The Chernobyl PC

The Slovak YouTube channel “Chornobyl Family”, specializing in the search and restoration of Soviet electronics, was able to assemble a working PC on the same equipment as the computers used in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. As you can imagine, finding such hardware and software is not an easy task. But it works, even in yellow and black.

The main systems that provided inspiration (and details) for this project were originally created by Minsk Mainframes, including rare cloned versions of Intel 8086 processors. In total, around 80,000 EC-1841 computers were produced, and some of them ran up to the 90s.

Soviet computers usually ran at 5 MHz, so it was impossible to run modern games or programs on them. However, they could run on a Soviet version of DOS called alphaDOS. Software has become a real rarity, so electronic restoration specialists are often forced to search for the necessary programs.

In the refurbished EC-1841 computer, the seven available slots are occupied by five processor boards: one with a clone of an Intel 8086 processor, a GPU; another board for COM ports, including a mouse controller, and two RAM cards.

There is something special about electronics, DOS, history. This something retains its magic even in yellow light, giving lightness and clarity to the atmosphere. The display is reminiscent of the always recognizable yellow-chrome circular graphic, which gradually appears before our eyes.