CST Thor
Encyclopedia
The CST Thor series of personal computer
s were Sinclair QL
-compatible systems designed and produced by Cambridge Systems Technology
during the late 1980s.
(including a 7.5 MHz Motorola 68008
CPU and 128 KiB of RAM
) was augmented with a CST-designed expansion board providing 512 KiB of additional RAM, extra ROM
s, a non-volatile real-time clock, floppy disk
, SCSI
, Centronics
parallel, IBM PC/AT-style keyboard and mouse interfaces enclosed in a low-profile metal desktop case with a built-in power supply. Mass storage options consisted of one (Thor 1F) or two (Thor 2F) 3.5-inch floppy drives or one floppy drive and one 20 MB Rodime
RO652 SCSI hard disk
(Thor 2WF). The ROMs contained Eidersoft's ICE GUI
and some QDOS
extensions. Also supplied with the Thor was a specially-commissioned version of the Psion Xchange application software suite (an enhanced edition of the Psion applications bundled with the QL).
Prices for the Thor PC ranged from £599 to £1399, excluding monitor, mouse and VAT
. An upgrade service for existing QLs was also available.
Total production of the Thor PC ran to around 1100 units.
processor on a daughterboard
in place of the original CPU. The new processor ran at 12.5 MHz, a 16.67 MHz option also being offered at higher cost. The Thor 21 was also fitted with the 68881
floating-point co-processor, running at the same speed as the CPU. Performance was significantly better than the Thor 1, but handicapped by the use of the 8-bit memory of the base system.
The Thor 20 and 21 were shipped with a 68020 macro assembler and linker, plus Motorola
processor documentation. They were intended as a vehicle for the development of software for a projected enhanced 68020-based model, later shelved.
The Thor 20 and 21 were very expensive (a 12.5 MHz Thor 21 costing around twice as much as a Thor 1F) and were mainly placed on loan to the software development community.
Show in September 1987. Unlike the previous models, the Thor XVI's hardware was of a completely new design, based around an 8 MHz 68000
processor plus a 2 MHz 68B02
co-processor for audio and I/O processing. 512 KiB of RAM was included as standard (expandable to 2 MiB
, later 6.5 MiB). The video hardware provided QL-compatible video modes as well as a new 16-colour mode. Floppy disk, SCSI, Centronics, dual RS-232, PC/AT keyboard, mouse, QL expansion bus and QLAN network interfaces were provided. Mass storage options were similar to the previous Thors, plus 40 MB hard disk and diskless network workstation
configurations. The Thor XVI was housed in a case similar to that of the Thor PC.
The Thor XVI included in ROM a QDOS-compatible operating system
derived from QDOS 1.13, called Argos. Like its predecessors, the XVI was bundled with Xchange.
Production started in early 1988, and around 250 Thor XVIs were built in the UK. Prices were slightly higher than the Thor PC. Later in 1988, a joint CST/DanSoft marketing operation, Thor International, was formed in Denmark in an attempt to increase sales to the European market. The Thor XVI hardware was revised slightly and production was moved to Brüel & Kjær in Denmark. Plans were also made to build Thors under license in Russia, but this came to nothing.
The following year, Thor International (and CST) collapsed amid acrimony and legal action over the disputed transfer of assets from the UK by the partners.
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s were Sinclair QL
Sinclair QL
The Sinclair QL , was a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as the successor to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum...
-compatible systems designed and produced by Cambridge Systems Technology
Cambridge Systems Technology
Cambridge Systems Technology were a company formed in the early 1980s by ex-Torch Computers engineers David Oliver and Martin Baines, to produce peripherals for the BBC Micro, and later, with Graham Priestley, Sinclair QL microcomputers. Products included IEEE 488, floppy disk and SCSI interfaces...
during the late 1980s.
Thor PC
The original Thor PC (also called Thor 1, sometimes also retrospectively referred to as the Thor 8), was launched in 1986, as a logical progression of CST's QL peripheral business after production of the QL was halted. The remaining stock of QL parts were purchased from Sinclair, and the standard QL motherboardMotherboard
In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple...
(including a 7.5 MHz Motorola 68008
Motorola 68008
The Motorola 68008 is an 8/16/32-bit microprocessor made by Motorola. It is a version of the Motorola 68000 with an 8-bit external data bus, as well as a smaller address bus.The original 68000 had a 24-bit address bus and a 16-bit data bus...
CPU and 128 KiB of RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
) was augmented with a CST-designed expansion board providing 512 KiB of additional RAM, extra ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
s, a non-volatile real-time clock, floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
, SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
, Centronics
Centronics
Centronics Data Computer Corporation was a pioneering American manufacturer of computer printers, now remembered primarily for the parallel interface that bears its name.-The beginning:Centronics began as a division of Wang Laboratories...
parallel, IBM PC/AT-style keyboard and mouse interfaces enclosed in a low-profile metal desktop case with a built-in power supply. Mass storage options consisted of one (Thor 1F) or two (Thor 2F) 3.5-inch floppy drives or one floppy drive and one 20 MB Rodime
Rodime
Rodime was an electronics company specialising in hard disks, based in Glenrothes, Scotland. It was founded in 1979 by several Scottish and American former employees of Burroughs Corporation and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1986, becoming Rodime PLC....
RO652 SCSI hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
(Thor 2WF). The ROMs contained Eidersoft's ICE GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
and some QDOS
Sinclair QDOS
QDOS is the multitasking operating system found on the Sinclair QL personal computer and its clones...
extensions. Also supplied with the Thor was a specially-commissioned version of the Psion Xchange application software suite (an enhanced edition of the Psion applications bundled with the QL).
Prices for the Thor PC ranged from £599 to £1399, excluding monitor, mouse and VAT
Vat
Vat or VAT may refer to:* A type of container such as a barrel, storage tank, or tub, often constructed of welded sheet stainless steel, and used for holding, storing, and processing liquids such as milk, wine, and beer...
. An upgrade service for existing QLs was also available.
Total production of the Thor PC ran to around 1100 units.
Thor 20/21
The Thor 20 and Thor 21 were variants of the Thor PC launched in April 1987, fitted with a 68020Motorola 68020
The Motorola 68020 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. It is the successor to the Motorola 68010 and is succeeded by the Motorola 68030...
processor on a daughterboard
Daughterboard
A daughterboard, daughtercard or piggyback board is a circuit board meant to be an extension or "daughter" of a motherboard , or occasionally of another card...
in place of the original CPU. The new processor ran at 12.5 MHz, a 16.67 MHz option also being offered at higher cost. The Thor 21 was also fitted with the 68881
Motorola 68881
The Motorola 68881 and Motorola 68882 were floating-point coprocessor chips that were used in some computer systems in conjunction with the 68020 or 68030 CPUs. The addition of one of these chips added substantial cost to the computer, but added a floating point unit that could rapidly perform...
floating-point co-processor, running at the same speed as the CPU. Performance was significantly better than the Thor 1, but handicapped by the use of the 8-bit memory of the base system.
The Thor 20 and 21 were shipped with a 68020 macro assembler and linker, plus Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
processor documentation. They were intended as a vehicle for the development of software for a projected enhanced 68020-based model, later shelved.
The Thor 20 and 21 were very expensive (a 12.5 MHz Thor 21 costing around twice as much as a Thor 1F) and were mainly placed on loan to the software development community.
Thor XVI
The Thor XVI was developed in collaboration with the Danish company DanSoft and was announced at the Personal Computer WorldPersonal Computer World
Personal Computer World was a long-running British Computer magazine.Although for at least the last decade it contained a high proportion of Windows PC content , the magazine's title was not intended as a specific reference to this...
Show in September 1987. Unlike the previous models, the Thor XVI's hardware was of a completely new design, based around an 8 MHz 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
processor plus a 2 MHz 68B02
Motorola 6800
The 6800 was an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System that also included serial and parallel interface ICs, RAM, ROM and other support chips...
co-processor for audio and I/O processing. 512 KiB of RAM was included as standard (expandable to 2 MiB
MIB
MIB may refer to any of several concepts:* Master of International Business, a postgraduate business degree* Melayu Islam Beraja, the adopted national philosophy of Brunei* Motion induced blindness, a visual illusion in peripheral vision...
, later 6.5 MiB). The video hardware provided QL-compatible video modes as well as a new 16-colour mode. Floppy disk, SCSI, Centronics, dual RS-232, PC/AT keyboard, mouse, QL expansion bus and QLAN network interfaces were provided. Mass storage options were similar to the previous Thors, plus 40 MB hard disk and diskless network workstation
Diskless workstation
A diskless node is a workstation or personal computer without disk drives, which employs network booting to load its operating system from a server...
configurations. The Thor XVI was housed in a case similar to that of the Thor PC.
The Thor XVI included in ROM a QDOS-compatible operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
derived from QDOS 1.13, called Argos. Like its predecessors, the XVI was bundled with Xchange.
Production started in early 1988, and around 250 Thor XVIs were built in the UK. Prices were slightly higher than the Thor PC. Later in 1988, a joint CST/DanSoft marketing operation, Thor International, was formed in Denmark in an attempt to increase sales to the European market. The Thor XVI hardware was revised slightly and production was moved to Brüel & Kjær in Denmark. Plans were also made to build Thors under license in Russia, but this came to nothing.
The following year, Thor International (and CST) collapsed amid acrimony and legal action over the disputed transfer of assets from the UK by the partners.