The Memotech MTX500, MTX512 and RS128
are a series of Zilog
Z80A
The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples we ...
processor-based home computers released by
Memotech Memotech MTX512 computer
Memotech was a British computer company founded by Geoff Boyd and Robert Branton in Witney in Oxfordshire, England. They started out during the early 1980s producing memory expansion packs ("RAMpacks") and other hardware ...
in 1983
and 1984.
Design
The MTX500 had 32
KB of
RAM, the MTX512 had 64KB, and the RS128 had 128KB. Although the Z80A could only address a maximum of 64KB at a time, the MTX and RS128's extra memory, up to a maximum of 768KB, was accessible through the technique of
page switching. All models had 24KB of ROM accessible in the first 16KB of address space. The extra 8KB of ROM was available through page switching. The ROM could be switched out entirely, allowing the full 16-bit address space to be used for RAM.
The computers featured an all-aluminum case and full-size keyboard with real keys (unlike the
chiclet keyboard used on the
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as t ...
).
In addition to the standard (for the time)
BASIC language interpreter (with rudimentary windowing support and LOGO commands support), it included some other software: an
assembler, the ''Panel'' disassembler/debugger and the ''Noddy'' graphic language aimed at children
)
Peripherals
This series also featured support for plug-in
ROM
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* R ...
cartridges (a little like the
BBC Micro). The most popular of these was the ISO
Pascal
Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
** Blaise Pascal, Fren ...
language from
HiSoft which was much faster than interpreted BASIC. A considerable addition to any Memotech system was the hugely expensive FDX system which added 5.25"
floppy disk
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...
drives, Winchester
hard disks and
CP/M
CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/ 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. Initial ...
2.2 operating system. A Memotech-badged
CGA monitor was also made available around the time of the FDX launch.
Specifications
* CPU: Zilog Z80 A @ 4MHz
* Video: TM9918 or 9928 (256 x 192 resolution, 16 colors)
* Sound: SN76489A (3 voices + pink noise, 6 octaves)
* RAM: 32 KB (MTX-500) / 64 to 512 KB (MTX-512)
* OS: CP/M
In popular culture
The MTX512 made a minor cinematic appearance in the film ''
Weird Science Weird Science is the name of:
* ''Weird Science'' (film), a 1985 film directed by John Hughes
** ''Weird Science'' (TV series), a television series based on the film
** "Weird Science" (song), the theme song to the film and the TV series by Oing ...
'' as the computer the two lead male characters use to hack into
the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
mainframe
A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...
.
Memotech MTX 512
Starring the Computer
References
External links
MTX information and reviews
- some text , content mostly
MTX family at old-computers.com
Review of MTX512
originally from ''Creative Computing
''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format th ...
''
Memotech MTX 512 - The Russian Schools Bid
{{Authority control
Early microcomputers
Z80-based home computers
Home computers
Computers designed in the United Kingdom