NorthStar Horizon
Encyclopedia
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
computer system based on the ZiLOG
Zilog
Zilog, Inc., previously known as ZiLOG , is a manufacturer of 8-bit and 24-bit microcontrollers, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series.-History:...
Z80A microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
. It was produced by North Star Computers
North Star Computers
North Star Computers was originally named Kentucky Fried Computer and changed their name prior to the release of their Horizon product, an eight-bit business computer that was shipped with the then industry-standard CP/M operating system or North Star's proprietary operating system, NDOS.While...
, and it could be purchased either in kit form or pre-assembled.
S-100 bus
The S-100 bus or Altair bus, IEEE696-1983 , was an early computer bus designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800, generally considered today to be the first personal computer...
common in its day. Although a few logic circuits were on the motherboard, primarily for I/O
Input/output
In computing, input/output, or I/O, refers to the communication between an information processing system , and the outside world, possibly a human, or another information processing system. Inputs are the signals or data received by the system, and outputs are the signals or data sent from it...
functions, both the processor and the memory resided in separate daughterboard
Daughterboard
A daughterboard, daughtercard or piggyback board is a circuit board meant to be an extension or "daughter" of a motherboard , or occasionally of another card...
s. It contains an internal discrete linear power supply
Power supply
A power supply is a device that supplies electrical energy to one or more electric loads. The term is most commonly applied to devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another, though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of energy to electrical energy...
, including a large transformer and power capacitors, comprising much of the bulk and weight of the system.
Capable of running 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...
and NSDOS (NorthStar's proprietary Disk Operating System
Disk operating system
Disk Operating System and disk operating system , most often abbreviated as DOS, refers to an operating system software used in most computers that provides the abstraction and management of secondary storage devices and the information on them...
), a standard NorthStar system sported one or two hard-sectored 5.25 inch floppy disk drives and a serial interface to which one could connect a terminal
Computer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...
to interact with it.
NSDOS included NorthStar BASIC
NorthStar BASIC
NorthStar BASIC was a dialect of BASIC originally provided for use on the NorthStar Horizon and NorthStar Advantage. The interpreter was written using only Intel 8080 instructions so that it could run also on custom systems. One notable difference with other dialects of BASIC of the time was the...
, a slightly non-standard dialect of BASIC, where some standard BASIC commands of the day had been changed, probably to avoid potential legal issues. Two examples of this were the FILL and EXAM commands, which took the place of the more common PEEK and POKE
PEEK and POKE
In computing, PEEK is a BASIC programming language extension used for reading the contents of a memory cell at a specified address. The corresponding command to set the contents of a memory cell is POKE.-Statement syntax:...
.
Superseded by the all-in-one NorthStar Advantage in 1983, the NorthStar Horizon found a niche in University environments where its inbuilt S-100 bus
S-100 bus
The S-100 bus or Altair bus, IEEE696-1983 , was an early computer bus designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800, generally considered today to be the first personal computer...
could be used to interface it to a variety of control system
Control system
A control system is a device, or set of devices to manage, command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or system.There are two common classes of control systems, with many variations and combinations: logic or sequential controls, and feedback or linear controls...
s.
Northstar released a Hard disk version, with an internal full height 5Mb MFM drive. They also released a S100 card with integrated memory and two serial ports which allowed up to eight users on one Horizon, each with their own CPU sharing the disk and other resources. This operated under TurboDOS
TurboDOS
TurboDOS is a multi user CP/M like operating system for the Z80 and 8086 CPU's developed by Software 2000 Inc.It was released around 1982 for S100 bus based systems such as the NorthStar Horizon.The multiprocessor nature of TurboDOS is its most unusual feature...
, a multi user CP/M variant with some unix like features.
External links
- NorthStar Horizon at Obsolete Technology
- NorthStar Horizon at Old Computer Museum
- Alan Bowker's North Star computers
- North Star Computers Manuals from Harte Technologies
- NorthStar documentation from Rich's classic computing lab
- Marcus Bennett's NorthStar Documentation Store