminay firmware.  This build provides all the standard and most of the optional functions of the original terminals. For details about the ISC and Intecolor terminal models emulated and options supported, please see Models Supported

A number of special builds of PC8800 are available to replace the functions of Intecolor terminals that were customized for OEMs and large end users like Bailey Controls, Fisher Controls, Dow Chemical, etc.  For details please see below on this page.

Mirador offers PC8800 in two versions, both of which use an Intecolor protocol interpreter that was developed originally at Intecolor Corp. and has been thoroughly field tested.    A  Windows version of the product is available on CD for installation on the user's Windows PC.  A  Linux version of PC8800 is available pre-installed on an embedded Linux PC.  See below on this page for additional information.

To download PC8800 for Windows for a free 30 day evaluation, please see the Downloads page.

Below: a sample PC8800 screen from a steel making application, in which both text and high resolution graphics display capabilities are utilized.

PC8800 Standard Edition for Windows

PC8800 for Windows is a native Win32 application designed to run on Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista.  It features a resizable main window, Windows-style menus and dialogs for configuration, expanded timer and alarm support, screen printing to any Windows printer and support for communications over a TCP/IP network link as well as over an RS-232 serial link.

 PC8800 for Windows is supplied on CDROM for installation on a user-supplied Windows PC.  This version of PC8800 is especially well suited for providing an auxiliary "window" into the process control system, whether from a control engineer's desk in the plant, or from a remote location (using a network connection in conjunction with Mirador's Remote Terminal Server software).

Requirements to run PC8800 for Windows are:

• Pentium or better CPU
• RAM consistent with operating system requirements
• one serial port required for host communications (a USB to serial adapter may be used if Windows drivers are installed)
• additional serial ports optional for secondary host, locator device or serial printer
• parallel port optional for parallel printer support
• USB port required (a software protection key is attached here)
• additional USB port optional for USB printer support
• VESA compliant video card
• CDROM drive (needed for loading the software)
• hard drive (The emulator occupies only about 8MB of disk space when installed.)
• PS/2 Style keyboard
• PS/2 Style mouse
• Any 32-bit MS Windows operating system that supports USB (98, 2000, XP, Vista)

PC8800 Standard Edition for Linux

The Linux version of PC8800 is recommended to all user's who want to dedicate a PC to providing Intecolor emulation in a mission-critical system. A dedicated PC is not subject to security risks associated with networked Windows machines that might be running other applications.

PC8800 for Linux is supplied pre-installed on an eBOX-2300 embedded computer.  A monitor, keyboard and optional mouse are not included in order to allow the user to supply her own if desired.  However, Mirador can supply complete replacement solutions including these additional items if desired.  Please see the bundled solutions page for additional information about the eBOX and monitor and keyboard options.

 The eBOX boots Linux from a Compaq Flash card (no hard disk), and is configured to launch PC8800 automatically following boot.  PC8800 for Linux runs full screen, supports screen printing to any HP PCL3 compatible USB printer, provides a multi-page menu system for configuration very similar to the menu system in the Intecolor.8800 terminals.

Intecolor Industrial Terminals

Between 1973 and 1995, when production ceased, tens of thousands of Intecolor 8001, 8800 and 3800 series terminals were installed in operator consoles of industrial data acquisition and control systems, building management systems and dispatch centers throughout the world.   These systems were designed around the terminals' peculiar function set and communications protocol, and were intended to remain in service for many years.   Many are still in service today.   But terminal maintenance has become a problem for many users, and users have sometimes wondered why they, too, can't benefit from the PC revolution that has overtaken the control and instrumentation world.

With software emulation, they can.   PC8800 allows ordinary PC hardware to function just like these old terminals and even enhances the user's experience by taking advantage of the PC's higher resolution graphics capabilities, all while faithfully preserving the scale and alignment of displays designed for the older hardware.   A list of the many existing PC8800 users at government installations, and in the chemical, oil and gas, metal, power etc. industries, can be found here: Customer List

Below: Intecolor production line, early 1980s.

Support for Custom Versions of Intecolor Terminals

PC8800 can replace not only the standard Intecolor terminals but many customized versions of these products as well.

Support for Custom Character Sets

ISC 8001 and Intecolor 8800 and 3800 series terminals were often equipped with custom character sets.  These sets were used to facilitate the construction of special graphical displays like process plant schematic diagrams, to enable the use of foreign languages, etc.  Intecolor provided many of these custom character sets as options.  In other cases, Intecolor sold standard units to system suppliers and these suppliers provided custom sets to end users.

There are several ways to handle the emulation of terminals that were equipped with custom character sets.

• Select from the library of custom character sets that is included with the emulator.
• Build your own custom character set with any Windows raster font editing program.
• Identify the custom character set needed by its CSR number or provide specifications and let Mirador create it for you.  (An NRE charge will apply in most cases.)

The following custom character sets are distributed with PC8800 and may be installed by the user:

Support for Custom CPU Firmware

ISC and Intecolor provided dozens of custom cpu firmware releases for OEMs and end users of the 8001 and 3800/8800 series terminals.  Intecolor also sold standard terminals to system integrators who installed their own custom cpu firmware before shipping these terminals on to end users as parts of their systems.

Specially compiled versions of PC8800 are already available to support a number of these custom cpu firmware releases.  These versions are listed in the table below.  Mirador Software has the capability to provide some additional custom versions as demand requires.  Please inquire.  (An NRE charge will apply in most cases.)

Identification of 8001 Custom CPU Firmware

Custom CPU firmware installed in an 8001 terminal can usually be identified by one of the following means.

• The serial number label references option 0B38 or 0B39.
• The message that appears in the upper left corner of the display at terminal power-up include a major firmware revision number, like 2.79 or 5.79, then an additional designator, in the form 'CSR 978000-xyz', where 'xyz' is the custom firmware identifier.

If the terminal has custom firmware that was created by an OEM or other third party, rather than by Intecolor, the above two indicators might not be present.  In that case, the only way to tell for sure if there is custom firmware installed is to examine the ROM chips on the CPU board.  Standard Intecolor ROM chips will have Intecolor part numbers printed on them.  For 8001 terminals with Rev 12 cpu V5.79 firmware, the main ROM is part no. 100627-xxx and a second ROM is part no. 100718.

Identification of 8001 Custom Character Sets

The presence of an Intecolor generated custom character set in an 8001 terminal is signaled by the appearance of a Custom Software Release number in the terminal's power-up header message (CSR 978000-xxx) and/or by the appearance of one of the following option numbers on the unit's serial number label:  0B03, 0B1700, 0B17A0.

Identification of 8800 Custom CPU Firmware

Custom CPU firmware installed in an 8800 or 3800 series terminal can usually be identified by one of the following means.

• The serial number label references option 0R39 or 0T39.
• The message that appears in the upper left corner of the display at terminal power-up include a major firmware revision number, like 1.xx or 2.xx, then an additional designator, in the form 'CSR 978000-xyz', where 'xyz' is the custom firmware identifier.

If the terminal has custom firmware that was created by an OEM or other third party, rather than by Intecolor, the above two indicators might not be present.  In that case, the only way to tell for sure if there is custom firmware installed is to examine the ROM chips on the logic board.  Standard Intecolor ROM chips will have Intecolor part numbers printed on them.  For 8800 and 3800 series terminals, the main ROM is part no. 106217.

Identification of 8800 Custom Character Sets

The presence of an Intecolor generated custom character set in an 8800 or 3800 series  terminal is signaled by the appearance of a Custom Software Release number in the terminal's power-up header message (CSR 978000-xxx) and/or by the appearance of one of the following option numbers on the unit's serial number label:  0R1700, 0R17A0, 0T1700 or 0T17A0.