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z100.html
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<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>The H/Z-100 Series Computer</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY BACKGROUND="images/tile_sidebar.jpg">
<!-- VLINK="#ff00ff" LINK="#4000ff" ALINK="#4000ff" TEXT="#000000" -->
<BASEFONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE="2">
<table border=0 cellpadding=10 cellspacing=0 width=100% align=left>
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<tr><!-- This is the first row of the table; sets top margin. -->
<td width="70" valign="middle" align="left"></td>
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<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
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<TR>
<TD WIDTH=100% ALIGN=center VALIGN=middle>
<FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE=5>
<P>
<B>The H/Z-100 Series Computer<P></B></FONT>
</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P><img src="images/bar.jpg" alt="--Divider--"><P>
</td></tr>
<tr><td> </td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
<table border=0 cellpadding=10 cellspacing=0 width=100%>
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<tr><td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle">
<IMG SRC="images/Z110PIC.gif" BORDER="0">
</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="middle">
<IMG SRC="images/Z120PIC.gif" BORDER="0">
</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN=left><FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE=1>
The first computers were kits from Heathkit Co.<BR>
The Low-Profile, <B>H-110</B> series computer required<BR>
a separate RGB or composite monitor. Zenith<BR>
offered the fully assembled version as the<BR>
<B>Z-110</B>. When first shipped, it featured:<BR>
- 64 to 192k RAM<BR>
- Green (std), red and blue video<BR>
planes of 32k or 64k video RAM<BR>
for monochrome or 8 color video<BR>
for a separate monitor<BR>
- 5 MHz 8085 8-bit CPU for CP/M<BR>
- 5 MHz 8088 16-bit CPU for DOS<BR>
- Dual full-height floppy drives, or<BR>
one floppy & one full-height 5Mb<BR>
"Winchester" hard drive<BR>
- Two serial ports (DTE & DCE)<BR>
- One parallel port<BR>
- Light pen port<P>
</FONT></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN=left><FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE=1>
The first computers were kits from Heathkit Co.<BR>
Again, the Zenith version of the <B>H-120</B> All-In-<BR>
One was the <B>Z-120</B> series. When first shipped,<BR>
these computers featured:<BR>
- Internal yellow or green display w/25x80<BR>
text or graphics characters<BR>
- 64 to 192k RAM<BR>
- Green (std), red, and blue video planes<BR>
of 32k or 64k video RAM for<BR>
internal monochrome display or<BR>
8 color video for a separate monitor<BR>
- 5 MHz 8085 8-bit CPU for CP/M<BR>
- 5 MHz 8088 16-bit CPU for DOS<BR>
- Dual full-height floppy drives, or<BR>
one floppy & one full-height 5 Mb<BR>
"Winchester" hard drive<BR>
- Two serial ports (DTE & DCE)<BR>
- One parallel port<BR>
- Light pen port<P>
</FONT></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN=center VALIGN=middle>
<IMG SRC="images/Z100Back.gif" BORDER="0">
</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN=center VALIGN=middle>
<IMG SRC="images/Z-100TXT1.gif" BORDER="0">
</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td></tr>
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<TR><TD ALIGN=left><FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE=1>
The back of both computers is very similar,<BR>
except that J14 in the Z-110 is a composite<BR>
video phono jack. In the Z-120, it is a<BR>
brightness control. Other features are:<BR>
- Power switch in lower right corner<BR>
- A 110v - 220v line switch<BR>
- Standard power cord<BR>
- A 3" box fan<BR>
- J1 - RS-232 DCE serial connector<BR>
- J2 - RS-232 DTE serial connector<BR>
- J3 - Female DB-25 parallel connector<BR>
- J4 - Light Pen connector<BR>
- J9 - RGB 9-pin video out connector<BR>
- J14 - Composite video or brightness<BR>
- Other connector positions are unused<BR>
and covered.<P>
</FONT></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN=left><FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE=1>
While the only physical external change was to<BR>
the front panel to accommodate half-height<BR>
drives, by the end of production, Zenith had made<BR>
several enhancements to the standard Z-100:<BR>
- Half-height, double-density 5-1/2"<BR>
floppy drives<BR>
- New 8 MHz motherboard<BR>
- 768k RAM maximum<BR>
- ROM versions 2.5, 2.8, & 2.9<BR>
- Optional Z-204 multi-port board<BR>
- Optional Z-205 256k RAM board<BR>
- Optional full-height 10 Mb hard drive<BR>
- Optional 8087 co-processor board<BR>
- Optional ZClock<P>
</FONT></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN=center VALIGN=middle>
<IMG SRC="images/Z-100TXT2.gif" BORDER="0">
</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN=center VALIGN=middle>
<IMG SRC="images/Z-100TXT3.gif" BORDER="0">
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</TABLE>
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<TR><TD ALIGN=left><FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE=1>
Other vendors, suppliers, users, and clubs<BR>
developed their own enhancements for the<BR>
Z-100:<BR>
- 768k RAM kit for old motherboard<BR>
- Selectable 5-7.5 MHz speedup<BR>
- Commercial speedup kits to 10 MHz<BR>
- At least one unit operated @ 14 MHz!<BR>
- 8087 co-processor board<BR>
- MFM hard drives > 32 Mb<BR>
- SCSI hard drives >64 Mb<BR>
- ZCLK Calendar/Clock Board<BR>
- SmartWatch internal clock<BR>
- 1Mb memory board<BR>
- Z-205 memory board 1Mb RAM drive<BR>
- LifeLine SCSI/EEPROM board giving<BR>
SCSI hard drive capability<BR>
and fast EEPROM bootup!<BR>
- MTR-ROM v3.x and v4.x for support of<BR>
modified Z-DOS v4.x<BR>
- LifeLine IDE/NVsRAM board giving<BR>
fast NVsRAM bootup<BR>
Real Time Clock, and<BR>
IDE device capability, including:<BR>
IDE Hard Drives<BR>
Compact Flash Memory<BR>
- Separate keyboard for computer<BR>
- ZCLK2 Calendar/Clock Board (2018)<P>
</FONT></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0">
<TR><TD ALIGN=left><FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE=1>
Of critical importance was the need to run the up<BR>
and coming IBM-PC software. People wanted PC<BR>
compatibility. Several vendors engineered solutions<BR>
with reasonable success:<BR>
- Patrick Swayne of the National HUG (Heath<BR>
Users' Group) developed a software solution<BR>
called ZPC with limited success. The biggest<BR>
problem being the differences in handling<BR>
screen graphics and interrupts.<BR>
- He then developed a ZHS board as a hardware<BR>
solution to improve the success of ZPC.<BR>
- The ZHS concept was expanded and enhanced<BR>
by Scottie Systems into the Scottie Board, but<BR>
still required the use of ZPC.<BR>
- Shortly after, GEMINI & EASYPC became available:<BR>
-- The GEMINI Board, from D.E.L. Professional<BR>
Systems was a daughter board that attached<BR>
directly to the motherboard via the 8088 CPU.<BR>
It had a socket to add an 8087 co-processor<BR>
chip. It also had an additional, optional sound<BR>
board.<BR>
-- The EASYPC from UCI Corporation was<BR>
comprised of a daughter board, new floppy<BR>
controller board, and another S-100 video<BR>
board. It had sound included.<BR>
- Both the GEMINI Board and EASYPC System<BR>
provided excellent PC emulation - about 90%<BR>
success. The only main downside was that<BR>
each required the installation of a separate<BR>
Zenith version of PC-DOS in a separate<BR>
partition of the hard drive.<P>
</FONT></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
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<img src="images/bar.jpg" hspace="0" vspace="0" alt="--Divider--"><P>
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<A HREF="mailto:z100lifeline@earthlink.net"><FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial" SIZE="4">z100lifeline@earthlink.net</FONT></A><P>
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Copyright © 2018, Steven W. Vagts<BR>
Revised -- December 05, 2018<P>
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