Pertec
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Predecessor | Peripheral Equipment Corporation |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Fate | Acquired by Triumph-Adler; later purchased by Scan-Optics in 1987 |
| Headquarters | Chatsworth, California (Peripherals division), Irvine, California (Computer division) , United States |
| Products | Floppy disk drives, tape drives, minicomputers, hard disk drives |
Pertec Computer Corporation (PCC), originally known as Peripheral Equipment Corporation (PEC), was a computer enterprise headquartered in Chatsworth, California, specializing in peripheral devices such as floppy disk drives, tape drives, and instrumentation equipment.
The company’s primary offerings comprised hard disk and tape drives marketed as OEM components to major industry players including IBM, Siemens, and DEC. They developed various models of seven- and nine-track half-inch tape drives that supported 800 CPI (NRZI) and 1600 CPI (PE) encoding formats, which were extensively utilized as input/output peripherals by OEM customers.
During the 1970s, Pertec broadened its product range into minicomputer manufacturing through strategic acquisitions, resulting in a division into two entities: Pertec Peripherals Corporation (PPC) based in Chatsworth, and Pertec Computer Corporation (PCC) located in Irvine, California.
Pertec and MITS
In 1976, Pertec purchased Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), the creator of the Altair computer, for $6.5 million. This acquisition was intended to capitalize on MITS’ Microsoft BASIC source code and licensing rights—although this assumption was later proven incorrect—and to extend Pertec’s reach beyond hobbyists into the small business market. That same year, Pertec also acquired iCOM Microperipherals, a manufacturer of peripheral devices.
Following these acquisitions, the company changed its name from Pertec Corporation to Pertec Computer Corporation to better represent its new strategic direction.
Initially, Pertec enhanced the Altair product line by integrating their own disk drives but eventually discontinued both the Altair and MITS brands as the Intel 8080 CPU technology became outdated.
In 1978, Pertec introduced the PCC-2000, its first proprietary system design featuring dual Intel 8085 microprocessors—one dedicated exclusively to I/O management. Designed for workgroup use, the PCC-2000 supported four terminals connected via RS-232 ports alongside an internal console. It included two 8-inch floppy drives with 1.2 MB storage each and could be expanded with up to two pairs of 14-inch disk drives providing a total of 22.4 MB storage capacity—a considerable amount at that time. The PCC-2000 operated on a multi-user MTX operating system with an interpreter resembling Business Basic and was compatible with MITS DOS or CP/M; in the United Kingdom it ran BOS software. However, its premium pricing limited widespread adoption.
Pertec/MITS 300
After acquiring MITS in 1977, Pertec launched the MITS 300 series, which included models such as the 300/25 and 300/55. These integrated hardware-software systems targeted business applications including word processing, inventory management, and accounting tasks. The 300/25 model featured Pertec floppy disk drives while the 300/55 added a Pertec DC-3000 14-inch hard disk drive. The system incorporated a second-generation MITS Altair 8800 or Altair 8800b equipped with a hard drive controller and MITS datakeeper storage.
Offered at a price of $15,950, the complete 300/55 package included an Altair 8800b with 64 KB dynamic RAM, a CRT terminal, and a desk. This solution aimed to capture business computing market share by utilizing MITS peripherals such as the Altair Floppy Disk Drive, Altair Line Printer, Teletypewriter, and Altair CRT terminal. The printer was a bidirectional Mits/Altair C-700 model capable of printing at speeds of 60 characters per second and producing 26 lines per minute.
Despite its innovative hardware-software integration and Pertec’s efforts to expand into business computing systems, the MITS 300 series suffered from overheating issues that affected reliability and resulted in a relatively short operational lifespan, which diminished its competitiveness within the rapidly evolving microcomputer sector.
Pertec PCC-2100
Pertec primarily focused on key-to-disk minicomputer systems designed to serve as front-end processors for IBM 360/370 and comparable platforms. In the early 1970s, the company introduced the PCC-2100 data entry system, capable of supporting up to 16 coaxial terminals, two D3000 disk drives, and a single T1640 tape drive.
Pertec XL-40
Launched in 1977, the Pertec XL-40 succeeded the PCC-2100 with notable success. It incorporated custom 16-bit processors constructed from TI3000 or AMD2900 bit slice components, offered up to 512 KB of operational memory, and included dedicated DMA controllers managing tape drives, floppy and hard disks, printers, card readers, and terminals.
The XL-40 was available in two primary configurations: one equipped with four Pertec tape units (T1600/T1800), a pair of floppy disk units (either IBM or Pertec models), and four hard disk units ranging from 4.4 to 17.6 MB provided by Pertec or Kennedy; the other configuration featured two high-capacity disks (up to 70 MB from Kennedy or NEC), multiple printers connected via long-line or coaxial interfaces, a card reader, four SDLC communication channels, and 30 proprietary coaxial terminals.
Designed mainly to replace IBM card punch machines and advanced key-to-tape devices from competitors such as Mohawk Data Sciences and Singer, the XL-40 operated on the proprietary XLOS operating system. XLOS supported indexed file handling for online transaction processing with data journaling capabilities. Programming was accomplished either through data entry tables that defined input formats with validation or using a COBOL variant that supported IDX and SEQ file types.
System maintenance was conducted in a protected supervisor mode with batch file support for operator functions. The user interface relied on prompts featuring automatic explanations and default selections to improve usability in a text-only environment. In Europe, Triumph-Adler marketed the XL-40 as the TA1540, initiating a collaboration that ultimately resulted in a corporate merger.
Pertec 3200
The last computer design developed internally by Pertec was the Series 3200, based on the Motorola 68000 processor. Its main operating system was a proprietary multitasking, multi-user platform capable of running Unix as well. In Europe, Triumph-Adler sold this system under the MSX 3200 brand, offering four models: 3200, 3220, 3230, and 3240. The key disk application originally developed for the XL-40 was redeveloped for the 3200 alongside a BASIC-driven database system resembling those found in MAI Basic Four or Pick OS environments. Often bundled by third-party vendors with PCC 3200 hardware, these business solutions addressed small business needs such as accounts payable, payroll management, inventory control, sales monitoring, and tax processing.
The 3200 was advanced technology at its release time, supporting up to 32 users through intelligent Z80-based terminals capable of running CP/M over the system’s high-speed coaxial cable network. Later enhancements included an ISA bus to coax interface that allowed personal computers to operate as smart terminals or networked MS-DOS clients. This system also marked Pertec’s initial adoption of the emerging Winchester standard for compact hard drives.
Eventual fate
Shortly following the introduction of the 3200 series, Pertec Computer Corporation was acquired by Triumph-Adler—subsequently owned by Kyocera—and later purchased by Scan-Optics in February 1987. As the industry transitioned from proprietary CPUs toward Intel and Motorola processors, hardware costs declined sharply without proportional growth in market demand. This shift caused companies such as PCC to diminish or be absorbed by larger entities.
Pertec’s PPC magnetic tape interface standard from the early 1970s became widely adopted across the industry and remains utilized by tape drive manufacturers today. Likewise, their PERTEC disk interface established a pre-Winchester benchmark for magnetic disk drives during that decade.
External links
- Pertec manuals and documents available at bitsavers.org
- Pertec information hosted on VirtualAltair
- Historical overview of Pertec found on VirtualAltair
- Articles with short description
- American companies founded in 1967
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- American companies established in 1967