Torch Z80 Disc Pack

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 Torch Z80 Disc Pack front

  Torch Z80 Disc Pack (front) 

 Torch z80 Disc Pack back

 Torch Z80 Disc Pack (back)

 Torch z80 Disc pack bottom

 Torch Z80 Disc Pack (bottom)

 Torch Z80 Disc pack with top cover removed

 Torch Z80 Disc Pack with top cover removed

The Torch Z80 Disc Pack was actually 2 parts, the Disc Pack seen here, and the Z80 Communicator  second processor. When the Torch Z80 Disc Pack was launched CP/M was widely in business and there was a wealth of software available (e.g Ashton Tate Dbase2, MicroPro Wordstar & CalcStar, Microsoft MBasic, Micro Focus COBOL). The Torch Z80 Disc Pack was the first (I think) second processor for the BBC Micro and gave BBC Micro users access to all the CP/M commercial and Public Domain software.
 
A brochure describing the Torch Z80 Disc Pack is available HERE.
 
It did come at a price, here is the invoice  for my Torch Z80 Disc Pack.

The Disc Pack is housed in a heavy steel case and contains 2 x Mitsubishi M4853 400K floppy disc drives. Torch recommended using the Torch power supply to power the BBC (I think the early BBC psu's might have been overloaded by the Z80 Communicator card), and even suggested removing the BBC psu entirely.
 
The pictures show:

  1. Front view with 2 x 400K floppy disc drives
  2. Back view showing, from left to right, the 3 pin socket to connect the BBC to the Disc pack psu, the power in socket, the fuse and the on/off switch.
  3. Bottom view, showing the serial number.
  4. Inside the Disc Pack, showing the two floppy discs at the front and the psu behind them.

The Torch ZDP User Guide is availabler HERE . It covers, assembling the ZDP and upgrading the BBC, as well as how to use CPN.
 
Also available HERE  is the Torch System Guide which is written for the Torch computers but contains additional information about CPN for the Z80 Disc Pack user.