BBC Microcomputer just arrived!

[Muttley Black]

New on this little fella. I never had the luck to even touch one at the past. I order a psu repair kit before everything else. After that, i give it a try and see what he post on the screen!

We keep in touch!

[1024MAK]

Renew C1, C2 and C9 in the PSU first. Well, unless you like your computers to take up smoking while you work/play

Oh, and visit StarDot

Mark

[Muttley Black]

Yes. The kit is already on the way!

[Muttley Black]

Finally the day has come!
Early this morning i received the PSU repair kit, plus an RGB cable. Also lucky cause today is my day off from work!

A cup of coffee and i started immediately the progress!


After taking apart the PSU from case and the board from the PSU case, i desoldered the parts and to be honest i didn't find them in bad condition.






Anyway, i replace them to be sure.






A bit of nail varnish to every screw to avoid loosening in the future and was ready to fit it back again. Also i put new power cable (black) cause the old one was very dirty and sticky.







Time to test! With my fingers crossed i switch on the BBC Micro and.....IT WORKS!!!
To be honest, i don't know if there is a further test's i should do. If any, please tell me.






Now its time for total disassembling, by taking apart everything from the case and get in this beauty a serious cleaning!

[Morkin]

Forgot how massive those things are...

[1024MAK]

The old cable has been affected by being in contact with polystyrene packaging. The plasticiser in the PVC cable insulation has migrated into the polystyrene causing the polystyrene to turn into sticky goo.

Nice job there Muttley Black

If the machine is reporting 32K of RAM (as shown in the photo of the start up screen), and runs games or BASIC programs without problem, then it’s fine.

Do try all the screen modes:
MODE 0
MODE 1
MODE 2
MODE 3
MODE 5
MODE 6
MODE 7 The teletext mode (which the machine starts up in)

Code: Select all

MODE	Resolution	Colours
     Graphics	Text		
0    640 × 256	80 × 32	2
1    320 × 256	40 × 32	4
2    160 × 256	20 × 32	16
3    --		80 × 25	2
4    320 × 256	40 × 32	2
5    160 × 256	20 × 32	4
6    --		40 × 25	2
7		40 × 25	8

See this Wiki page for more information (note that the BBC B only supports official MODES 0 to 7).

Also type
*HELP

If all this works, you have tested all the important hardware.

Mark

[ZxSpence]

You could club a hippo to death with one blow using that.

[1024MAK]

You could club a hippo to death with one blow using that.

The Master 128 is even bigger

Mark

[Muttley Black]

Passed all the above test’s!

Thank’s for the help, I really appreciate it.

[Muttley Black]

One more think cause I have midnight with Acorn computers. How much really cost this computer nowadays? I don’t want to sell it, but not bad to know neither.

Prices on EBay are not representative...

[1024MAK]

Upwards of £50 depending on if the case is nice and cream (and not yellowed), general condition and what, if any upgrades, peripherals etc. are included.

Mark