Date   : Sat, 16 Oct 1999 19:43:26 +0100
From   : Mark Scholes <mark@...>
Subject: Re: BBC Master AV (FWD)

In message <VIq5YVAxuCC4Ewrh@...>
          Mike Tomlinson <mike@...> wrote:

> In article <1999101521550566447@...>, Mike Mallett
> <mike.mallett@...> writes
> 
> >Recall this was part of a project to put all of the OS maps 
> >(1:50000) on disc together with stacks of local info. Think
> >it was called the Doomsday project
> 
> Domesday
> 
> >The Laserdiscs were 12" and used analogue video and digital sound, I 
> >think the whole lot was on two or three discs. The player was a 
> >modified Phillips machine which unlike consumer models had a serial 
> >port so it could
> >be driven by a computer.

Not sure whether the sound was actually digital but the digital data was
stored on the soundtrack space. For displaying the photos and maps the
computers output was overlayed on the analogue picture by another addition to
the LaserDisc disc player I think.

> Actually, it had a SCSI port and was driven by a simple-minded SCSI
> interface in the Master, sitting in the space to the left of the
> motherboard intended for the internal modem.
> 
It would be interesting to work out the SCSI commands and convert it to work
on modern computers, maybe with an emulator? Probably a bit far fetched.

> >The Master also had a fews mods which I can't recall.
> 
> None that I remember, apart from the SCSI card and AV ROM.
>
And the turbo board, basically and internal 2nd processor. The ROM(s?) had VFS
the video filing system and code for the trackerball. All the programs needed
were stored on the LaserDiscs, just shift break and away you go. There were
other floppy discs for it, has anyone got them, or disc images of them?

Mark Scholes
-- 
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