UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - What was your first computer and do you still have it?

soundhog · 17th Jul 2008, 11:34 pm

Computers, eh?

The first one I remember was at a relative's house, which he built from a kit. The details are very sketchy, but I recall that it was programmed in binary using a set of toggle switches. I don't remember any sort of display, but he did spend about an hour programming it which resulted in a beepy melody from the thing. He then had a Rair "Black Box", and a little Epson portable unit with an LCD screen and micro-cassette unit built in. I must find out if he still has it. Anyway, by this point I obviously wanted a computer of my own, even though I wasn't sure exactly why.

So I bought a ZX81 off a schoolfriend's brother, early 1982 I think. It had a JRS 16K RAM pack which was fairly stable, and came with a load of games - all very early copies, like Hewson's Puckman with a purple card printed inlay, QS Defenda and Scramble without any text on the front, 3D Monster Maze on JK Greye rather than New Generation, etc.

I kept it for a year or so, picking up a ZX Printer along the way which lasted about 5 months. Sadly I don't have it anymore, as I sold it on to buy a 16K Spectrum. I then had a VIC=20, Atari 800XL, and finally got a C64 on which I started programming machine code. This led to a short lived period of commercial game writing. I bought an Amiga 500 for the express purpose of using it as a cross assembler... an expensive option!

Most of those original machines either vanished or broke, apart from the Atari which I still have, although I've not switched it on for 15 years. I've since acquired quite a lot of other machines which occasionally get dragged out - a few C64s, a BBC B, two QLs (very unservicable), a Camputers Lynx (again looking rather u/s), an Electron, a Spectrum +2, a Mac LCIII and a couple of Acorn Archies. Most of them have yet to be tried out, but one day I'll make enough room to set a couple up at least.

17th Jul 2008, 11:34 pm	#103
soundhog Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denbighshire, north Wales, UK. Posts: 43	Re: what was your first computer and do you still have it? Computers, eh? The first one I remember was at a relative's house, which he built from a kit. The details are very sketchy, but I recall that it was programmed in binary using a set of toggle switches. I don't remember any sort of display, but he did spend about an hour programming it which resulted in a beepy melody from the thing. He then had a Rair "Black Box", and a little Epson portable unit with an LCD screen and micro-cassette unit built in. I must find out if he still has it. Anyway, by this point I obviously wanted a computer of my own, even though I wasn't sure exactly why. So I bought a ZX81 off a schoolfriend's brother, early 1982 I think. It had a JRS 16K RAM pack which was fairly stable, and came with a load of games - all very early copies, like Hewson's Puckman with a purple card printed inlay, QS Defenda and Scramble without any text on the front, 3D Monster Maze on JK Greye rather than New Generation, etc. I kept it for a year or so, picking up a ZX Printer along the way which lasted about 5 months. Sadly I don't have it anymore, as I sold it on to buy a 16K Spectrum. I then had a VIC=20, Atari 800XL, and finally got a C64 on which I started programming machine code. This led to a short lived period of commercial game writing. I bought an Amiga 500 for the express purpose of using it as a cross assembler... an expensive option! Most of those original machines either vanished or broke, apart from the Atari which I still have, although I've not switched it on for 15 years. I've since acquired quite a lot of other machines which occasionally get dragged out - a few C64s, a BBC B, two QLs (very unservicable), a Camputers Lynx (again looking rather u/s), an Electron, a Spectrum +2, a Mac LCIII and a couple of Acorn Archies. Most of them have yet to be tried out, but one day I'll make enough room to set a couple up at least.