Please see below for 2025 updates to BeebMaster

1st November 2025	It's November and yes, folks, I'm still online, despite the whole interweb collapsing around our ears every other day under the weight of conglomerates too big not to fail and hackers trying to smash it to pieces! Round here, it's all run by Econet, so maybe take a leaf out of my BeebBook and visit the BeebShop to start your own hack-proof-Bezo-proof-Gate-proof Econet right now! After that, do take a look at my newest offering, beginning with myriad 8-bit topics:
		I can't say how long I have had this Torch Communicator, but it's been a good number of years. It was sitting on a bookshelf for a very long time until the bookshelf was dismantled in early 2023, and then I pictured it in May 2023.		It was time for a keyboard repair to Station 130.
		Here's how to fit the internal VFS adapter between a BeebSCSI board and Master 128, in this case Station 112.		A quick look inside Station 112 now that I have fitted the BeebSCSI internally.
		Econet Station 112, my revived former workhorse Master 128, is enjoying a new life as an all-purpose test and development station. Here's a brief look from July 2023.		These are my July 2023 pictures of the Akhter host adapter which I use in my Winchester disc test rig.
		I never waste an opportunity to declare Inter-Word as my favourite word-processor, even in the twenty-first century.		Lots of lovely things were happening to Station 201 in July 2023, including a new monitor.
		If you've ever wondered how to transfer data across the Tube, from second processor to host, and you've got an hour or two to spare, then read on.		This is an attempt to replicate the ARM BASIC feature of saving the current program without having to type in a filename, where the filename is read from the first line of the program, being a REM line with a > symbol preceding the name to be used.
		At some point in the past, ie. after 1986, Station 112 developed a problem with the audio volume.		For the first time in a few months, I had another go with the OSSC in July 2023 to see if I could tune it in properly to Mode 7, after some new information about settings which could cope with Teletext had been worked out.
		For years on and off, I've thought it would be a good idea if the auxilary power connector on the Beeb PSU could be "split" so that two cables could be plugged into it. In August 2023, I finally did it.		If you have just seen the Auxilary Power splitter cable I made, then this set shows the initial use for it I had in mind.
	Continuing with some very modern things:
		I bought a new graphics card for my desktop PC in July 2023, because I had had problems with the old one when trying to do video capture of Station 128 in March 2023.		Here's the original graphics card from my desktop PC after I had removed it in July 2023.
	A little bit of Econet:
		This set shows the introduction of a new "test" module for Econet in July 2023.		This is a spare Econet Socket Hub. I tend to make them like this and then wait for the orders before finishing them off depending on whether I need to add two more DIN sockets at the top, or RJ45 sockets instead. In this case, I added activity LEDs instead.
	Some Pi-themed sets:
		This set, from August 2023, takes a look at the CPU speed of my Raspberry Pi 4 which also doubles as my Pi Econet Bridge.		This is the second adapter for Pi1MHz, which I bought at the same time as the first one, but I didn't build this one until August 2023.
1st October 2025	A look at some fun with Econet Station 128 to commence this October update:
		In March 2023, I used the speech upgrade in Station 128 to investigate the BBC Micro speech system in more detail, and wrote a set of speech utilities for use with the Kenneth Kendall Phrase ROM.		A look at using the 6502 Cheese Wedge to Station 128, made in April 2023.
	Now a look at BAS128, the 64K version of BBC BASIC:
		I took a detailed look at BAS128, the disc-based version of BASIC, in May 2023. Instead of living in ROM, it's loaded in from disc, or Econet in my case, so it uses the main RAM normally available for BASIC programming, and instead uses sideways RAM for the user memory.		I encountered some memory related problems when using BAS128.
		Some more experimentation with BAS128 now, trying to save blocks of memory.		Getting the operating system version as a string which can be used in a program is no mean feat on the Beeb. There are lots of ways of doing it, many much better than my own method which I employ in my HTML Generator, so you can see what I was using to make the page you are reading if you look at the HTML source. I had to adapt my method in May 2023 to work with BAS128.
	Some Econet topics, in case you were thinking I have forgotten about my favourite subject:
		In May 2023, there was a special Econet Party at the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park. I wasn't able to attend, as I was otherwise disengaged, but I did put in a remote appearance.		In May 2023, I started assembling parts for a new batch of BBC Model B Econet kits which had just run out.
		Here's another looks at the version strings returned by Econet file servers, from a set I made in June 2023.		At last, in May 2023, a printed lid for the BeebMaster Econet Clock!
		Here's a little bit of a investigation of validating Econet station numbers from June 2023.		Now a look at printer server listing.
	Periphery now, starting with a couple of unusual, some may even say !!rare!! 8-bit add-ons:
		Does anyone want a Cumana QFS? Yes, me, I said in 2023, so I photographed it in May 2023 shortly after it arrived.		Adaptor or Adapter? Well, that's an argument for another day, as here is an NCST BBC Input Output Adaptor I have had for many years, but didn't get to be put before the camera until May 2023.
		I finally got round to making some short 50-way extension cables in June 2023, years after I had bought the grey male connectors.		I decided to add a power LED to my Four-Drive drive at Station 112.
	Finally, some programming topics:
		I made a new ADFS test disc in July 2023 to replace my previous one.		Here's an auto-save feature of ARM BASIC.
		OSRDRM is the operating system call which allows bytes to be read from sideways ROM. The normal methods of reading can't be used as there is no way to direct a given memory location to a ROM bank rather than main memory. This is therefore a very useful call, but there is an important difference in behaviour depending on whether it is called on Master or a Model B.		*GO and *GOIO are commands which can be used to run code already in memory.
1st September 2025	September's update begins with a look at Econet Stations 200, 1 and 128:
		This is a look at Station 200, my first Master Turbo from 2002, just before it was re-commissioned into the BeebRoom in February 2023.		For the recommissioning of Station 200 in February, its floppy disc drives are provided by the Watford Electronics dual drive plinth previously used with Station 201.
		Although Station 200 had only been out of service for a few days in February 2023, I gave it a good workout after it was recommissioned to its new permanent home in the BeebRoom.		This is Station 1 in February 2023, just before she was recommissioned into the BeebRoom.
		Something of a rarity nowadays, captions from August 2025 for a picture set made in February 2023, as it seems I forgot to write them up at the time. Hopefully I will be able to remember what it's all about.		This is Station 128, my principal BBC Model B, during a photographic session in March 2023 whilst it was being recommissioned into the BeebRoom.
		A workout for BBC B Station 128 in March 2023.		This is the 6502 cheese wedge belonging to Station 128, photographed in March 2023.
		You'll know by now that when I'm showing what a Beeb is doing, I use still pictures, but I found a need for sound recording, so I decided to rig up a way of getting the audio out from the BBC Micro to my capture devices - using Station 128.		This picture set, which I made in March 2023, is a BeebMaster first. Not only is it the first time I made video recordings with sound, which is a bit essential if I am going to show off the Acorn speech system, but also I've found a way to embed the videos within the picture sets.
	Continuing now with some programming topics:
		This set shows the differences between certain BASIC I and BASIC II keywords when they are used between the two versions.		This is a set from April 2023 showing the problems with DFS, which can't extend random access files, but ADFS can.
		This is a look at colour characters in DFS disc titles and filenames from April 2023.		Now for even more on ROM service calls, from April 2023.
	More on my favourite topic, Econet:
		In April 2023, I was able to finish the building of my two Electron Econet cards on the eve of the Wakefield show.		I decided to start again in April 2023 with my Level 3 FS rescue.
	Now a look at some 8-bit add-ons:
		In April 2023, I made a more permanent fixing for the drive switching knobs of my "Four Drives" setup.		After the success with my prototype ROM adapter for the Master 128, I decided to make a small batch, and do them the right way up.
	Some 32-bit bits to end on, finishing off March 2023, skipping over some April 2023 I am saving for next month, and getting going on May 2023. Anyone would think I am starting to catch up!
		In March 2023, I did some experiments with screen modes in RISC OS on the A5000 using my Sony DVD recorder's HDMI output to do the capture.		My A3010 has been playing up for a while, so I took it to bits in May 2023 to try to see what was happening. Unfortunately more bits came off than anticipated.
1st August 2025	A few bits-and-bats left over from 2022, including some "orphaned" picture sets, begin this August 2025 update:
		I can make ribbon cables in many different configurations to suit what I need, or what anyone else needs if they make a trip to the BeebShop. Here's a dual 5¼"/3½" cable originally made in June 2022.		I didn't know whether to put this in Econet, or in Tea, so I put it in both!
		An antipodean institution came to an end in July 2022, and I captured the moment on the Sony Trinitron.		Rescued literally from a wheelie-bin, this small but significant find from 2022 came from the family of a deceased neighbour.
	Having cleared up all the 2022 stragglers with no more orphaned picture sets until August 2023, it's now time to finish off 2022 altogether with the final 4 picture sets:
		In August 2022, Station 128's keyboard was treated to a clean.		In 2022, Roland Leurs of the Netherlands made an Econet interface for the Acorn Electron which plugs into a cartridge slot on the Electron Plus 1. Here's a set showing my boards which arrived just after Christmas 2022. If the whole country hadn't been on strike at the time, they would have arrived just before Christmas 2022.
		I decided to buy blank boards only so that I could continue to improve my soldering, and as I didn't need a kit of parts either, I only asked for the bespoke chips with my two boards. Just after Christmas 2022, I built the boards as far as I could.		To go with the Electron Econect interface, some nice 3D printed cases.
	With 2022 consigned to history, I can now begin on January 2023:
		When this arrived in early January 2023, I was only after two more BBC Video laserdisc titles to complete my collection.		The last but one BBC Video laserdisc comes to my collection in January 2023!
		In January 2023, I converted a dual 5¼" and two 3½" drives into a 4-way switchable unit, with a lot of help at the January 2023 ABug.		In January 2023, I made a special carrier board on stripboard to use in one of the Master 128 32K ROM sockets, without losing 2 banks of sideways RAM, which is what usually happens when fitting a ROM in these sockets.
		I thought A3010 Station 31 has gone wrong again in January 2023 when I couldn't get a pictue out of it when I was doing a BeebMaster Econet station record attempt. It turned out to be a simple diagnosis and fix.		I bought two BBC Model B motherboards in January 2023, in various states of dismantlement.
		This is something I don't own, but borrowed in January 2023 - an adapter to use BeebSCSI with the internal 1MHz Bus on the Master 128 instead of the external connector.		In December 2022, I bought a second copy of the Ecodisc which was advertised as tested and working. It arrived in January 2023, although it only stayed here for about 27 hours.
		I am pleased to say that Station 112, once my workhorse Econet Station, was repaired in January 2023, and not before time, since it had been dead since I killed it in 2009 after footling about the motherboard with an ampmeter.		Please click on to see what happened when I switched on the newly repaired Station 112.
		In February 2023, I bought some new ROM cartridges to be used with Station 1, as the Care Electronics cartridges in use previously were too high for Station 1's new stacking home.		Here's a bit of cable soldering I did in March 2023 using a new tool.
		In March 2023, I received a board for a second RGB switch cable so that I could make another one.		A repair to my Sony DVD Recorder in March 2023.
1st July 2025	More on Station 130 to start this July update:
		As you might recall, my new BBC Micro arrived without a power cord. Here's how I finally resolved this.		This is the moment of truth for new Station 130 on my Econet - the first time the machine is used after all my repairs and upgrades are complete.
		In November 2022, I noticed a bug in the error message generated by *SAVE.		I don't have much use for the CD-ROM drive on my RISC PC 700, but my attention was drawn to a rather interesting feature in November 2022.
		I discovered a slight bug in View, as it seemed to have an arbitrary limit on filename length.		Here's a simple method I devised in November 2022 to use a text highlighting system which works in Teletext and other screen modes without upsetting the formatting. Adding Teletext highlighting involves inserting one or more control codes into the text to change foreground or backgroun colour, and it looks a mess if the same codes are displayed in a graphics mode. Similarly, using highlighting in graphics modes by changing the foreground or background colour can upset the formatting in mode 7 as the colours don't work.
		On 1st November 1982, the first episode of the splendid cartoon series "SuperTed" was shown. Exactly 40 years later, I had a special showing of my SuperTed laserdisc.		Another go at imaging the hard drive inside my Acorn A4 from November 2022.
		Here's some podule testing with my A5000 from December 2022.		The Miniscribe Hard drive in my A420/1 has been playing up, so in December 2022 I decided to see what my A5000 would make of it.
		Now for the other problem ST506 drive in my A5000.		In December 2022, I finally got round to trying to make an image of my second A5000 hard drive.
		In December 2022, I tried out a new version of Elite which has been converted from the original game code to use all-Teletext graphics. It's great.		I had a go with the new Teletext Elite on Station 129, as I thought it would look good on a real Cub monitor.
1st June 2025	Today's update begins with some picture sets about my newest BBC B, Station 130:
		This is the next step in fixing Station 130 - I am replacing IC32 in the hope of repairing the video scrolling fault.		Next repair - new IC39.
		New Station 130 is getting a treat now, with all its spare sideways ROM sockets being used up.		Now a look at using the sideways ROM and RAM carrier boards inside Station 130.
		After the logical copy comes the attempt at the physical copy.		Now for a detailed look at my A5000 in December 2022, after I brought it back from storage (in August) to image the hard drives.
		In November 2022, I helped with an ADFS disc which had become corrupted, breaking the root directory.		I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about this. There is an insistence on generating "interleaved" ADFS disc images, when the discs themselves are always sequential. This seems to have come about in the 1990s when early imaging tools on PCs would read the two floppy drive heads before stepping to the next track, and as a result, a lot of emulators and disc tools expect ADFS disc images to be laid out in a completely alien way to the way ADFS actually reads them. Here's a solution.
		In November 2022, I brought back my Acorn NC from storage and made a new picture set.		This is a detailed look at using the Acorn Network Computer from November 2022.
		This set shows my attempt to get the Acorn NC to do something useful by trying it with different podules.		A quick look the PSU for the NC.
		In September 2022, I got a small pile of adapters for use with Raspberry Pi add-ons for Beebs.		Here's a look at the Ken Lowe Tube adapters I bought in September 2022.
		Here's a look at the Ken Lowe 1MHz bus adapters I bought in September 2022.		I own copies of many manuals for the BBC and Acorn machines, even this one, although it's in storage, but PDFs of scans are now available for many. Sometimes though looking at a book on a screen just doesn't do the job.
1st May 2025	This 22nd birthday update begins with more on my new BBC B Econet Station:
		Now the purpose of my new Beeb - to upgrade it to Econet. This is only the second Beeb I have tried to upgrade, believe it or not!		After fitting the Econet upgrade to new Station 130, this set shows it being tested.
		Next to fix up Station 130's keyboard.		More investigation now on the video corruption during screen scrolling, which I discovered after fitting the Econet upgrade to Station 130.
		Something happened to the Miniscribe hard disc inside my Acorn A420/1, and so in August 2022 I tried to connect it to the Adaptec ACB4000A controller inside my Acorn Double Winchester to see if anything could be done.		Here's a new, 3D-printed button for my RISC PC.
		This is a look at filing system priority with ANFS installed in a BBC Model B, using my newest Econet Station, 130, in September 2022.		This is a set showing how to make a chessboard style fill pattern using the extended GCOL and flood-fill features in the Master 128.
		In September 2022, I made some changes to the Pi Econet Bridge file server code to introduce support for long filenames.		This set from October 2022 shows some more attempts to revive the Miniscribe hard drive from my A420/1, after I had fixed a fault with the BBC Micro Winchester disc rig I was using.
		Another go with the Kyocera whilst the Winchester rig was in a lucid state.		In October 2022, I updated my Winchester disc verifier.
		After successfully formatting the Kyocera hard drive in my Beeb Winchester rig, I am now trying it in the A420/1.		Here's a bit more on the dump stamping problem, from October 2022.
		In October 2022 I started experimenting with using the HDMI output on my DVD Recorder for screen captures.		In October 2022, I tried out a new method of screen captures using the original BeebMaster Domesday Machine and my latest DVD Recorder, which has an HDMI output.
		Following on from the previous set, I took a more detailed look at paged ROM service calls in October 2022.		This is a look at TreeCopy version 1.63 from October 2022.
		A workout for my A5000, newly retrieved from storage, in October 2022.		One of the reasons for bringing back my A5000 from storage in 2022 was to rescue the contents of the hard drives. Here is a look at backing up the main hard drive.
		A quick look at the status of my Econet in August 2022 using my Machines! network-scanning utility.		I bought a crimping tool to complete the fix to my new Station 130.
		You'll have counted a total of 22 new Acorn picture sets for this 22nd birthday update, and so I close now with a slight change of scene to one of my other favourite topics in this very brief final update for this month. I close with the customary appeal for you to have a good root round the whole site, including my non-Acorn pages, and the BeebShop, and I'll see you again in early June.
1st April 2025	Beginning with more on Panos and Econet:
		After the recent experimentation, this set looks at installing Panos on a Level 3 file server in the user root directory.		I didn't like the idea of installing Panos in the root of the Econet file server, which is why I spent so much time mucking about with the install files so that it could be installed in a directory of my choice rather than the directory of Acorn's choice - but here's how to do it anyway.
		Next in my Panos escapades is to install Panos on the Pi Econet Bridge, using the original Panos install script.
	I'm adding my Acorn A4 to my Econet table to coincide with 4 new picture sets:
		Fresh back from its repair, here's my Red Tigress A4.		This set from August 2022 shows my Red Tigress A4 in use, fresh from its repair.
		This picture set is from August 2022 when the Red Tigress A4 returned home, fully repaired.		Freshly restored to full health, it's time to get the hard disc backed up before anything else happens.
	My Acorn A3010 also makes its debut in my Econet directory today, with new picture sets here:
		This is my A3010 in August 2022 after it returned here from a second repair, to fix the keyboard, and also fit some upgrades.		Back home after its second repair in August 2022, this is my A3010.
		Next, to test the floppy disc drive of my A3010.		Time to backup the hard drives in my A3010.
		Now a look at mapping the same drive to ADFS and IDEFS.
	August 2022, which is when all this month's picture sets were made, sure was a bumper month for new images, and also for adding to my Econet, as it also saw the debut of a new BBC B, Econet Station 130, with the first 4 picture sets here:
		In August 2022, I bought a new BBC Model B. Hardly needed, you might think, but I have been after a tape-only machine for a while which I could upgrade.		This is my new BBC Model B being tried out for the first time connected to RGB to HDMI.
		Next is an alternative recording method for Station 130.		Station 130 is having a new Video ULA to try to fix the screen corruption in some graphics modes.
		My new Beeb is now fully dismantled ready for being upgraded. Before doing so, let's have a look at the age-old question.		I didn't realise when buying the new Beeb that the PSU had something important missing.
1st March 2025	Some picture sets on the general topic of Programming to start this March update:
		Here's an update to my ADFS trick disc.		This is a brief look at ROM service calls from August 2022.
		This set shows some experimentation I made on using the Break vector in August 2022.		This set from August 2022 looks at some of the differences in the instruction set in the 6502 processor used in the BBC Micro and the 65C12 in the Master series.
	And even more on my Ecodisc travails now:
		Here's a look at trying to read the bad sectors on my Ecodisc caused by laser-rot.		My next idea was to try the Ecodisc in the VP415's diagnostic modes.
		This is a look at my CountDir utility with the Domesday discs.		This is my CountDir utility running on the Ecodisc.
	Now for some hard drives:
		This is some investigation I did in August 2022 to see if I could devise a foolproof method of knowing when a Winchester disc is connected to a Beeb.		Here I am trying to work a Kyocera Winchester Disc using my Adaptec rig, which had been one of the candidate drives for fitting to my Archimedes 305, but it didn't take.
		A problem developed at Station 87 in August 2022 with the SCSI interface.		As I've added a new picture set involving Econet Station 87, and the section for my Second Domesday Machine seems to be in good shape, I have begun the process of adding links to my Econet stations in the section on My Econet which I began rebuilding in November 2024.
	A look at some 8-bit peripherals:
		This is my UviPROM EPROM programmer, my earliest programmer, which doesn't get much use nowadays, but in August 2022 I did give it a rare workout.		Now a look at using the UviPROM control software.
		There's a version 2 of the UviPROM control ROM, so I am trying that in the hope that I have more luck with 32K 12V EPROMs.		This is a look at making some little carrier boards to take an EPROM or sideways RAM chip, without having to modify the chip itself.
	We finish with the beginnings of a new section on the 32016 operating system, Panos:
		This set shows making a set of Panos installation discs. In fact, although there are seven discs altogether in the Panos set, I am only making discs for the first two, which will be sufficient to install Panos.		Having successfully made two of the Panos installation discs, it's now time for me to try Panos for the first time. A 32016, or 16032, Second Processor is sadly something missing from my collection, but Pi Tube Direct comes to the rescue with over 20 second processors to choose from.
		The Panos installation discs contain install scripts for various situations so that it can be run without having to load it all from DFS floppy disc every time.		Next, following on from my success, after ironing out some blips, in installing Panos on my RISC PC Level 4 file server, a more authentic 1980s experience, installing on the L3 server.
1st February 2025	February's update begins with more on the Ecodisc:
		I made a new version of my "Count Directory" utility to take into account the space used on LV-ROM discs. Here's the utility before the changes so we can see the difference.		This is the enhanced version which can cope with VFS discs.
		Version 1.2 of my Read/Write CMOS utility from July 2022 is here.		Here's a quick routine I drew up to print out a memory dump.
		This was a bit of fun in July 2022 when I made up an ADFS disc full of Pi digits.		Shortly after making my Disc of Pi, I devised a way of freeing up even more space on an ADFS disc than is usually available.
		Here's a look at the "Bad key" error in BBC BASIC.		This is a very irritating problem with the Level 4 file server.
		This set shows the ACB4000 series of Adaptec ST506 Winchester Disc controllers in use.		This is a look at mode select using the ACB4000 series controllers, from July 2022.
		In July 2022, 3 years after first introducing my HTML Generator, I devised a method to use Inter-Word to write the caption files. Please click on the picture links above to learn more.		In July 2022, I devised a more automated way of taking Beeb screenshots, using a dictation system footpedal.
		A quick set showing how ADFS 2.10 doesn't work with the Master 512.		I had a special viewing of "Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D." in July 2022 in memory of local lad Bernard Cribbins, who played PC Tom Campbell in the film.
		You can't tell from the pictures, but Wakefield 2023 took place in Bradford.		I attended my second retro-computing event of 2024 in April when I made a further return visit to Camberley.
1st January 2025	Help to see in the new year with a special LaserVision and Domesday feature for this first 2025 update:
		This is a look at "Helping Your Child To Read" with my Domesday Machine in July 2022.
		This is a look at the "maximum" frame number which will be accepted when communicating with the LV-ROM player via SCSI.		Another look at maximum frames now, with the LV-ROM player being operated under serial communications.
		This is a quick recap of the problem of trying to work out how many CAV frames are on a laserdisc which happens to be an LV-ROM Disc.		I worked out a fix for the SCSI communications problem when trying to calculate the maximum disc frame, as used in my LVInfo utility.
	A major new section about the AIV Ecodisc starts today:
		This is a new picture set of my Ecodisc which I took in July 2022 to coincide with its thirty-fifth anniversary.		In July 2022, on the approximate 35th anniversary of the publication of the Ecodisc, I tried it out for the first time. It had been in the wardrobe for over 15 years.
		Now a look at the Ecodisc with my LVInfo utility.		It shouldn't be too difficult to make a logical backup of the Ecodisc - it will all fit on an ADFS floppy disc.
		This is an attempt to see whether the Ecodisc Plan sections will work, even though the Plan files have rotted away.		Here's a look at what happens if we try to run the Ecodisc with the Tube off.
	To finish this new year update, some bits of programming with functions and procedures:
		This is a brief look at a programming technique which allows a Function within a BASIC program to be called by building the name of the function using variables rather than having to hard-code the name of the function each time.		This set is a bit of a warning about being careful to use the right arguments in functions, or unexpected results can ... result.

For previous updates, please see here.