Timex FDD3000

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The Timex FDD 3000 was almost a complete computer made by Timex of Portugal. It begin its development at Timex Computer Corporation, but it was at Timex of Portugal that the work was finished.

The Timex FDD 3000 is a upgraded Timex FDD (mostly known as FDD3 because it consisted of three separate boxes: the disk drive, the controller and the power supply). The Timex FDD3 was intended as a floppy disk peripheral for the Timex TC2048 or TC2068 microcomputers. It usually had 16K RAM and only one disk drive, but it can be upgraded to 64K RAM, making it capable of running CP/M and a second disk drive. Since the controller is electrically compatible with today disk drives, it is possible to connect a 3.5"/5.25" disk drive in the Timex FDD3 Controller (it is possible too to connect a Hitachi 3" disk drive to a IBM PC Compatible computer).

Timex put the three boxes of the FDD3 into one big box, added 64K RAM and a line in the controller cable to pass the video signal generated by Timex Terminal 3000 to the back of FDD 3000 box.

1 Timex FDD/FDD 3000 usage
2 Clones
3 Timex FDD/FDD3000 specifications
4 External link

[edit] Timex FDD/FDD 3000 usage

The FDD/FDD 3000 can be used as a disk drive peripheral or as a CP/M computer.

As a disk drive system running TOS (Timex Operating System) connected to a Sinclair ZX Spectrum or TC2048/2068
As a CP/M computer using a TC2048/2068 running Timex Terminal Emulator, or using a Timex Terminal 3000 and a video composite monitor, as a console.

[edit] Clones

Zebra Systems sold the Timex FDD as Zebra FDD, in silver boxes to match TS2068 (Timex FDD was sold in black boxes in Europe)
Zebra Systems sold the Timex FDD 3000 as Zebra FDD 3000 in the US with the same box.
Unipolbrit made some changes in the design of FDD, putting everything in only one box, but not the same as the FDD 3000.
Some people in Poland replaced disk drive "2" by a 5.25" DSDD (360K) drive with a manual switch to change the side to be read and name it FDD 6000, keeping most the original FDD 3000 box.