BASIC microcomputer

It seems safe to assume that the `BASIC microcomputer` is the cheapest home-construction computer ever described that can be programmed using a higher programming language. The SC/MP is a popular and readily-available microprocessor. Two further good reasons for using it in this microcomputer are that it can readily be incorporated into the Elektor SC/MP system, and that a Tiny BASIC interpreter for this μP is available in ROM (Read Only Memory). The BASIC computer card described in this article contains three circuits that can be used as more or less independent units. The processor section is a fully buffered and self-contained `CPU card` with provisions for DMA (Direct Memory Access) and multiprocessing. `The memory section is also fully independent, and contains the BASIC interpreter (NIBL-ROM) and the address decoder. Communication with the `outside world` (the Elekterminal, for instance) is taken care of by the third section: the interface. To be fully operational, the computer requires at least one 4K RAM card (RAM= Random Access Memory), as described in Elektor, March 1978. The basic BASIC computer therefore consists of not more than two Eurocard-sized printed circuit boards!