Camputers Lynx 48

The Camputers Lynx 48 was a British colour computer distinguished by high-resolution graphics and an unusually capable BASIC. Its Z80A processor, 48KB memory and Motorola 6845 display controller operated in a bitmapped graphics environment rather than relying on dedicated character or sprite hardware.

John Shireff designed the hardware and David Jansons created the firmware. Strong specifications and a professional keyboard were offset by delays, a high price and a small software library.

Notable Features

• Always-on bitmapped display produced 256 x 252 graphics in eight colours.
• BASIC used floating-point binary-coded-decimal numbers even for line numbers.
• The SOUND command could play data directly from memory through the DAC.

Historical Significance

• An ambitious British home computer whose graphics exceeded many 1983 rivals.
• Commercial difficulties rather than a lack of technical originality ended the range.

Collector’s Notes

• Later the 48KB model was relaunched under the Leisure name.
• Display memory architecture makes some operations slower than the headline CPU speed suggests.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	Camputers Lynx 48
Manufacturer	Camputers
Launched	Tuesday, March 1, 1983
Launch Price	£225
Country	United Kingdom
CPU	Zilog Z80A at 4 MHz
Units Sold
Operating System	Camputers BASIC
I/O	RGB, RF, composite video, cassette, serial and light-pen ports
Keyboard	Integrated full-travel keyboard
Storage	Cassette from approximately 600 to 2100 baud
Sound	6-bit DAC, single software-generated channel
Graphics	256 x 252 pixels in eight colours
Display	Bitmapped text using a 6 x 10 pixel font
ROM	16KB BASIC and system ROM
RAM	48KB including dedicated display banks
CPU Speed	4 MHz