Holidays Wishlist with the BBC micro:bit!

after initial testing it is currently unbootable (after about 30 years) - but maybe something simple (like oxidized contacts). I have verified how was EPROM programmer used - there is still cable connecting to the EPROM emulator board attached to one of memory sockets on processor board...

CA80 - educational DIY computer, shipped with set of books explaining basics of electronics (from simple circuits to the inner workings of CPU) by use of gnomes, positioned as Z81 competition but only with hexadecimal keyboard and 7-segment display (LED first, later VFD) .

Based on Z80A CPU, programmed using assembler which was entered as hexadecimal opcodes - there was even tape recorder interface if one got bored entering program after each reboot...

There was some add-ons, including EPROM programmer (in the era when those were unobtainable to the hobbyist) - I don't remember exactly how the content for programming was prepared, but I think that some time later- when I was given PC computer (268, upgraded to the 386sx later) and built EPROM emulator from the kit, that emulator was connected to one of EPROM sockets of CA80 and data was copied from it to the real memory.

There were even some games included IIRC...

There were a number of plastic cases produced to house them - I could never afford one of them...

When …Iiiii…. was your age…. We had to program computers in the snow uphill both ways!!  

My first computer was actually my brother’s TRS-80 micro colour computer. Not the TRS-80 most people think of, but a cheaper option that connected to the TV.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_MC-10

It had a tape recorder with it to store and retrieve programs.

It booted into basic, and had a neat option to program blocks of colours, which meant it was fairly easy to create games and simple colourful displays.

It didn’t come with any programs, so I started by typing in the little samples in the back of the manual… and found that one of them didn’t work - the manual had a typo. My first debugging!!

After going through the handful of little tutorials I then programmed my first game - a little shoot the airplane type game. The plane would go across at the top, and the shooter was at the bottom and could move left and right. I remember the game would slow down severely if you took too many shots at once  

Not bad for a self taught newbie limited to 4kb of memory  

I used to see loads of these AIM 65 computers at one of the local technical colleges.

They tended to have a Perspex/Plexiglass cover over them instead of the desktop case.

Some of the labs even used to have them screwed to a wall above lab benches, with the transparent cover over the front of them.