1983 Jupiter ACE
The Jupiter ACE looks very similar to the Sinclair ZX 81. Actually, the designers of this computer, Richard Altwasser and Steven Vickers, played a major role in creating the Sinclair Spectrum.
The ACE is very similar to the ZX 81, but has some extra features: it has a user port, and it can generate sound (the ZX 81 can’t). It can also use RAM expansion modules for the ZX 81 smaller than 64KB via a small adapter.
Its most significant feature is its language: instead of using BASIC like other computers, it uses the FORTH language (as did the Hector HRX).
FORTH’s advantages are that it’s comprehensible, small, interactive, fast and extensible. It centers around writing procedures which operate on objects on a FIFO stack, and is not as intuitive as BASIC. FORTH was three to ten times faster than BASIC but was not as easy to learn.
This computer did not achieve significant success, probably due to its relatively obscure language – as far as the general public was concerned.
Steve Vickers wrote the ZX Spectrum manual – he has been an academic researcher working most recently (2003) at Imperial College London, and the Open University.
| NAME | Jupiter Ace |
| MANUFACTURER | Jupiter Cantab |
| TYPE | Home Computer |
| ORIGIN | United Kingdom |
| YEAR | 1983 |
| BUILT IN LANGUAGE | Forth |
| KEYBOARD | QWERTY, chicklet keyboard, 40 keys, auto-repeat |
| CPU | Zilog Z80A |
| SPEED | 3.25 MHz |
| RAM | 3 kb (up to 51 kb) |
| ROM | 8 kb |
| TEXT MODES | 32 columns x 24 lines |
| GRAPHIC MODES | 64 x 48 |
| COLORS | Monochrome |
| SOUND | Internal beeper |
| SIZE / WEIGHT | 21.8(W) x 19.2(D) x 3.2(H) cm. / 246 g |
| I/O PORTS | UHF TV out (channel 36), User Port, Tape interface (1500 baud), Z80 Bus |
| POWER SUPPLY | External PSU |
| PERIPHERALS | RAM expansion |
| PRICE | £89.95 (UK, september 1982) |
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Filed under: 80s Computers - @ January 31, 2022 3:24 PM