1980s Vintage Computers

Home > Magazines > Wireless World

Wireless World Magazine

Wireless World was a British electronics magazine that started in the early 1920s, and as the name suggests focused on wireless (radio) transmission and reception. In 1969 it ran a series on building a transistor based computer.

However in the 1970s digital electronics grew due to the introduction of low-cost ICs. Several electronic magazines started to feature articles on microprocessors, and in 1977 Wireless World ran a series of articles based on the kit computer designed by NASCO Ltd, called the NASCOM 1. 

NASCOM 1

I have scanned in the series of articles on Microcomputer Design featuring the NASCOM 1, and saved them as PDF files. For some reason there are two Part 5s!

Microcomputers and Wireless World, editorial from November 1977.
Part 1 - Introduction to Digital Hardware based on a Microprocessor, November 1977.
Part 2- Practical Hardware and Software, December 1977.
Part 3 - Practical Realisation of a Microcomputer System, January 1978.
Part 4 - Practical Realisation of a Microcomputer System, February 1978.
Part 5 - Introduction to Microcomputer Programming, March 1978.
Part 5 - Visual Display and Video RAM, August 1978.
Part 6 - The Z80 Microprocessor explained, January 1979.

PSI Comp 80

Wireless World featured a series of articles on the construction of this computer, which featured a Z80 microprocessor and a MM57109 calculator chip. Please see the PSI Comp 80 page.

Forth Computer

This series of articles by Brian Woodroffe describes the design of a 6809 based computer that ran Forth. It was presented as a construction project:

Forth Computer Part 1 - introduction May 1983.
Forth Computer Part 2 June 1983.
Forth Computer Part 3 July 1983.
Forth Computer Part 4 - construction August 1983.
Forth Computer Part 5 - disk interface September 1983.

The author then wrote about the Forth language:
Forth Language Part 1 October 1983.
Forth Language Part 2 November 1983.
Forth Language Part 3 December 1983.