Your first experiences of computers??

[d-a-n]

I got a very secondhand Atari 2600 when I was about 6 (circa 1989) which introduced me to the world of playing video games at home - this year also saw me lining up with other children to play Tetris on the newly released Game Boy in Gamleys in Bognor Regis.
We then went on to get a BBC which we didn't really get much play value out of due to not having much patience and it being too tricky to do anything on, it was easier to go out and play!! When we got an Amiga it all changed - endless copied games and hours of fun. There was an Acorn computer at my primary school which everyone had saved loads of tokens for under Tesco's 'Computers for Schools' scheme. It was a heap of trouble and wouldn't play my Amiga's games despite them being on 3.5" disc (I didn't understand different file formats then!)
My lifelong friend and neighbour Paul got a 386 around 1994/95 followed by a 486 and we played endless games of Transport Tycoon, Command and Conquer, Frontier Elite, Privateer and Civilization on them. Later, his mum had a job where she got a chunky laptop and a 28.8k modem which she brought home; Paul managed to make it all work together and we got on the Internet. Like my earlier experience with the BBC, it was complicated and boring so we went out and played instead...
Then the Internet moved on a bit and we discovered chat rooms and that girls could also be in these chat rooms - we used to go and meet up with them, in fact, there is one girl who I am still mates with after all these years! At the time, no-one seemed to have a problem with it, but if the same were happening today, you'd hope that the teenager in question would be savvy enough to realise how potentially dangerous it is or that there would be a whole bunch of concerned parents putting a stop to their teenager meeting strangers off the Internet!

[Bealman]

I built a thing that played NIM which utilised 3 'fairy light' bulbs which I procured from a 240V set that was wired in series. I combined them with three switches and an ex-post office bank of relays I got from a local surplus shop for a quid.

I ran the whole shabang off the same Triang  power unit that supplies part of my current layout!

I actually wrote a manual for it and took a photo of it. I know I have those here in Oz and am currently searching for them.

Stay tuned! 

George

Just spent the better half of a morning searching for the manual of that NIM computer I designed and built, but to no avail. I did, however find a pretty crappy picture of a young Bealman next to the computer:
[smg id=29356 type=preview align=center width=400]
The phone was an old army surplus handset connected to me mate's place 4 doors over. Seeing I live in Aus now and he lives in NZ, I'd need a couple of very long wires to do that these days!

The actual NIM playing machine is the white sloping panel on the right. It is resting on a bank of relays, and the Triang power supply can be seen sitting on a white box to the left.

The white box is a home-made audio oscillator, if I recall, and there is a reel-to-reel tape recorder standing up in the corner. I still have that tape recorder here in Australia, as I do the tiny little analogue multimeter that can be just made out on the right. I have no idea what those two silver boxes with meters on them are, even though I would have made them!

Up until 1968, the bench it all stands upon was home to a 00 gauge quarry layout (Triang Super 4 track)!!

[railsquid]

I built a thing that played NIM which utilised 3 'fairy light' bulbs which I procured from a 240V set that was wired in series. I combined them with three switches and an ex-post office bank of relays I got from a local surplus shop for a quid.

I ran the whole shabang off the same Triang  power unit that supplies part of my current layout!

I actually wrote a manual for it and took a photo of it. I know I have those here in Oz and am currently searching for them.

Stay tuned! 

George

Just spent the better half of a morning searching for the manual of that NIM computer I designed and built, but to no avail. I did, however find a pretty crappy picture of a young Bealman next to the computer:
[smg id=29356 type=preview align=center width=400]

Looks like a still from an early BBC scifi drama.

"The radar is detecting that the Daleks have traversed the reverse loop without changing polarity and are now joining forces with the Cybermen in the fiddle yard! Doctor, are you there Doctor?!"

[Bealman]