Small firms aim 48k micros at UK home market Two home computers have been launched in the UK by two small British independent manufacturers.

The Lynx, produced by Cambridge (UK) company Camputers is based on the ZBOA microprocessor and has 48 kbyte of RAM of which 16k available to the user in hi-res colou~ mode. The memory is expandible inboard to 192 kbyte. The £225 machine has CP/M file management compatibility and an RS232 port as standard.

Display resolution is 248 x 256 pixels individually addressable in eight

colours. Internal memory expansion boosts resolution to 248 x 512 pixels. A 5¼-in single-sided single-density disc drive is planned for release by the end of 1982. The 150k memory unit will cost 'under £200'. Manufacturing is to take place in Cambridge, UK.

The second home computer is aimed squarely at Sinclair Research's domi- nance of the UK market for under £200 machines. Two versions of the Oric I are being built. Both have 16 colour graphics, one has 16k of RAM (selling at £99) and the other 48k of

Lynx (left) and Oric

Trace and disassembly on 68000 analysers Development and troubleshooting of 68000-based systems can be carried out with a trace module and disassem- bly for logic analysers.

Built by Dolch Logic in the USA, the TM 68000 incorporates a hardware emulation of Motorola's 68000 16-bit microprocessor. The unit disassembles digital operations into operands and instructions that can be displayed on the screen of a logic analyser. The instructions are in a mnemonic language.

Software is in RaM chips designed to plug into sockets on Dolch's LAM

4850A 48-channel logic analyser. Inter- facing to the 68000 device under test is provided by the company. The inter- facing device is a high impedance buffer probe.

Eight different trace modes are bu lit into the TM 68000 including a super- visor mode and a user mode which allows selective tracing of such func- tions as data read and data write.

The TM 68000 sells for $3500 and delivery is 90 days. (Dolch Logic Instru- ments, 230 Devcon Drive, San Jose, CA 95112, USA. Tel: (408) 9985730)

Disassembly of the 68000 microprucessor is possible with this Dolch system

RAM (£169). Both are cheaper than their Sinclair Spectrum counterparts.

Designed and assembled in the UK, Oric I runs on Microsoft BASIC. As with the Sinclair and Acorn micro- computers, it uses a custom ULA chip, but the absence of a high resolution display may be a disadvantage in the marketplace.

Promotion budget

Promotion is to cost £¼M and sales are planned to pass 50 000 in the first year. Oric say that their own printer, modem and discs will be available shortly after the launch this month. The modem will cost £60 and is said to allow Prestel/ viewdata and autodialler facilities to be added as well as converting a standard television into a Prestel receiver. (Camputers, 338 Bridge Street, Cambridge CA3 4AB, UK. Tel: (0223) 315063. Telex: 817207. Oric Products International Ltd, Coworth Mansion, Coworth Park, London Road, Sunninghill, Ascot, Barks 5L5 7SE, UK. Tel: (0990) 27686)

Multibus micros get array processors Array processors for Multibus micro- computer systems have been made available in the UK by Data Transla- tion of Slough.

Built by Sky Computers, the Micro Number Kruncher-M (SKYMNK-M) is said to be able to perform 1 M floating- point operations/s at 32-bit single pre- cision. For computations subject to roundoff error, 48-bit extended preci- sion is possible.

Multibus connection from SKYMNK-M allows sharing of the host computer's memory and allows it to operate under the host's operating system.

CP/M-86-based software is provided for application program development. The vector subroutine library allows users to invoke the array processor with calls from host FORTRAN or assembly language programs.

Data Translation see potential appli- cations in such number-crunching areas as seismic analysis, image processing, robotics and real-time industrial con- trol. (Data Translation Ltd, 430 Bath Road, Slough, Barks SL 1 6BB, UK. Tel: (06286) 3412. Telex: 849862)

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