Atari Falcon030
The Atari Falcon030 is a 68030-based computer made by Atari Corporation, the last of the ST line. It adds a Motorola 56001 digital signal processor, 16-bit stereo DMA sound, and a programmable video chip, the VIDEL, to an ST-compatible design.[2]
 | |
| Atari Falcon030 | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Atari Corporation |
| Type | Personal computer |
| Released | January 1993 (Europe); June 1993 (US)[1] |
| Discontinued | 1994[1] |
| Intro price | US$799 (1 MB), US$1,299 (4 MB, 65 MB hard disk) (June 1993)[1] |
| CPU | Motorola 68030 at 16 MHz; optional 68881/68882 FPU at 16 MHz; Motorola DSP56001 DSP[2] |
| Memory | 1, 4 or 14 MB RAM on a plug-in board; 512 KB ROM[2] |
| Storage | 3.5" floppy drive (2 MB unformatted); optional internal IDE hard disk; external SCSI II[2] |
| Display | VIDEL: ST, VGA, true-colour and programmable modes[2] |
| Sound | 16-bit stereo DMA sound through a CODEC; YM3439 programmable sound generator[2] |
| OS / Firmware | TOS 4 in ROM[1] |
| Predecessor | Atari 1040STE, Atari TT030 |
| Model no. | Falcon030 |
History
editThe machine was developed as the FX-1 ("Sparrow"), shown at CeBIT 1992, and presented as the Falcon030 at the Atari fair in Düsseldorf in August 1992. It went on sale in Europe in January 1993 and in the United States in June 1993. According to the Atari Computermuseum, official estimates put sales at about 14,000 by autumn 1993, 7,000 of them in Germany, and about 20,000 were produced. Atari stopped selling it during 1994 to concentrate on the Jaguar console.[1]
US prices in June 1993 were US$799 for the 1 MB model, US$999 for 4 MB, US$1,299 for 4 MB with a 65 MB hard disk and US$1,899 for 14 MB with a 65 MB hard disk; in the UK in March 1993 they were £599, £799 and £999 for the first three.[1]
In 1995 C-Lab Digital Media of Hamburg licensed the design and had the Falcon's manufacturer, EFA Corporation, build its own versions, the Falcon MK-I, MK-II and the rack-mounted MK-X.[1] A 68040 successor, the Atari Falcon040, was not released.
Hardware
editThe Falcon030 has one main board, a plug-in memory board and an internal switching power supply.[2]
- CPU: MC68030FG at 16 MHz, with 256-byte instruction and data caches and an MMU. A socket takes an optional MC68881 or MC68882 floating-point unit, also at 16 MHz.[2]
- Memory: 1, 4 or 14 MB of RAM on a plug-in board (Atari assemblies CA401292-001, -002 and CA401294-001), shared between system and video use; 512 KB of ROM (TOS) in one socket at U51.[2]
- COMBEL (U56, the "COMBO IC" in Atari's text): memory controller, clock dividers, interrupt control, chip selects, joystick, paddle and light-gun circuits, and the BLiTTER.[2]
- SDMA (U36): DMA for disk and sound, system timing and bus control.[2]
- DSP: Motorola DSP56001 (U38) with 32K words of 24-bit zero-wait-state static RAM (three 32K × 8 chips, U45, U48 and U53).[2]
- Sound: a stereo CODEC (U28) for 16-bit record and playback, and a Yamaha YM3439 programmable sound generator for ST compatibility.[2]
- Video: the VIDEL shifter, a video DAC and, on the TV-output boards, a 1377 PAL/NTSC encoder (U18).[2]
- Real-time clock: a Dallas DS1287 (U64) with integrated 3.6 V lithium battery and crystal, holding the time, date and 50 bytes of configuration RAM.[2]
- Oscillators: 32 MHz (U37), 25.175 MHz (U41) and 3.672 MHz (U12).[2]
Atari built four main board variants, CA401332-001 (NTSC), -002 (PAL-I), -003 (PAL-B) and -004 (Peritel), which differ in the video encoder section.[2]
Connectors
editThe rear panel has the DSP connector, the microphone and headphone jacks, the SCSI II connector, the monitor/genlock connector, the RF output (on TV-output models), the parallel, serial and LAN ports, a reset button, the power switch and the mains inlet. The cartridge port and the two game ports are on the left side, the floppy drive on the right, and the mouse/joystick and joystick connectors underneath. There is also a MIDI interface. An internal 44-pin IDE connector serves the optional hard disk, and an internal expansion connector is provided.[2]
Power supply
editThe internal switching supply (C302866-001 for 117 V, C302867-001 for 230 V) gives +5 V and +12 V to the main board and power for the floppy and hard disk, 37.4 W in total.[2]
| +5 V | +12 V | |
|---|---|---|
| Load current | 1.5–7.0 A | 0–0.2 A |
| Line, load and cross regulation | 5 % | 10 % |
| Ripple and noise | 100 mV p-p each | 100 mV p-p each |
Atari sets the +5 V output to 5.05 ± 0.1 V with a 4.0 A load. The supply accepts 90–129 V AC (US) or 198–264 V AC (Europe).[2] A 12 V 40 mm fan (J22) is fitted.[2]
Operating system
editThe Falcon030 shipped with TOS 4 in ROM.[1] Atari listed separate ROM sets for the US, UK/Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden.[2] On an unrecoverable exception TOS draws a number of bombs; the service guide lists what each number means (p. 62).[2]
Documentation
edit- Atari Falcon030 Service Guide, C303062-001, 1 October 1992: specifications, theory of operation, diagnostic cartridge, disassembly, symptom checklist and parts list.
- Falcon 030 schematic, Rev. A, Atari Microsystems, 28 May 1992.
Related pages
editReferences
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Atari Computermuseum, "Falcon 030" (last edited 25 August 2024): history, models, production estimate and launch prices. Community source.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 Atari Corporation, Atari Falcon030 Service Guide, C303062-001, 1 October 1992: system features (p. 1), power supply (pp. 4–5), theory of operation (Section 2), parts list (Section 7). Hosted here as File:Atari Falcon030 Service Guide C303062-001.pdf.