Vintage computer fun

[Fatmarley]

My first pc was a 48k zx spectrum, used to enjoy jet set willy, Horace goes skiing, attic attack, pssst, commando etc. Also liked staying up late at night writing my own crappy games in Basic (and watching Cell block H) Was always knackered for school the next morning.

At school we had BBC micro computers and I was very fortunate to have my form room in the computer room. Every morning we used to play Chuckie egg or Donkey Kong before the register was taken.

 

[monkfish]

Add manic miner to that list.

 

[Seeker_UK]

ZX81 and then a Vic-20 and rapidly lost interest in computers because I never got the BBC B I wanted. Then I went to Uni and learned to love UNIX, 68000 m/c code and PASCAL.

Always fancied an Acorn Atom.

 

[david ellwood]

My first computer was a TRS-80 model one which I got for Christmas in 1979. I begged for months and read every book I could get my hands on. Was somewhat disappointed that the trs didn’t run pascal which was what all the books focussed on.
Life was complete when I got a copy of galaxy invaders though...

 

[ian123running]

Computer studies O Level in 1979. We hand-wrote wrote our BASIC programmes on forms, they were sent for someone to punch to paper tape. These were fed to some mainframe and two weeks later we either got a lovely stack of line printer output back or (much more likely) a compiler error due to a typo somewhere. It was a long year.

I remember really wanting to write a chess programme. Maybe a bit ambitious there.

 

[gintonic]

got a ZX80, ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Oric 1, Vic-20, Beeb, all boxed and working. Got a non functional RM 380Z the loft plus some other bits and pieces.

At work I have cupboard with a Sun 3, Sun Sparc, NextStep and an Apollo DN3500 workstation.

 

[Wolfmancatsup]

My first machine, pre-PC, was an Atari STM, with 512k memory, which I upped to a humungous 2.5M. Changed the processor too, but my memory of that is a bit blurry, so I couldn’t say what was actually done, although I recall unplugging the CPU, plugging in a board to the CPU socket and fitting the CPU back.
A few of us (a dozen or so) used to play team games using the midi interface - mainly the fantastic Midimaze!
In more recent years I’ve enjoyed using various ST emulators on the PC.

Mick

 

[cctaylor]

Computer studies O Level in 1979. We hand-wrote wrote our BASIC programmes on forms, they were sent for someone to punch to paper tape. These were fed to some mainframe and two weeks later we either got a lovely stack of line printer output back or (much more likely) a compiler error due to a typo somewhere. It was a long year.

Similar experience, back a few years to 73/4 but using Fortran instead of BASIC. A couple of years later at Heriot Watt it was basic and punched cards. If you were lucky you could get access to a teletype terminal and work with your programs in real time!! Of course this was assuming that the hard disk had not crashed. The mainframe was a Boroughs B5700. I wonder when desktop PCs overtook the B5700?

 

[Seeker_UK]

I wonder when desktop PCs overtook the B5700?

Pretty much when the BBC came online.

 

[martin clark]

Last time I had to use a BBC model B was to run a Heliodon as a green stoodent; giant grid of switch relays, and stepper motors poked, hoping you didn't have your location entered Rong (liable to fling a patiently-built card model off the turntable..). The venerable Beeb was old then - someone had patiently got the whole gig to work, and a decade later, it still did well enough.

These days far more complex results fall-out of the production software as a mere side effect for no effort; but the load time is about the same, SSD or no!

 

[gintonic]

Computer Studies O'Level in '81, then A'Level in '83.

But started at school with punched cards in 77 which we sent to UCL for batch processing. In 78 we got a teletype and modem and we dialled in to UCL with an acoustic coupler to type in and execute our BASIC programs which were saved on paper tape.

By the time I got to O'Level it was an RM380Z and floppies. Beeb's arrived when I was almost finished my A'Levels

 

[Arkless Electronics]

I recall making an entry for "Young scientist of the year" with my then best mate in which an Acorn Atom controlled the speed of a motor wirelessly... this involved DAC, ADC, radio transmitter and receiver and motor driver, all of which I designed and built, with my mate doing all the computer programming (didn't like digital even then!).

It was a last minute thing to get it going properly, tinkering even an hour away from the public and judges getting in, and we had nowt much in the way of "nice coloured diagrams" etc.... Ours was BY FAR the most complicated and high tech attempt there, so of course it went to some girls who studied how many worms were in an average garden.... but who had loads of glossy charts and handouts... and as we all know about such bollox having it "properly written up" and "attractively displayed" was much more important than the actual science.. story of my life!

 

[suzywong]

Still got our BBC Master 512 with Hybrid Technologies Synthesiser & a salvaged DEC VT-something in the loft - and more importantly, floppies for the “Repton” series!

As I head towards retirement, I will get it down at some point and fire it up.

The IBM XT has long gone to the tip though.

 

[suzywong]

Computer Studies O'Level in '81, then A'Level in '83.

But started at school with punched cards in 77 which we sent to UCL for batch processing. In 78 we got a teletype and modem and we dialled in to UCL with an acoustic coupler to type in and execute our BASIC programs which were saved on paper tape.

By the time I got to O'Level it was an RM380Z and floppies. Beeb's arrived when I was almost finished my A'Levels

BSc. Computer Science @ Owens College in 1975. Tom Kilburn was still the main man.

 

[Tony L]

The electron was slower than the Micro B, but it still runs elite well enough, which is clearly where you have to start.

If the link), which looks to have a Pacman clone and some space shooter type thing, so something to get up and running with!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/boxed-AC...928129?hash=item1a47462181:g:nloAAOSw2LlapowJ
PS I never saw a single computer at school, I doubt the place even had one!

 

[Tony L]

Tom Kilburn was still the main man.

I spend a day each week explaining his computer memory to people (SSEM replica at MOSI)!

 

[gintonic]

BSc. Computer Science @ Owens College in 1975. Tom Kilburn was still the main man.

Manchester Uni now...them and us (we were Hatfield Poly) vie for the accolade of awarding the first full BSc in Computer Science starting in around 1964.

 

[suzywong]

If the link), which looks to have a Pacman clone and some space shooter type thing, so something to get up and running with!
PS I never saw a single computer at school, I doubt the place even had one!

Good grief, 60 quid for Elite.......my copy must be in the loft! [edit!]

“Right On Commander”

 

[gintonic]

my copy must be in the lost!

that's unfortunate, if you can't find it.

 

[suzywong]

I spend a day each week explaining his computer memory to people (SSEM replica at MOSI)!

Yes, I must come and see it some time. Unfortunately the only time I get Oop Norf to Manch these days is for funerals of my relatives!

BTW, Tony when did the Maths Tower go? And the Precinct bridge over Oxford Road.......?