Date   : Fri, 05 May 2006 10:14:49 +0100
From   : "David Hunt" <dm.hunt@...>
Subject: Re: Mystery Item

> > Does anyone recognise this:
> > http://www.hellion.demon.co.uk/ebay/Mystery%20BBC%20Thing/
> >
> > It looks like it was in use until at least 2001 (It has a 2001
> > Electrical safety sticker on it).
> > The wedge was a teletext adapter.  The chips are 2 x quad opto isolators
> > and 2 buffer chips.
> > The cables are user port and printer port.
> >
> > The signature on the PCB looks like "R Tonks"
> >
> 
> I don't recognise it, but I presently manage ICT support and procurement
> for
> all the schools in Oldham LEA, so if you know which school it came from I
> can do some research for you.

This looks like a home-made version of a "buffer box" - 8 output lines
(printer port - relays?) and 8 input lines (user port - opto-isolated?) - I
made one along similar lines, except I bought a case from RS and powered it
from the Beebs PSU. I guess the teletext adapter had died so it was
"reused", it is certainly not a "procured" item, looks like a 6th Form
project, or something a teacher or technician has cobbled together. I had a
chuckle at the resistors soldered to the underside of the board, they were
probably vertical on the prototype. This is pretty recent, 1991 - have a
look at the school record for a pupil of that name, that would probably be
the most likely source of this beast.
Mine got chucked into a skip at my old school a few years ago along with the
last BBC Micro - oh well, the onward march of technology. The "modern" PC
replacements for measurement and control are sitting on the shelf as Windows
XP won't run the Windows 3.1 software for one lot of devices and the Windows
95/98 version crashes as soon as the devices are accessed, looks like it was
coded by someone who couldn't escape from a ripped, wet paper bag. The new
machines also lack printer ports. If you try and use a parallel port USB
dongle the software crashes. It was so much easier with a Beeb!

Dave ;)