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6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun.
4,336 media files so far; references to files not downloaded yet are left out.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ

content/museum/mostek-md.md

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+---
+title: Mostek MD
+categories:
+- Computers
+types:
+- Professional Computer
+origins:
+- U.S.A.
+years:
+- '1979'
+cpus:
+- Z80
+params:
+  name: MD
+  company: /companies/mostek
+  company_name: Mostek
+  specs:
+  - label: NAME
+    value: MD
+  - label: MANUFACTURER
+    value: Mostek
+  - label: TYPE
+    value: Professional Computer
+  - label: ORIGIN
+    value: U.S.A.
+  - label: YEAR
+    value: '1979'
+  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
+    value: Monitor in ROM
+  - label: KEYBOARD
+    value: Depending of the video terminal used
+  - label: CPU
+    value: Z80
+  - label: SPEED
+    value: 4 Mhz
+  - label: CO-PROCESSOR
+    value: None
+  - label: RAM
+    value: 8 KB expandable to 64 KB
+  - label: TEXT MODES
+    value: 80 chars x 25 lines
+  - label: SOUND
+    value: No sound
+  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
+    value: 54 (W) x 60 (H) x 44 (D) cm. / Heavy!
+  - label: I/O PORTS
+    value: 2 x serial, 2 x A/D-D/A, 1 x Parallel, video terminal
+  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
+    value: 2 x 8
+  - label: OS
+    value: CP/M
+  - label: POWER SUPPLY
+    value: 3 x built-in power supply units (+24V for FDD / + 5V / +12 -12V)
+  - label: PERIPHERALS
+    value: All STD Bus cards
+  - label: PRICE
+    value: Unknown
+  tabs:
+  - photos
+  - hardware
+  photos:
+  - title: COMPLETE SYSTEM
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: MD system with a Volker-Craig video terminal
+    image: null
+  - title: TERMINAL CLOSE-UP
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  - title: 'BOTTOM RACK #1'
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: The bottom rack holds two 8" floppy drives
+    image: null
+  - title: 'BOTTOM RACK #2'
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: The two impressive floppy drives with their own 24V power supply unit.
+    image: null
+  - title: 'TOP RACK #1'
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: |-
+      From left to right:
+
+      \- CPU board\
+      \- 32 KB RAM and Parallel port board\
+      \- Dual serial port board\
+      \- Floppy drives controller board
+    image: null
+  - title: 'TOP RACK #2'
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  - title: 'BACK SIDE #1'
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: |-
+      **(1)** +12V / -12V power supply unit\
+      **(2)** +5V second power supply unit\
+      **(3)** Dual 64 lines bus. Bottom bus is used for addresses and data lines, top bus is used for I/O. Main boards use the dual bus, some others **(5)** only use the bottom one.\
+      **(4)** I/O cables. They are normally fixed to the back panel.
+    image: null
+  - title: 'BACK SIDE #2'
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: |-
+      **(1)** Z80 bus I/O connector\
+      **(2)** Analogue / digital converter connector\
+      **(3)** Composite video connectors. Video signal comes from the main CPU board.\
+      **(4)** Parallel connector\
+      **(5)** 2 x Serial connectors\
+      **(6)** Video terminal connector
+    image: null
+  - title: WIRED BUSES
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: Notice that the system didn't use backplane but handy wired buses.
+    image: null
+  - title: CPU BOARD
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: |-
+      This board holds all the necessary chips allowing it to be used as a stand alone unit.
+
+      **(1)** Mostek Z80 processor\
+      **(2)** Step by step switch\
+      **(3)** Reset switch\
+      **(4)** 16 KB RAM memory (8 x 4116 chips)\
+      **(5)** 4 KB Monitor ROMs (4 x 2708)\
+      **(6)** Z80 CTC - Counter Timer Circuit\
+      **(7)** 2 x Z80 PIO - Parallel Input Output Controllers
+    image: null
+  hardware:
+  - title: ANALOG CARD
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: Analogue to Digital and Digital to Digital conversion card.
+    image: null
+  oc_id: 819
+  source:
+    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20221205022457/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=819
+    date: '2022-12-05'
+---
+
+The Mostek MD (from **M**icro **D**esign) marked the entry of Mostek Company in the computer business.\
+It was a development system, aimed at promoting the family of Mostek boards, and built around several boards based on the 64 pin SDT bus.
+
+The hearth of the system was the CPU board holding a Z80 (Mostek) processor, 10 KB of ROM and 8 KB of RAM. A large range of additional cards could be then added: dual Serial port, 32 KB RAM, Analogue/digital converter, 32-bit parallel port, and so on.
+
+Using an ASCII video terminal, a basic one-board system allowed machine code programs to be assembled, debugged and run thanks to the built-in ROM monitor.
+
+A complete system - like the one pictured - could manage two 8" floppy disc drives and run CP/M Operating System. However, these systems were mainly used for managing external devices in laboratories, universities and industry.
+
+Special thanks to **John Jenkins**