hello everyone, hope you are all doing well!
i keep noticing fitted reset switches, seemingly just on the model a, on ebay. i havent ever seen them fitted to a model b and was wondering if they ever got fitted to bs, and why they stopped fitting them? i assume they are the equivilent to a ctrl break?
thanks a lot!
-Elliot
Lover of all things acorn, but especially the 8 bits!
- bbc b issue 7 with econet- electron issue 2 - microvitec cub 653 - amx mouse -
i like to use as much original hardware as possible, and only use disk and tapes!
I've never seen a reset switch fitted on a Beeb, but the hole exists and is labeled on the early ones.
The reset switch is exactly the same as the the BREAK key, it's actually wired across the same pins.
The idea was supposedly so schools could permanently disable the break key on the keyboard to stop kids accidentally pressing it, but still have it as an option on the back.
In truth it was just as easy to click the power switch off if you want to do that.
On masters later on Acorn added a little wedge that disabled the break key by way of stopping it from being pressed.
BBC Bs, Master 128s, Master Compact, and Electrons, and an A3000 with an ARM3
The reset switch (button) was not fitted as standard on any model A or B.
As Ukwebb says, it does exactly the same as the BREAK key. In fact, the BREAK key activates the reset circuit just like the reset switch would do (if fitted).
I had a few Beebs with them all from the same source. There is a link on the keyboard that is cut and that prevents the BREAK key from working. It stops kids from whacking BREAK either because they have disabilities that prevent good co-ordination or they just like pressing every button to see what it does. The reset button on the back is kind of flush with the case and needs something to go into the hole to push the plunger. The only reason I know about it was reversing the modification.
Big Model B Econet,Master 512,Electron,A3000,A540,Atom,Unilab 3-Chip Plus,6502,Z80,65C816,80186,32016,Matchbox,ARM7TDMI,Master 10/100,PiCoPro,Teletext,Music500,PiSCSI,Challenger3,Gotek,VideoNuLA,GoSDC,GoMMC,Integra-B,RGB2HDMIv4,Epson LQ-850 (for the win!)
"or they just like pressing every button to see what it does" - I thought that was what everbody did - It's how I've got to where I am now- which is, generally, a danger to electrical equipment.
We had a BBC Micro at RetroEuskal 2 years ago, with a big notice on it saying "DON'T PRESS BREAK OR THE GAME WILL GO AWAY!" but every 10 minutes or so, someone had pressed it (and so we had to go and load the game of tape (again)). I ended up wedging a bunch of wadded up paper underneath the BREAK key which was a bit of a pain, but it served.
The Master has a screw that stops BREAK being pressed, well, except if you press it really hard. Which always seems to happen at retro events!
Winston wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:51 pm
We had a BBC Micro at RetroEuskal 2 years ago, with a big notice on it saying "DON'T PRESS BREAK OR THE GAME WILL GO AWAY!" but every 10 minutes or so, someone had pressed it (and so we had to go and load the game of tape (again)). I ended up wedging a bunch of wadded up paper underneath the BREAK key which was a bit of a pain, but it served.
The Master has a screw that stops BREAK being pressed, well, except if you press it really hard. Which always seems to happen at retro events!
Get a reed switch and put it in line with the BREAK key, that way, no matter how much BREAK bashing and stabbing goes on, nothing will happen. Bring a small magnet in proximity to the BREAK key and then it will work as if by magic (maybe get a magnetic ring of power?)
Big Model B Econet,Master 512,Electron,A3000,A540,Atom,Unilab 3-Chip Plus,6502,Z80,65C816,80186,32016,Matchbox,ARM7TDMI,Master 10/100,PiCoPro,Teletext,Music500,PiSCSI,Challenger3,Gotek,VideoNuLA,GoSDC,GoMMC,Integra-B,RGB2HDMIv4,Epson LQ-850 (for the win!)
