I set up RetroRendezvous to meet like minded Acorn machine owners and to document my re-acquaintance with the BBC B Microcomputer.
To do that I’ve set up a monthly event at the Falkirk business hub providing an informal gathering space for BBC B and Acorn machine owners. Other retro machine owners would also be welcome!
This website also includes a blog to encourage me (!) to document my re-learning of the BBC B Micro in terms of it’s capabilities and coding in BBC B Basic and possibly a bit of 6502 assembly language.
The microcomputer revolution in the 1980s and especially the BBC B heavily influenced my youth and later careers in I.T. support and software development – I’m grateful to have lived in a time when personal computing got started! It was an exciting time because it was an era where individuals could interact with computers in a way that was previously unimaginable. I ended up in these I.T. related jobs:-
- Supporting schools computer equipment in the classroom and library (Acorn Archimedes) at Ashton Middle School, Dunstable, Bedfordshire
- Installing, supporting computer equipment (386, 486 and Pentiums) and software (SIMS) in school office in Bedfordshire schools.
- Microsoft Access and SQL server Database development for a medical software house (HICOM), an Ecology company (Thomson Ecology) and an electronics distribution company (Aerco).
- Owner of Digital Art Live – connects, educates and inspires digital artists
I was fascinated about coding at the time and how you could write little bits of software that could help you explore such a wide spectrum of creativity and utility.
In the 1980s I used the BBC Micro for such things as:-
- Creating text adventure games
- Generating 3D graphic simple terrains
- Receiving satellite data from weather satellites
- Making a text compression routine (in 6502 assembly language)
The best thing is, is that there is a thriving online community over at Stardot.org for users of Acorn computers and emulators. I recommend you join the forum.
Edit: My microcomputer collection has now since grown to the other computers I had in the 1980s, a 48K ZX Spectrum (though I have the 128K “toastrack” version now) and a 16K ZX81.
Paul Bussey
