Date   : Thu, 18 May 2006 15:29:06 +0100
From   : Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk@...>
Subject: Re: BBC Master 128 with VFS and SCSI

David Hunt wrote:
>> The Domesday Machine was originally developed on the BBC B as the
>> Master wasn't out at the time and I have seen pictures in one of the
>> Acorn magazines from c. 1984 with a BBC B connected up to a "top-
>> loading" type of laserdisc player.
> 
> Aaaah, yes, I remember getting my grubby mitts on an old Philips
> Professional LaserVision VP-835 about 15 years ago ex. BBC with a SCSI
> connector bodged into a hole in the back.

Lucky sod :) Any ideas where you got rid of it to? It's a rather historically 
interesting bit of kit if it still survives anywhere!

> Unfortunately, the SCSI card and BBC Micro weren't in the lot, although
> there was a genlock that accepted a TTL input which had the same connector
> as the Beeb that was mounted in the top right

That does sound more like the genlock that's in the VP415 Domesday players...

> I think it pre-dates the beige business box style LV series by a number of
> years. I got rid of it when a number of discs I had bought wouldn't work
> with it, I vaguely remember it was a combination of AC-3 and CLV discs. I
> remember it was very solidly constructed, fanatically laid out inside and
> exceedingly heavy, felt like it was made from lead or DU!

Yeah, the 415's are like that too if you've never seen inside one - highly 
modular and everything arranged in neat rows. The electronic design is amazing 
too - it's just a shame that the quality of the final PCB assembly is about 
the worst I've ever seen on anything - there's no wonder that 90% of Domesday 
players are broken.

> I did a bit of Googling and found this set of pics...
> <http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/laserdisc_archive/philips/philips_vp-835/
> philips_vp835.htm>

Funnily enough that looks rather like what I've been calling a VP405 - maybe 
I've been getting my model numbers screwed up; that or the design's similar. 
I'll have a look at Bletchley when I'm back in the UK as I know we've got some 
Philips top-loaders there.

cheers

Jules