Citizendia

Sinclair QL
The Sinclair QL
TypePersonal computer
Released12 January 1984
DiscontinuedApril 1986
ProcessorMotorola 68008 @ 7. A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated The Motorola 68008 is an 8/16/32-bit Microprocessor made by Motorola. 5 MHz
Memory128 KB (640 KB max. A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix Kilo -, meaning 1000 is a unit of Information or Computer storage equal to either 1024 )
Operating systemSinclair QDOS

The Sinclair QL (for Quantum Leap), was a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as the successor to the ZX Spectrum. QDOS (sometimes written as Qdos in official literature the name is not regarded as an Acronym; also see the identically-pronounced word Kudos) was In Physics, a quantum leap or quantum jump is a change of an Electron from one energy state to another within an Atom. A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal Home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd The QL was aimed at the hobbyist and small business markets, but failed to achieve commercial success.

Contents

Description

QL internals (with Minerva ROM fitted)
QL internals (with Minerva ROM fitted)
QL rear view
QL rear view

The QL was originally conceived in 1981 under the code-name ZX83, as a portable computer for business users, with a built-in flat-screen CRT display, printer and modem. A portable computer is a Computer that is designed to be moved from one place to another The cathode ray tube (CRT is a Vacuum tube containing an Electron gun (a source of electrons and a Fluorescent screen with internal or Modem (from mo dulator- dem odulator is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode Digital information As development progressed, and ZX83 became ZX84, it eventually became clear that the portability features were over-ambitious and the specification was reduced to a conventional desktop configuration. [1][2]

Based on a Motorola 68008 processor clocked at 7. The Motorola 68008 is an 8/16/32-bit Microprocessor made by Motorola. 5 MHz, the QL included 128 KB of RAM (officially expandable to 640 KB) and could be connected to a monitor or TV for display. A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix Kilo -, meaning 1000 is a unit of Information or Computer storage equal to either 1024 A visual display unit, often called simply a monitor or display, is a piece of Electrical equipment which displays images generated from the Video [3] Two built-in Microdrive tape-loop cartridge drives (first seen as a peripheral for the ZX Spectrum) provided mass storage, in place of the more expensive floppy disk drives found on similar systems of the era. The ZX Microdrive is a Magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for their The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal Home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd A floppy disk is an increasingly Obsolete data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin flexible ("floppy" Magnetic storage medium encased Interfaces included an expansion slot, ROM cartridge socket, dual RS-232 ports, proprietary QLAN local area network ports, dual joystick ports and an external Microdrive bus. In Telecommunications, RS-232 (Recommended Standard 232 is a standard for serial binary data signals connecting between a DTE ( Data Terminal Equipment A joystick 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 The ZX Microdrive is a Magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for their Two video modes were available, 256×256 pixels with 8 RGB colours and per-pixel flashing, or 512×256 pixels with four colours (black, red, green and white). Both screen modes used a 32 KB framebuffer in main memory. A framebuffer is a video output device that drives a video display from a memory buffer containing a complete frame of data The hardware was capable of switching between two different areas of memory for the framebuffer, thus allowing double buffering. In Computer science, double buffering (or ping-pong buffering is a widely used technique for minimizing the delay (flicker in Input/output operations which However, this would have used 64 KB of the standard machine's 128 KB of RAM and there is no support for this feature in the QL's original firmware. The alternative and much improved operating system Minerva does provide full support for the second framebuffer. Written by Laurence Reeves in England, Minerva was a reimplementation of Sinclair QDOS, the built-in Operating system of the Sinclair QL

Internally, the QL comprised the CPU, two ULAs, (ZX8301 and ZX8302) and an Intel 8049 microcontroller (known as the IPC, or "Intelligent Peripheral Controller"). A gate array or uncommitted logic array ( ULA) is an approach to the design and manufacture of Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs The ZX8301 was a ULA Integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL Microcomputer. The ZX8302 was a ULA Integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL Microcomputer. The Intel 8048 Microcontroller (µC (MCS-48 Intel's first microcontroller was used in the Magnavox Odyssey² Video game console, the Roland Jupiter-4 A microcontroller (also MCU or µC is a functional Computer system-on-a- chip. The ZX8301 or "Master Chip" implemented the video display generator and also provided DRAM refresh. The ZX8302, or "Peripheral Chip", interfaced 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 late stage in the QL's design, as substitute for a third ULA) acted as a keyboard/joystick controller, RS-232 receive buffer and audio generator. [4]

A multitasking operating system, QDOS, primarily designed by Tony Tebby, was included on ROM, as was an advanced BASIC interpreter, named SuperBASIC designed by Jan Jones. In computing Multitasking is a method by which multiple tasks also known as processes, share common processing resources such as a CPU. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination QDOS (sometimes written as Qdos in official literature the name is not regarded as an Acronym; also see the identically-pronounced word Kudos) was Tony Tebby is probably most famous for designing Qdos, the Computer Operating system used in the Sinclair QL Personal computer, whilst In Computer programming, BASIC (an Acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of High-level programming languages In Computer science, an interpreter normally means a Computer program that executes, i This article is about the SuperBASIC interpreter which was included in Sinclair QDOS. Jan Jones (born 1955 is a British former Software engineer, now a writer of romantic fiction and Short stories. The QL was also bundled with an office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, database, and graphics) written by Psion. In Computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity suite is a Software suite intended to be used by typical Sinclair had commissioned GST Computer Systems to produce an operating system for the machine, but switched to QDOS, developed in-house, before launch. GST was a group of computer companies based in Cambridge, England, founded by Dr Jeff Fenton in June 1979 GST's OS, designed by Tim Ward, was later made available as 68K/OS, in the form of an add-on ROM card. [5] [6] The tools developed by GST for the QL would later be used on the Atari ST, where GST object format became standard. The Atari ST is a home / Personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s

Physically, the QL was the same black colour as the preceding ZX81 and ZX Spectrum models, but introduced a new angular styling theme and keyboard design which would later be seen in the ZX Spectrum+. The Sinclair ZX81 Home computer, released by Sinclair Research in 1981, was the follow up to the company's ZX80. The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal Home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal Home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd

History

Bundled application software on Microdrive cartridges
Bundled application software on Microdrive cartridges

The QL was the first mass-market personal computer based on the Motorola 68000-series processor family. The Motorola 680x0 / m68k / 68k / 68K is a family of 32-bit CISC Microprocessor CPU chips and was the primary Rushed into production, the QL beat the Apple Macintosh by a month, and the Atari ST by a year. Macintosh, commonly nicknamed Mac is a Brand name which covers several lines of Personal computers designed developed and marketed by Apple Inc The Atari ST is a home / Personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s While clock speeds were comparable, the 8-bit databus and cycle stealing of the ZX8301 ULA limited the QL's performance. The clock rate is the fundamental rate in cycles per second (measured in Hertz) at which a Computer performs its most basic operations such as adding two In Computer architecture, a bus is a subsystem that transfers data between computer components inside a Computer or between computers Cycle stealing is used to describe the "stealing" of a single CPU cycle to allow a DMA engine to perform a DMA operation The ZX8301 was a ULA Integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL Microcomputer. A gate array or uncommitted logic array ( ULA) is an approach to the design and manufacture of Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs However, at the time of launch, on January 12, 1984, the QL was far from being ready for production, there being no complete working prototype in existence. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Although Sinclair started taking orders immediately, promising delivery within 28 days, first customer deliveries only started, slowly, in April. This provoked much criticism of the company and the attention of the Advertising Standards Authority. [1]

Due to its rushed development, the QL was plagued by a number of problems from release, particularly bugs in the QDOS operating system and SuperBASIC which led to multiple releases of the firmware. A software bug (or just “bug” is an error flaw mistake Failure, fault or “undocumented feature” in a Computer program that prevents it This article is about the SuperBASIC interpreter which was included in Sinclair QDOS. In Computing, firmware is a computer program that is Embedded in a hardware device for example a Microcontroller. In addition, early production QLs were shipped with an external 16 KB ROM cartridge (infamously known as the "kludge" or "dongle") containing part of the firmware until the QL was redesigned to accommodate the necessary 48 KB of ROM internally, instead of the 32 KB initially specified. [1] The QL also suffered 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 their Microdrives working perfectly even after almost 17 years of service (for Samsung QLs) — but in any case much too late to redeem the negative image they had already created. The Samsung Group ( Korean:, Samsung Guerup) is South Korea 's largest company or Chaebol and the world's largest conglomerate

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. Amstrad is an electronics firm based in Brentwood in Essex, England and founded in 1968 by Sir Alan Michael Sugar in the Apart from its reliability issues, the target business market was becoming wedded to the IBM PC 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 due to the necessity of using Microdrive cartridges as a distribution medium.

The ICL connection

The QL's CPU, ZX8301 and ZX8302 ULAs and ZX Microdrives also formed the basis of International Computers Limited's (ICL's) One Per Desk (OPD) - also marketed by British Telecom as the Merlin Tonto and by Telecom Australia as the Computerphone. The ZX8301 was a ULA Integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL Microcomputer. The ZX8302 was a ULA Integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL Microcomputer. A gate array or uncommitted logic array ( ULA) is an approach to the design and manufacture of Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs The ZX Microdrive is a Magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for their International Computers Ltd, or ICL, was a large British Computer hardware, Computer software and Computer services company that operated from One Per Desk, or OPD, was an innovative hybrid Personal computer /telecommunications terminal based on the hardware of the Sinclair QL. BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still One Per Desk, or OPD, was an innovative hybrid Personal computer /telecommunications terminal based on the hardware of the Sinclair QL. Telecom Australia was the trading name of the Australian Telecommunications Commission (1975 - 1989 Australian Telecommunications One Per Desk, or OPD, was an innovative hybrid Personal computer /telecommunications terminal based on the hardware of the Sinclair QL. The result of a three-year collaboration between Sinclair Research, ICL and British Telecom, the OPD had the intriguing addition of a telephone handset on one end of the keyboard, and rudimentary Computer-Telephony Integration (CTI) software. Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to [7] This curious 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 eighties they were used in Bingo halls to allow a country wide networked bingo game. [8]

Post-1986 developments

Hardware

After Amstrad abandoned the QL, 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, featuring enhanced graphics modes. Cambridge Systems Technology (CST were a company formed in the early 1980s by ex- Torch Computers engineers David Oliver and Martin Baines to produce peripherals for the The CST Thor series of Personal computers were Sinclair QL -compatible systems designed and produced by Cambridge Systems Technology during the late 1980s Miracle Systems Ltd were a manufacturer of Personal computer peripherals and upgrades specializing in the Sinclair QL, in the 1980s and early 1990s [4]

In the late 1990s, two partly QL-compatible motherboards named Q40 and Q60 (collectively referred to as Qx0) were designed by Peter Graf and marketed by D&D Systems. A motherboard is the central or primary Printed circuit board (PCB making up a complex electronic system such as a modern Computer or Laptop The Q40 and Q60, being based around the 68040 and 68060 CPUs respectively, were much more powerful than the original QL and have the ability among other things (such as multimedia, high resolution graphics, Ethernet networking etc. The Motorola 68060 is a 32-bit Microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1994, and is the successor to the Motorola 68040. Ethernet is a family of frame -based Computer networking technologies for Local area networks (LANs ) to run the Linux operating system. Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks [9]

Hardware add-ons are still being produced for the original QL mainly by TF Services who supply various hardware and software upgrades.

Software

A few patched versions of QDOS were produced, most notably Minerva which gradually evolved into a completely rewritten operating system, offering improved speed, with mulititasking SuperBASIC interpreters. Written by Laurence Reeves in England, Minerva was a reimplementation of Sinclair QDOS, the built-in Operating system of the Sinclair QL This article is about the SuperBASIC interpreter which was included in Sinclair QDOS. 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. SMSQ/E is a computer Operating system originally developed in France by Tony Tebby, the designer of the original QDOS operating system for the [10]

Trivia

See also

External links

Emulators & Support

References

  1. ^ a b c Ian Adamson; Richard Kennedy. This is a list of software titles produced for the Sinclair QL Personal computer. The Quantum Leap - to where?. Sinclair and the 'Sunrise' Technology. Retrieved on 2006-12-15. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of
  2. ^ Rick Dickinson (2007-07-16). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar. 1054 - Three Roman legates fractured relations between the Western and QL and Beyond. Flickr. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  3. ^ 1 KB = 1024 B
  4. ^ a b Robert Klein. A byte (pronounced "bite" baɪt is the basic unit of measurement of information storage in Computer science. QL History FAQ: Hardware. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  5. ^ Leon Heller (September 1984). "QL Affairs". Your Spectrum (7). Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated was a British Computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers  
  6. ^ Sinclair QL. Binary Dinosaurs. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  7. ^ ICL OPD One Per Desk. OLD-COMPUTERS. COM. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  8. ^ ICL OPD. Binary Dinosaurs. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  9. ^ Q40.de. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  10. ^ Robert Klein. QL History FAQ: Firmware. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  11. ^ Lars Wirzenius (1998-04-27). Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Events 1124 - David I becomes King of Scotland. 1296 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated Linux Anecdotes. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date)
  12. ^ Rupert Goodwins. "Sinclair Loki Superspectrum". comp.sys.sinclair. (Web link). Retrieved on 2008-04-22. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1500 - Portuguese Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil.
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic