VOGONS


Acorn Business Computer

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First post, by yevrowl

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There is a line of PCs that are quite diverse in terms of functionality and even architecture — Acorn Business Computers.

Interested in whether there are emulators for them, as well as interpreters and compilers for the BASIC programming language.

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Reply 1 of 4, by yevrowl

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Suggested that are emulated using MAME.

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Reply 2 of 4, by jtchip

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These aren't PCs in the sense of the IBM PC and compatibles discussed in this forum. From the wiki:

The ABC range was developed by Acorn essentially as a repackaged BBC Micro, expanded to 64 KB RAM, to which was added (in some models) a second processor and extra memory to complement the Micro's 6502. The electronics and disk drives were integrated into the monitor housing, with a separate keyboard.

So use any BBC Micro emulator. If you just want to run BBC BASIC, there are ports to various platforms, including modern ones.

Reply 3 of 4, by megatron-uk

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Never seen any examples of these, and I'm in the UK and have come across pretty much every type of Acorn/BBC.

Judging by the numbers stated in the article I would doubt if these were actually sold in any number or reached the market beyond a small few. In fact, just reading a little further it seems like none of them were produced other than the 210.

They basically sound like a Model B (more like a Master, minus the extra ram) with a 32016 second CPU. Something that you can actually put together without too much difficulty.

IIRC, there was a Pi based project to use the Pi as a second processor replacement, so it may not even need a genuine 32016 second CPU box tracking down.

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net

Reply 4 of 4, by megatron-uk

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Yep, here you go:

https://github.com/hoglet67/PiTubeDirect/wiki

Use a Pi to emulate/replace any of the Acorn second CPU interfaces, including the 32016. Add that to a model B and you are probably 99% of the way to one of those Acorn Business Computer models.

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net