Date   : Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:46:39 +0100 (WET-DST)
From   : BBCMICRO@... (Peter Coghlan)
Subject: re BBC avilability of machines

>I am in South Australia (not far from you Paul).
>
>Sorry that I cannot offer any BBC B machines but I do have a stack of
>Master 128 machines, in various configurations, second processors, floppy
>drives, monitors, etc. These are availabe for distribution.
>
>Also, does anyone know how long the ROM programming lasts? I have an eerie
>feeling that it was said to be eighteen years, a couple of decades ago.
>Last time I fired up one of my three active masters it worked well - a
>couple of months ago.
>

Mask programmed ROMs should last as long as any other silicon components.
Any likely issues would be with EPROMs ie erasable programmable ROMs. I have
some (non-BBC) machines with firmware in EPROMs dating from the mid to late
1980's and have seen no issues so far. I also have some BBC software in
EPROM but I can't recall when I might have programmed it.

I would imagine that lifetime quoted is a conservative guesstimate and could
vary widely depending on the manufacturing process, the programming method
used, the conditions of use and/or of storage of the EPROM.

>
>Let me know if anyone wants anything. The only thing I will *not* part
>with is my hard drives.
>

I would be interested in an interal 6502 type coprocessor for the Master if
available but I am at the other side of the world to you :-(

Regards,
Peter Coghlan.