Nascom
Encyclopedia
The Nascom 1 and 2 were single-board computer
kits issued in 1977 and 1979, respectively, based on the Zilog Z80
and including a keyboard
and video
interface, a serial port
that could be used to store data on a tape cassette using the Kansas City standard
, and two 8-bit parallel ports
. At this time, including a full keyboard and video display interface was uncommon, as most microcomputer kits were then delivered with only a hexadecimal
keypad and seven-segment display
. To minimize cost, the buyer had to assemble a Nascom by hand-soldering about 3,000 joints on the single circuit board.
The predecessor of Borland
's very successful Turbo Pascal
compiler
and integrated development environment
(IDE) for CP/M and DOS was developed by Anders Hejlsberg
of Blue Label Software for the Nascom 2, under the name Blue Label Software Pascal, or BLS Pascal.
An interface bus, initially proprietary but quickly superseded by the 80-bus, allowed many other cards to be added to the Nascom, a progression which led to the Gemini 80-bus system which was, for a while, used as an industrial process controller. British Cellophane used several to continuously monitor thickness gauges attached to plastic sheet production lines. An 80-bus compatible network card enabled both Nascoms and Geminis to be used in office environments.
Interest in the Nascom architecture still exists today with a 32-bit version available.
Single-board computer
A single-board computer is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor, memory, input/output and other features required of a functional computer. Unlike a typical personal computer, an SBC may not include slots into which accessory cards may be plugged...
kits issued in 1977 and 1979, respectively, based on the Zilog Z80
Zilog Z80
The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...
and including a keyboard
Computer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
and video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
interface, a serial port
Serial port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
that could be used to store data on a tape cassette using the Kansas City standard
Kansas City standard
The Kansas City Standard , or Byte standard, is a digital data format for audio cassette drives. Byte magazine sponsored a symposium in November 1975 in Kansas City, Missouri to develop a standard for storage of digital computer data on inexpensive consumer quality cassettes, at a time when...
, and two 8-bit parallel ports
Parallel communications
In telecommunication and computer science, parallel communication is a method of sending several data signals simultaneously over several parallel channels...
. At this time, including a full keyboard and video display interface was uncommon, as most microcomputer kits were then delivered with only a hexadecimal
Hexadecimal
In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal is a positional numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F to represent values ten to fifteen...
keypad and seven-segment display
Seven-segment display
A seven-segment display , or seven-segment indicator, is a form of electronic display device for displaying decimal numerals that is an alternative to the more complex dot-matrix displays...
. To minimize cost, the buyer had to assemble a Nascom by hand-soldering about 3,000 joints on the single circuit board.
| Model | Nascom 1 | Nascom 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Introduced | December 1977 | December 1979 |
| MSRP (price) | £ Pound sterling The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence... 197.50 |
£225 |
| CPU (µP) | Zilog Z80 Zilog Z80 The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes... |
Zilog Z80A |
| CPU speed | 2 MHz | 4 MHz |
| Monitor/OS* | NAS-BUG 1 (1 KB Kilobyte The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information... EPROM) |
NAS-SYS 1 (2 KB ROM) |
| RAM | 2 KB (1 KB used for display), exp. to 64 KB | 8 KB, exp. to 1 MB |
| Discontinued | 1979 | 1983 |
| * A debug monitor Machine code monitor A machine code monitor is software built into or separately available for various computers, allowing the user to enter commands to view and change memory locations on the machine, with options to load and save memory contents from/to secondary storage.Machine code monitors became something of a... and simple operating system Operating system An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system... (OS) was included with the devices. CP/M CP/M CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc... versions 1.4, 2.2 and 3.0 were also available later. The display of the Nascom 2 consisted of 48 columns by 16 rows, white characters on black background with no graphics. It was possible to buy an add-on graphics chip (approximate price £20 in 1980) for the Nascom 2 that added another 128 graphics characters. The built-in Microsoft BASIC Microsoft BASIC Microsoft BASIC was the foundation product of the Microsoft company. It first appeared in 1975 as Altair BASIC, which was the first BASIC, and the first high level programming language available for the MITS Altair 8800 hobbyist microcomputer.... (8K ROM) interpreter could use these graphics to create a crude, blocky 96×48 graphics display. |
||
The predecessor of Borland
Borland
Borland Software Corporation is a software company first headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, Cupertino, California and finally Austin, Texas. It is now a Micro Focus subsidiary. It was founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad and Philippe Kahn.-The 1980s:...
's very successful Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS, developed by Borland under Philippe Kahn's leadership...
compiler
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
and integrated development environment
Integrated development environment
An integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
(IDE) for CP/M and DOS was developed by Anders Hejlsberg
Anders Hejlsberg
Anders Hejlsberg is a prominent Danish software engineer who co-designed several popular and commercially successful programming languages and development tools...
of Blue Label Software for the Nascom 2, under the name Blue Label Software Pascal, or BLS Pascal.
An interface bus, initially proprietary but quickly superseded by the 80-bus, allowed many other cards to be added to the Nascom, a progression which led to the Gemini 80-bus system which was, for a while, used as an industrial process controller. British Cellophane used several to continuously monitor thickness gauges attached to plastic sheet production lines. An 80-bus compatible network card enabled both Nascoms and Geminis to be used in office environments.
Interest in the Nascom architecture still exists today with a 32-bit version available.
External links
- Nascom homepage, with software and documentation
- Nascom Nostalgia
- Nascom / Gemini / 80 Bus, large archive of material