The ABC 80 (Advanced BASIC Computer 80) is a

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

engineered by the Swedish corporation

Dataindustrier AB Dataindustrier AB (literal translation: computer industries shareholding company) or DIAB was a Sweden, Swedish computer engineering and manufacturing firm, founded in 1970 by Lars Karlsson and active in the 1970s through 1990s. The company's firs ...

(DIAB) and manufactured by

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

Motala Motala () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Motala Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with a municipal population of 43,717 inhabitants in 2024. It is the third largest city of Östergötland, following Linköping and N ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was introduced on the market in August 1978. The ABC 80 was based on an earlier modular computer system from the same company and built around a

Z80 The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog that played an important role in the evolution of early personal computing. Launched in 1976, it was designed to be software-compatible with the Intel 8080, offering a compelling altern ...

and of

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 * ...

containing a fast semi-compiling

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

. It had of

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

main memory Computer data storage or digital data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processin ...

and a dedicated (included) tape recorder for program and data storage, but could also be expanded to handle disk drives as well as many other peripherals. The ROM could be extended in increments of 1 or 4 KB in order to handle such so called "options". The

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

was a black and white

TV set A television set or television receiver (more commonly called TV, TV set, television, telly, or tele) is an electronic device for viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or as a computer monitor. It combines a tuner, display, and loudspeake ...

modified for the purpose, an obvious choice since Luxor also made TVs. The ABC 80 was used in schools and offices around Scandinavia and parts of Europe. It was also used for

industrial automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

scientific Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

measurement Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared to ...

and

control system A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial ...

s. Like its successor, the

ABC 800 The Luxor AB, Luxor ABC 800 series are office versions of the ABC 80 home computer. They featured an enhanced BASIC interpreter (computing), interpreter, and more memory: 32 kilobytes RAM and 32 KB ROM was now standard. The Zilog Z80, Z ...

, the computer had an unusually quick and usable BASIC with excellent I/O response times, something that was often discovered when trying to switch to

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the List of IBM Personal Computer models, IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on ...

-based

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s. Due to its roots in an industrial computer system, the ABC 80 also had a flexible bus extension system with many (external) expansion and peripheral cards available for various purposes and applications, as well as high quality support and documentation. ABC 80 was also manufactured on license as BRG ABC80 by ''Budapesti Rádiótechnikai Gyár'' in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. It used the same keyboard, but the case was metal instead of plastic.

Popularity

In addition to its widespread use in schools, offices and industrial applications, the initially also grasped a majority share of the rising personal computer market in

, partly thanks to its

office software Productivity software (also called personal productivity software or office productivity software) is application software used for producing information (such as documents, presentations, worksheets, databases, charts, graphs, digital paintings, ...

in Swedish. The computer was robust and well engineered, mechanically and electrically, and its BASIC was fast enough that it could be used to write

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

s, without resorting to

assembly language In computing, assembly language (alternatively assembler language or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence bet ...

. However, despite such technical virtues, it couldn't defend the home market against the dedicated gaming computers with color and sound that appeared in the early 1980s, neither against the cheap ultra simplistic

s of the same era, even though a new low cost version was released that could use an ordinary TV instead of the dedicated monitor.

(and Facit) held on to its more professional markets for some more years with the ABC 800 series (also sold as Facit DTC). It had a more extensive BASIC, more memory, color, and a 512×240 graphics mode. From 1985 DIAB and

also tried to compete against the

in the industrial and office markets with its high performance ABC 1600 and ABC 9000 series of computers based on DIABs

real-time operating system A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system (OS) for real-time computing applications that processes data and events that have critically defined time constraints. A RTOS is distinct from a time-sharing operating system, such as Unix ...

called

DNIX DNIX (original spelling: D-Nix) is a discontinued Unix-like real-time operating system from the Swedish company Dataindustrier AB (DIAB). A version named ABCenix was developed for the ABC 1600 computer from Luxor. Daisy Systems also had a syst ...

, but failed. However, many ABC 80 and ABC 800 machines used in industrial or scientific applications were in use in their respective installations for many years to come, sometimes well into the late 1990s, despite no longer being produced.

Performance

In order to see how the ABC 80 would compare to other contemporary personal computers, in 1982, the Swedish magazine '' MikroDatorn'' ran the Rugg/Feldman benchmarks of eight short BASIC programs (referred to as BM1~BM8) originally published by the American ''

Kilobaud Microcomputing ''Kilobaud Microcomputing'' was a magazine dedicated to the computer homebrew hobbyists from 1977 to 1983. It was one of the three influential computer magazines of the 1970s, along with ''BYTE'' and ''Creative Computing''. It focused mostly o ...

'' magazine and routinely used by the British magazine

Personal Computer World ''Personal Computer World'' (''PCW'') (February 1978 - June 2009) was the first British computer magazine. Although for at least the last decade it contained a high proportion of Windows PC content (reflecting the state of the IT field), the m ...

for testing new machines. The result was that ABC 80's interpreter turned out to be faster than most other BASICs used in popular machines, especially when

integer An integer is the number zero (0), a positive natural number (1, 2, 3, ...), or the negation of a positive natural number (−1, −2, −3, ...). The negations or additive inverses of the positive natural numbers are referred to as negative in ...

variables are used, the results for some well known computers were as follows (times in seconds, lower is better): The ABC 80 was up to as fast as the

using integers and up to as fast using

floating point In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic on subsets of real numbers formed by a ''significand'' (a signed sequence of a fixed number of digits in some base) multiplied by an integer power of that base. Numbers of this form ...

math. However, due to a sub-optimal

exponentiation In mathematics, exponentiation, denoted , is an operation (mathematics), operation involving two numbers: the ''base'', , and the ''exponent'' or ''power'', . When is a positive integer, exponentiation corresponds to repeated multiplication ...

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

, the ABC 80 was slow on BM8 (which was fixed in the

). Compared to the

ZX81 The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-c ...

, the ABC 80 was as fast on the simple loop of BM1 (with the ZX81 running in ''fast'' mode, i.e. without a continuous TV-picture).

Sound

Sine In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side opposite th ...

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

square wave Square wave may refer to: *Square wave (waveform) A square wave is a non-sinusoidal waveform, non-sinusoidal periodic waveform in which the amplitude alternates at a steady frequency between fixed minimum and maximum values, with the same ...

. And mixing these.ABC80 manual page 36 * Quick

decay Decay may refer to: Science and technology * Bit decay, in computing * Decay time (fall time), in electronics * Distance decay, in geography * Software decay, in computing Biology * Decomposition of organic matter * Mitochondrial decay, in g ...

, sine overlay, high or low tone, pulse tone control, on and off.

Books

The circuitry in the ABC 80 is described in detail in the book ''Mikrodatorns ABC'' (''The microcomputer ABC''), by Gunnar Markesjö. It starts off with a course in digital electronics and microcomputer principles (assuming some general knowledge in electronics) and then presents a large number of block diagrams and partial circuit schematics, covering most of the computer, along with detailed explanations of how it works and why certain solutions were chosen.

References

{{Reflist

External links