The Galaksija shipped inside a magazine, not a box. In late December 1983, readers of the Yugoslav popular-science title Galaksija found a special edition with a full computer design printed across its pages, schematic and parts list included, because the country’s import restrictions had made buying a finished Western computer either illegal or close to a month’s salary.
Why it matters
Voja Antonić’s trick was to make the Z80A draw the screen itself, in software, rather than paying for dedicated video hardware the design couldn’t afford. It was slower than a machine with a proper video chip, and it was also something ordinary Yugoslavs could actually build: sources put kit orders at around 8,000, from parts bought through Računari magazine or imported via Microtechnica in Graz, against well over 100,000 copies of the magazine issue itself sold. A state broadcaster, Ventilator 202, spent the next three years transmitting Galaksija software over the radio for listeners to tape off-air, which is not a distribution method any Western computer of the era needed. One surviving example sits in the Computer History Museum in Mountain View; the design itself has outlasted the country that produced it.
What to check before you buy
- Decide early whether you want a genuine 1983–84 build or a modern reproduction kit: originals are scarce outside the former Yugoslavia, and Antonić’s own 2020 double-layer PCB redesign is a realistic, well-supported alternative
- If buying or building with a modern Z80A, check whether the RFSH refresh-timing fix has been applied, since CMOS-process chips can misbehave without it
- Test cassette loading early and be ready to adjust the R14/C2 values if loads are unreliable. This is a known quirk of the original circuit, not necessarily a fault with your particular tape
- Don’t expect dedicated sound or colour graphics; both are outside what this design was ever built to do
