Jump to content

Don Lancaster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Don Lancaster
Born
Donald E. Lancaster

1939/1940
Died(2023-06-07)June 7, 2023 (aged 83)[1]
Mesa, Arizona, US
Known forAuthor
Websitetinaja.com

Donald E. Lancaster was an American author, inventor, and microcomputer pioneer.[1]

Early life

[edit]

Don graduated from North Allegheny High School in Wexford, Pennsylvania.[2] He received a BSEE degree[3] from Lafayette College in 1961, and a MSEE from Arizona State University in 1967.[4] While attending ASU, Lancaster started on a master's degree in anthropology, but he never earned the degree.[3]

Career

[edit]

Lancaster was an engineer,[5] at Goodyear Aerospace in Phoenix, Arizona, who also wrote multiple articles for computer and electronics magazines of the 1970s, including Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics, Dr. Dobb's Journal, 73 Magazine, and Byte. He has written books on electronics, computers, and entrepreneurship, both commercially published and self-published.[1]

One of his early projects was "TV Typewriter" serial terminal.[1] The design was accepted by early microcomputer users as it used an ordinary television set for the display and could be built for around US$200 in parts, at a time when commercial terminals like the ADM-3A were selling for over $1,000.

Lancaster was an early advocate and developer of what is now known as print-on-demand technology. Lancaster produced his self-published books by re-purposing the game port of an Apple II to transfer PostScript code directly to a laser printer, rather than using a Macintosh running PageMaker. This enabled continuous book production using an inexpensive Apple II, rather than tying up an expensive Macintosh until the print run was complete.

He formerly held a ham radio license (K3BYG).[6]

Later life

[edit]

Later, Lancaster developed an interest in the archaeology of the American Southwest. He spent over four decades mapping and researching prehistoric irrigation networks in the Pinaleño Mountains from his base in Thatcher, Arizona. He popularised the term "hanging canals" and co-authored scientific papers on the subject. [7]

On June 7, 2023, at the age of 83, Lancaster died, having lived for 44 years in Thatcher, Arizona.[3]

Publications

[edit]
IC books
  • RTL Cookbook (1ed, 1969) (3ed, 2010, ISBN 0-672-20715-X, archive)
  • TTL Cookbook (1ed, 1974, ISBN 0-672-21035-5, archive)
  • CMOS Cookbook (1ed, 1977) (4ed, 2019, ISBN 0-672-21398-2, archive)
  • Active Filter Cookbook (1ed, 1975) (2ed, 1995, ISBN 0-75062986-X, archive)
Project books
Apple books
Programming books
Other
  • The Incredible Secret Money Machine (1978) ISBN 0-672-21562-4
  • The Incredible Secret Money Machine II (1978) ISBN 978-1-882193-12-7
  • Book-On-Demand Resource Kit
  • The Case Against Patents: Selected Reprints from "Midnight Engineering" & "Nuts & Volts" Magazines (Synergetics Press, January 1996). Paperback ISBN 1-882193-71-7

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Obituary for Don Lancaster". The Gila Herald. June 28, 2023. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023.
  2. ↑ Don Lancaster - Detailed Biography
  3. 1 2 3 "Don Lancaster: The Electronics Industry Lost Another Pioneer Last Year". EEJournal. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  4. ↑ Don Lancaster - General Biography
  5. ↑ McDonald, Chris (22 February 2025). "From ACS to Altair: The Rise of the Hobby Computer". Creatures of Thought. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  6. ↑ "The Way Things Were" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2002-01-24.
  7. ↑ "Don Lancaster '61 Discovers Ancient Canals in the Arizona Desert". Lafayette College. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don_Lancaster&oldid=1377269941"