View source for Xetec

{{Short description|American software company}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2011}}
{{Infobox company
| name             = Xetec, Inc.
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| type             = [[Corporation]]
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| industry         = [[Personal computer]], [[computer engineering]]
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| fate             = Discontinued
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| foundation       = [[Salina, Kansas]], U.S. ({{Start date|1983}})<!-- City, Country ({{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}}) -->
| founder          = Jon Flickinger
| defunct          = {{End date|1995}}<!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| location_city    = [[Salina, Kansas]]
| location_country = U.S.
| locations        = 1
| area_served      = Global
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| products         = [[Lt. Kernal]]
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'''Xetec''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|iː|t|ɛ|k}} was founded in 1983 by Jon Flickinger, and was located in [[Salina, Kansas]], United States. Before closing in 1995, the company produced many third-party products for the [[Commodore 64]], [[Commodore 128]], [[Amiga]], [[Classic Mac OS|Macintosh]], [[Atari ST]] and [[IBM PC compatible|PC]] computers.
==Overview==
The [[Lt. Kernal]] is the first third-party hard drive peripheral for [[Commodore International|Commodore]] computers. Originally developed by Fiscal Information in 1985, it was turned over to Xetec for manufacturing and customer support.<ref>[http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/ckb/ltk/history.htm Lt. Kernal history]</ref>
Xetec's best selling product is its line of printer interfaces, which allows the use of many models of non-Commodore [[parallel port|parallel-interface]] printers with Commodore computers. Some of the popular printers of that era that are supported include [[Canon Inc.|Canon]], [[Itochu|C-Itoh]], [[Star Micronics]], [[Epson]], [[NEC]], [[Okidata]], and [[Panasonic]]. Early interface models (such as the "Serial Printer Interface" and "Graphics Printer Interface") simply convert from Commodore's serial format to the more standard [[IEEE 1284|Centronics parallel interface]], with only minimal [[ASCII]] conversions and graphic character printing. The Super Graphix Jr adds support for 50+ printers and "[[Near Letter Quality]]", which is a technique of using multi-pass graphic printing to achieve higher quality text printing. The more sophisticated Super Graphix also adds an 8K data buffer, [[screen dump]] support, two user-loadable fonts (from a library of fonts on the included disk), and a font creation program. The Super Graphix Gold adds a 32K buffer, 4 fixed and 4 user-loadable fonts (from a library of fonts on disk), 10 font printing effects, picture printing, built-in screen dump programs, fast-serial support, and the rather unusual ability to interface a printer directly to a disk drive (for printing pictures and loading fonts directly from disk).<ref>[http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/hardware Scanned Xetec user manuals]</ref>
The Fontmaster line of word processing software provides Commodore users the ability to exploit the graphics capabilities just emerging in printers of the day in order to produce documents containing a mixture of font styles, sizes and effects as well as embedded pictures.  Although lacking the power and flexibility of word processors available today, it was ground-breaking in its day, winning an ''Outstanding Original Programming'' award at the 1985 [[Consumer Electronics Show]]. Fontmaster 128 was featured in the 1987 [[Consumer Electronics Show]] Software Showcase.
Xetec's offerings for the Amiga include [[SCSI]] interfaces, [[hard drive]]s, [[CD-ROM]] drives, streaming [[tape drive]]s, and RAM expansion. Xetec was the first to offer the popular [[Fish disks]] collection on CD-ROM with their three-volume set of ''Fish & More'' discs.
Xetec also developed a few products for [[Macintosh]] and [[IBM PC compatible|PC]] computers, products for the [[radio control|RC]] hobby market, and spent a number of years in research and development of solid-state [[fluorescent]] lighting [[Ballast (electrical)|ballasts]], for which Jon Flickinger holds two patents.<ref name="JF patents at Justia">{{cite web | title=Patents by Inventor Jon Flickinger | url=http://patents.justia.com/inventor/jon-flickinger | website=Justia | first=Jon | last=Flickinger | access-date=August 22, 2014}}</ref><ref name="JF fluorescent patent at Google">{{cite web | title=Series resonant inverter and method of lamp starting | first=Jon | last=Flickinger | url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US4914558 | website=Google | access-date=August 22, 2014}}</ref>
In summary, Xetec's total list of products include these: [[Lt. Kernal]], Serial Printer Interface, Graphics Printer Interface, Super Graphix, Super Graphix Jr, Super Graphix Gold, Graphix AT, Fontmaster, Fontmaster II, Fontmaster 128, Printer Enhancer, FastTape, FastTrak, FastCard, FastCard Plus, MiniFastCard, FastRAM, ''Fish & More'' (vols. I, II, III), CDx CD-ROM Filesystem, CDx 650, Beeping Tomm, SuperWriter 924, SCAD.
==Reception==
''[[Compute!'s Gazette]]'' in 1986 called the $49.95 ''Fontmaster II'' "a terrific value, and well worth the trouble of learning some new commands in exchange for the excellent printouts it delivers".<ref name="eldridge198612">{{Cite magazine |last=Eldridge |first=Richard H. |date=December 1986 |title=Fontmaster II |url=https://archive.org/stream/1986-12-computegazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_42_1986_Dec#page/n93/mode/2up |magazine=Compute's Gazette |pages=92–97}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Portal|Amiga}}
* [http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/ckb/ltk/history.htm Lt. Kernal support site]
* [http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/search.pl?product=&company=Xetec Amiga Hardware Database] - Xetec Amiga expansion cards
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061102141932/http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showhardware.cgi?HARDID=1252 The Big Book of Amiga Hardware] - Photos of FastCard
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061102141641/http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showhardware.cgi?HARDID=1253 The Big Book of Amiga Hardware] - Photos of FastTrak
* [http://www.baetzler.de/amiga/cdxcdfs.html Review of CDx CD-ROM FileSystem]
* [http://www.atarimagazines.com/v6n8/stnewproducts.html ANTIC VOL. 6, NO. 8 / DECEMBER 1987 / PAGE 54] - ANTIC's mention of SCAD
* [http://www.eeggs.com/tree/4381.html Easter eggs in Super Graphix Gold]
* [http://www.eeggs.com/tree/4380.html Easter eggs in Printer Enhancer]
* [https://archive.today/20130210083248/http://www.pslib.cz/museum/index.php?singleitem=125&menuopen=14 Graphix AT (Atari) review]
{{Amiga companies}}
[[Category:1983 establishments in Kansas]]
[[Category:1995 disestablishments in Kansas]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1983]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1995]]
[[Category:Amiga companies]]
[[Category:Commodore 64 peripheral manufacturers]]
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1983]]
[[Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1995]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Kansas]]