<s>
The	O
company	O
earned	O
its	O
reputation	O
by	O
offering	O
expansions	O
for	O
the	O
Southwest	O
Technical	O
Products	O
(	O
SWTPC	O
)	O
6800	B-Device
microcomputer	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
later	O
manufactured	O
its	O
own	O
line	O
of	O
computers	O
,	O
called	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
floppy	O
disk	O
drive	O
system	O
expansion	O
and	O
accompanying	O
OS-68	O
operating	O
system	O
proved	O
such	O
a	O
success	O
that	O
it	O
spurred	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
,	O
itself	O
running	O
OS-68	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
later	O
iterations	O
of	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
won	O
praise	O
for	O
technical	O
merit	O
,	O
the	O
refusal	O
to	O
invest	O
in	O
a	O
centralized	O
source	O
of	O
software	O
turned	O
off	O
some	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
after	O
learning	O
about	O
the	O
dearth	O
of	O
memory	O
expansion	O
and	O
peripherals	O
for	O
the	O
SS-50	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
used	O
by	O
the	O
highly	O
popular	O
Southwest	O
Technical	O
Products	O
6800	B-Device
microcomputer	I-Device
,	O
Hammond	O
rectified	O
this	O
by	O
designing	O
the	O
M-16-A	O
,	O
a	O
16	O
KB	O
static	O
RAM	O
board	O
,	O
marketing	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
in	O
late	O
1976	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
Byte	O
magazine	O
,	O
the	O
M-16-A	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
expansion	O
board	O
manufactured	O
independent	O
of	O
Southwest	O
Technical	O
Products	O
for	O
the	O
SWTPC	B-Device
6800	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
system	O
housed	O
up	O
to	O
three	O
drives	O
in	O
one	O
cabinet	O
and	O
came	O
with	O
a	O
controller	O
board	O
to	O
plug	O
into	O
the	O
SS-50	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
of	O
the	O
SWTPC	B-Device
6800	I-Device
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
OS-68	O
,	O
a	O
disk	O
operating	O
system	O
similar	O
to	O
Technical	O
Systems	O
Consultants	O
's	O
FLEX	B-Device
that	O
provided	O
the	O
SWTPC	B-Device
6800	I-Device
with	O
a	O
random-access	O
file	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BFD-68	O
also	O
proved	O
popular	O
among	O
users	O
of	O
the	O
SWTPC	B-Device
6800	I-Device
and	O
inspired	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
to	O
release	O
their	O
own	O
microcomputer	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Motorola	B-Device
6800	I-Device
microprocessor	O
in	O
1978	O
,	O
after	O
having	O
moved	O
to	O
Westlake	O
Village	O
,	O
California	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Called	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
,	O
this	O
computer	O
came	O
equipped	O
with	O
a	O
nine-slot	O
motherboard	O
with	O
SS-50	O
compatibility	O
,	O
32	O
KB	O
of	O
RAM	O
—	O
expandable	O
up	O
to	O
60	O
KB	O
—	O
two	O
serial	O
ports	O
,	O
either	O
two	O
5.25-inch	O
or	O
two	O
8-inch	O
floppy	O
drives	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
80-by-25	O
character	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Smoke	O
Signal	O
aimed	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
at	O
scientific	O
engineers	O
and	O
came	O
included	O
with	O
OS-68	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
offered	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
only	O
as	O
an	O
assembled	O
computer	O
—	O
a	O
somewhat	O
unusual	O
approach	O
when	O
most	O
companies	O
sold	O
their	O
computers	O
as	O
kits	O
to	O
be	O
assembled	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
user	O
,	O
who	O
were	O
usually	O
hobbyists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Chieftain	B-Device
's	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
cooling	O
fan	O
and	O
gold-plated	O
edge	O
connectors	O
for	O
reliability	O
was	O
also	O
relatively	O
novel	O
for	O
6800-based	O
computers	O
,	O
as	O
noted	O
by	O
Personal	O
Computing	O
magazine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Chieftain	B-Device
's	O
case	O
bore	O
a	O
faux-leather	O
finish	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
technologist	O
Bill	O
von	O
Hagen	O
,	O
in	O
keeping	O
with	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
's	O
Native	O
American	O
corporate	O
identity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computer	O
journalist	O
and	O
collector	O
Michael	O
Nadeau	O
called	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
one	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
SWTPC-based	O
computers	O
ever	O
made	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Smoke	O
Signal	O
released	O
a	O
single-board	B-Device
computer	I-Device
a	O
year	O
after	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
,	O
called	O
the	O
SCB-68	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
featured	O
the	O
same	O
6800	O
processor	O
as	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
but	O
only	O
1	O
KB	O
of	O
scratch-pad	B-General_Concept
RAM	I-General_Concept
and	O
2	O
KB	O
of	O
EPROM	B-General_Concept
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
could	O
add	O
18	O
KB	O
worth	O
of	O
additional	O
EPROMs	B-General_Concept
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
math	O
co-processor	O
,	O
a	O
real-time	O
clock	O
,	O
and	O
serial	O
ports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
adopted	O
design	O
elements	O
of	O
the	O
SS-50	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
for	O
this	O
single-board	B-Device
computer	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
first	O
entry	O
to	O
the	O
business	O
market	O
was	O
an	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
Chieftain	B-Device
,	O
aptly	O
named	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
Business	O
System	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Smoke	O
Signal	O
retained	O
SS-50	O
compatibility	O
but	O
replaced	O
the	O
6800	O
processor	O
with	O
a	O
Motorola	B-Device
6809	I-Device
,	O
bumped	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
RAM	O
to	O
64	O
KB	O
—	O
upgradable	O
to	O
1	O
MB	O
—	O
and	O
removed	O
compatibility	O
with	O
5.25-inch	O
disks	O
but	O
added	O
two	O
more	O
8-inch	O
disk	O
drives	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
20	O
MB	O
Winchester	O
hard	O
disk	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
year	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
introduced	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
9822	O
,	O
an	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
Business	O
System	O
featuring	O
the	O
same	O
processor	O
and	O
static	O
RAM	O
options	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
same	O
nine-slot	O
bus	O
equipped	O
with	O
the	O
first	O
two	O
Chieftains	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
Chieftain	B-Device
spanned	O
two	O
units	O
:	O
one	O
for	O
the	O
disk	O
drives	O
,	O
the	O
other	O
for	O
the	O
processor	O
,	O
memory	O
,	O
and	O
disk	O
controller	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Purchasers	O
could	O
choose	O
either	O
an	O
updated	O
version	O
of	O
OS-68	O
for	O
the	O
Motorola	B-Device
6809	I-Device
—	O
its	O
name	O
now	O
shortened	O
to	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
DOS	O
—	O
or	O
Microware	B-Operating_System
's	O
multi-tasking	O
,	O
multi-user	O
,	O
"	O
Unix-comparable	O
"	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
OS-9	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Smoke	O
Signal	O
DOS	O
was	O
free	O
of	O
charge	O
,	O
while	O
OS-9	B-Operating_System
cost	O
an	O
additional	O
US$195	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Chieftain	B-Device
's	O
two	O
units	O
could	O
be	O
mounted	O
under	O
a	O
desk	O
or	O
stacked	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Benchmark	O
tests	O
performed	O
on	O
twenty-five	O
sub-US	O
$	O
25,000	O
computers	O
by	O
the	O
Association	O
of	O
Computer	O
Users	O
rated	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
9822	O
second-best	O
in	O
the	O
categories	O
of	O
scientific	O
computing	O
and	O
data	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Chieftain	B-Device
was	O
rivaled	O
in	O
these	O
respective	O
categories	O
only	O
by	O
a	O
considerably	O
more	O
expensive	O
system	O
by	O
Wang	O
Laboratories	O
and	O
a	O
comparably	O
priced	O
but	O
bare-bones	O
system	O
by	O
Altos	O
Computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
computer	O
reviewers	O
praised	O
the	O
speediness	O
of	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
,	O
criticism	O
was	O
leveled	O
at	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
's	O
reliance	O
on	O
third-party	O
dealers	O
to	O
provide	O
the	O
software	O
to	O
the	O
purchasers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Electronic	O
Company	O
of	O
New	O
Zealand	O
rebadged	O
the	O
Chieftain	B-Device
Business	O
Machine	O
as	O
an	O
"	O
Econz	O
"	O
machine	O
in	O
1981	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
's	O
choice	O
of	O
OS-9	B-Operating_System
forced	O
them	O
to	O
claim	O
having	O
only	O
a	O
"	O
Unix-comparable	O
"	O
operating	O
system	O
at	O
hand	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
introduced	O
their	O
first	O
microcomputer	O
allowed	O
to	O
be	O
marketed	O
as	O
Unix	B-Application
-	O
in	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Called	O
the	O
VAR/68	O
,	O
this	O
computer	O
came	O
included	O
with	O
Regulus	O
,	O
a	O
Unix-compatible	O
operating	O
system	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
Alcyon	O
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
SS-50	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
design	O
had	O
fallen	O
out	O
of	O
popularity	O
by	O
the	O
time	O
the	O
company	O
released	O
their	O
previous	O
Chieftain	B-Device
,	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
remained	O
loyal	O
to	O
their	O
roots	O
with	O
regard	O
to	O
the	O
VAR/68	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
computer	O
was	O
powered	O
by	O
Motorola	O
's	O
16-/32	O
-bit	O
68000	B-Device
microprocessor	I-Device
and	O
featured	O
four	O
parallel	O
ports	O
and	O
16	O
serial	O
ports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Smoke	O
Signal	O
equipped	O
a	O
later	O
iteration	O
of	O
the	O
VAR/68	O
—	O
labeled	O
the	O
VAR/68K	O
—	O
with	O
a	O
32-bit	O
68008	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
exchange	O
was	O
managed	O
by	O
Deborah	O
Conrad	O
and	O
ran	O
on	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
's	O
in-house	O
MicroCobol	O
database	B-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
suppliers	O
of	O
software	O
for	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
include	O
Ed	O
Smith	O
's	O
Software	O
Works	O
,	O
Microware	B-Operating_System
Systems	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Computer	O
Software	O
Services	O
—	O
the	O
latter	O
of	O
whose	O
Random-Access	O
Disk	O
File	O
BASIC	O
was	O
deemed	O
much	O
better	O
than	O
the	O
rebranded	O
BASIC	O
implementation	O
of	O
theirs	O
which	O
Smoke	O
Signal	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
