- Email: [email protected]
Faster 8048
• Cx 504, a 20 Mbyte hard disc with cartridge tape for backup and single floppy Other important features of the Cx 500 systems include bank switched memory option, simple expansion of interface ports for multiuser and networking capabilities for interconnection of Cx 500 units to provide shared resources. Prices range from less than £3500 for a Cx 502 up to about £8000 for a Cx 504. (Transdata Ltd,
Battlebridge House, 8 7-95 Tooley Street, London 5EI, UK. Tel: 01403 5115. Telex: 8952068)
The Mill pairs Apple and 6809 Stellation Two has announced The Mill, a plugin processor board for the Apple II. Installed in any peripheral slot, it enhances the stock Apple II with the Motorola 6809E processor, a high speed device optimized for real-time data acquisition, stack-type languages such as FORTH and PASCAL and concurrent programming tasks. New applications opened up include manufacturing and laboratory process control monitoring. The higher 6809 speed coupled with concurrent programming and interrupts gives immediate response to process variables. Additionally, programs may perform computations on measurement data for real-time control and data logging. The 6809 was selected to be the heart of The Mill because of its versatility and power. The 6809E is hardware compatible with the Apple's existing 6502 processor, allowing external circuitry such as bus drivers, timing and control circuitry to be kept simple and reliable. In operation, the 6809 and the 6502 run concurrently, allowing both processors to perform internal operations independently. The 6809 acts as the bus master during the 6502's bus accesses: typically, the 6809 commands 80% of available bus time for memory accesses and data transfers. The 6502 may, however, halt the 6809 on the bus for time-critical
vo/ 5 no I jan/feb 1981
Raft's Black Box III range of microcomputer systems has four basic Models, the 3/10, 3/20, 3]30 and 3/40. which are all fully compatible and field upgradeable. Each model has a basic 32 kbyte RAM, expandable,to 512 kbyte in increments of 16k or 64k. The 3/10 has single minidisc drive support, the 3/20 and 3/30 add dual minidiscs and built-in 5¼-inch Winchesters and the 3/40 incorporates an 8-inch Winchester. Up to eight Winchesters can be connected to a single computer. From basic single-user support, each model can be expanded to provide multiuser, multiterminal support on a single system or in a network using shared processor and file resources. The major high level languages are supported. Prices range from £2000 to £3500. (Raft Ltd, 3 0 - 3 2 Neal Street, London WC2H 9,°5, UK. Tel: 01-836 4663. Telex: 298452) I/O operations. Communications between the two processors is easily accomplished with commands provided through main memory mailboxes. Users may also simply recode sections of 6502 programs into 6809 machines languages for high speed operations, calling these routines from programs which run in the standard Apple processor. Multiprogramming operation is possible and the 6809 processor affords faster operation through its more efficient instruction set. Benchmarks of large programs show two to three times faster results with the 6809 using the Apple II 8-bit data bus. This is achieved because the 6809 directly manipulates 16-bit quantities (addresses and integers) through its own 16-bit registers, whereas the 6502 contains only 8-bit registers and must perform two separate instructions to access 16-bit data.
The Mill is available n o w for $275 with documentation available separately for $25. (Stellation Two, PO
Box 2342, Santa Barbara, CA 93120, USA)
Faster 8 0 4 8 National Semiconductor has announced the availability of the industry's first 11 MHz 8048. This speed is a result of National's XMOS processing, a high speed low power technology. National now supplies a full line of both 6 and 11 MHz 8048 family devices, ranging from the INS8048 with l k x 8 internal ROM to the INS8050 with 4k x 8. (National
Semiconductor (UK) Ltd, 301 Harpur Centre, Home Lane, Bedford, UK. Tel: (0234) 47147. Telex: 826209)
49
Battlebridge House, 8 7-95 Tooley Street, London 5EI, UK. Tel: 01403 5115. Telex: 8952068)
The Mill pairs Apple and 6809 Stellation Two has announced The Mill, a plugin processor board for the Apple II. Installed in any peripheral slot, it enhances the stock Apple II with the Motorola 6809E processor, a high speed device optimized for real-time data acquisition, stack-type languages such as FORTH and PASCAL and concurrent programming tasks. New applications opened up include manufacturing and laboratory process control monitoring. The higher 6809 speed coupled with concurrent programming and interrupts gives immediate response to process variables. Additionally, programs may perform computations on measurement data for real-time control and data logging. The 6809 was selected to be the heart of The Mill because of its versatility and power. The 6809E is hardware compatible with the Apple's existing 6502 processor, allowing external circuitry such as bus drivers, timing and control circuitry to be kept simple and reliable. In operation, the 6809 and the 6502 run concurrently, allowing both processors to perform internal operations independently. The 6809 acts as the bus master during the 6502's bus accesses: typically, the 6809 commands 80% of available bus time for memory accesses and data transfers. The 6502 may, however, halt the 6809 on the bus for time-critical
vo/ 5 no I jan/feb 1981
Raft's Black Box III range of microcomputer systems has four basic Models, the 3/10, 3/20, 3]30 and 3/40. which are all fully compatible and field upgradeable. Each model has a basic 32 kbyte RAM, expandable,to 512 kbyte in increments of 16k or 64k. The 3/10 has single minidisc drive support, the 3/20 and 3/30 add dual minidiscs and built-in 5¼-inch Winchesters and the 3/40 incorporates an 8-inch Winchester. Up to eight Winchesters can be connected to a single computer. From basic single-user support, each model can be expanded to provide multiuser, multiterminal support on a single system or in a network using shared processor and file resources. The major high level languages are supported. Prices range from £2000 to £3500. (Raft Ltd, 3 0 - 3 2 Neal Street, London WC2H 9,°5, UK. Tel: 01-836 4663. Telex: 298452) I/O operations. Communications between the two processors is easily accomplished with commands provided through main memory mailboxes. Users may also simply recode sections of 6502 programs into 6809 machines languages for high speed operations, calling these routines from programs which run in the standard Apple processor. Multiprogramming operation is possible and the 6809 processor affords faster operation through its more efficient instruction set. Benchmarks of large programs show two to three times faster results with the 6809 using the Apple II 8-bit data bus. This is achieved because the 6809 directly manipulates 16-bit quantities (addresses and integers) through its own 16-bit registers, whereas the 6502 contains only 8-bit registers and must perform two separate instructions to access 16-bit data.
The Mill is available n o w for $275 with documentation available separately for $25. (Stellation Two, PO
Box 2342, Santa Barbara, CA 93120, USA)
Faster 8 0 4 8 National Semiconductor has announced the availability of the industry's first 11 MHz 8048. This speed is a result of National's XMOS processing, a high speed low power technology. National now supplies a full line of both 6 and 11 MHz 8048 family devices, ranging from the INS8048 with l k x 8 internal ROM to the INS8050 with 4k x 8. (National
Semiconductor (UK) Ltd, 301 Harpur Centre, Home Lane, Bedford, UK. Tel: (0234) 47147. Telex: 826209)
49