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Acorn Atom Replica build

Blogs & guides and tales of woo by forum members.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: 17 Mar 2026 11:14
rubber_jonnie wrote: 17 Mar 2026 09:15 Well, I've managed to order a couple of 8255's for the princely sum of £7, so fingers crossed they'll fix this keyboard problem.
:crossed1: :crossed2:
Exactly!
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Hurrah!!!

The replacement 8255's arrived today and the Atom is back in the land of the living :)

Full keyboard functionality is restored so clearly the poor old 8255 from Radio Shack had a short but brilliant life but is now dead as a dodo :(

Nice easy fix though and I now have a spare to hand just in case. I will however do a little more burning in.

Next I need to focus on getting the Atom sorted for AtoMMC so I can easily load games etc.

That will be coming a little later down the line, though I can get a ROM written in the meantime to make sure its ready :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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HigashiJun
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Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by HigashiJun »

:girldance:
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Just for fun I thought I'd seal the bad one back in it's package for the sake of nostalgia given how much time I spent in Tandy/Radioshack when I was younger

IMG20260319091818.jpg

I bought a lot of Archer stuff when I was younger, though never one of these :)
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Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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HigashiJun
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Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by HigashiJun »

rubber_jonnie wrote: 19 Mar 2026 09:22 given how much time I spent in Tandy/Radioshack when I was younger
Hmm, fond memories of another time...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by rubber_jonnie »

HigashiJun wrote: 19 Mar 2026 09:25
rubber_jonnie wrote: 19 Mar 2026 09:22 given how much time I spent in Tandy/Radioshack when I was younger
Hmm, fond memories of another time...
And I'd argue a better time...
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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HigashiJun
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Joined: 19 Jun 2020 07:21
Location: Tokyo

Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by HigashiJun »

rubber_jonnie wrote: 19 Mar 2026 09:27 And I'd argue a better time...
Indeed.
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stephen_usher
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Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by stephen_usher »

:-)

£8.25 was a lot of money back in the 80s. Around £50-£60 now.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: 19 Mar 2026 11:16 :-)

£8.25 was a lot of money back in the 80s. Around £50-£60 now.
I know, and certainly not the kind of money my younger self would likely have to spend on things I didn't know much about back in the day.

The date code on the Tandy piece is non existent, but the catalog number suggests around '83-'85. The new parts are '88 and NEC branded. Both worked fine, which was good for £7 for two :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
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Posts: 14594
Joined: 17 Aug 2017 19:40
Location: Essex

Re: Acorn Atom Replica build

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Quick lunchtime job, I fitted a speaker to the Atom :)

IMG20260319132048.jpg

It works, if a little quiet. I'm using the same sort of speaker that I put into one of my Electrons and it was fine there, however I am wondering if I need to swap it out as it's 16 Ω (What the speakers in my Electrons are) but I think I should have opted for 8 Ω.

It can stay for now but I'm considering adding a small amp into the circuit as then I'll give myself sounf on/off and volume control.
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Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...

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