Today I received.....

[Lardo Boffin]

Nice! I think beer is essential to many endeavours.

[jimster]

My first ARM based Acorn computer... Picked up from eBay. By the time I reached 6th form for A-Level studies (a long long time ago), the science department had these Archimedes machines. Meanwhile the computing lab was still using BBC Masters and Model B's. Now I need to hunt down/buy a cable so I can plug this into a modern day monitor and check that it all works (seller said it was all functional).

[DutchAcorn]

Wow, that looks like a very nice model, congrats! The user guides are from Arthur, does it have RiscOS installed?

[a1exh]

Nice. I didn't see that one for sale. Good that you've got all the keyboard and mouse etc. several of us here have just bought our first A310 (including myself) and are getting them up and running and fitting upgrades.

[jimster]

Wow, that looks like a very nice model, congrats! The user guides are from Arthur, does it have RiscOS installed?

It was a bit of a blind faith purchase! Not sure what OS is on it. It just looked a nice and tidy machine that even had its original box which seems a bit of a rarity on Ebay currently! No doubt I will look to upgrade it as it is a base A310 with no podules, etc. 3 things crossed my mind in terms of upgrade i) RiscOS (if required), ii) hard disk emulator and iii) econet. I will be searching this forum for guidance!

[DutchAcorn]

…Now I need to hunt down/buy a cable so I can plug this into a modern day monitor and check that it all works (seller said it was all functional).

The A310 has a “monochrome video” output that is simple composite video. If you have an old monitor or television it is likely to have a “video in” socket.

[a1exh]

The A310 was intended to be connected to a TV standard 15KHz 50Hz video monitor (or Multisync montor) so you won't be able to connect direct to "any old" fixed frequency modern monitor without modifications or an adapter (OSSC / RetroTink).

I believe you can add RISCOS 3 + Ultra VIDC Enhancer to open up more compatible modes. But I am not sure they are compatible with older software (e.g. games) but I could be wrong.

I made a 9-pin D -> RGB SCART cable. That works well on all my TVs including (relatively) modern LCDTV.

[jimster]

The A310 was intended to be connected to a TV standard 15KHz 50Hz video monitor (or Multisync montor) so you won't be able to connect direct to "any old" fixed frequency modern monitor without modifications or an adapter (OSSC / RetroTink).

I believe you can add RISCOS 3 + Ultra VIDC Enhancer to open up more compatible modes. But I am not sure they are compatible with older software (e.g. games) but I could be wrong.

I made a 9-pin D -> RGB SCART cable. That works well on all my TVs including (relatively) modern LCDTV.

Thanks for the heads up on the monitor compatibility. More research required by me!

[Diminished]

Tiny

[brianmartin_2001]

My first ARM based Acorn computer... Picked up from eBay. By the time I reached 6th form for A-Level studies (a long long time ago), the science department had these Archimedes machines. Meanwhile the computing lab was still using BBC Masters and Model B's. Now I need to hunt down/buy a cable so I can plug this into a modern day monitor and check that it all works (seller said it was all functional).

IainFM has an AFK11I believe still on sale in the for Sale section. Might be a perfect retro addition, would it not ?

https://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28727

[james]

Econet & chips*.

* great with mushy peas / beans / sauce / etc

[1024MAK]

Econet & chips*.

* great with mushy peas / beans / sauce / etc

Don't forget the gravy

Mark

[KenLowe]

Well, yesterday actually, a large hoard of beeb bits and pieces:

2 x Beebs. Both with APTL ROM expansion boards. One with a Viglen keyboard surround (now removed). One of the beebs has a rather dodgy looking power supply fitted to the power supply surround. I wondered why it was being secured by plastic screws! Note also the odd connector that mates to a connector on the beeb motherboard. I'm guessing there are patch wires on the underside of the motherboards to take the power to the appropriate locations on the motherboard. more investigation required. See photos below.

Edit: Ok, the underside of the PCB wasn't as bad as I though it would be. I've seen worse! However, I'll probably still reinstate the spade connectors and replace the PSU with something a bit safer at some point.

1 x Issue 6 Electron.
1 x Z80 Co-Processor with a bunch of manuals. In nice clean condition.
1 x 6502 Co-Processor with a User manual. In nice clean condition.
3 x Cassette players. One Acorn branded, the other two generic.
1 x Numeric Keypad
2 x Monitors. One Cub, the other is an Acorn branded Hitachi monitor that I've not seen before. I couldn't find anything online about it. I think its monochrome. Model number AFF 05. See photos below.
5 x Floppy disc drives. Two sets of two, and one standalone. I think one of the sets is 40 track single sided. The other set double sided 80 track non switchable. The standalone is double sided 40/80 track switchable
2 x Acornsoft (not Superior Software) branded Elite games. One tape, the other disc.
A whole bunch of Acorn User 5.25 & 3.5" discs. The 3.5" discs appear to be for the Archimedes.
A bunch of other original games on both disc and tape
A whole stack of beebug magazines, plus discs to go with them
A whole bunch of other books and manuals for hardware that wasn't present (eg Logotron).
And probably a bunch of other stuff that I've forgotten to mention.

Most of the stuff is still untested, but I did power up one of the beebs (the one with the Viglen keyboard surround, after returning the keyboard to its original case. This is NOT the one with the dodgy power supply). It powered up fine, but I've still got to attach a monitor, and replace the caps.

[1024MAK]

2 x Monitors. One Cub, the other is an Acorn branded Hitachi monitor that I've not seen before. I couldn't find anything online about it. I think its monochrome. Model number AFF 05. See photos below.

Apart from the Acorn branded Hitachi monitor AFF05 (AFF 05) that I have...
See here.
I also thought that I had posted photos before but I haven't found the relevant topic yet. So I attach a couple here...

Pickfords Travel pixy - Acorn Computers by Hitachi, model No. AFF 05 monitor

Pickfords Travel pixy - Acorn Computers by Hitachi, model No. AFF 05 monitor

Mark

[1024MAK]

Okay, I've found where I posted the photos. It was in a PM to a member.

Anyway, apparently the Pickfords branded Acorn Hitachi AFF 05 monitors were likely bundled with Communicators.

Mark

[BeebMaster]

Okay, I've found where I posted the photos. It was in a PM to a member.

Oh yes? Giving away the secret powers and privileges of the moderators, eh? We mere mortals aren't allowed attachments in PMs.

[1024MAK]

Okay, I've found where I posted the photos. It was in a PM to a member.

Oh yes? Giving away the secret powers and privileges of the moderators, eh? We mere mortals aren't allowed attachments in PMs.

No, I used https://postimages.org/ to link to the photos.
Here:

It’s Acorn beige. With a dark grey paint around the screen area.

Photo here:


Rear:

Click for full size images.

Mark

Mark

[KenLowe]

2 x Monitors. One Cub, the other is an Acorn branded Hitachi monitor that I've not seen before. I couldn't find anything online about it. I think its monochrome. Model number AFF 05. See photos below.

Apart from the Acorn branded Hitachi monitor AFF05 (AFF 05) that I have...
See here.

Ah, ok. That's the one. Not sure how I never found that in my searches! So, it does also look to be colour; not monochrome as I had assumed.

[1024MAK]

Yep, mine has a cable with the correct DIN plug to go in the Beebs RGB Monitor port. It can display all the eight colours available from a Beeb.

Mark

[growntree]

A box and power supply from ukwebb to go with my pieconetbridge from kenlowe.

[growntree]

A raspberry pi400 and a monitor so I can play with riscos direct. It took me a while to get the econet settings right so it could connect to the pieconetbridge and it also took a while to get it to like my Asus wl-330n3g mini router so I can get around riscos' current dislike of WiFi, but it is quite happy now.

[Leew]

A shiny NEW PLUS 1 and AP6 Board thanks to Dave H

Thanks Dave

Just waiting for the links to the STL's to print the Plus 1 some new clothes!

[shifters74]

That purple colour PCB looks very snazzy!

Shifters

[jimster]

I just received these for my BBC Micro and Master.... Never seen mode 7 so clear and sharp!

[Cruxinc]

today i found a joystick for my beeb in a charity shop, for £5! ive never seen anything beeb related in a charity shop before so had a very close look around, to see if there was anything else (there wasn’t) sadly cant test as everything in the car for abug tomorrow but will bring along to see if it works/get working!

[baz4096]

today i found a joystick for my beeb in a charity shop, for £5! ive never seen anything beeb related in a charity shop before so had a very close look around, to see if there was anything else (there wasn’t) sadly cant test as everything in the car for abug tomorrow but will bring along to see if it works/get working!

Sadly I think that's a PC joystick Elliot. It has the same sized connector but they're not usually compatible without some modification/adapters.
Have a search, there's a few people who have done it:

viewtopic.php?t=15037

(For example)

[Cruxinc]

today i found a joystick for my beeb in a charity shop, for £5! ive never seen anything beeb related in a charity shop before so had a very close look around, to see if there was anything else (there wasn’t) sadly cant test as everything in the car for abug tomorrow but will bring along to see if it works/get working!

Sadly I think that's a PC joystick Elliot. It has the same sized connector but they're not usually compatible without some modification/adapters.
Have a search, there's a few people who have done it:

viewtopic.php?t=15037

(For example)

ah thats a shame i dont have the skills necesary to modify it so will probably give away at abug along with another (non working but fixable) joystick.
thanks for the info

[piersw]

The BBC analogue port (inc joysticks) is very simple to use. I have no idea about PC joysticks, but wiring four directional switches to the BBC is not tricky. You just need a resistor on each direction (others here will give more detailed advice), and wire it to the 1.8 volt pin.

Give it a go - you can’t break anything expensive, and it could be a fun project for learning electronics. I wired up similar stuff for my Electron and ended up with a software job at Acorn.

[baz4096]

Give it a go - you can’t break anything expensive, and it could be a fun project for learning electronics.

I totally agree. If you’re only going to give it away, why not have a go at making it work? At the very least it’s good soldering practice.

[Leew]

A shiny NEW PLUS 1 and AP6 Board thanks to Dave H

Thanks Dave

Just waiting for the links to the STL's to print the Plus 1 some new clothes!

The New Plus 1 finally got it's new clothes

Last piece finished printing last night....

I embellished the top cover with the Acorn Electron logo. Hope you are OK with the minor modification to your 3D designs Dave H and Mark

And plugged in and working great, very happy with the way it's turned out....

Thanks Dave and Mark