The NABU PC was an early 1980s Canadian home computer built around the idea of delivering software and information through cable television infrastructure. This page serves as a central hub for NABU PC videos, hardware, software, network tools, documentation, and revival projects, with more in the full archive.
"Natural Access to Bi-directional Utilities" - NABU
Explore the NABU PC, its original cable-network design, hardware, software, Internet Adapter tools, CP/M support, documentation, and related vintage computing projects featured in the Geek With Social Skills archive.
Last updated: August 10, 2026
This section features Geek With Social Skills videos covering NABU PC hardware, software, CP/M experiments, MSX-related testing, network tools, and the modern NABU revival.
The following external resources provide NABU PC software, ROM images, Internet Adapter tools, technical documentation, specifications, open source projects, and historical material.
The NABU PC combines a Z80A processor with dedicated Texas Instruments video hardware, General Instrument sound, serial interfaces, expansion slots, and a high-speed RS-422 network connection designed for use with the original NABU cable network.
Natural Access to Bi-directional Utilities, or NABU for short, was an ambitious Canadian home computing project built around delivering software and information through cable television infrastructure. NABU rolled out its home computers in 1983 and launched network service in Ottawa on October 26 of that year.
The NABU PC connected through a cable adapter to a central network, allowing users to access programs and information without relying entirely on locally stored software. Available content included games, educational programs, financial tools, news, and programming languages such as LOGO.
The system was unusually forward-looking for the early 1980s, combining a home computer with centralized software delivery and online services years before internet access became common in homes.
Despite the technology and ambitious plans, the NABU Network struggled to attract enough subscribers. The original company encountered serious financial problems, and the successor network operation ultimately ceased service at the end of August 1986.
The NABU PC experienced a surprising modern revival in late 2022 when a few thousand New Old Stock NABU units appeared on eBay through PellMill LLC. For vintage computing enthusiasts, it was a rare chance to buy an unused 1980s network computer decades after the original service had ended.
On November 26, 2022, Adrian Black posted a video on Adrian's Digital Basement titled "The 1980s computer you've never heard of - The NABU PC". Interest quickly grew around the newly available hardware and helped encourage another wave of development, preservation, documentation, and experimentation.
Today, the NABU community continues to explore original software, CP/M, network emulation, modern adapters, archival material, and new ways to use the hardware outside its original cable network environment.