website/content/museum/panasonic-fs-a1-st.md

---
title: Panasonic FS A1 ST
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- Japan
years:
- '1990'
cpus:
- 8-bit Zilog Z80A
params:
  name: FS A1 ST
  image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_turbor-a1-st_1.jpg
  company: /companies/panasonic
  company_name: Panasonic
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: FS A1 ST
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Panasonic
  - label: TYPE
    value: Home Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: Japan
  - label: YEAR
    value: ? 1990
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: MSX Basic V4.0 + Japanese text editor, a spread sheat and a sample program
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: |-
      Full-stroke keyboard, JIS standard layout, 91 keys\
      built-in software selector switch, reset button, disk removal button, auto-fire speed adjustment knob, Pause button
  - label: CPU
    value: 8-bit Zilog Z80A and 16-bit RISC R800 (DAR800-X0G)
  - label: SPEED
    value: 'Z80A: 3.579545 MHz / R800: 28.636360 MHz'
  - label: CO-PROCESSOR
    value: S1990 MSX-ENGINE, TC8566AF disk controller
  - label: RAM
    value: 256 KB (expandable to 512 KB or even 1 MB internally) + 16kB SRAM for backup (used internally)
  - label: VRAM
    value: 128 KB
  - label: ROM
    value: 32 KB (BASIC/BIOS ROM) + 32 KB (SUBROM MSX-BASIC V4.0) + 16 KB (FM-Basic ROM) + 16 KB (MSX Disk ROM) + 16 KB (Kanji Basic) + 2MB ROM (Japanese text editor, a spread sheat and a sample program) + MSX-JE ROM (with approx. 32000 characters)
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 80 x 25 / 40 x 25 / 32 x 25
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 64 x 48 / 256 x 192 / 256 x 212 / 512 x 212 / 512 x 424
  - label: COLORS
    value: 16 / 16 - 256 / 16 among 512 / 19268
  - label: SOUND
    value: MSX MUSIC (Yamaha YM-2413 OPLL) + PCM synthesizer 8-bit (sample rate 16kHz) + Internal microphone for the PCM unit
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 425 (W) x 292 (D) x 89 (H) mm / 3.4 Kg
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: Joystick (2), Cartridge (2), RGB/CVBS (NTSC) output, Composite Video, Centronics, Microphone connector, User port
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: Built-in 3.5'' disk drive (720 KB)
  - label: OS
    value: MSX-DOS V2.30
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: 100V±10% 50/60Hz, 22w
  - label: PRICE
    value: About $500 in Japan, about $700 in Europe (unofficial import)
  tabs:
  - photos
  - emulators
  - links
  forum_thread: 756
  photos:
  - title: FS-A1 ST
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_turbor-a1-st_2.jpg
  - title: BIGGER PICTURE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_fs-a1st_3.jpg
  - title: REAR
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/panasonic_fs-a1st_rear.jpg
  emulators:
  - title: BlueMSX
    url: http://www.bluemsx.com/
    platform: Windows
    text: Excellent free MSX emulator that can reproduce MSX, MSX2, MSX2+, and Turbo-R. The emulator also supports the SVI318/328, and ColecoVision systems !
  - title: openMSX - The MSX emulator that aims for perfection.
    url: http://openmsx.sourceforge.net/
    platform: Multiplatform
    text: This new MSX emulator can reproduce, among many other MSX, MSX2and MSX2+ machines, both Panasonic Turbo-R models. Be sure to get the catapult frontend and the system roms from FUNET.
  links:
  - title: FILE-HUNTER.COM
    url: http://www.file-hunter.com/
    text: Excellent! All MSX emulators, sources and utilities!
  - title: MSX French Club
    url: http://www.chez.com/msxfr/turbor.html
    text: Nice and complete description of the TurboR systems (in French)
  - title: MSX Ultimate FAQ - Turbo R page
    url: http://www.faq.msxnet.org/msxtr.html
    text: Very nice info from this excellent site!
  related:
  - /museum/msx-turbo-r
  - /museum/panasonic-fs-a1-gt
  oc_id: 775
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230410214603/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=775
    date: '2023-04-10'
---

Due to lack of interest in marketing of MSX-machines and growing interest in game consoles and powerful PC alike computers (for word processing purposes mainly), companies were not so enthusiastic about creating a new MSX-machine. The biggest software supporters of MSX deserted to Nintendo and other computers/game machines. Sony chose to make their own game console as well ASCII in cooperation with Yamaha and Panasonic created the 3DO (Three Dimensional Objects) game console.

This system is a [MSX Turbo R](/museum/msx-turbo-r/). It is one of the last MSX computer ever made. It is the successor of the [MSX 2+ systems](/museum/msx-2-291/) and thus has many characteristics in common. New features include a new PCM sound chip which can sample sound up to 15 KHz and replay up to 22 kHz. There is an internal microphone for the PCM unit. There is also an additional CPU, the R800 wich is a 16-bit RISC processor. The user can select the CPU (Z80 or R800) by software. 6 LEDs are placed on the case (Power, Caps-lock, Kana-lock, Pause, CPU mode, FDD in use). The system was delivered with a painting program on disk.

Panasonic stopped the production of the Turbo R when they launched the 3DO game system in 1992. They failed with this system and never returned to MSX. Lot of extensions, however, were produced by third-party companies to enhance the Turbo R, among them, an OPL4 Sound Card, a VGA card with lot of hardware sprites and IDE or SCSI interfaces.

The FS-A1 ST will be followed by the [FS-A1 GT](/museum/panasonic-fs-a1-gt/).

---

Source : The Ultimate MSX FAQ

<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>