North Star Horizon

Horizon

A North Star Horizon computer

Manufacturer| North Star Computers
Type| Personal computer
Introductory price|

* $1899 Assembled
* $1599 as a Kit

Discontinued| Early 1980s
Operating system| CP/M, NorthStar DOS
CPU| Z80 @ 4MHz
Memory| 16K or more
Storage| 5.25 floppy drive(s) holds 90KB each
Display| 80 x 24 text mode
Graphics| RS-232 port
Sound| None
Power| Integrated 250W P.S.U.
Dimensions| 50.8 x 44.4 x 18.4 cm
Mass| 20 kg
Successor| North Star Advantage

The North Star Horizon was a popular 8-bit S-100 bus computer introduced in October 1977.[1][2][3] Like most S-100 machines of the era, it was built around the Zilog Z80A microprocessor, and typically ran the CP/M operating system. It was produced by North Star Computers, and it could be purchased either in kit form or pre-assembled.[4] The North Star Horizon was one of the first computers to have built in floppy drives [5] as well as being one of the first personal computers to have a hard disk drive.[6]

A Z80 processor board for the NorthStar Horizon An inside view of the NorthStar Horizon

## Contents

* 1 Specifications
* 2 Software
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## Specifications

Capable of running CP/M and NSDOS (North Star's proprietary Disk Operating System), a standard North Star system sported one or two hard-sectored single sided 5.25 inch floppy disk drives. Within a year a double density floppy controller board was released that supported double sided drives giving 360KB per disk. The base unit had a serial interface to which one could connect a terminal to interact with it. NSDOS included North Star BASIC, a slightly non-standard dialect of BASIC, where some standard BASIC commands of the day had been changed, probably to avoid potential legal issues. Two examples of this were the `EXAM` and `FILL` commands, which took the place of the more common PEEK and POKE.

The Horizon was superseded by the all-in-one North Star Advantage in 1982.[7] The Horizon found a niche in University environments where its inbuilt S-100 bus could be used to interface it to a variety of control systems.[8]

North Star released a hard disk version, with an internal full height 5MB MFM drive. They also released an S-100 card with integrated memory and two serial ports which allowed up to eight users on one Horizon, each with their own CPU sharing the disk and other resources. This operated under TurboDOS, a multi user CP/M variant with some Unix-like features.

## Software

There are 35 commercial games for North Star Horizon[9][10]

Game | Year | Publisher

|
|

Adventure  | 1979  | Creative Computing Soft.
Adventures #1~#3  | 1982  | Adventure International
Adventures #10~#12  | 1982  | Adventure International
Adventures #4~#6  | 198?  | Adventure International
Adventures #7~#9  | 1982  | Adventure International
Backgammon 2.0  | 1981  | DynaComp, Inc.
Blackjack Coach  | 1983  | DynaComp, Inc.
Bridge 2.0  | 1979  | DynaComp, Inc.
Bridge Master  | 1982  | DynaComp, Inc.
Chess Master  | 1981  | DynaComp, Inc.
Cranston Manor Adventure  | 1981  | DynaComp, Inc.
Evilk  | 1978  | Creative Computing Soft.
Game Pak I  | 1981  | DynaComp, Inc.
Game Pak II  | 1981  | DynaComp, Inc.
Games. Vol. 1  | 1978  | MicroAge
Games. Vol. 2  | 1978  | MicroAge
Gigatrek  | 1982  | Artworx Soft. Co., Inc.
Hearts  | 1980  | DynaComp, Inc.
Management Simulator  | 1981  | DynaComp, Inc.
Mensa Master  | 1982  | DynaComp, Inc.
Monarch  | 198?  | DynaComp, Inc.
North Star Software Exchange #1: Games  | 1979  | North Star Computers
North Star Software Exchange #11: Life Expectancies & Capitals Quiz  | 1979  | North Star Computers
North Star Software Exchange #13: Games  | 1979  | North Star Computers
North Star Software Exchange #18: Video Games  | 1979  | North Star Computers
North Star Software Exchange #3: Guess Game System  | 1979  | North Star Computers
North Star Software Exchange #7: SOL/VDM Video Games  | 1979  | North Star Computers
North Star Software Exchange #8: Simulation-type Games  | 1979  | North Star Computers
Poker Party  | 1980  | DynaComp, Inc.
Poker Tourney  | 1982  | Artworx Soft. Co., Inc.
Qubic  | 1978  | 1001001, Inc.
Space Lanes  | 198?  | DynaComp, Inc.
Uncle Harry's Will  | 1982  | DynaComp, Inc.
Valdez  | 1979  | DynaComp, Inc.
Windmere Estates Adventure  | 1982  | DynaComp, Inc.

## References

1. ↑ North Star Computer Catalogs. North Star Computer. 1979. http://www.hartetechnologies.com/manuals/Northstar/North Star Computer Catalogs.pdf.
2. ↑ "S-100 Bus / IEEE-696 Archive: North Star Computers Manuals". http://www.hartetechnologies.com/manuals/Northstar/.
3. ↑ "NorthStar Horizon computer". http://oldcomputers.net/northstar-horizon.html.
4. ↑ "Horizon, The Complete Computer". Byte (Peterborough NH: Green Publishing) 2 (10): 21. October 1977. The introductory advertisement for the North Star Horizon computer. The price for a Z80 CPU, 16K of RAM and a single floppy drive was $1599 kit and $1899 assembled. Dual drive systems were $1999 kit and $2349 assembled.
5. ↑ "NorthStar Horizon computer". http://www.oldcomputers.net/northstar-horizon.html. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
6. ↑ "NorthStar Horizon Personal Computer". http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1064207. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
7. ↑ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=652. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
8. ↑ "S100 Computers - NorthStar". http://www.s100computers.com/Hardware Folder/Northstar/History/History.htm.
9. ↑ "North Star Horizon software list". https://mame.spludlow.co.uk/SoftwareLists.aspx?List=horizon.
10. ↑ "Dynacomp Inc. Catalog – Summer 1981". Dynacomp, Inc.. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Dynacomp_Inc_Catalog_Summer_1981.pdf.

## External links

* NorthStar Horizon at Obsolete Technology
* NorthStar Horizon at Old Computer Museum
* North Star Computers Manuals from Harte Technologies
* NorthStar documentation from Rich's classic computing lab

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