Date   : Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:14:45 +0100
From   : Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk@...>
Subject: Re: Cheese Wedge Dating

Ian Wolstenholme wrote:
> Can anybody give a definitive date for the release of the first
> cheese wedges, in particular the 6502 second processor?
> 
> I always thought that this was early 1984 after much delay etc but
> I have an early Econet installation pamphlet dated October 1982
> which shows a diagram of an Econet layout with what appears to be
> a System rack as the server and a BBC B with a cheese wedge sitting
> next to it!

Hmm, that is odd. I'll have to check my Econet docs when I get back to the UK 
and see if I have that one. I suppose System fileservers were probably offered 
up until 1984 or so even though the BBC B would have really taken over by then.

I suppose it'd make sense though for Acorn to design the cheese wedge case at 
the same time as the BBC one - after all, the whole point of the Tube was for 
a second processor so they knew in advance they'd need something; presumably 
Alan Boothroyd designed the cheese wedge at the same time as he did the BBC 
case - it's just there wasn't necessarily anything to put in it until a while 
after the BBC launch.

I've got no idea what order the various add-ons were released in - anyone? I'd 
guess that the 6502 and the Prestel adapter were the first, with Z80 and 
Teletext coming later, then the 32016, then the ARM1.

Give me a prod in a couple of weeks if you want and I'll check for date codes 
on my stuff. I've got a photo here of my earlier 6502 copro board and the chip 
dates suggest that one was built at the start of 1983 - that's only an issue F 
though, so presumably they existed for quite a while prior to that.

cheers

Jules