Hello there! Time I made myself known on here, some of you might have seen me on the TinkerDifferent Discord.... maybe. My name is Steven, I'm from the North-east of the UK, and I'm a lover of all things tech. and anything I can take apart with a screwdriver! I like to get creative with technology, and explore the things that really interest me. I have a YouTube channel, hopefully you'll want to come along with me, and see what I get up to. YouTube link below.

I'm mostly a PC guy, but have quite a growing fascination vintage Apple gear (and starting to grow interest in Amiga stuff), but really most tech/geeky things interest me, so always willing to learn about something new. Pretty sure I get this from My Dad, who has been working within tech for years. My first introduction to computers in a major way, was using the British classics of BBC Micro, and Acorn Archimedes type machines, then onto to PCs properly in 1996.

If I think of anything new, I'll add it here

I hope to meet new people, and immerse myself in this community

My YouTube channel

My latest video, on some Performa 475 upgrades

Welcome to the TinkerDifferent forum, @PiperTheGreat!

Your mention of Acorn reminds me that although we do have a sub-forum for that, it hasn't gained much traction. I guess there are very few people out there who have them or have interest in them these days.

Anyway, enjoy the forum. I look forward to seeing more of your vintage computing adventures!

Hey JDW, thanks :)

Yes, I saw that on the discord too, I will most likely be posting to that, I actually have an Acorn A3020, the kind I would have used in school, and I have a case from a prototype machine that never saw the light of day, but cases were made

Thank you, I will be posting more, I assume I can post build logs here?

>> PiperTheGreat said:

I assume I can post build logs here? Click to expand...

Sure, no problem.

Welcome.

>> ClassicHasClass said:

Welcome. Click to expand...

Thank you :)

Hi there. Have fun!

>> Certificate of Excellence said:

Hi there. Have fun! Click to expand...

Cheers :) Seems like my kind of place

>> JDW said:

Welcome to the TinkerDifferent forum, @PiperTheGreat ! Your mention of Acorn reminds me that although we do have a sub-forum for that , it hasn't gained much traction. I guess there are very few people out there who have them or have interest in them these days. Anyway, enjoy the forum. I look forward to seeing more of your vintage computing adventures! Click to expand...

There's a strange problem regarding Acorns - a lot of the machines are simply just 'gone'. The Electron was the only mass-produced machine that sold in any appreciable numbers, getting one isn't too hard. Now, when you enter the realm of the Archimedes and the A-series (3000/3010/3020 etc) and beyond, what you have to know is that these principally sold to schools. There were the home models in the range, so kids could have compatibility, but once the IBM PC became the defacto standard, schools, and parents of kids, just sent these things to the trash, unfortunately :(

The ones that DID survive that Order 66 level purge, became victims of the Varta battery used for the RTC, much like Mac's suffer from the Maxell bombs.

On top of that, if you CAN find one that's still working - spare parts, such as processors and the like, are nigh on impossible to find, unless you have a donor machine - no other manufacturer used the same ARM CPU, or any of the custom logic such as the video processor or the memory controller.

So, when they do appear, they're either priced in the realm of 'silly', or those that know might snap one up for a bargain at a car boot sale, or a badly listed one on eBay.

Niche, for sure - but definitely worth keeping your eye open for. Considering the capabilites of the ARM system with the OS entirely in ROM, it's an absolute powerhouse monster, for the era.