8870 Glossary

There are a lot of Nixdorf 8870 related terms and technical words and I’ll try and list them here with explanations and links to more information where possible.

AG
ALME

Output
Asynchronous line multiplexer extended . LFI 1819-0x (PSP), 1882-0x (PSR)

BA80

BASIC

VDU. Supports two windows (second occupies the slave channel). Has a 15 pin V24 and SAS connections (one for keyboard)

Primary programming language of the 8870, even TAMOS is written in BASIC.

CDH

Large hard-disk type units found on the M45. These were 132 MB formatted.

DAP4
DIABLO
DSP

VDU. Has three SAS ports (one required for the keyboard)
Disk drive used on the M10. 5 MB formatted capacity. Also called HAWK (Short movie here)
Disk Services Processor - Using this tool you can read/write directly to disk or memory. Also has a dis-assembler built in.

ECC
EG

Error Correcting Controller. LFI 2515-00 was an ECC
Input

FB
FD

Busy Flip-Flop
Floppy Disk - Both 5" and 8" drives were available as optional extras on all models. The Micro range had a 5" as standard.

HAWK

Disk drive used on the M10. 5 MB formatted capacity. See DIABLO

LFI

LKS
LMVG
LSL
LSS

Refers to a part number plate stamped on all hardware. Consists of a 4 + 2 part code, and an 8 digit unique serial number.
Card Punch
Read and Compare
Paper Tape Reader
Paper Tape Punch

MD
MD07

Medium Duty (used in printer model numbers)
Laser Printer (think this used to connect to a BA80 via a V24 cable)

ND
ND04
ND11
NIROS

Normal Duty (used in printer model numbers)
SAS dot-matrix printer
SAS dot-matrix printer (uprated ND04 but looks identical)
Nixdorf Interactive Real-time Operating System

PLC/PLC2
PSP

Programmable Line Controller available in single or dual channel versions
Parallel Periphery Interface

RAL

Random Access Load

SAS
SMC
SMD

(Serial Workplace Interface) A serial data connection method for interconnecting different devices
Streaming Mode Cassette/Cartridge. Primary backup method on the M15/M25/Q40/Q80 models and some others.
Storage Module Device. 5 platter disk packs used on the M55/M65. 33 MB or 66 MB storage

WT	Framing Pulse

ZD09
ZDV

SAS Highspeed heavy duty dot-matrix printer.
Line Printer DMA Feature