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The Sinclair QL (for ''Quantum Leap'') is a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as an upper-end counterpart to the ZX Spectrum. The QL was aimed at the serious home user and professional and executive users markets from small to medium-sized businesses and higher educational establishments, but failed to achieve commercial success. While the ZX Spectrum has an 8-bit Zilog Z80 as the CPU, the QL uses a
Motorola 68008 The Motorola 68008 is an 8/32-bit microprocessor introduced by Motorola in 1982. It is a version of 1979's Motorola 68000 with an 8-bit external data bus, as well as a smaller address bus. The 68008 was available with 20 or 22 address lines (r ...
. The 68008 is a member of the
Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...
family with 32-bit internal data registers, but an 8-bit external data bus.


History

left, Sinclair QL ROM "dongle" – needed to expand the internal 32 KB ROM to 48 KB in early QLs The QL was originally conceived in 1981 under the code-name ''ZX83'', as a portable computer for business users, with a built-in ultra-thin flat-screen
CRT CRT or Crt may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine and biology * Calreticulin, a protein *Capillary refill time, for blood to refill capillaries *Cardiac resynchronization therapy and CRT defibrillator (CRT-D) * Catheter-re ...
display similar to the later TV80 pocket TV, printer and modem. As development progressed it eventually became clear that the portability features were over-ambitious and the specification was reduced to a conventional desktop configuration. The electronics were primarily designed by David Karlin, who joined Sinclair Research in summer 1982. The
industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...
was done by
Rick Dickinson Rick Dickinson (c. 1957 – 24 April 2018) was a British industrial designer who developed pioneering computer designs in the 1980s. Notable examples of his design work include the ZX81 case and touch-sensitive keyboard and the ZX Spectrum's r ...
, who already designed the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum range of products. Sinclair had commissioned GST Computer Systems to produce the operating system for the machine, but switched to Domesdos, developed by Tony Tebby as an in-house alternative, before launch. GST's OS, designed by Tim Ward, was later made available as 68K/OS, in the form of an add-on ROM card. The tools developed by GST for the QL would later be used on the
Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
, where GST object format became standard. The QL was designed to be more powerful than the IBM Personal Computer, and comparable to Apple's Macintosh. While the CPU clock speed is comparable to that of the Macintosh, and the later Atari ST and Amiga, the 8-bit databus and
cycle stealing In computing, traditionally cycle stealing is a method of accessing computer memory (RAM) or bus without interfering with the CPU. It is similar to direct memory access (DMA) for allowing I/O controllers to read or write RAM without CPU interven ...
of the
ZX8301 The ZX8301 is an Uncommitted Logic Array (ULA) integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL microcomputer. Also known as the "Master Chip", it provides a Video Display Generator, the division of a 15 MHz crystal to provide the 7.5 MHz system cl ...
gate array limit the QL's performance. At the time of the rushed launch, on 12 January 1984, the QL was far from being ready for production—there being no complete working prototype in existence. Although Sinclair started taking orders immediately, promising delivery within 28 days, first customer deliveries only started, slowly, in April. This provoked criticism of the company and the attention of the Advertising Standards Authority. Because of its premature launch, the QL was plagued by a number of problems from the start. Early production QLs were shipped with preliminary versions of
firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...
containing numerous
bugs Bugs may refer to: * Plural of bug Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Bugs Bunny, a character * Bugs Meany, a character in the ''Encyclopedia Brown'' books Films * ''Bugs'' (2003 film), a science-fiction-horror film * ''Bugs ...
, mainly in SuperBASIC. Part of the firmware is held on an external 16 KiB ROM cartridge also known as the " kludge" or "
dongle A dongle is a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on another device to provide it with additional functionality, or enable a pass-through to such a device that adds functionality. In computing, the term was initially synonym ...
", until the QL was redesigned to accommodate the necessary 48 KiB of ROM internally, instead of the 32 KiB initially specified. The QL also suffers from reliability problems of its Microdrives. These problems were later rectified, by Sinclair engineers, especially on Samsung produced models, as well as by aftermarket firms such as Adman Services and TF Services, to the point where several QL users report the Samsung Microdrives in particular working perfectly even after almost 17 years of service; but in any case too late to redeem the negative image they had already created. Although the computer was hyped as being advanced for its time, and relatively cheap, it failed to sell well, and UK production was suspended in 1985, due to lack of demand. After Amstrad acquired Sinclair's computer products lines in April 1986, the QL was officially discontinued. Apart from its reliability issues, the target business market was becoming wedded to the
IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
platform, whilst the majority of ZX Spectrum owners were uninterested in upgrading to a machine which had a minimal library of games. Sinclair's persistence with the non-standard Microdrive and uncomfortable keyboard did not endear it to the business market; coupled with the machine's resemblance to a ZX Spectrum+, they led many to perceive the QL as something akin to a toy. Software publishers were also reluctant to support the QL because Microdrive cartridges were the only available distribution medium for QL.


Design

left, QL internals (with Minerva ROM fitted) left, QL rear view left, Motorola 68008 and ZX8301 on the QL's PCB Based on a
Motorola 68008 The Motorola 68008 is an 8/32-bit microprocessor introduced by Motorola in 1982. It is a version of 1979's Motorola 68000 with an 8-bit external data bus, as well as a smaller address bus. The 68008 was available with 20 or 22 address lines (r ...
processor clocked at 7.5 MHz, the QL included 128 
KiB The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit ...
of RAM, which is officially expandable to 640 KiB and in practice, 896 KB. It can be connected to a monitor or TV for display. Two built-in
Microdrive The Microdrive is a registered trademark for miniature, 1-inch hard disks produced by IBM and Hitachi. These rotational media storage devices were designed to fit in CompactFlash (CF) Type II slots. The release of similar drives by other ...
tape-loop cartridge drives provide mass storage, in place of the more expensive
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 found on similar systems of the era. Microdrives had been introduced for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum in July 1983, although the QL uses a different logical tape format. Interfaces include an expansion slot, ROM cartridge socket, dual RS-232 ports, proprietary QLAN local area network ports, dual
joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...
ports and an external
Microdrive The Microdrive is a registered trademark for miniature, 1-inch hard disks produced by IBM and Hitachi. These rotational media storage devices were designed to fit in CompactFlash (CF) Type II slots. The release of similar drives by other ...
bus. Two video modes are available, 256×256 pixels with 8 RGB colours and per-pixel flashing, or 512×256 pixels with four colours: black, red, green and white. The supported colours can be stippled in 2×2 blocks to simulate up to 256 colours, an effect which does not copy reliably on a TV, especially over an RF connection. Both screen modes use a 32 KiB framebuffer in main memory. The hardware is capable of switching between two different areas of memory for the frame buffer, thus allowing double buffering. However, this would use 64 KB of the standard machine's 128 KiB of RAM and there is no support for this feature in the QL's original firmware. The alternative and improved operating system Minerva provides full support for the second frame buffer. When connected to a normally-adjusted TV or monitor, the QL's video output overscans horizontally. This is reputed to have been due to the timing constants in the
ZX8301 The ZX8301 is an Uncommitted Logic Array (ULA) integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL microcomputer. Also known as the "Master Chip", it provides a Video Display Generator, the division of a 15 MHz crystal to provide the 7.5 MHz system cl ...
chip being optimised for the flat-screen CRT display originally intended for the QL. Internally, the QL comprises the CPU, two ULAs (ZX8301 and ZX8302) and an Intel 8049
microcontroller A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable i ...
known as the IPC, or "Intelligent Peripheral Controller", responsible for keyboard, joystick ports, RS-232 inputs and sound output. The ZX8301 or "Master Chip" implements the video display generator and also provides
DRAM Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxid ...
refresh. The ZX8302, or "Peripheral Chip", interfaces to the RS-232 ports (transmit only) Microdrives, QLAN ports, real-time clock and the 8049 via a synchronous serial link. The 8049 included at a late stage in the QL's design (the ZX8302 originally being intended to perform its functions) runs at 7.5 MHz and acts as a keyboard/joystick interface, RS-232 receive buffer and audio generator. When comparing technical specifications among
microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PC ...
s in the traditional sense of the term, the QL qualifies as the fastest for having a 15 MHz clock that alternates between Motorola's 68008 & Intel's 8049. Bundled Psion application software on Microdrive cartridges QDOS, a pre-emptive multitasking operating system primarily designed by Tony Tebby, is included on
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 ...
, as is an advanced structured BASIC interpreter, named
SuperBASIC SuperBASIC is an advanced variant of the BASIC programming language with many structured programming additions. It was developed at Sinclair Research by Jan Jones during the early 1980s. Originally SuperBASIC was intended as the BASIC interprete ...
designed by Jan Jones, which is also used as the command-line interpreter. The QL is bundled with an office suite, consisting of a word processor, spreadsheet, database, and business graphics written by Psion. It is the first OS to feature a Windows-style
GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
, predating
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
by a month. Physically, the QL is the same black colour as the preceding ZX81 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum models, but introduced a new angular styling theme and keyboard design which would later be seen in the ZX Spectrum+. The QL uses British Telecom type 631W plugs of similar design to British telephone sockets for serial cables except for QLs built by Samsung for export markets, which have
DE-9 The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems. Description, no ...
sockets. Joysticks connect to the QL with similar type 630W plugs.


Legacy


ICL One Per Desk

The QL's
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
,
ZX8301 The ZX8301 is an Uncommitted Logic Array (ULA) integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL microcomputer. Also known as the "Master Chip", it provides a Video Display Generator, the division of a 15 MHz crystal to provide the 7.5 MHz system cl ...
and ZX8302 ASICs and Microdrives form the basis of
International Computers Limited International Computers Limited (ICL) was a British computer hardware, computer software and computer services company that operated from 1968 until 2002. It was formed through a merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), English Ele ...
's (ICL's)
One Per Desk The One Per Desk, or OPD, was an innovative hybrid personal computer/telecommunications terminal based on the hardware of the Sinclair QL. The One Per Desk was built by International Computers Limited (ICL) and launched in the UK in 1984. It wa ...
(OPD) - also marketed by
British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...
as the Merlin Tonto and by Telecom Australia as the
Computerphone The One Per Desk, or OPD, was an innovative hybrid personal computer/telecommunications terminal based on the hardware of the Sinclair QL. The One Per Desk was built by International Computers Limited (ICL) and launched in the UK in 1984. It w ...
. The result of a three-year collaboration between Sinclair Research, ICL and British Telecom, the OPD has the addition of a telephone handset at one end of the keyboard, and rudimentary Computer-Telephony Integration (CTI) software. This machine interested a number of high-profile business customers, including certain divisions of the former UK Customs and Excise Department, but its success was generally limited. In the late 1980s they were used in bingo halls to allow a country-wide networked bingo game.


Linux

Linus Torvalds has attributed his eventually developing the
Linux kernel The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
, likewise having pre-emptive multitasking, in part to having owned a Sinclair QL in the 1980s. Because of the lack of support, particularly in Finland, Torvalds became used to writing his own software rather than relying on programs written by others. His frustration with the Sinclair led, years later, to his purchase of a more standard IBM PC compatible on which he would develop Linux.


Clones

After Amstrad abandoned the QL in 1986, several companies previously involved in the QL peripherals market stepped in to fill the void. These included CST and DanSoft, creators of the Thor line of compatible systems; Miracle Systems, creator of the Gold Card and Super Gold Card processor/memory upgrade cards and the QXL PC-based hardware emulator; and Qubbesoft, with the Aurora, the first replacement QL mainboard, with enhanced graphics modes. In the late 1990s, two partly QL-compatible
motherboard A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...
s named Q40 and Q60 (collectively referred to as
Qx0 The Q40 and Q60 (sometimes known generically as the Qx0 series) are computer motherboards designed in the late 1990s, based on the Motorola 68040 and 68060 microprocessors respectively and intended to be partially compatible with the Sinclair QL ...
) were designed by Peter Graf and marketed by D&D Systems. The Q40 and Q60, based on the Motorola 68040 and
68060 The Motorola 68060 ("''sixty-eight-oh-sixty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola released in 1994. It is the successor to the Motorola 68040 and is the highest performing member of the 68000 series. Two derivatives were produced, the 68L ...
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
s respectively, are much more powerful than the original QL and have the ability among other things (such as multimedia, high resolution graphics, Ethernet networking etc.) to run the Linux operating system. In 2013 Peter Graf announced that he was working on the Q68, a FPGA based QL compatible single board computer. The Q68 was first presented to the public in April 2014 and became available in autumn 2017. It is produced and marketed by Derek Stewart (of former D&D Systems). Hardware add-ons such as new developments like the QL-SD (designed by Peter Graf) and reengineered or even expanded 1990s designs such as QubIDE interfaces (by José Leandro Novellón). Trump, Gold & Super Gold Cards (by Tetroid) are still being produced for the original QL. RWAP Software supplies various hardware and software upgrades and spare parts.


Operating systems

Patched or reengineered versions of QDOS were produced, most notably Minerva which gradually evolved into a completely rewritten operating system, offering improved speed, with multitasking
SuperBASIC SuperBASIC is an advanced variant of the BASIC programming language with many structured programming additions. It was developed at Sinclair Research by Jan Jones during the early 1980s. Originally SuperBASIC was intended as the BASIC interprete ...
interpreters. Tony Tebby went on to produce another updated operating system, SMSQ/E, which has continued to be developed for the Sinclair QL and emulators, offering many more features.


Emulators, virtual QLs and distributions

Quite a few emulators and virtual QLs became available over time of which Q-emuLator (Windows/Mac), QPC2 (Windows), SMSQmulator (Java), ZEsarUX (Windows/Mac/Linux) and sQLux (Windows/Mac/Linux) are actively maintained. Several distributions of emulators, applications and information have been produced, of which Black Phoenix and QL/E are the most actively maintained.


See also

*
Sinclair QL Software This is a list of Computer software, software titles produced for the Sinclair QL personal computer. Notation: Program name (purpose), publisher, first release Utilities # * 3D Precision, High-Precision Imaging System, Digital Precision ...
* List of Sinclair QL clones


References


External links


Dilwyn Jones's QL pages
– Well maintained site with comprehensive QL related information and a huge software download library.

– Well maintained project with valuable Sinclair QL related information and software. * {{Authority control Computer-related introductions in 1984 Home computers 68000-based home computers Computers designed in the United Kingdom Personal computers QL