Transam Tuscan S100

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The Transam Tuscan was launched in the UK in June 1980, and developed into a full system in 1981. It was sold as a range of systems starting from a kit of parts based on a motherboard, up to a complete system with floppy and hard disks. It had a Z80 processor and RAM on a motherboard, which also had five S-100 bus slots for expansion. The motherboard contains up to 8KB of static RAM, and four EPROM sockets of 2KB each.
 
Although our unit uses the Transam case, the separate numeric keyboard area is blocked off.
 
Our unit is together with
The Tuscan S100 manual
The Tuscan S100 Software Manual
TUG The Tuscan Users Group Newsletter No 1
Transam Software Catalogue
Transam Computer Systems Catalogue
All were very kindly donated by Trevor Scott.
 
The Introduction to the machine from The Tuscan S100 manual reads:
We believe that TUSCAN Is one of the few systems that has been designed with its total concept in mind right from the outset.  Every detail has been carefully thought out to provide an Initial low cost machine, which can be expanded to cope with the most arduous of applications. Furthermore, everything is available right now - there is no need to wait for further 'panic’ development work to take place before the important extras are ready.  If you are a beginner you will find TUSCAN admirably suited to your needs. You can buy It ready made or, with very little effort, you can assemble it yourself - and tor a very modest outlay you will have a single board computer that more than matches others on the market.  If, on the other hand, your applications are more demanding, we can supply you with TUSCAN configured to support discs, terminals, printers, communication links etc, and its design includes many features 'which make It an Ideal system for Industrial process control.
 
All this is possible because we chose to design TUSCAN as a single board computer containing its own extension busbar on the self same board.  We chose, from the start, to go for the IEEE standard 3100 bus, thereby ensuring that a wealth of peripheral options - already available and ready to plug into this international standard - ranging from floppy disK control cards through sophisticated VDUs to Digital to Analogue Converters, and lots and lots of memory would Interface with no modifications whatsoever.
 
The TUSCAN concept provides a major cost advantage, over conventional 8100 systems in that the basic single board - with which you start - contains a Z80 CPU operating 2 or 4HHs, 8K of BAH, 8X of BOH, 18 operating I/O ports (many of which are available to the user), an integral VDU providing full upper and lower case plus graphics, a MODEM Interface with selectable baud rates up to 800 (for use In communications or recording data), an BS232 I/O Interface operating up to 4800 baud at selectable rates.

Manufacturer: Transam
Date: June 1980



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Transam Tuscan S100 Manuals:

Item Manufacturer Date
Transam Tuscan S100 Software Manual Transam 1980
Transam Tuscan S100 Hardware Manual Transam 1981
Transam Tuscan S100 User Manual Transam 1983

Magazines RELATED to Transam Tuscan S100 in our Library

Item Manufacturer Date
Personal Computer World - January 1981 Jan 1981
Personal Computer World - November 1981 Nov 1981

Other Systems Related To Transam Tuscan S100:

Item Manufacturer Date
Transam Triton (2) Transam Components 1978
Transam Triton Transam Components December 1978
Transam Tuscan S100 Transam 1980

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH7010. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

 

Transam Tuscan S100

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