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System
Information: Fairchild Channel F / Channel F II (2)
Development,
History, Games, Internals, Additional Information, Photos
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| Specifications Table |
| Manufacturer: |
Fairchild
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| Year
Released: |
1976
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Year
Discontinued: |
0000 |
| Size
& Weight: |
Unknown at this time
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| Storage: |
ROM Cartridge
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| CPU: |
Fairchild F8
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Speed: |
1.79 Mhz
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| Additional
Processors: |
n/a
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| System
Memory: |
64 Bytes
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| Graphics
Modes: |
128 X 64
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| Max
Colours: |
8
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| Sound: |
3 Fixed Tones Only
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| Ports: |
2 Joystick Ports (model 2 only), RF Port, Power Input
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| Power
Rating: |
Unknown at this time.
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| Original
Cost |
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8 out of 10
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Retro-Zone.Org
- Retrospective Review:
Being the first of it's kind was always going to ensure the Channel F got it's place in history. But few people actually know about it! The system was a little underpowered but still capable of some great games. This system does not get the credit it deserves.
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Do
I have one in my Collection?
YES  I am lucky enough to have 2 boxed Fairchild Channel F II consoles. One with original letters from 1979 asking when the next games are to be available for purchase!
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Additional Links:
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 Development:
 The Fairchild Channel F is an amazing milestone in the video game industry. It was the first ever console capable of using programmable cartridges. Many people confuse this claim with that of the Magnavox Odyssey which could play "variations" of it's games by inserting small printed circuit boards. But these boards only contained jumpers and connections - no actual computer hardware or software code. The jumpers served to change the routing of the video signals inside the Odyssey - meaning only a certain number of modifications were possible - and only variations of the same theme - bat and ball "pong" style games.
The Fairchild Channel F actually had an on board programmable CPU and Memory Storage which could be programmed by an external ROM chip contained in the Game Cartridges. This makes the Fairchild Channel F a direct predecessor to the Atari 2600, Sega Master System, Mega Drive, Nintendo NES, SNES and N64! It was the birth of the modern gaming console! Why is this such a milestone you ask? Well because the Channel F had a dedicated CPU it was capable of producing (with some patient programming) a basic level of Artificial Intelligence which allowed for 1 player games - or Player versus Computer games was possible - another gaming first!
The Channel F's overall design is a mixture of the pong console around at the time with some original ideas thrown in. Most easily recognizable is the 1970's wood grain effect (which was also copied by Atari.)
The Channel F was originally called the VES, but when Atari released their console and named it the VCS - Fairchild decided to change the name of their system to differentiate it from the Atari. |
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History:
 Fairchild was started in 1957 by Sherman Mills Fairchild under the umbrella of his Fairchild Semiconductor company. This company was well renowned for innovations in semiconductor research and provided the starting pad for Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, who later went on to form Intel.
The Channel F was designed by Jerry Lawson using the Fairchild F8 CPU, (which was actually the first time this processor had been used in a commercial product.) During the late Seventies the pong market was booming, and with manufacturers competing by releasing more complicated pong machines, the market was getting a little crowded. In 1975, Fairchild Semiconductor decided to enter the home video game market with their own unit. But rather than creating a dedicated pong unit they decided to produce a unique CPU based programmable console based on their own Fairchild's F8 microprocessor.
After only one year on the market the Fairchild was superseded by the technically superior Atari VCS
During the first video game crash of the late seventies Fairchild decided to abandon the Channel F and sold all rights to a company called Zircon - who went on to release the Channel F 2 and 5 more games.
They released 5 new games (which were already finished by Fairchild but went unreleased) and the System II through the early 1980's before they too succumb in the 2nd video game crash in '83-'84.
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Games:
 There were 26 game cartridges released for the Channel F and Channel F 2 machines. Another 5 or so games were advertised in catalogues but failed to materialise. The most notable of these were the games which required the Keyboard Controller (also not released.) The graphics are quite basic by modern standards as the F8 chip was only able to produce single-colour sprites, and only had eight colours to choose from. The maximum resolution was 128 × 64 with 102 × 58 pixels visible. The Channel F had only 64 bytes of Random Access Memory (RAM), half the amount of the Atari 2600. Although the machine was simple by today's standards - at the time it was a real innovation. Especially as for the first time players were able to have a computer controlled opponent when playing games. All previous machines required a human opponent.
The controllers are a joystick without a base; the main body is a large hand grip with a triangular handle on top. The controller could be pushed in any direction for use as a joystick, but could also be twisted left and right for use as a paddle controller. Pushing the handle down or pulling it up away from the grip also acted as a fire button. In fact, in total it had four action buttons, two more than the Nintendo Entertainment System & Sega Master System which came nearly a decade later. The model 1 unit has a storage compartment for the controllers (which were hardwired to the system.) The System II featured detachable controllers which were store on brackets attached to the rear of the unit.
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Internals:
 Robert Noyce worked on the F8 design team before he left Fairchild to start his own company, Intel. The F8 is very complex compared to the typical integrated circuits of the day, and had more inputs and outputs than other contemporary chips. Because chip packaging was not available with enough pins, the F8 is instead fabricated as a pair of chips that had to be used together to form a complete CPU. In the original unit, Sound is played through an internal speaker, rather than the TV set. However, the System II passes sound to the television as part of the RF signal. The Channel F sound generator was not intended to produce music or complex sounds. It could only play 3 fixed frequency tones - which would be modulated quickly in order to produce sound effects. |
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Additional
Information:
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Photos
| Gallery (click on a thumbnail to
enlarge) |
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Some Photos of my Channel F
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Some Photos of my Channel F
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Some Photos of my Channel F
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Some Photos of my Channel F
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References:
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