Rade Takes Bus Home

A Rade Systems R-50 board could be the next route to CP/M for BBC users - and the first for many Lynx, Amstrad and MSX owners.

The R-50 is primarily a hobbyist's board, with a Z80A running at 4MHz, 64K of memory, CP/M 2.2, an on-board clock, and two bus expansion connectors. It has been about for nine months, but now Rade plans to turn it into the cornerstone of a system-building programme unlike any it has previously attempted.

The board has no video output or drive controller, but Rade's Mick Griffin says: "We can add a drive controller and power supply and plug it into a BBC." It's likely to be mid-November before you see it on sale, and the price should be around £345.

Rade is working on Lynx, Amstrad and MSX interfaces; "all we require is a serial line at the computer end," says Mr. Griffin.

On each of the expansion sockets you can stack half a dozen Rade option boards - controllers, memory expansion, interfaces and so on - and the company aims to tread a different kind of upgrade path by standardising on the serial I/O. The idea is to keep the same peripherals regardless of the micro they are attached to.

The board and controller will be sold through a Rade offshoot, Upgrade Technology (01-451 4414).

The company is working on other products to be marketed the same way: there is a software switchable modem just starting out on the long road to BABT approval, to cost about £95 as an option board or £115 boxed; a word processor with integrated spreadsheet and semi-integrated database for £50; and an integrated accountancy package for £50.