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Acorn System 1 Technical Manual

From RetroTechCollection

The Acorn Technical Manual for the System 1 Micro-Computer is Acorn Computers Ltd's own construction and reference manual for the Acorn System 1, copyright 1979. 31 pages, with a text layer and searchable. The title page gives the machine as two Eurocards: 6502 C.P.U., 200,000 and Keyboard, 200,001.

Contents

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Acorn's own contents list, with printed page numbers:

  • Introduction โ€” 1
  • Construction procedure โ€” 2
  • Power supply โ€” 13
  • Cassette interface โ€” 14
  • Address selection โ€” 15
  • Fitting EPROMs โ€” 19
  • Extending the system โ€” 21
  • P.C.B. layouts โ€” 24
  • Parts list 6502 C.P.U. โ€” 25
  • Parts list keyboard โ€” 27
  • Parts list 6502 S.B.C. โ€” 29
  • Circuit diagram 6502 C.P.U. โ€” loose
  • Circuit diagram keyboard โ€” loose

What it settles

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  • Three separate parts lists, not one: the 6502 CPU Eurocard, the keyboard/display/cassette Eurocard, and the 6502 single-board controller configuration. The System 1 was sold in several forms and the SBC build populates a different set of positions from the full two-card machine, so the list that applies depends on which configuration the board in front of you is.
  • Acorn's introduction spells out those three configurations: single-board controller with firmware in a pair of 74S571 PROMs or an EPROM; the machine-code microcomputer with the hex keypad, eight-digit seven-segment display and cassette interface on the second board; and as the CPU of a larger Eurocard system, with all 6502 address, data and control lines brought out on a 32-way DIN connector.

What this manual does not contain

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  • The circuit diagrams are not in it. Acorn's own contents page marks both as "Loose" โ€” they were supplied as separate sheets, and they are hosted here as Acorn System 1 Circuit Diagrams.
  • No fault-finding procedures and no diagnostic flowcharts.
  • No power supply component values. Page 13 specifies what the boards need, not what is inside a supply.
  • No coverage of the later Acorn System machines; for those see Acorn System 5 Handbook and Acorn System Catalogue.

Pages that cite this document

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Download here: Acorn System 1 Technical Manual.pdf