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Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment.

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Old 29th Jun 2015, 3:06 pm   #1
Goldie99
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Default BBC Micro 'Fixers' - Anyone interested ?

Just saw this one, and thought there might be a couple of people interested here.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33291036
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Old 29th Jun 2015, 5:15 pm   #2
m0cemdave
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Default Re: BBC Micro 'Fixers' - Anyone interested ?

TNMOC is a fascinating place to visit, and they are always on the lookout for volunteers.

A lot of people are unaware that they are independent of the adjacent Bletchley Park Museum, although they share the same site entrance.
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Old 14th Oct 2015, 3:00 pm   #3
BottleMan
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Default Re: BBC Micro 'Fixers' - Anyone interested ?

I was just at the end of my visit by coach party to Bletchley and I was wondering where Colossus was. To be told that it was in the Museum up the road came as a bit of a shock and I rushed out to see it. Consequently, last on the coach and no one in the party had seen it.
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Old 14th Oct 2015, 5:22 pm   #4
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Default Re: BBC Micro 'Fixers' - Anyone interested ?

I was very lucky to talk to Tony Sale (one of the founders of the museum) on the time before the last time before the last time I went to the park. Must have been an hour or two talking about engineering standing next to Coloussus, wonderful.

It has been getting better year after year, well worth a visit. If you are a bit fagged out after Bletchley the TNMOC has its own car park, a short ride (or drive) from the main car park, which (I am glad to say) has dedicated motorcycle allocations.
 
Old 30th Oct 2015, 1:05 pm   #5
Henenen
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Default Re: BBC Micro 'Fixers' - Anyone interested ?

Visited 2 or 3 years ago and had the guided tour which lasted the whole afternoon and was excellent.

It's a must visit, goes way beyond the usual 8-bit retro machines. In fact they were at the end of the tour and the least interesting as they're pretty ubiquitous in comparison to the other exhibits.

My favourites were the 8mb ceramic hard drive platter the size of a truck wheel, and an amazing 7" (or so) cube of 'RAM', made out of interlinked chainmail, each link independently moving left or right to give the 1 or 0.
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Old 2nd Nov 2015, 12:41 am   #6
Zelandeth
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Default Re: BBC Micro 'Fixers' - Anyone interested ?

Keep meaning to throw my name in the ring as a volunteer given that I live ten minutes from the place. BBC Micro is a machine that has thus far always escaped addition to my collection, but I cut my teeth on the Archimedes machines, and know my way around the basics like power supplies and such...

Know one end of a valve from another as well which could be handy sometimes for the other exhibits.

...Also still need to find time to actually take the whole tour...Only made it through the first couple of rooms last time before we had to bail because we were out of time (I hadn't been prepared for how much stuff there was in BP in general compared to my previous visit so we were running massively late).

Could sit and watch the WITCH running computations all day, that thing is downright hypnotic.
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Old 3rd Jan 2016, 4:22 pm   #7
123king
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Default Re: BBC Micro 'Fixers' - Anyone interested ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zelandeth View Post
Keep meaning to throw my name in the ring as a volunteer given that I live ten minutes from the place. BBC Micro is a machine that has thus far always escaped addition to my collection, but I cut my teeth on the Archimedes machines, and know my way around the basics like power supplies and such...
Keep an eye out. I recently bought an unmodified Micro from a "Man & Van" i know, last PAT-tested in '87. I did my first soldering job on it a few months ago to replace 3 blown caps that exploded in a shower of sparks and magic smoke when i plugged it in... Should have read the PAT-test date first

I'm sure there's many more like it sat in lofts all around the country, just waiting for that last trip to the skip...

Also, a bit off topic, but the first computer i used was the Archimedes (and RiscOS) back in first school. I remember gawping at the Micro when i was about 5 and never getting to use it.... 20 years down the line and now i own one
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