Latest Additions
Some of our latest additions are shown below - clicking on the link will take you to the items main page and will also show any further photographs.
XBOX 360 Viva Pinata Special Edition Faceplate
A limited edition faceplate for the XBOX 360, promoting the launch of Viva Pinata. Our version is unopened.
Euromax Pro Ace Joystick
The Euromax Pro Ace joystick is compatable with a wide variety of 8-bit and 16-bit computers equiped with a 9-pin socket
Psion Series 3A
The Psion 3 range of personal digital assistants were made by Psion PLC. The four main variants are the Psion 3 (1991), the Psion 3a (1993), the Psion 3c (1996), and the Psion 3mx (1998), all sized 165 x 85 x 22 mm. In addition, a Psion 3a variant with factory installed software for the Russian language was called a Psion 3aR, and Acorn Computers sold a rebadged version of the Psion 3 and 3a marketed as the Acorn Pocket Book and Acorn Pocket Book II.
The Psion 3 models were a major advance on the Psion Organiser. They had an original way of managing files: the available program icons are shown in a horizontal line and the associated files drop down beneath them. Manufacture of Psion 3s was discontinued in 1998 shortly after the launch of the Psion Series 5 (a Psion 4 does not exist, due to Psion's concern of tetraphobia in their Asian markets) and the Psion Siena. Psion's industrial hardware division continue to produce handhelds running the same 16-bit operating system, some 17 years after its introduction on the Psion MC range of laptops and 5 years after Psion Computer's final 32-bit EPOC PDA was released.
Manufacturer: Psion PLC
Type: PDA
Retail availability: 1993
Media: Psion Solid State Disks
Operating system: SIBO
Power: 2 × AA battery
CPU: NEC V30H @ 7.68MHz
Display: 480 × 160 monochrome LCD
Input: QWERTY keyboard
Connectivity: Serial, 19200 bit/s RS-232C
Type: PDA
Retail availability: 1993
Media: Psion Solid State Disks
Operating system: SIBO
Power: 2 × AA battery
CPU: NEC V30H @ 7.68MHz
Display: 480 × 160 monochrome LCD
Input: QWERTY keyboard
Connectivity: Serial, 19200 bit/s RS-232C
Our unit has a plastic wood effect case.
Gamester LMP Multitap
A third party Multitap adaptor for the SNES. A switch on the side allows the user to select two or four player modes.
Transform Microdrive Storage Box
This storage box can store up to 20 Sinclair Microdrive Cartridges. A connecting plate can be attached to the underside of the case enabling multiple boxes to be joined together.
CGL Puck Monster
Puck Monster is an LCD tabetop game console that plays a clone of Pack Man. It has two skill levels that can be selected via a switch and a four way joystick for control. The unit is powered by four D cell batteries.
It was released in the UK by CGL, who also were responsible for bringing over the Sord series of computers.
RM Nimbus Domesday System
The Domesday System was not entirely exclusive to the Acorn BBC systems, also being available for the Nimbus.
Nintendo Micro Vs System - Boxing
This is one in a long series of games, where the player gets to use a tiny joypad that pulls out of the case, and can be wound back in after use.
It runs on two LR44 batteries, and is a 2D boxing game, in one player mode, the player is always on the right.
Originally titled Punch Out to match the famous Nintendo fighting game, the name was changed to simply boxing after release in the US.
Cirrus Logic "Maverik" Development System
Cirrus Logic created the 7500FE system-on-chip for the A7000+ and sold a great number of these chips too Bush for use in their set-top boxes. Fllowing this success, they started development on an ARM9-based successor, codenamed "maverik". Development of the new chip was troubled, with numerous steppings and complete revisions required. The eventual product (the EP9312) was years late to market and this resulted in several changes in management at Cirrus Logic.
This system is the sixth edition of the silicon (there were at least three subsequent ones) and we believe it to be the only complete one remaining.
MGT PLUS D
The MGT PLUS D is a disk and printer interface with a snapshot button. The device is compatable with 48K, +, 128K, and 128K +2 models of Sinclair Spectrum.
Nine Tiles PDP-11 Multilink Interface
This interface allows a PDP-11 to network to any other machine with a compatible interface, even from other manufacturers.
Commodore 64 C Light Fantastic Pack
The Commodore 64 was one of the most succesful home computers in the world selling around 11-17 million units between 1982 to 1993!
There were several versions of the C64 from the original "Bull Nosed" style through to the later re-styled version and even versions produced specifically for the education market.
The C64 features 64 kilobytes of RAM with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible computers of that time. During the Commodore 64's lifetime (between 1982 and 1994), sales totalled around 17 million units. Part of its success was due to the fact that it was sold in retail stores instead of electronics stores, and that Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control supplies and cost.
Approximately 10,000 commercial software titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office applications, and games. The machine is also credited with popularizing the computer demo scene. The Commodore 64 is still used today by some computer hobbyists, and emulators allow anyone with a modern computer to run these programs on their desktop.
The Commodore 64 C was released in 1986, and is cosmetically different to the original version, which is affectionately known as the bread bin, this was styled to fit more with the Amiga and C128 machines, there were also internal differences, such as revised SID and Vic chips.
This machine is in a Terminator 2 box, and is in excellent condition, with no yellowing, a leather cover, PSU, Aerial Lead, and free copy of Commodore Format Magazine.
It also has the original receipt showing it was purchased on the 5th of February 1993 at ten past one in the afternoon, and cost £79.99.
This pack contained a Cheetah Light Gun, Blaze out software pack, the Toolkit range of cassettes, and a C64c.
IBM TokenRing card
This MicroChannel expansion card allows you to connect your IBM PS/2 computer to a token ring network.
IBM ISA Auto TokenRing card
This 16-bit ISa expansion card for the IBM PC allows you to connect your computer to a token ring network.
AST SixPak Plus
The AST SixPak plus combines up to 384KB DRAM; game (joystick) port; parallel port; serial port; and real-time clock onto a single 8-bit ISA expansion card for the IBM PC.
Super Players Entertainment System
The Super Players Entertainment System is a clone of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It can play 99.9% of all SNES cartridges including NTSC and PAL version.
Hercules Graphics Card Plus
Monochrome graphics expansion card for the IBM PC. Compatible with MDA (IBM 5151) monitors but with additional memory to allow graphics display, as well as the standard MDA 80x25 text mode. The Graphics Card Plus also allows the text mode font to be replaced at runtime, as opposed to the standard MDA card's fixed ROM font.
AT Games Handheld Console
The AT Games handheld come pre-loaded with 20 SEGA Mega Drive games. It has a backlit LCD display, headphone jack and an A/V connector enabling it to output to a TV.
Bung GB Xchanger
The GB Xchanger is designed for backing up Game Boy and Game Boy Colour games. It could also be used to transfer the backups to a flash cartridge. The device could be connected to a PC via a parallel port and GB is powered with 6 AAA batteries or a 9V adapter.
Datel Equalizer Cheat Code Cartridge
A cheat code cartridge produced by Datel for the Nintendo 64. The cartridge comes pre loaded with several hundred cheat codes and has storage space for many more. The cartridge also features a code generator allowing the generation of cheat codes as well as a freeze function and a V-RAM viewer allowing the user to view graphics not normally seen during gameplay.
Trilogic the Expert
The Expert Cartridge was a popular extension cartridge for the Commodore 64 and later the Commodore 128. It featured a fast loader, increasing the speeds of the disk drive and a freezer allowing a loaded program to be resumed later. The cartridge was originally released in 1986.
Acorn PET Test Board
The Acorn Progressive Establishment Testing System (PET) was the middle stage in the test equipment supplied by Acorn (between FIT and ICE) for the BBC Micro.
The PET was intended to be used by subcontract manufacturers and the Acorn dealers who serviced the machine. By connecting the PET to the main board of a Model A or B BBC Micro, via a combination of test clips and cable links, it is then possible to run a sequence of tests, which as the name suggests, start from the central core of the computer and progressively establish the operation or malfunction of the major board components. It was capable of running an extensive range of tests on the BBC Micro which allowed a good test engineer to locate the most awkward of faults in a relatively short time.
Acorn Econet Bridge
Econet was Acorn's low-cost local area network system, intended for use by schools and small businesses. Econet is rumoured to be an abbreviation of Economy Network, but Acorn were always careful to stress the Greek root, oikos, meaning "house".
Econet was first introduced for use with the Acorn Atom and Acorn System 2/3/4 computers in 1981. It became popular as a networking system for the BBC Micro and Archimedes computers. The Econet system was eventually supported on all post-Atom Acorn machines except the Electron, the A3010 and the eventually-cancelled Phoebe 2100. The system was supported by Acorn MOS, RISC OS and RISC iX. Acorn received an offer from Commodore International to license the technology, which it refused.
The Acorn Econet Bridge is unique amongst Cheese Wedges as it is the only one which does not connect to a BBC Micro. The Bridge connects into an Econet network as if it were a clock or a station. Its function is to link together two Econet networks.
Further details can be found at http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/8bit_Upgrades/Acorn_AEH20_EconetBridge.html
Our unit has a model/serial number of 25-AEH20-1000765
iPod (5th Gen)
The first portable media player produced by Apple. The lithium ion battery provides up to 14 hours of music playback. The iPod in our collection has 30GB of storage which equates to roughly 7500 songs, which can be downloaded using the app store on a PC or Mac and transferred to the iPod via a USB connection lead. The iPod in our collection is the 5th Generation which was the first iPod to be available in a different colour other than white.
Nine Tiles Amstrad Multilink Interface in External Case
This interface produced by Nine Tiles allows the Amstrad computer to network to any other machine with a compatible interface, even from other manufacturers.
Risc PC Feet
The Acorn Risc PC can be turned on its side in a tower arrangement. The feet slot into the ventilation slits in the right side of the case and lift it off the ground to improve ventilation and stick out a bit to improve balance.
Digidesign Project II
The Digidesign Project II is a half size PCI sound card with a single 60 pin peripheral port. The card is compatible with a variety of applications for Macintosh and Windows computers.
Computer Village Floppy Disc Controller
The Computer Village floppy disc controller is a board which plugs into the 8271 FDC socket and the 6522 socket (the 6522 is plugged into the contoller board). It uses the SMC 1797 FDC which is a double density FDC. The BBC Micro it came in had a LVL Double Density DFS installed.
Texas Instruments TM 990 / U89
This may look like a calculator - the keyboard is from a TI-59 calculator - but it's a training system for the TMS 9980A processor. The board has 1K of RAM and 4K of ROM, plus the ability to save and load code from tape.
This board is co-branded Radio Spares.
Manufacturer: Texas Instruments
Date: 1978
Nintendo 64 - Fire Red
After the proposed add on systems for the Super Nintendo had come to nothing, Nintendo had the task of trying to keep market share by creating a console with a new partner in Silicon Graphics, who were to provide a low cost, high performance graphics chip at the centre of the machine, other partners were NEC, who provided the CPU, and Toshiba and Sharp.
After a series of lengthy delays the machine finally launched in Japan first, where the machine did not sell well, failing to take on Sony and even slipping behind the Saturn, a major blow was losing their long time software collaborator in Square, who took their Final Fantasy series on to the Playstation, citing the lack of space and expense of producing a cartridge.
The public also found that after two years of movie style cut scenes in games, going back to static cartoon screens, and subtitles rather jarring due to the more restrictive medium.
The
controller was as polarising as the decision on which media to use was,
it was three pronged, very large and was held differently depending on
which game was played, for platformers the player would hold the two
outer prongs, for 1st person or driving games, the middle and left, and
for some of the more obscure fishing type games would be held with the
middle and right.
Sales were much better in the US, where for a year the console easily slipped into second place behind the Playstation, on the strength of launch games such as the brilliant Super Mario 64, which took the 2D plumber into a rich, vibrant 3D world.
In Europe the machine had a very shaky start, the console cost much more than in other territories, retailing for £249.99, and the games were very expensive, the cheapest titles such as Pilotwings cost £49.99, already much higher than the CD games from Sony and Sega, but third party games such as Turok Dinosaur Hunter were as much as £69.99.
A hasty price cut to £149.99 revitalised sales, but apart from the very top titles such as Super Mario 64 and Wave Race 64, software sales remained sluggish.
In the second year, sales and software releases diminished, as third party companies moved away from Nintendo’s strict licensing.
Gradually though, in time, Nintendo gained ground on its competitors, overtaking the sales of the Saturn, as cartridge manufacturing costs came down, the software library was bolstered by more classic output from Nintendo, but the machine would find salvation in the output from Rare, who would produce some of the best games from the era, most notably Goldeneye 007, which would follow the film closely, and prove that consoles could do first person shooters very well, once the preserve of the PC.
Although a well loved retro console nowadays, the machine sold considerably less than the SNES, and left Nintendo with a considerable market share loss to Sony.
As of March 31, 2005, the N64 had sold 5.54 million units in Japan, 20.63 million in the Americas, and 6.75 million in other regions, for a total of 32.93 million units.
Our Model is Serial number NUP 16077840
Has matching controller and 8MB Expansion card.
PC Propad
A wired game pad compatible with IBM PC, XT, AT, 386 & 486 computers.
Features.
- 8 direction pad.
- Independent auto fire control.
- Two auto fire speed selections.
- Semi and hands free auto fire settings.
AppleCD 300e Plus
An external CD drive designed for the Apple Macintosh range of computers.
Features.
- Up to 342 kilobytes per second.
- 256k cache and SCSI II inputs.
- Burst transfer rate of up to 2.5 megabytes per second.
- Supports all major CD Rom formats.
- Can be shared over a network.
- Plays standard audio CDs.
- Headphone jack and volume control.
Program Wiring Subset Unit from LEO III
This microprogram unit was rescued from LEO III/25 at Worthing by David Morley.
The LEO III/25 installed for the Inland Revenue at Worthing had over 100 of these units which each held different instructions for processing data. The tiny iron cores were threaded by hand at the factory, which required incredible accuracy.
This microprogram is currently on display in the main gallery as part of our LEO exhibition for the National Lottery Heritage Funded-project 'Swiss Rolls, Tea and the Electronic Office'.
AtGames Gopher Handheld
This portable games system has 20 built-in SEGA games. It has 16 bit graphics, a 2.8" Color TFT Screen and a lithium ion rechargeable battery. It features a headphone jack and an AV output so that you can connect it to a TV.
Evoluent Vertical Mouse 3
This mouse supports your hand in a position similar to a handshake. This helps eliminate forearm twisting relieving hand, wrist and arm pain.
It is a wired optical mouse which has 5 programmable buttons.
3M EM500GPL Ergonomic Mouse
This mouse is clinically proven to reduce muscle strain and discomfort. It records optically for smoother and more accurate movements. It is designed for right-handed use only. The mice we have in our collection are wired (with USB), but there is also a wired version.
To move the cursor around the screen, you move the mouse as you would normally. The top button is used for the right/left click. The other button, on the side of the mouse, is used to scroll.
Home brew VIC20 Expansion Port Expander
A home brew expansion port expander which adds an additional 3 expansion ports to the back of a VIC20.
Sony Vaio PCG-U1
The Sony U series of subnotebooks were amongst the smallest computers capable of running Windows XP. Our PCG-U1 is localised for Japan.
Details.
- CPU - Transmedia Crusoe TM580 @ 867MHz
- Display - 6.4" 1024x768 resolution
- GPU - ATI Mobility Radeon M6 with 8MB VRAM
- RAM - 128MB
- Storage - 20GB 1.8" HD
- Dimensions - 184x139x46mm, weight 860g.
GM829 Genini Multiboard Floppy Disk Controller
The Gemini Galaxy range of computers were of "all British" origin, being manufactured by Gemini Microcomputers Ltd., Amersham, Bucks.
the Galaxy systems were built around the 80-BUS, specifically designed for the Z80 microprocessor. They had two Z80A processors, one acting as the CPU and the other running the 'programmable' video card (Called the IVC).
The video card memory was composed of: 2 KB Monitor ROM (SIMON), 2KB User workspace RAM (it was capable of holding user routines), 2 KB Screen RAM, 2KB character generator ROM, 2KB character generator RAM (programmable fonts).
the Galaxy systems were built around the 80-BUS, specifically designed for the Z80 microprocessor. They had two Z80A processors, one acting as the CPU and the other running the 'programmable' video card (Called the IVC).
The video card memory was composed of: 2 KB Monitor ROM (SIMON), 2KB User workspace RAM (it was capable of holding user routines), 2 KB Screen RAM, 2KB character generator ROM, 2KB character generator RAM (programmable fonts).
Numerous expansion cards were available, this example is a floppy disk controller.
Paradise Systems 20MB Macintosh Hard Drive
An external 20MB hard drive for the Apple Macintosh. Produced my Paradise Systems Inc, a Texas based hardware company.
State Machine G8 Graphic Accelerator
The State Machine G8 Graphics Accelerator provides improved graphics performance for Acorn Archimedes computers from the A300 through to the A5000.
The Archimedes VIDC based graphics system is unchanged from the original A300 to the A5000. By 1992 the graphics capabilities of a standard PC had overtaken the Archimedes range with resolutions of 800x600 in 256 colours or 1024 x 768 in 16 colours.
The other problem with the Archimedes VIDC based graphics is that the main DRAM is used as the frame store. This means that the ARM processor has to stop accessing the main DRAM whenever the video system wants the next part of the screen. The Archimedes slows down as the resolution and/or number of colours increases.
The G8 Graphics Accelerator card overcomes these problems by having a local Video RAM frame store on the graphics card and by permanently clocking the VIDC chip at the frequency for the correct sound.
The G8 Graphics card takes the data from the VIDC's nibble port, which provides 4 bits of data which represents the value of the pixel to be displayed. These 4 bits are buffered, combined and then written into one side of the VRAM store on the G8 card.
The graphics controller on the G8 Graphic card then accesses the other side of the VRAM frame store, and displays the data on the screen.
This means that the Archimedes VIDC video system runs as though it was displaying 25 frames per second, and therefore displays high resolutions without affecting the speed of the machine too much.
The second card is an updated version of the original G8 called the G16. The only difference is in the software.
The G8 Graphic Accerator Card User Guide is in the Documents section.
DEC Prototype Set Top Box
This is a prototype model set top box produced by Digital Equipment Corporation in 1996.
ICL DRS M15
The ICL DRS was a range of departmental computers from International Computers Limited (ICL). Standing originally for Distributed Resource System, the full name was later dropped in favour of the abbreviation.
During the mid 1980s separate Office Systems business units had produced a disparate range of products including IBM-compatible PCs such as the PWS (an PC AT Clone), small servers branded DRS, and various larger Unix servers sold under the Clan range. A rebranding in late 1988 pulled these together under the DRS brand, with a consistent mid grey and peppermint green livery. The ICL division responsible for these systems eventually became part of the Fujitsu-Siemens joint venture.
The DRS M15 bridges the gap between terminals and PCs by providing business graphics and multi tasking, with the press of a button a new application could start to run, while leaving the previous programme running in the background. Up to four applications could be running at one time. Presentation facilities, and a second graphics co processor, means less reliance on server power.
The applications are menu driven, and the machine could be cabled up to a thousand metres, or via RS232.
Our machine came with the kind generosity of Satherley Design Associate, who were involved with its industrial design.
Toshiba HX-E600
The Toshiba HX-E600 is a slot expander designed for the Toshiba HX-10 computer series expansion bus.
Yamaha CA-01
The Yamaha Single Cartridge Adapter allows to use the edge connector expansion bus, as found on select systems as a second cartridge slot. The connector can be found on the back under a cover labelled "PEAP Slot" on the following MSX1 computers:
Victor HC-5
Victor HC-6
Victor HC-60
Yamaha CX5
Yamaha CX5F
Yamaha CX5M
Yamaha YIS-303
Yamaha YIS-503
Yamaha YIS-503F
Yamaha YK-01 Keyboard
This MIDI keyboard is designed for use with the Yamaha CX5M MSX music computer. This keyboard has mini sized keys and isn't velocity sensitive. There is also a full sized version, the YK-10
Logica VTS 2300 (Kennet)
[Neal Crook writes: I was hired as a graduate engineer by Logica VTS and worked there for just over a year before being made redundant. I was not involved in the original development of the Kennet A but did a lot of work on the machine as it moved into production. Here are my memories of this machine. Stuff marked ??thus?? indicates where my memory is hazy]
Logica VTS 2300 (Kennet A)
Logica Video Terminal Systems (Logica VTS) was a division of Logica plc, and was based in Drakes Way, Swindon. This site contained the hardware and software design and development teams, software validation/QA, manufacturing, drawingoffice, purchasing, canteen and other functions.
The Kennet was designed as a dedicated word-processor and a successor to the 2200 "Whirlwind" machine. It came to the market just at the time that the IBM PC became a credible threat. Although the Kennet was based on the Intel 8086 and could (and later did) run MS-DOS, it did not provide any degree of software compatibility with the IBM PC (at the time, the crucial measure of compatibility was: could you run Microsoft flight simulator. The Kennet could not).
There were 2 chassis variants: Kennet A (2300) which had 1 expansion slot and Kennet B which had ??4??
The Kennet B looked like a taller version of the Kennet A. Internally, it had a larger/higher capacity power supply.
There were 2 motherboard variants: a motherboard providing a monochrome display, and a motherboard providing a colour display.
The original and most common model was the monochrome Kennet A. It comprised a base unit, a monitor and a keyboard. The monitor had an amber phosphor and attached to the base unit with a cable and D-connector. The cable provided 12V power and the display signals. The keyboard was attached to the base unit by a variant of the BT modular jack (??or did it attach to the display??)
The case was plastic. After removing 4 screws (2 on each side) from the bottom tray, the cover could be slid forward (to clear the disk drive facias) and lifted off. There may have been a reinforcing metal plate attached to the inside of the cover. The cover was 4 separate mouldings, screwed together: a lid, a front facia and two side panels (one on each side).
The Kennet B used the same bottom tray and top, it used a different/taller front facia and stacked multiple side panels on each side to get the additional height.
The cream/grey colour scheme was used for Logica-branded machines. Machines badge-engineered for BT and ICL used a chocolate-brown facia around the monitor instead of the grey. All were manufactured in Swindon.
On power-up, the machine attempted to boot from disk. Usually, it would boot straight into the word processor, which had integrated file manager and print spooler. This software was entirely proprietary, and written in-house.
Internally, the unit had a switch-mode power supply in an open-frame metal chassis running the full length of the unit along the right-hand side. The IEC inlet on the back and the power rocker-switch on the front were both mounted in this chassis. Later units had a "nomex" (a kind on resin-impregnated cardboard) shield covering the high-voltage areas of the power supply.
To the left of the power supply, a backplane ran across the front of the machine and the rest of the internals of the Kennet A were a 4-layer sandwich. The bottom layer was the expansion slot. The next layer was the motherboard. The next layer was the Option Bus and the top layer was the drive tray.
The Kennet B was identical except that there were multiple expansion slots below the motherboard.
The drive tray could accommodate 5.25" floppy drives and Rodime 5MByte hard drives. There was space for 2 floppies, or for 1 floppy and 1 or 2 hard
drives. The drives were powered by flying leads from the power supply. The data cables for the floppies connected down onto the motherboard below. When hard drives were fitted, there was a 3rd-party (Adaptec??) controller board mounted on the drive tray and connected down onto the motherboard (maybe via an O-bus card?)
The motherboard could be slid out from the rear of the unit by removing the metal back panel, but its removal also required the cover to be removed so that the disk drive ribbon cables could be disconnected from the motherboard.
A set of small daughter-cards could be mounted along the back edge of the
motherboard. These were connected electrically through 0.1"-pitch 2xN connector pins that were fitted to the motherboard and fixed mechanically by click-in nylon stand-offs. The electrical connection was called the "option bus" orO-bus. The O-bus cards were not mechanically interchangeable; there were 3 (??or4??) different positions supporting cards of different sizes. The cards were
~4"x4" (some were wider, some narrower). Connectors mounted on the back edge of the card aligned with cutouts in the metal back panel of the base unit.
There was an O-bus card that provided an ARCnet LAN interface, and another that provided a daisy-wheel printer interface. There were probably others that I don't recall.
The backplane used 2 DIN 41612 connectors per slot. For Kennet A there were 2 slots: the top slot for the motherboard and one slot for expansion. For Kennet B there were ??5?? slots: the top slot for the motherboard and the remaining ??4?? for expansion.
Each expansion slot was divided into a slot about 4" wide and a slot about 8"
wide; there was 1 DIN 41612 connector for each section. The 4" slot was used for memory expansion. Memory expansion cards were 4" square with a male DIN 41612 connector on one edge and a female DIN 41612 connector on the opposite edge. Upto 3 could be daisy-chained in the slot extending the full depth of the unit.
The 8" slot was used for adding additional functionality. The only board that I remember was a dual screen/keyboard expansion. This provided connectors for 2 more monitors and 2 more keyboards; it contained 2 duplications of the video/keyboard circuitry on the motherboard. The monitor could not be powered from the Kennet; a visually identical "self-powered" monitor was required. With this expansion board, a Kennet A could serve 3 separate users, all running independent word-processing tasks and sharing the single processor, the file storage and any other peripherals.
The motherboard was about 13" square and was packed with through-hole components and connectors. There were many MMI PAL devices but no other "custom" components.
The PCB layout was subcontracted. There was so much circuitry to fit that a 6-layer board was needed (2 outer signal layers, 2 inner signal layers, ground layer, 5V power layer). Even then it did not fit. Design rework had to be performed to cram additional logic into PALs to reduce the component area.
The colour motherboard was the same size but had even more logic; in this case, higher-density 24-pin PALs were used.
The motherboard design and timing analysis was done by hand, and the different sheets of the A0 schematics showed different handwriting and drawing styles depending upon the designer who had been responsible for that part of the design. After the design had been completed and debugged a separate project was undertaken, using 2 Daisy CAD workstations, to schematic-capture the entire design and to perform a logical simulation and timing simulation.
The motherboard contained an 8086 processor, boot EPROMs, floppy disk controller, DRAM, keyboard controller, video sub-system, battery-backed real-time clock, interrupt controller (and probably more).
I thought that the video sub-system was character mapped with attribute bits for underline, bold etc. but I read elsewhere that it was a bit-mapped display so I must be remembering that wrongly.
The motherboard was designed in-house. The design of the VDU, the power supply and the keyboard were subcontracted. I think that the keyboard manufacture was also subcontracted. The VDU, motherboard, power supply and mechanical components were all assembled in-house in the Swindon factory.
A walled-off area within the shop floor contained the (noisy) pick-and-place machines for inserting ICs, passive components and the Harwin pins that made up the connectors. There was a flow-soldering machine, a bed-of-nails tester and a commissioning area where technicians attempted to diagnose faulty boards. The rest of the space were sets of conveyer belts where staff performed their steps of placing hand-inserted components or assembly of the sub-systems into complete units.
The design offices and labs were effectively a "slice" of space carved off the shop floor, and there was a door from the lab straight onto the shop floor, which could be used as a short-cut to the canteen.
The working environment was friendly and relaxed. There were good working relationships between the engineering staff and the manufacturing staff, and a good mix of men/women in all of the job functions (apart from design, which was predominantly but not exclusively men).
The PCB layout was subcontracted. There was so much circuitry to fit that a 6-layer board was needed (2 outer signal layers, 2 inner signal layers, ground layer, 5V power layer). Even then it did not fit. Design rework had to be performed to cram additional logic into PALs to reduce the component area.
The colour motherboard was the same size but had even more logic; in this case, higher-density 24-pin PALs were used.
The motherboard design and timing analysis was done by hand, and the different sheets of the A0 schematics showed different handwriting and drawing styles depending upon the designer who had been responsible for that part of the design. After the design had been completed and debugged a separate project was undertaken, using 2 Daisy CAD workstations, to schematic-capture the entire design and to perform a logical simulation and timing simulation.
The motherboard contained an 8086 processor, boot EPROMs, floppy disk controller, DRAM, keyboard controller, video sub-system, battery-backed real-time clock, interrupt controller (and probably more).
I thought that the video sub-system was character mapped with attribute bits for underline, bold etc. but I read elsewhere that it was a bit-mapped display so I must be remembering that wrongly.
The motherboard was designed in-house. The design of the VDU, the power supply and the keyboard were subcontracted. I think that the keyboard manufacture was also subcontracted. The VDU, motherboard, power supply and mechanical components were all assembled in-house in the Swindon factory.
A walled-off area within the shop floor contained the (noisy) pick-and-place machines for inserting ICs, passive components and the Harwin pins that made up the connectors. There was a flow-soldering machine, a bed-of-nails tester and a commissioning area where technicians attempted to diagnose faulty boards. The rest of the space were sets of conveyer belts where staff performed their steps of placing hand-inserted components or assembly of the sub-systems into complete units.
The design offices and labs were effectively a "slice" of space carved off the shop floor, and there was a door from the lab straight onto the shop floor, which could be used as a short-cut to the canteen.
The working environment was friendly and relaxed. There were good working relationships between the engineering staff and the manufacturing staff, and a good mix of men/women in all of the job functions (apart from design, which was predominantly but not exclusively men).
Kindly Donated by Satherley Design Associates who were involved in the industrial design of the machine.
Logica VTS 2200
Notes from Jim Gartside & Gren Gale, the system had the development name Project Whirlwind, the software team numbered around 25.
Running around an 8080 or 8086 processor, with 64K partitioned RAM.
The machine was a word processor, and cost around 5,000, initially very successful, with customers such as Shell as big customers.
It was voted in a
Marplan poll as ICL’s most popular product with its customers and won
for Logica the Queen’s Award to Industry for Technological Innovation.
1983
These were also re-badged by British Telecom (as the M3300) and Nexos. They could be networked on a Cambridge Ring and were also used internally as development workstations running an Intel development system (8086 assembler and PL/M-86).
ICL also produced a badged version of the machine, the ICL 8801, which
Very soon increased competition from the likes of Amstrad with their much cheaper machines, changed the market landscape and Logica VTS closed in 1986.
Has two 5.25 Disk Drives, and keyboard with some unique commands such as 'close up'
The follow up hardware was the Vitesse, which was a full PC, Kennet was the hardware and Avon was the operating system, which was to be Unix based, after initially being based on CP/M and DOS.
Kindly Donated by Satherley Design Associates who were involved in the industrial design of the machine.
Sega SG-1000
The SG-1000 (Sega Game 1000) was Sega's first product for the home video game console.
It was only ever available in Japan and Australia and although was not entirely popular to start with, it did however lay the foundations for the much more successful Sega Master System.
The Sega SG-1000 was a cartridge-based system.
This machine has the box for the much rarer orange and black striped machine. Which was released outside of Japan, sometimes called the German flag version of the SG-1000.
The machine itself is the blue striped version.
Sega SG-1100 Keyboard
This keyboard allows the Sega Mk II to have the same functionality as the SC-3000 Computer
This model is in excellent condition
Sega SG-1000 Mk II
The Sega SG1000 MK II was released in July 1984. It was an updated version of the original SG-1000 that was functionally identical, but had a re-styled case with the connector for the optional plug-in SK-1100 keyboard being moved from the rear of the case to the front.
It was initially priced at ¥15,000. Sega also released a computer version of the console, with a built-in keyboard and called it the SC-3000, which would go on to outsell the SG-1000.
The SG-1000 ran all SC-3000 games and applications, with the exception of Music and Basic Cartridges.
In Japan the console also had an optional game card reader add-on called the Card Catcher that allowed the use of Sega game card software. Card based software was exclusive to Japan, only cartridge based games were released in Europe and Oceania.
This model is in excellent condition
Landmark Kickstart IRQ Multifunction Diagnostic Card
The Kickstart IRQ Diagnostic Card is an add-on card that plugs into any ISA or EISA expansion slot of an IBM AT or compatible personal computer.
From the manual.
'Kickstart IRQ is designed to provide valuable information concerning IRQs and DMA so that the installation of new devices and peripherals goes smoothly. Also, identification of occupied IRQs is a vital piece of data that all users should know about their systems. When conflicts occur, troubleshooting time can be reduced significantly by using Kickstart IRQ. By plugging this card into the computing and switching the power on, you can tell if power is available, observe POST Codes, check status of IRQs, DMA, and other signals. Reading the LEDs on the card indicates which area is problematic.'
Our version comes complete with software disk, user manual and original box.
The Micro User Dust Cover
A beige PVC dust cover for the BBC Micro with 'The Micro User' printed in the bottom right corner. The Micro User was a magazine catering to owners of the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Archimedes computers from 1983-1992.
