What's on at the Retro Computer Museum

[MugUK]

The 6128 isn't one of the first machines in the video .. but if you look carefully at what's connected to the Atari for its display(@1.33), the 6128 appears around 3:14 in 


RCM@HQ.mpg

[MacDeath]

Also the Archimedes looks a lot like the Amstrad PLUS...
And was British computer at its best.

Also this museum is overated, I saw no Thomson computers...
Were are the TO6 and MO8...?


no, kidding, nice working collection.

Post Edit :
also according to the retrocomputermuseum.co.uk site, there is a Thomson MO5E, which is actually a MO6 specification, yet lacking in-built Datacorder.

[MugUK]

I'm sure there is a Thomson somewhere in the 'stuff not on display'   I'm sure we were either being donated one at some point and/or doing a swap with some Frenchies I met at the AC (Atari Connexion, as it was previously known) last year.

Not going there until May 12th, so I'll ask Andy if there is one.  Picking up my now fixed 6128 at the event and I can finally start using it

[Gryzor]

Ahhh this room is heart-warming to say the least...

[Bryce]

At 0:47 there's a yellow handheld space invaders (on the righthand side of the QL). Can anyone remember what this was called and who made it? My brother had one back in the 80's but I can't remember who made it. It had a green/red flourescent display and very annoying sound.

Bryce.

[MacDeath]

Ahhh this room is heart-warming to say the least...

yeah, all those old powersupplies and old CRT monitor must produce a lot of heat, ionised waves radiations and consume a whole Nuclear Plant to run...

At best it can do some toasts, at worse it renders you sterile...

I'm sure there is a Thomson somewhere in the 'stuff not on display' I'm sure we were either being donated one at some point and/or doing a swap with some Frenchies I met at the AC (Atari Connexion, as it was previously known) last year.

A kool thing to do with those Thomson computer is to run them between a Speccy and a CPC and put some games that were ported/co-devloppers on  those machines.

first generation thomsons (MO5/TO7) had their share of speccy ports... like Greenberets per exemple.

Later MO6/TO8 (so the MO5E...Export version, which was supposed to have the MO6 video specifications) had Amstrad Ports, french editiors of course...

http://dcmoto.free.fr/programmes/_html/index.html

Green berets : speccy
MO5



Bactron... CPC port...
MO6/TO8


The sad thing is that those computer weren't THAT bad actually.

They suffered from the MSX1 and speccy syndrome : the first spec/series of the system had such a bad Video.

MO5 and TO7 had shitty keyboards (rubber or even worse ones on TO7)

Video mode like MSX1 without the Hardsprites actually... sort of...
So it was a 320x200 with attributes of 8pixels rows... 16 colours on screen (16 colour palette) but attributed...
so...16K Vram like CPC.

But as there would be only some buzzer/beeper for sound, generating good sounds was painfull for the 1mhz CPU... and the Video was still heavier than on Speccy.

"second generation" specification was far better :
Lots of RAM (128K for MO, 256K for TO), additionnal Video modes similar to Amstrad CPCs ones (yet lacking overscan possibilities) but 4096 palette to choose from (PLUS like).
Also a few additionnal modes... to manage some "transparency" (as for adding texts on video stuffs...)

Better keyboards, MassDta storage included on some models...

but still no proper soundchip (ouch) and the CPU could really have liked to get a full overclock at twice speed (2mhz) just to be sure you can do some software animation betterly...


also a main problem is that MO and TO weren't really Softwar compatible...
yeah, WTF ?

as the second spec was released in 1986... it was too late, CPC was here and the first wave (MO5/TO7) managed to get those pass as shitty systems, also the same problem as with Atari STE or even MSX...

softwares were too often released on first specification for maximum compatibility with existing market.
(also like PLUS or even the 128K versions for Amstrad's computers...sadly).

By 1987... those computers were almost dead.
They weren't as well rounded as the CPC, and more expensive, yet some stuff they had could have been great on CPC...

Network ("nano réseaux"), mega RAM (128k/256k for MO6/TO8)... and so on...


And our national education spilled billions on this for almost nothing but getting a laughing stock.


So, just add a simple AY for sounds and put the whole shit at 2Mhz (6809E CPU) and there you have a  perfect TO8 able to screw all other systems (CPC included)


Post edition :
not sur the MO5E was really MO6...
the MO5NR was a MO6 in the same casing as the MO5E but NanoReseau (network) included, and... upgraded into MO6 specifications...

[Gryzor]

At 0:47 there's a yellow handheld space invaders (on the righthand side of the QL). Can anyone remember what this was called and who made it? My brother had one back in the 80's but I can't remember who made it. It had a green/red flourescent display and very annoying sound.

Bryce.

Sure, that's the Galaxy Invader 1000 by CGL. Didn't even need to watch the vid to recognise what you were talking about!


I had one back then, awesome and very impressive for a young boy. I remember it would run interference with the FM when placed next to our kitchen radio...


And of course I got one



Galaxy Invader 1000

[Bryce]

That's it! Galaxy Invaders. It was a great game and really addictive. Why is the guy in the video playing it sideways??

Bryce.

[TFM]

That's it! Galaxy Invaders. It was a great game and really addictive. Why is the guy in the video playing it sideways??

Bryce.

Because if you would turn it 90 degrees to the left, then the shots would fall down and therefore have a higher speed (gravitation you know!). So by turing the game 90 right the shoots are slower and it's more easy to play.

[MugUK]

Depending on what time I can get there on May 12th, I'll try and do my own video

Meanwhile my photos from the last event (which I helped out at) are on Facebook in a public album (so you don't have to be friends to look at them).  Some macro shots of machines are in the album which some of you might recognise straight away and some are quite rare beasts

And now for the geeky stuff from RCM Weekend | Facebook

[Bryce]

Oooo, is there a prize for guessing what computer the close-up pictures are?

Bryce.

[MugUK]

No prize but I do click 'Like' if you get them right and you're the first to post a correct answer.

But the one with the big green 'Tab' key is a little bit too easy

[Bryce]

Well my favourite Commodore, the Plus/4 shows up at least twice

Bryce.

[MugUK]

Most were taken using one of those add-on magnetic macro lens stuck to the back of my Samsung Galaxy S2.

Next step is to take apart a DVD drive (broken one, naturally) and create a better macro lens from the lens inside the drive.  Not sure how to get it attached to a magnetic base but I'm working on that bit first before I take the drive to pieces

[Bryce]

Some drives have a lens with a magnet already mounted around it, for the auto-focus. The magnet is there, you just have to make it much more magnetic and it's definitely centred and perfectly level.

Bryce.

[MugUK]

Some drives have a lens with a magnet already mounted around it, for the auto-focus. The magnet is there, you just have to make it much more magnetic and it's definitely centred and perfectly level.

Bryce.

Makes me even more interested.  Any particular make of drive that definitely has this magnet - or is it all models of one particular make of drives?  I've got an old Plextor DVD reader which is on its way towards being the 'donor'

[Bryce]

No idea, I'd speculate that older drives are a better bet and the older units also had a larger lens.

Bryce.

[MugUK]

So I might be better off looking in the 'broken bins' at the local car boot and/or computer fair.  Cheers Bryce

[MacDeath]

Speccies, speccies everywhere... damn you Britons, you ruined my life !!!