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.
The Computer Concepts Wild Vision TV Tuner is a device that is used to supply a TV signal directly to a range of computers without the need for external tuning equipment.
This TV tuner card can be used with the following Acorn machines:
- A300/A400/A540
- A5000
- RISC PC
- A3000/A3010/A3020/A4000/A4 *
* With the use of an external box unit.
The Atomwide High Speed Serial Card provides one, two or three additional high-speed serial ports for A300/400540/5000, A7000 or Acorn RISC PC computers.
Each of the ports is capable of transmitting and receiving data at speeds of up to 460,800 bits per second.
The Minor Miracles BBC Light Pen is an accessory for the BBC Micro Model B computer.
From the box:
"The MINOR MIRACLES BBC LIGHT PEN with its sophisticated cassette-based software allows freehand drawing on your TV or monitor screen in a variety of line thicknesses and colours.
The LIGHT PEN plugs into the analogue port of your BBC computer and contains an ultra-high speed photo-sensor to read and control the screen display."
The Acorn AKA66 PAL TV Adaptor allows for an A3000 or any Archimedes range of computer to connect to a colour TV.
A disc controller for the TRS-80 with A4 manual in original box. No disc drive.
This export model of the Acorn Electron was designed for the German market. Apart from some extra RF shielding, translated manuals, and a different range of serial numbers it is much the same as the domestic model.
Our German Electron was kindly donated by Chris Whytehead and has serial number 07-GLA01-1012560.
The Acorn Atom was introduced in 1980 and was equivalent to a cut-down Acorn System 3. It lacked a disc drive but had an integral keyboard and cassette interface. It was available in kit or complete form.
The base system had 2KB RAM and 8KB ROM, but each could be exapnded to 12KB. A floating-point ROM extension was also available.
- Software control, via 6-bit control word, of the operation mode of Pen hardware.
- Good design of pen Probe. Light, small and very strong with a narrow tip allowing clear visibility around operating area.
- Push tip operation of switch to signal user dicisions to computer.
- Status indicator LED mounted at rear of pen.
- Simple to install: just plug into analogue connector.
- Narrow field of view due to light guide optics.
This dual 3.5" disc-drive was designed by Miracle Systems for the Sinclair QL. A matching disc interface was sold seperately.
The board is marked EASI BUS TEST 0197,204 Iss. B and has serial number 9520/004. The Acorn Expansion bus enabled expansion cards (a.k.a. podules) to be attached to Acorn Computers from the Archimedes to the A7000. The Acorn Extended Address Space Interface (EASI) is part of the DMA Extended Bus Interface (DEBI) in a Risc PC. This defined the interface for expansion cards to communicate with the computer (see Acorn Enhanced Expansion Card Specification for the details).
The ATM podule NIC is an ATM Network Interface for a Risc PC. This card comes from a Risc PC used at Acorn for STB development. The Card has 3 large square ATM Ltd ICs labeled "Boson", "Gluon" & "Quark". The ROM is labeled SA-000010 Issue 4.
Intelligent Interfaces Dual Rs423 Serial Interface is an expansion card for any RISC OS computer running RISC OS 3.1 or above. It provides 2 additional RS423 serial ports with the same pin assignments as the internal port. The ports can input and output data at up to 38,400 baud.
This arcade PCB contains the game Secret Agent by Data East.
The HCCS A5000 RAM Upgrade has 16 x MCM514256AZ80 DRAMs = 2MB of RAM on the board. The A5000 has 1MB or 2MB on the motherbooard. 1MB A5000s must be upgraded to 2MB before a RAM upgrade is installed. This will upgrade the memory to 4 MB which is the maximum an A5000 can have unless the upgrade includes a second MEMC in which case the maximum is 8MB.
The serial number on the back is A5-2MB-100458.
A dust cover for the BBC Master series of computers. Branded Orion Computers Limited.
This printer buffer unit allows two computers to share a single printer. It can buffer up to 64KB of data and print it multiple times.
This upgrade is only suitable for the late model A5000 with serial numbers ALB32, ALB27, ALB28 or ALB35 which have a socketted MEMC1a.
The smaller board has a plug on the bottom which plugs into the MEMC1a socket on the A5000 motherboard (once the existing MEMC1a has been removed!). On the top are sockets for 2 MEMC1a's, a master and a slave, each of which can control 4MB memory giving a total of 8 MB.
The larger board plugs into the 4 RISC OS ROM sockets (after the ROMs have been removed) and contains 8 x MB81440A-70PSZ (4 x 1Mb DRAM) giving 4MB RAM in addition to the 4MB on the motherboard. The RISC OS ROMs are then installed in the sockets on the board.
The Irlam Instruments RiscTV podule allows you to use you computer as a televison, with the screen in a window. It provides inputs for composite video, S-VHS, RGB, and UHF arieal. The RGB-out socket connects to the RiscPC monitor.
This unit connects via the Tube second processor interface and converts a BBC Micro into a dual-processor system.
The ARM-Switcher was developed by the German company ACE (Acorn Computer Enterprises) to allow a Risc PC to support both the ARM 610/710 and StrongARM processors, allowing the user to switch between CPUs without having to open the case and replace the processor card. When switching between CPUs, it is necessary to reboot the Risc PC. The ARM-Switcher is incompatible with a Risc PC Network Interface card because they overlap.
Potentially this was very useful, but RISC OS software was rapidly made StrongARM compatible and the ARM Club's StrongGuard provided a software alternative so the market rapidly disappeared.
The Wild Vision Hawk V9 MkII is a Real Time Colour Video Digitiser for use with Acorn Archimedes computers. It is designed to capture high quality colour sprites for use in RISC OS applications. It can produce both live colour displays on the desktop and high quality sprites which can be dragged to other applications The digitiser is a single width podule. The digitiser accepts any composite PAL video input signal (e.g. video camera or recorder) via a BNC connector. The signal is converted to RGB and digitised in real time as 3 five bit per pixel data streams, givng a 512 x 256 picture.
The PCcard fits in the second CPU card slot on the RiscPC and enables it to run as a PC. These PCcards are also know as Gemini I cards because of they used a common card design.
The original processor has been upgraded with an AMD 586 CPU and cooling fan.
The Acorn ACA56 is a second generation Risc PC PCcard, also known as Gemini II. The Texas Instruments 486 DX4 is clocked at 100MHz.The ACA56 has its 486 mounted in a socket which allows it to be upgraded with a compatible CPU. This card has been upgraded with a Cyrix 5x86-100 which is pin compatible with a 486 and designed to upgrade 486 computers.
The original 486-DX6 chip (not pictured) is stored with the card.
The Tungsten T3 was the third T-class Tungsten device, releasing in October 2003.
Specifications:
- 64MB RAM (52MB usable by applications)
- 400MHz Intel PXZ261 processor
- 3.7" 320x480 TFT LCD touchscreen
- Runs Palm OS 5.2.1
The Newton-branded small form-factor keyboad can be connected to an Apple Newton.
The Atari Falcon was the last computer developed by Atari Corporation. It was based on a Motorola 68030 CPU clocked at 16MHz with a 56000 DSP coprocessor. It was released in 1992 and cancelled in 1993 as atari focused on it's Jaguar game console.
The 32-bit processor's performance was constrained by being attached to a 16-bit data bus (similar to the Macintosh LCII and 386SX PCs).
The Atari TT030 was intended to be a high-end UNIX workstation, but delays in releasing a port of Unix SVR4 meant it was never a success in this market. It was replaced in 1992 by the Atari Falcon, a lower cost machine more oriented towards home consumers.
The Atari TT was one of the first non-Intel machines to have Linux ported to it, along with the Atari Falcon and Amiga. NetBSD was also ported in 1995.
The main CPU was a Motorola 68030, clocked at 32MHz supported by a 68882 floating-point unit. Backward compatibility with existing ST peripherals, as well as use of existing ST chips meant that the system bus ran at half the speed of the CPU (16MHz). A variety of off-the-shelf and custom logic chips provided the bitmapped graphics, DMA, SCSI, floppy, and serial interfaces.
The Atari TT had several features it's predecessor (the Atari Mega STE) did not: a SCSI port, VME expansion bus, new VGA graphics modes, and an Appletalk network port (although drivers for this were not provided). It retained compatibility with existing ST features such as MIDI ports and the ASCI/DMA port.
MULTIPRINT allows a Spectrum 48K, 48K+, 128, or +2 to be connected to a full-szie Centronics printer. It may be used with dot matrix or daisywheel models which print up to 255 characters per line.
Manual included.
This SCSI tape drive allows SGi computer systems to read and write DDS-format tapes.
Model number 013-2283-001; serial number 980100000678.
This expansion card enables a RISC PC to decode standard Green Book and White Book VideoCDs. The card provides hardware MPEG decoding; playback is through standard movie playback software such as !ARPlayer.
Our Movie Magic card is in it's original box with manuals and a promotional VideoCD of 'A Fish Called Wanda'. The card's serial number is 913591.
The microphone connects to the parallel port using the supplied interface. You can then use the Sound Sampler to record sounds into your computer. maximum sample rate of 35KHz.
This printer buffer can hold up to 256KB of print data and reply it multiple times. It also provides the ability to dump the data in one of three different hex dumps. Help and self-test modes are also provided.
Our printer buffer has serial number 8050172.
This stackable interface unit for the Camputer Lynx allowed it to interface with a pritner using a standard Centronics connector.
This stackable interface unit for the Camputer Lynx allowed it to interface with two standard 9-pin joysticks.
This stackable interface unit for the Camputer Lynx allowed it to interface with a floppy disk drive.
This kit provides everything needed to connect up to six BBC Microcomputers together with an Econet network. Contents:
- Installation Guide
- Econet clock generator and power supply
- Two terminator stations (each supporting one computer)
- Two non-terminator stations (each supporting two computers)
- Wire ties and IDC insertion tool
The Wild Vision Chroma Genlock is a compelte genlock and overlay system for the A3000, A5000, and Archimedes computers. It enables the video output of the computer to be superimposed, in full colour, on a PAL video signal from an external source. Any graphics, text, or captions which can be generated by the computer can thus be overlaid onto video pictures from a camera, camcorder, VCR, or VideoDisc player.
Our Chroma-Genlock is complete in it's original box with manuals and a copy of the !SideShow presentation program.
The Phloopy Drive connects to the BBC Microcomputer and stores data on continuous loop of magnetic tape (similar to the Sinclair Microdrive or 8-track tape). Each Phloopy can store 100KB of data. It uses nine read/write heads: eight for storing data, and one for a clock track.
The Phloopy Drive is controlled by the BBC Micro but has an internal 8049 microprocessor allowing it to perform actions such as formatting a new Phloopy while the BBC Micro is free to be used.
While it is controlled by the user in the same way as a disc unit, it requires a separate interface to be installed in the BBC Micro and is not compatible with a standard disc interface.
Our Phloopy drive is compelte with manual, interface unit, and two unused Phloopies. It has serial number A00129B1.
This cartridge is designed to be used with the BBC Master series of microcomputers. It accepts two Viglen ROM carriers.
This cartridge is designed to be used with the BBC Master series of microcomputers. It accepts two ROM chips of either 32K or 128K capacity.
In late 1984 Acorn moved into the US computer market releasing a fully-upgraded BBC Micro with the model number UNB09. It came with disc, Econet, and speech upgrades as standard and a version of BBC BASIC modified to use American spelling conventions (e.g. COLOR instead of COLOUR).
In order to get FCC class B certification additional RF shielding had to be included, increasing the computer's weight dramatically.
The US venture was not a success, and while 50,000 units were produced (under license by Wong Electronics) the unsold stock was returned to the UK and modified for use with domestic power supplies.
Our UNB09 has serial number 02-UNB09-1010357.
This handheld pen is capable of reading barcodes and storing them in internal memory. When inserted into the Datawell, it simulataneously recharges it's internal battery and outputs the data to a connected computer. The pen and the datawell communicate through an infrared datalink hidden at the bottom of the well.
This sound unit is based on the AY-3-8912 programmable sound generator chip. It connects through the Spectrum's expansion port and extends it so other expansion units can be connected simultaneously. It exposes 14 internal registers, each controlling a specific part of the sound output. They can be programmed using the standard BASIC OUT command.
Our unit has it's original box and manual.
This pair of offical Acorn joysticks was designed to be connected to the BBC Micro's analogue port.
The AJ-5 is a two-axis, two-button joystick. The X- and Y-axis are analogue and the two buttons are digital. It was designed for use with the 464+ and 6128+ joystick connector. It is also compatible with a standard PC analogue game port. The two slider controls adjust the joystick position values, allow centre adjustment when software calibration is not available.
A high-performance replacement mouse for use with Acorn Archimedes machines. Each unit contains three discrete microswitch buttons for extended reliability and ergonomically styled case for comfortable long term use. Connection is via 9-pin mini DIN plug on a 5ft lead.
A controller for the Sega Dreamcast console. Included with it are two games: Virtua Athlete and ChuChu Rocket.
A palmtop computer. Features:
- 64K colour display
- 64MB RAM
- Protective cover pack
- Lithium-ion polymer battery
- AC Adapter with DC plug
- Universal sync cradle
- Add-on software CD with ActiveSync 3.5
The Plus 3 connected to the back of the Acorn Electron and provided a 3.5" double-density disk drive with built-in ADFS ROM.
Our Plus 3 was kindly donated by Ruth Bramley.
The Risc PC 700 was launched in July 1995, it featured the faster 40MHz ARM710 CPU, RISC OS 3.60, more memory, VRAM as standard, 16 bit sound and bigger hard discs. The ARM710 gave approximately 40% improvement over the original Risc PC 600. This machine is 2 slice Risc PC with a 4 slot backplane and a Acorn AEH62 Ethernet Adaptor.
"The Risc PC range provides elegant and effective solutions as a multiprocessor
platform, in step with the future of computing. An innovative case construction
makes adding or upgrading processors an extremely simple and quick procedure.
The Risc PC range is powered by ARM, the world's most efficient and most
cost-effective 32-bit RISC processor. Tfie ARM 600, ARM 700 and upcoming
ARM 800 series processors can be inserted into the new Risc PC range machines,
which come with a low-cost upgrade path for future ARM processors, offering
an increase in processing power of up to 300% in the future."
Our machine ACB75 - 8MB, 2MB VRAM, 850MB hard disc with a serial number of 1010704
complete with the Acorn Monitor 28-AKF85-0102913 and the Acorn Keyboard part number 0391,400/01 CM1 660Vo Rev 8 - All very kindly donated by David Barton together with Acornsoft Overview 1 and Acorn C/C++
Can be used with:
- Videosport 600
- Videosport 800 Colour
- Tournament Colour programmable 2000
Our pistol is in it's original box.
The Hybrid Music 4000 is a four octave keyboard which allows you to play the sounds and record sequences directly. It is part of the Hybrid Music System for the BBC model B, BBC B+ and Master.
The Music 4000 connects to the BBC Microcomputer's User port.
It complements the versatile Music 5000 synthesiser, which uses a system known as Ample for music notation and control.
You also need:
* BBC Micro Model B, B+, or Master 128, with Acorn-compatible disc drive
* Music 5000 Synthesiser (or Music 500 with Music 5000 software),
installed and tested as described in its own Installation Guide
* Audio amplifier system, with audio lead to the synthesiser unit
* One blank formatted disc
The keyboard is fully polyphonic and greatly enhances the way in which the user can interact with the Music 5000 Synthesiser and software suite as it is "always on" so can be played regardless of the software's current context.
The keyboard also supports the use of a sustain pedal, the original has unfortunately been lost over the years however any generic sustain pedal can be attached to the keyboard using the 6.3mm socket.
Together with Hybrid Music 5000 this keyboard was kindly donated by David Barton
The Competition Pro 5000 is suitable for the following computers:
- Atari 400, 800, and 600XL
- Commodore 64 and VIC 20
- Sinclair ZX Spectrum (when used in conjunction with a Kempston Joystick Interface)
Features:
- User friendly handle and base for smoother, more accurate playing action.
- Large, dual fire buttons for quick right- or left-hand operation.
- 8-way arcade quality switches.
- Extra long 5-foot cord.
Our Competition Pro 5000 is complete in it's original box.
MSX is the name of a standardized home computer architecture, first announced by Microsoft on June 16, 1983,[1] conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation. It is said that Microsoft led the project as an attempt to create unified standards among hardware makers
MSX spawned four generations: MSX (1983); MSX2 (1986); MSX2+ (1988); and MSX TurboR (1990). The first three were 8-bit computers based on the Z80 microprocessor.
MSX never became the worldwide standard that its makers had envisioned, mainly because it never took off in the U.S. and the UK. However, in Japan, South Korea, Argentina[citation needed], and Brazil, MSX was the paramount home computer system of the 1980s
he exact meaning of the "MSX" abbreviation remains a matter of debate. At the time, most people seemed to agree it meant 'MicroSoft eXtended', referring to the built-in "Microsoft eXtended BASIC" (MSX-BASIC), specifically adapted by Microsoft for the MSX system.
The Communicator is a bit of an anomaly as it is possibly the only genuine 16 bit computer Acorn made. It seems to have been designed as an intelligent terminal for use with Prestel and other early electronic mail/Bulletin board type systems. Details of the Communicator are hard to come by, I have searched both the web and usenet groups with Google and found some contradictory statements.
The Acorn entry in Wikipedia says it was produced in 1982, others state it was designed in 1988 (after the launch of the Archimedes). It is thought that the correct date is 1986.
Again the Acorn entry in Wikipedia says it was never sold commercially, but there is definitive evidence that it was used by Pickfords Travel, including an FCO. I think that it was not sold to the general public, and it doesn't appear in the Acorn price lists of the time, but was sold to buiness customer(s).
There are statements that it was an modified Electron, but the architecture is very different including the use of a 16 bit CPU.
There are statements that the Master Compact reused the case because the Communicator didn't sell. I have checked the case and they clearly are not the same. There are different colour plastic, different ports and a different keyboard layout, in fact, there is little similarity apart from the ridging along the back and the expansion slot on the right hand side.
The Communicator has a GTE G65SC816P-2 CPU which is a 16bit version of the 6502 and has a segmented memory. The 65816 was also used in the Apple IIGS. The Communicator is reported to use the Electron ULA (BTW this must date it to 1985 or later when Ferranti was finally able to ship it in volume) but does not contain a Ferranti ULA, instead there is a Mietec IC with an Acorn part no. 0252,602, is this also a ULA?
The Communicator has 512K of RAM expandable to 1024K, 32K CMOS RAM and 256K ROM. The applications included in ROM were, View, Viewsheet, Comms and Terminal Emulation.
There is no disc storage internally and no interface for external storage. The only filing system interface is Econet and that needs a standard Econet module (as used on BBC Master). It has an integral, BABT approved, modem. The ports are Display Output, Printer Output, Serial (uses a Telephone type connector) and on-board modem.
Our machine was was very kindly donated by Chris Curry
The HP-25 started on the drawing board as a scientific calculator with a much larger set of functions than the HP-21. By the time it was done, it was that and it was programmable with 49 lines of memory, making it the least expensive and smallest of HP's programmable calculators. Like the HP-65, the HP-25 caused disbelief in many. It seemed much too small to do so much. Unlike previous programmables, the HP-25 had fully merged key steps... (All multi-keystroke entries like f COS and STO * 2 took a single step.) Engineering display mode was also a first on this calculator.
Programming
The SST key was improved such that when it is held down, it displayed the line and line number about to be executed. When released, it executed the line and displayed the result.
Like the HP-55, the HP-25 used line number addressing rather than labels. This made it very easy to move around while editing a program but inserting an instruction required either clever coding or reentering all instructions from that point onward. (See the programming page for more information.)
Manuals
The HP-25 came with a 120 page owner's manual printed in four colors, a quick reference guide, and a 161 page book of programs. Sample sheets of HP-25 Program Forms were also included. The owner's handbook had several pictures of the HP-25 against various interesting backdrops including a minicomputer, the Earth and an electronic test bench.
Programs supplied included plotting, base conversions, simultaneous equations in two unknowns, mortgage loan, discounted cash flow, great circle navigation, Newton's method solution to f(x)=0, numerical integration, a random number generator, power curve fit, and games including a moon landing simulator. You could do a lot in 49 steps.
The owner's handbook ends with:
"If you have worked completely through this handbook, you should have a very good knowledge of all the basic functions of the HP-25. But in fact you've only begun to see the power of the calculator. You'll come to understand it better and appreciate it more as you use the HP-25 daily to solve even the most complex mathematical expressions. At your fingertips you have a tool that was unavailable to Archimedes, Galileo, or Einstein. The only limits to the flexibility of the HP-25 are the limits of your own mind."
Kindly donated by Stuart Cook and complete with the original packaging, manual and HP Battery Charger. Serial number 1703520057
This PC ARM Co-Processor is an ISA board designed to fit into PCs that had ISA slots. It is not a 'Springboard' but may be a predecessor to the Springboard coprocessor.
This board is a ROM carrier that enables the installation of the Risc OS 3 ROMs. It is intended for the following Acorn Computers:
- R140
- Archimedes 305
- Archimedes 310
- Archimedes 440
