Nascom 2 (3)

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The Nascom 2, released in 1979, was the successor to the Nascom 1 (1978). Like its predecessor this single-board computer was available in kit or ready-built form. The kit had 281 components, resulting in well over a thousand soldering points, meaning that the kit was only suitable for those with experience. It cost just under £300 +VAT.

The Nascom 2 was based on the Z-80A processor, which ran at 2 or 4MHz. It had 10K of ROM - 2K for the NAS-SYS-1 monitor and 8K for BASIC, and 10K of 4118 RAM, 1K which is used for the screen memory.

The kit included a 57-key full alpha-numeric keyboard, video interface, and audio cassette interface (Kansas City standard, 300 or 1200 baud). The inclusion of a full keyboard and video display interface was uncommon in this era with most microcomputer kits at the time only being delivered with a hexadecimal keypad and 7-seg display.

The display of the Nascom 2 consisted of 48 columns by 16 rows, white characters on black background with no graphics. It was possible to purchase an add-on Graphics Chip (approx price £20 in 1980) for the Nascom 2 that added a further 128 Graphics Characters. The built-in Microsoft Basic (8K ROM) interpreter could use these graphics to create a primitive and blocky-like 96 x 48 graphics display.

Our Nascom 2 computer is complete with a 32k expansion and the wooden case has been nicely made by Bryan Stewart who very kindly donated the machine to us.

Manufacturer: Nascom Ltd
Date: 1st December 1979



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Nascom 2 (3) Manuals:

Item Manufacturer Date
Nascom-2 Specification Booklet Nascom Unknown

Magazines RELATED to Nascom 2 (3) in our Library

Item Manufacturer Date
Personal Computer World - June 1979 Jun 1979
80-Bus News Vol 2 Issue 3 1983
80-Bus News Vol 2 Issue 6 1983

Other Systems Related To Nascom 2 (3):

Item Manufacturer Date
Nascom 2 Nascom Ltd 1977
Nascom 2 (4) Nascom Ltd 1st December 1979
Nascom 2 (2) Nascom Ltd 1st December 1979

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH7037. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

 

Nascom 2 (3)

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