Fairchild Channel F

The Fairchild Channel F was a second generation home video console released by Fairchild Camera and Instrument in August 1976. It was originally known as the Video Entertainment System (VES), but when Atari released their VCS the following year, Fairchild renamed it the Channel F.

The console used the first microchip: the Fairchild F8 CPU, invented by Robert Noyce before he left Fairchild to start his own company, Intel. Sound was played through an internal speaker, rather than the TV set, and the video (although in colour) was relatively basic.

A number of licensed versions were released in Europe, including the Adman Grandstand in the UK, Luxor Video Entertainment System in Sweden and the Nordmende Teleplay, Saba Videoplay and ITT Tele-Match Processor in Germany.

Specifications

• CPU chip: Fairchild F8 operating at 1.79 MHz
• RAM: 64 bytes, 2 KiB VRAM (2x128x64 bits)
• Resolution: 128 x 64 pixels, 102 x 58 pixels visible
• Colours: eight colours (either black/white or four colour max. per line)
• Audio: 500 Hz, 1 kHz, and 1.5 kHz tones
• Input: two custom game controllers, hardwired to the console
• Output: RF modulated composite video signal, cord hardwired to console

Games

The Channel F was the first unit to use a programmable cartridge system for games; large yellow ROM cartridges known as videocarts. The first videocart available was entitled 4-in-1 (Tic-Tac-Toe, Shooting Gallery, Doodle and Quadra-Doodle), with 21 games released in all. These included:

• Alien Invasion (similar to Space Invaders)
• Cat and Mouse
• Dodge It
• Hockey (built in)
• Maze
• Pong (built in)
• Sonar Search (similar to Battleship)
• Video Whizball

The Channel F System II

In 1979, Zircon International bought the rights to the Channel F and re-designed the console, releasing it as the Channel F System II in order to compete with the VCS. The changes were mainly cosmetic, including a simpler and more modern-looking case design, controllers that were removable from the base unit instead of being wired directly into it, and a storage compartment at the rear of the unit. The sound was also reworked so that it mixed with the TV signal, doing away the need for a speaker on the unit.