Beeb Spotting

[flibble]

Many moons ago I remember watching a detective series called 'A Mind to Kill' on Channel 5 (they also did a welsh language version on S4C) where the coppers seemed to be using Archimedes in the office. Luckily someone has put an episode up on youtube so I can confirm I didn't hallucinate it.

Looks like an A4000 or A5000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc-zFHvhitg

It also appears to have been uploaded by 'Paul Middleton', I wonder if that's the same one

[lurkio]

Have you heard about the Beeb Bus? Turns out there was a Beeb Bus. All aboard the Beeb Bus!

We had a computer bus that used to visit school once a fortnight in the 80s.

https://twitter.com/rachelthebruce1/st ... 7445412877

[BigEd]

What an excellent bus! And a bit of pair programming going on there, perhaps.

[BeebMaster]

Wow, a BeebBus! I hope those Cubs are fixed well down for when it goes round corners!

[lurkio]

Photos from @sandeeproy1 and @monideep_roy on Twitter of a "Hope Dolphin", which was apparently a licensed clone of the Beeb made in India:

[BeebMaster]

Crumbs, a bit manky! 1MHz and Tube are replaced with "Expansion", which looks longer, possibly SCSI?, and "Cartridge". Worst feature is no Econet, best feature is a sensible aux. power connector on the PSU instead of that monstrosity we have here.

[Pernod]

Photos from @sandeeproy1 and @monideep_roy on Twitter of a "Hope Dolphin", which was apparently a licensed clone of the Beeb made in India:

Thanks, I was expecting to be notified of these but somehow missed out. Looks like twitter destroyed any hope of being able to read anything in those photos.

[paulb]

What an excellent bus! And a bit of pair programming going on there, perhaps.

Hopefully not the same buses as these, or that pair programming session is going to end up with some rather queasy children!

[NJ_]

That's an interesting machine.

Judging by the PSU label, which is dated 21/08/90, and the date codes on the chips, it was made long after production of the Model B for the UK market had ceased. The keycaps have a cylindrical rather than spherical profile which was almost universally used in the 90s. It looks as if the keyboard surround and labels on the rear and underside still have a protective film on them - I expect that they have a bushed finish and the film was supposed to be removed.

It's also interesting to see that unlike the better-known SCL Unicorn, the 6502 and 6522 are not branded by an Indian licensee but are made by Rockwell. The SAA5050 is Philips-branded too. The redesigned PCB has no space for an 8271, but is that a 1770 near the serial port? There also seem to be fewer sideways ROM sockets so perhaps the only one of the three which is populated is a 32K EPROM containing the OS and BASIC. I also wonder what the DIP switches beside the 6502 could be for - surely they're not the startup options which have been relocated from the keyboard.

I think this must be the first appearance on the internet of a complete BBC Micro clone. I have always been convinced that the SCL Unicorn on Chris' Acorns is simply a Unicorn PCB in a standard UK case, so it will be interesting to see what that looked like, if one ever surfaces.

[Pernod]

The redesigned PCB has no space for an 8271, but is that a 1770 near the serial port?

I think you're referring to the 6850, next to the serial ULA, then the empty socket for the uPD7002. The machine seems to have intended to support floppies but don't see any space for a FDC, the floppy drive connector is also not fitted. There's an unmarked IC next to the SAA5050 and video ULA that could be a FDC.
I was surprised to see it looks to have sockets for the speech IC's, seems to be an odd inclusion for a redesigned board.

There also seem to be fewer sideways ROM sockets so perhaps the only one of the three which is populated is a 32K EPROM containing the OS and BASIC.

Agree with this. I have asked for another photo of this area but no reply yet. I'm not holding out much hope of a ROM dump either.

(Mods: could we have these posts moved to their own topic, maybe in Hardware?)

[tricky]

There was an effort to find the original keyboard manufacturer,I think to reproduce for a modern remake.
I wonder if this keyboard may be a better candidate.

PS This became my equivalent of an arcade "grail cab" when I first heard it mentioned in an interview.

[BigEd]

No surprise at all, a Beeb can be spotted in this Dutch-language demo of a Domesday system within Philips:

via Multiwizard's post:
The only known recording of a Dutch Domesday system... (1985)

[BigEd]

And similarly in Nostalgia Nerd's video on the Domesday system. Although to me the Beeb doesn't look quite normal.

as posted by trixster here
Nostalgia Nerd - BBC Domesday Project

[lurkio]

BBC Micro in a school klaxon!

https://twitter.com/ChinnyVision/status ... B3vNhKeLYg

[BigEd]

Klaxon?? Canteen, I would have said... still, a completely valid beeb-spot!

Edit: I've been brought to the understanding that I've mis-parsed the original...

[gfoot]

The machine seems to have intended to support floppies but don't see any space for a FDC, the floppy drive connector is also not fitted. There's an unmarked IC next to the SAA5050 and video ULA that could be a FDC.

It's a long way from the marked floppy drive port though. Maybe that's actually the OS ROM and the FDC is hidden under the keyboard cable, or in one of the sockets that looked like speech ROM sockets?

[lurkio]

BONG! Beeb spotted in a church bell tower in Duxford. BONG..!

I think it was brought in by the bell ringers to store different peels (is that the right bell ringing term?) and stuff. It was in the ringing room.

https://twitter.com/checkyoursheds/stat ... 1828344835

[walkerworks]

I was going through some old scans and spotted this from 1996..

Derek

[BeebMaster]

Do you think he is really holding the Elk, or has it been Watford-Pagemaker-ed in?

[walkerworks]

The closer I look at it I think it has been mocked up..

[lovebug]

blakes 7 season 4 scorpio space ship controlled by an acorn system 1
 

[Deleted User 13004]

From a BBC news report on Urban Exploration https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-60700824

I think the caption says it all.

[Multiwizard]

And similarly in Nostalgia Nerd's video on the Domesday system. Although to me the Beeb doesn't look quite normal.

Screen Shot 2022-02-25 at 18.47.28.png

as posted by trixster here
Nostalgia Nerd - BBC Domesday Project

Hi,

I have that Beeb setup in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oBnHFO-xH0


Greetings, Wim...

[BigEd]

Nice video! Much clearer, much much clearer:

[tricky]

There are a couple in Ashes to Ashes series 3 in the "Dot Matrix" company.

I'm not sure what is displaying on the CUB, or even if it is really on and I don't think we ever see the other one.
Also the paper on the left one is gone 8 seconds later, but I can't remember if it is removed or disappears in a cut!

[AJW]

From a BBC news report on Urban Exploration https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-60700824


86216F26-3F2F-40CF-A721-D2379BA7BA04.jpeg

I think the caption says it all.

Looks like the Liverpool school earlier reported.

[BigEd]

I'm tempted to say it's different, though - different monitor and monitor stand (and these are not Liverpool accents!)

[lurkio]

Plenty of Beebs at the Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education in 1985, plus Econet and Acornsoft Business Games too:

https://www.youtube.com/v/fpJhLYxGWYc?t=85s

[lurkio]

BONG! Beeb spotted in a church bell tower in Duxford. BONG..!

I think it was brought in by the bell ringers to store different peels (is that the right bell ringing term?) and stuff. It was in the ringing room.

https://twitter.com/checkyoursheds/stat ... 1828344835

I contacted the Priest in Charge of the Churches of Hinxton, Ickleton and Duxford, and she forwarded my query about "the Beeb in the bell tower" to the Tower Captain, who confirmed that the Beeb is still there in the church at Duxford but hasn't been used for a long time.

The Tower Captain said that the Duxford bells have been silent for a while because of the pandemic, but it wasn't clear from her replies whether the Beeb was the last piece of tech to aid in the practice of bell ringing at the church or whether they've moved on to more modern hardware and software — or whether they've abandoned computers entirely.

What the Tower Captain did say was this: "Yes, we do still have the old computer [the Beeb] in the ringing chamber at St Peter’s ... It was set up to allow a ringer to practice silently, (with the bell clapper tied), so as not to disturb the neighbours."

I asked about the software that had been used on the Beeb, and she thought it might have been Abel Ringing Simulator, but I don't think Abel was ever available for the Beeb, so I suspect that the Beeb might actually have been running Stringing by John Norris.

The Tower Captain also said, "...the computer would play bell like sounds and the ringer would ring in the gaps ... If you would like, and are local, you are welcome to take photos of the computer."

I'm not local, but if anyone else is, it would be great to get a photo of The Beeb In The Bell Tower..!?

[Deleted User 13004]

MODE 2, right?

Dr Who, Peter Davison, The Caves of Androzani