Date   : Thu, 28 Jul 2005 20:55:08 +0000
From   : Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk@...>
Subject: Torch machines (was: Re: ARM copros, speech cartridges, real time)

On Thu, 2005-07-28 at 18:33 +0000, Jules Richardson wrote:
> On Thu, 2005-07-28 at 18:25 +0100, Jonathan Graham Harston wrote:
> > > Message-ID: <1122458365.15644.6.camel@...>
> > Well, of the Torches I've got, four have their own serial ports -
> > the Torch network stations[1] - and only one doesn't - the Torch
> > Hard Drive system[1]. That would suggest to me the other way round
> > - Torch boards with their own serial port are common, and the ones
> > /without/ their own serial ports are not very common.
> 
> Curious. I don't have one of the Torch net stations (I think it's a 301
> from memory). 

Right, dug the advertising folder out of the loft... there are more
machines equipped with the Tosca board than I thought, but the list runs
as follows:

T-301   - BBC B for I/O processor, 'normal' Torch Z80 copro.
T-303   - BBC B for I/O processor, Tosca Z80 copro with on-board serial.
CF500   - Large brown-cased machine. BBC B for I/O, normal Z80 copro,
         twin floppies.
CH500   - Large brown-cased machine. BBC B for I/O, normal Z80 copro,
         20MB hard disk.
CFS500  - Large brown-cased machine. BBC B for I/O, Tosca Z80 copro,
         twin floppies.
CHS500  - Large brown-cased machine. BBC B for I/O, Tosca Z80 copro,
         20MB hard disk.
C-68000 - Large brown-cased machine. BBC B for I/O, 68000/Z80 combo
         copro, twin floppies. 
C-68020 - Large brown-cased machine. BBC B for I/O, 68000/Z80 combo
         copro, 20MB hard disk.
ZDP240  - Twin floppy disk unit and normal Torch Z80 copro for a BBC B.
TFZ     - Twin floppy disk unit and normal Torch Z80 copro for a Master.
20FZ    - Single floppy + 20MB hard disk unit and normal Torch Z80 copro
          for a Master.
40FZ    - Single floppy + 40MB hard disk unit and normal Torch Z80 copro
          for a Master.


Plus it was obviously possible to buy the normal Torch Z80 for a BBC B
on its own - I've never seen a regular BBC B with the Tosca board in
though. There obviously was a flavour of the brown-cased systems which
had the Tosca too, but I've not heard of anyone who has one before...

Other Torch systems:

T-725    - BBC I/O processor, 68000/Z80 copro, runs Unix.
Graduate - PC-compatible (ish) copro for the BBC B.
Triple-X - Unix system (nothing to do with BBC machines)
Quad-X   - Unix system - VME bus (nothing to do with BBC machines)
TPW      - Triple-X but with a boat-load of graphics hardware from
          Primagraphics too.
QY       - Replacement for Quad-X. Details very sketchy. Only 2 machines
          built before Torch went under.

Interesting thing about the Triple-X and later machines were that the
cases were totally modular and built into slices - just like a RiscPC. I
think Torch got there first with that approach; the Triple-X must have
been about the same timeframe as the Archimedes.

cheers

Jules