Developer | Acorn Computers |
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Type | 8-bit semi-professional |
Release date | March 1979; 45 years ago (1979-03)[1] |
Introductory price | £65 (kit), £75 (assembled)[2] |
CPU | 6502 @ 1MHz |
Memory | 1152 bytes |
Storage | CUTS cassette tape interface |
Display | LED |
Graphics | - |
Sound | - |
Input | 25-key keypad |
Controller input | - |
Connectivity | INS8154 RAMIO Expansion chip (optional), CUTS cassette tape interface, socket for optional additional ROM/EPROM |
Power | 7.5V+ from external PSU through onboard 5V regulator |
Dimensions | 160 x 100mm two stacked boards |
Successor | Acorn System 2, Acorn Atom |
The Acorn System 1, initially called the Acorn Microcomputer (Micro-Computer), was an early 8-bit microcomputer for hobbyists, based on the MOS 6502 CPU, and produced by British company Acorn Computers from 1979.
The main parts of the system were designed by then-Cambridge-undergraduate student Sophie Wilson,[3] with a cassette interface designed by Steve Furber.[4] It was Acorn's first product, and was based on an automated cow feeder.[3][disputed – discuss]
It was a small machine built on two Eurocard-standard circuit boards and it could be purchased ready-built or in kit form.
Main Components (left to right)
Almost all CPU signals were accessible via the standard Eurocard connector on the right-hand side of the board. This connector was not fitted/supplied as standard with the kit version.
The System 1 front board was used as the control panel for the fictional computer Slave in the 1981 series of the BBC science-fiction series Blake's 7.
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