Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

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bigbloke
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Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by bigbloke »

Hello fellow retro fans,

My name is Paul and I have a problem. Oh this isn't retroholics anonymous? OK, but I still have a retro problem.

The older I get the more I miss the old days of computing. I started with a borrowed ZX81 (in 1981), then the poor persons 8 bit micro the ZX Spectrum (couldn't afford a Beeb!). Then one for real retro heads I got a Memotech MTX512. Upgraded that to CPM and learn't to love disc/disk rather than tape. I went to Manchester (for uni) in 1986 to study Microelectronics and we had (yes compulsory) to own our own Atari 520STFM to do the course work. It was supposed to run a Unix-lite OS developed at the uni run from ROM, but we hacked it and ran it from floppy, so we could still use our STs for their real purpose of playing games (or MIDI if you had any musical bones!).

I remember doing all sorts of things with that system - a friend and I bought a SCSI adaptor (from the US as it was cheaper), and we spent days reverse engineering it to build a "clone" one to reduce the cost. I ended up with a veroboard interface and a Conner (IIRC) 212MB SCSI disk (5.25" full height!), which dimmed the lights when it started up! We also upped our RAM to 2.5MB using home built veroboard monsters!

All of this now long since lost in upgrading to PCs, house moves, hobby changes etc.

But I am now bitten with the ST bug again! Watching on Youtube some of the recent demos and seeing "DREAD" running on an ST has rekindled something. So I now have a 520STFM, I have sourced 16 256K DRAMs and will upgrade it to 1M (it's a 1989 model so 16 empty spaces to fill and a couple of resistors). And last week I got a Mega ST2. Both now have mono monitors (SM124 and SM144), and I still have my original Philips FST (Flatter Squarer Tube) 14" TV from uni days. I will never throw that TV away - first thing I bought with my Uni grant cheque!!!

So being an electronics engineer by trade I have collected a lot of obsolete ICs over the years, and looking through my stash I found a bunch of 68340 CPUs from a project I did around 1992/3. I have set myself the challenge of getting that going in one of these PCs. The 68340 is about 1.6x performance of same speed 68000, and I have several 16MHz 68340s so my aim would be to hit about 3x CPU performance, and also to add "FAST" RAM to the CPU. I know it is all pointless and I should just run an emulator etc. But I want to play like I'm 20 again, but with a budget and skills to do what I couldn't then!

Oh and if anyone has a Falcon they don't want anymore - talk to me! Yeah I know hahahahahaha!

I'm looking forward to learning and hopefully contributing my little bit.
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Icky
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by Icky »

:welcomewave:
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

:welcomewave:
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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exxos
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by exxos »

bigbloke wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:27 pm But I want to play like I'm 20 again, but with a budget and skills to do what I couldn't then!
As do we all ;)
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/ All my hardware guides - mods - games - STOS
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/ - All my hardware mods for sale - Please help support by making a purchase.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
Just because a lot of people agree on something, doesn't make it a fact. ~exxos ~
People should find solutions to problems, not find problems with solutions.
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Badwolf
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by Badwolf »

Great intro, great background.

Welcome to the party!

BW
DFB1 Open source 50MHz 030 and TT-RAM accelerator for the Falcon
DSTB1 Open source 16Mhz 68k and AltRAM accelerator for the ST
Smalliermouse ST-optimised USB mouse adapter based on SmallyMouse2
FrontBench The Frontier: Elite 2 intro as a benchmark
terriblefire
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by terriblefire »

:welcomewave: :newhere:
———
"It is not necessarily a supply voltage at no load, but the amount of current it can provide when touched that
indicates how much hurting you shall receive."
Tomswork
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by Tomswork »

:welcomewave:
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supaduper
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by supaduper »

Welcome Bigbloke,

Great first introduction post you wrote there matey 8-)
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PhilC
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by PhilC »

:welcomewave: Please keep us updates as that sounds like an interesting CPU project.
If it ain't broke, test it to Destruction.
Steve
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Re: Greeting from Cambridge (The old one in UK!)

Post by Steve »

bigbloke wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:27 pm It was supposed to run a Unix-lite OS developed at the uni run from ROM, but we hacked it and ran it from floppy, so we could still use our STs for their real purpose of playing games (or MIDI if you had any musical bones!).
Hi and welcome, I'm always interested in Unix-like OS's for Atari. I never heard of a ROM version. Do you happen to have the ROMs still or floppies? If not do you have any contacts who might be able to image them for preservation? Thanks, Steve.

ps - great to have another electronic engineer, indeed a professional on the forum!
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