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One of these: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/33101/Acorn-Cambridge-Workstation/ http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/33101/Acorn-Cambridge... with a T
by user2994cb 7y ago
One of these: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/33101/Acorn-Cambridge-Workstation/ http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/33101/Acorn-Cambridge... with a TI 32016 processor & using a BBC Micro for UI - except that my housemate Colin thought it was a bit expensive, so reverse engineered the board, redesigned it to be a little smaller (this was in the mid-80s & chip specs were changing rapidly), wire-wrapped a prototype for testing, then etched five proper PCBs, of which only a couple were populated.
- arethuza 7y agoAn article about that board in some computer magazine of the time (probably PC World) was the first time I had heard of Unix and C - I was amazed at the same of C code they gave - no line numbers! Edit: This was probably 1983 when I was 17 and my programming experience was based on Apple II and Sinclair machines.
- user2994cb 7y agoRather than Unix, our Workstation ran Panos, the only operating system that I know of named after a Greek restaurant.
- arethuza 7y agoI never got nearer than a magazine review to one of those beasties so I am probably getting the OS part wrong - but I do vividly remember wondering what #include did.... :-)
- Lio 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panos_%28operating_system%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panos_%28operating_system%29
- user2994cb 7y agoAnd this is the (now defunct) Panos restaurant, on Hills Road: https://i2-prod.cambridge-news.co.uk/incoming/article13454940.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/Panos-restaurant.jpg https://i2-prod.cambridge-news.co.uk/incoming/article1345494...
- Lio 7y agoThat's fantastic. 4Mb of RAM in 1983 was pretty cool. So the end product was somewhat like a homebrew second processor unit for a BBC? e.g. http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/8bit_Upgrades/Acorn_ANC05_320162ndproc.html http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/8bit_Upgrades/Aco... There were things I could read about in magazines as a kid but never got to see in the flesh. That Cambridge Workstation is still a mythical beast to me. Note to self: go and visit the http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/897/Acorn-Computers/ http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/897/Acorn-Computers/
- user2994cb 7y agoThe Centre for Computing History is a great place to visit - lots of machines up and running you can actually use (mainly from the 8-bit era, but other interesting things too).
- linker3000 7y agoStill have any of the PCBs? It would be interesting to make one up now, or duplicate one to make up.
- user2994cb 7y agoI don't (it wasn't my project) but I've emailed my housemate (seemed polite, since we are talking about him).