Acorn System 3
The Acorn System 3 (1980) added a floppy-disc controller card, a 5.25-inch drive and a disc operating system to the Eurocard rack, replacing the cassette interface of the Acorn System 2.[1] The System 3 became the standard development machine in the Acorn lab: the Acorn Atom has been described as a cut-down System 3, and much of the BBC Micro development was done on it.
 | |
| Acorn System 3 | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Acorn Computers Ltd |
| Type | Modular microcomputer (Eurocard) |
| Released | 1980 |
| Intro price | £775 (£1075 with PSU and casing); keyboard £136 (1982) |
| CPU | 6502 @ 1 MHz (6809 option) |
| Memory | 8 KB RAM + 4 KB BASIC ROM (minimum) |
| Storage | 5.25" floppy disc (100 KB), DOS in ROM |
| Display | 40×25 teletext VDU (40 or 80 column) |
| Sound | — |
| OS / Firmware | Acorn DOS; Acorn System BASIC (FLEX on 6809) |
| Predecessor | Acorn System 2 |
| Successor | Acorn System 4 |
Configuration
editA minimum System 3 contained:[1][2]
- A 1 MHz 6502 CPU card (a 6809 card was available for running FLEX)
- A 40×25 teletext VDU card (an 80×25 card was also used)
- 8 KB RAM with a 4 KB Acorn System BASIC ROM
- A floppy-disc controller card (Intel 8271)
- One 100 KB 5.25-inch disc drive mounted in the card frame
Further Eurocards could be added as required. In 1982 the System 3 cost £775, or £1075 with power supply, casing and two further 8 KB RAM cards, plus £136 for the keyboard.[1]
Maintenance and repair
editSee also
edit- Acorn System 1 · Acorn System 2 · Acorn System 4 · Acorn System 5
- Acorn Atom — the home computer derived from the System 3
- Acorn System Catalogue
References
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Acorn System", Wikipedia. Source for the System 3 minimum configuration, the disc-based design, the 1982 prices, and the System 3's role as the Acorn lab workhorse from which the Atom was derived and the BBC Micro developed.
- ↑ Whytehead, Chris. "Acorn System 3", Chris's Acorns / The Centre for Computing History. Source for the minimum configuration (1 MHz 6502 CPU, VDU, 8K RAM + 4K BASIC ROM, floppy-disc controller, 100K 5.25-inch drive), the 6809/FLEX option, and the Intel 8271 floppy controller.