General Stuff(tm)

[mrbombermillzy]

This is effectively the set-up I'll take to the show next month, BBQL with vMap, vDriveQL, Tetroid Super Gold Card clone and external drive with a Gotek as flp1_ and a 720K drive as flp2_, oh and the OSSC so that I can show the whole width in monitor mode.

Looking forwards to seeing these.

[stephen_usher]

@stephen_usher very nice QL. I’ve got one similar spec now except the Vmap and was thinking of bringing it but yours will be a good example for those wishing to see / play with a QL.

May still bring one to sell though as I really don’t need 3.

Yeah, this machine was a rescue from the University of Oxford Department of Chemistry. It, along with a couple of ZX Spectrums, Currah Speech, a Ferguson datacette etc, was being disposed of and the IT person there asked if I wanted them. It originally had only one ROM installed and relied upon the Metacommco Pascal external ROM to boot. I managed to pick up a JM ROM set and later upgraded this to a JS set.

It spent the Summer of 2014 as a hand's on exhibit at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford.

IMG_0438.jpg (180.37 KiB) Viewed 1489 times

[stephen_usher]

I'm not doing computery things today.

Instead I'm dreaming of the day when my outbuilding is finished and I can start building the model railway.

With that in mind I've bought AnyRail 6 and have started designing the track plan. It's based upon Bedford Midland station and MPD in the early 1980s but compressed down so that it can fit in a space of 16' x 8'7".

So far I've got the basics of the through fast lines and station area (the top half). The motive power depot will be on the lower base boards.It's going to change, but it's a start.

initial-draft-layout.jpg (185.66 KiB) Viewed 1475 times

[stephen_usher]

I've finished up the initial track plan for my layout. When it's going to be built is completely up in the air as I don't have a timescale for the outbuilding to be built yet. (The tender document has gone to three builder, only one has replied saying someone will be in touch, but that was a month ago.)

Well, here it is, and with the help of Google Earth and GIMP you can get start to get an idea of how it's set out.

work-in-progress-3-enhanced.jpg (275.75 KiB) Viewed 1466 times

Anyone who knows Bedford station and the surroundings will know how shortened, adapted and massively simplified this is, especially in the motive power depot. There's simply not enough space. I've also joined the end of the Bromham Road siding (north) with what should be the line to Bletchley (south) just so as to give the trains somewhere to go.

[stephen_usher]

Well it looks like, postal strike permitting, that the MFX expansion for the Memotech will be arriving tomorrow.

The MFX is: a 512K RAM expansion, SD card floppy disk emulation with controller and 80 column card with VGA out and TMS 9928A emulation all on a single card which fits into the internal expansion card bay.

It's coming with a prototype 3D printed end plate which I'll probably have to sand down and spray up so as to match the main case.

I'll post pictures when it arrives.

[rubber_jonnie]

Well it looks like, postal strike permitting, that the MFX expansion for the Memotech will be arriving tomorrow.

The MFX is: a 512K RAM expansion, SD card floppy disk emulation with controller and 80 column card with VGA out and TMS 9928A emulation all on a single card which fits into the internal expansion card bay.

It's coming with a prototype 3D printed end plate which I'll probably have to sand down and spray up so as to match the main case.

I'll post pictures when it arrives.

Sounds interesting, looking forward to the pictures. Will keep my fingers crossed it arrives tomorrow, but the strike is supposed to be the 31st, so you might be unlucky.

[mrbombermillzy]

Well it looks like, postal strike permitting, that the MFX expansion for the Memotech will be arriving tomorrow.

The MFX is: a 512K RAM expansion, SD card floppy disk emulation with controller and 80 column card with VGA out and TMS 9928A emulation all on a single card which fits into the internal expansion card bay.

It's coming with a prototype 3D printed end plate which I'll probably have to sand down and spray up so as to match the main case.

I'll post pictures when it arrives.

Sounds interesting, looking forward to the pictures. Will keep my fingers crossed it arrives tomorrow, but the strike is supposed to be the 31st, so you might be unlucky.

That seems like a pretty darn good all-in-one card!

I will also keep fingers crossed that all pans out ok, postage wise.

[rubber_jonnie]

I will also keep fingers crossed that all pans out ok, postage wise.

I have a vested interest in the post delivering parts for me too, so I have everything crossed ATM!

[stephen_usher]

Well, the package for as far as Swindon and on the lorry to Oxford but I think that's where it's likely to stay for the day.

[rubber_jonnie]

Well, the package for as far as Swindon and on the lorry to Oxford but I think that's where it's likely to stay for the day.

Ahh, rubbish