Posted By
JamesC
on 2017-05-15
00:11:38
|  Re: Hardware rarities from Rob Clarke's...
Luca and I had a side conversation about the approximate age of the C16 prototype board.
I did a little Googling, and found the FCC approval date for the C16:
https://fccid.io/BR98YV-16 (scroll down to Grants, then click the EAS tab)
The C16's FCC registration was requested on 22 June 1984, and granted on 26 July 1984. This tells me that the production (dual-sided) motherboard was completed, CBM tested, and outside RF verification acquired by mid-June 1984. Since the prototype chips are all dated late February into March 1984, and the ROMs have stickers indicating March burn dates, I feel it safe to say that the prototype board was made about the same time (early March 1984). It's also interesting to note that the prototype board has mini-DIN connectors for the Datasette and joysticks, just like the Plus/4 (and FCC-approved 264).
If anyone wants to look at the Plus/4's FCC registration (requested 8 December 1983, granted 16 February 1984):
https://fccid.io/BR98YV-264
And the 1551's FCC registration (a year later -- requested 10 Jan 1985, granted 28 March 1985, about which time the Plus/4 and C16 were discontinued in the US):
https://fccid.io/BR97TB-1551
Other Commodore hardware can be researched at this link:
https://fccid.io/BR9
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