Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) was an Albuquerque, New Mexico company founded in 1969 by Forrest Mims and Ed Roberts. The first product was a transistorized tracking light for the night launch of model rockets. This appeared in the September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry magazine. Other kits followed for the model rocket hobbyist market. The electronics packages were sold as kits to be built by the hobbyist. This led to other kits. There were audio generators, amplifiers, power supplies, radio controls for RC vehicles, and electronic hobbyist test instruments. The calculator kits became popular when information about the 816 Calculator kit was published in Popular Electronics in November 1971.
The calculator kits remained popular among hobbyists until 1972 when Texas Instruments began to dominate the low cost calculator market. MITS is best known for creating the Altair 8800, and is commonly credited for starting the home computer industry.
