I Crashed My Fiesta: Baby Beeb

I received an unexpected message from one of my work colleagues over a weekend.

"Would Mrs Crashed allow this in the house?"

The Offering

Well, my immediate response was a resounding "Yes!". Better to seek forgiveness than ask permission. :)

There have been many hundreds of words and hours of video produced about the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. Here are a few links to some of them:

MICRO MEN - (search for this one yourself)
Nostalgia Nerd - The Electron Story
RMC - Electron Trash to Treasure
LGR - Electron System Review

Suffice it to say that the Electron is a cost reduced BBC Micro which, at the time, dominated the UK educational market. The Electron was intended to fight against the cheap and hugely popular ZX Spectrum while trying to capture some of the lucrative games market. It was not a success largely down to its late arrival because of ULA issues.

My own experience of the Acorn products is, to be honest, a bit thin. My school had a computer (one computer) that was a BBC Micro model B. It was tucked into a cupboard with enough room to fit two kids on tiny wooden chairs. Time was strictly limited and the software provided was somewhat rudimentary. One application I remember asked questions and we input answers and some of my 9 year old compadres spent the lesson teaching it rude words and offensive names (suspiciously prescient of the Microsoft AI debacle). I spent probably less than 1 hour in total on the thing in the whole time I was at the school.

Anyway, a box from my most awesome work colleague duly arrived containing the previously pictured Acorn electron.

Unboxed and ready for inspection.

First things first, does it work? Now for certain other computers there are extensive lists and descriptions of what tests you should do, what components to check etc before you even think about the merest possibility of considering the outside chance of plugging it in. In this case, nah. The power input is 19vac. Fortunately, I managed to get a 'real' Electron supply from the most awesome and all round good egg @GeezerD205 on Twitter.

Hmm, re-worked end..

Connections to be re-worked...

The power supply is as simple as it could be. A transformer. That's it. Input 230vac, output 19vac. I did a little re-work on the connections inside but failed to take a picture of the results. Suffice to say, I'm happier with my results that the insulating tape that originally covered the wires, and a measure of the output confirmed the expected 19vac (or near enough as there was no load on it when I tested).

Time to plug it in. Does it boot? Yes. A nice satisfying beep, and the composite output sprang into life.

Yay! It boots, and the keyboard works!

I did a quick keyboard test and everything just worked. Nice.

But wait a minute, where's the 'M'?

Well, that's annoying. Just one key not working. Fortunately, the keys on the Electron use switches and not the dreaded 'membrane'. The switches are actually the same as on the BBC Master and can be dismantled, cleaned and re-assembled. In theory. Something to sort out when I can get out into the garage..

Next, it really needs a bit of a clean. It's not as bad as some of the machines that have crossed my path, but it definitely needs a bit of a spruce up. Time to get the screwdriver out and strip this thing down...

I'm in pieces, bits and pieces.

Grubby Keyboard

Baldwin supervises the initial clean-up

Keycaps - nice and easy to remove

The keycaps were very simple to remove and firmly attached, but not 'break the keystem' tight like they are on my Plus/4. A simple wash in soapy water was all that was needed to get the keycaps clean and then a leave to stand for a few hours to air dry.

While the keyboard was disconnected it was time to have a look at that dodgy 'M' key. The key switches need to be de-soldered from the keyboard circuit board which was fairly simple. Then, in a fit of sensible thinking I de-soldered the right shift key switch and put it in the spot where the 'M' key was. My thinking was that if the right shift key doesn't end up working I can use the left one.

Back of the keyboard - 'M' key circled

'M' Key removed..

Anyway, I brute-forced the keyswitch open which was a mistake. In actual fact, the two legs that are soldered to the board actually unscrew and allow the two halves of the switch to separate. Inside are the two metal contacts that are pressed together when the key is pressed.

I cleaned both metal contacts in the switch and carefully re-assembled it. Fortunately, despite my heavy handedness, it screwed back together OK and, even though two of the three plastic clips had broken, the switch unit held together and was simple to solder back into place.

Initially, the switch didn't appear to work. If I pressed the right shift key it made no difference but then, after a couple of presses, it suddenly started to work. Presumably, by pressing the key a few times, the spring contacts inside re-seated correctly and began to make contact again. Nice.

And finally, the case was washed in soapy water and left to dry before re-assembly. The results are quite nice. There's no yellowing and it looks almost fresh out of the box.

Shiny. Shiny.

I don't have a simple way of loading any games or other programs at the minute. I'll probably end up getting something but for now I need to get a compatible cassette recorder and the correct cable.

In the meantime, would you believe that the 'P' key has started to act up now. Oh, well. At least I know how to get the key switches apart now.

Time for some gratuitous motherboard shots: