The Nascom 2, released in 1979, was the successor to the Nascom 1 (1978). Like its predecessor this single-board computer was available in kit or ready-built form. The kit had 281 components, resulting in well over a thousand soldering points, meaning that the kit was only suitable for those with experience. It cost just under £300 +VAT.

The Nascom 2 was based on the Z-80A processor, which ran at 2 or 4MHz. It had 10K of ROM - 2K for the NAS-SYS-1 monitor and 8K for BASIC, and 10K of 4118 RAM, 1K which is used for the screen memory.

The kit included a 57-key full alpha-numeric keyboard, video interface, and audio cassette interface (Kansas City standard, 300 or 1200 baud). The inclusion of a full keyboard and video display interface was uncommon in this era with most microcomputer kits at the time only being delivered with a hexadecimal keypad and 7-seg display.

The display of the Nascom 2 consisted of 48 columns by 16 rows, white characters on black background with no graphics. It was possible to purchase an add-on Graphics Chip (approx price £20 in 1980) for the Nascom 2 that added a further 128 Graphics Characters. The built-in Microsoft Basic (8K ROM) interpreter could use these graphics to create a primitive and blocky-like 96 x 48 graphics display.

Our Nascom 2 computer is complete with manuals in a wooden case and was kindly donated by Charles Wicksteed.

Manufacturer: Nascom Ltd
Date: 1st December 1979

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH18695. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.