Date   : Wed, 17 Sep 2003 17:32:12 +0100
From   : Mike Tomlinson <mike@...>
Subject: Re: Watford Co-pro adaptor

In article <20030917103636.95370.qmail@...>, Jules
Richardson <julesrichardsonuk@...> writes

>Another thing that's just turned up on the doorstep... a Watford Electronics
>coprocessor adaptor.

Nice - I used to have one connected to my BBC B.

>Never heard of one before - it has a nice metal case with a hinged lid. Inside
>is a 80186 board which appears to be the same as that in the Master 512;

it is.

> this
>plugs into a board that has a trailing IDC cable that I assume plugs into the
>Tube on a BBC.

yes.  The cable is very short by default; I installed a longer one (2m
IIRC) which worked OK, though this isn't a good idea.

>I'm assuming the unit allows Master copro boards to be used on a regular BBC?

yes.

>In which case, do I need anything special on the BBC side software or hardware
>wise to make use of the thing?

To use the 80186, you need a 1770 DFS upgrade on the model B.  I can't
remember if this includes the Tube code; if not, you will need another
ROM with that in it, possibly ADFS.  If you have any other ROM with the
Tube code in it, I don't think you need ADFS as well.

The 65C102 is usable with the Acorn DFS (or the Watford DFS 1.44, which
has the Tube host code built in at the expense of terse DFS error
messages.)

> The user-added label on the case says to switch
>on the adapter, then the computer, hit ctrl-A-break, and after the drive spins
>to insert the boot disk (which I don't have)

I have them, and a 5.25" drive to copy them on. :)

>Oh, the unit also has a power switch on the front and a latching switch with an
>LED above; due to the latching this presumably isn't a reset - anyone know what
>it does?

I only remember mine having the one switch on the front - a toggle
switch.

>As an aside, what copro units were produced for the Master series? I only have
>the one 80186 board (well, two now), and a few 65C102 boards. Were there others
>as there were for the BBC - Z80, 68000, 32016, ARM etc.?

IIRC, only the 65C012 and 81086 were produced for the Master.  There
were Acorn Z80 and ARM second processors in the earlier external plastic
cases for the Model B - these could be plugged into the external Tube on
the Master and the second CPU chosen with '*configure intube' or
'*configure extube' - kewl.

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