We visited this festival again for the third year in a row, I think it is.
Held at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge. It's tucked away in a little industrial estate with limited car parking.
Once through the inconspicuous doors that hide a gem of nerdiness, you are met with a little reception desk and small shop area with an array of computer related gadgets and niknaks.
There is s small hatch which serves drinks and some limited snacks, tables to sit and eat and a huge working microprocessor simulator occupies a couple of the walls.
This weekend they break out all the arcade machines, consoles, handhelds, computers, mainframes and associated hardware and software. You can interact with many of the most influential computers in silicon history. I love this festival because there's also a large number of enthusiasts and experts to tell you about the systems and I love the stories they tell that help to bring them to life.
If you were s child of the 70's and 80's particularly then you will love this.
In a side room is a mockup of a 70's/80's office and in another room were some enthusiasts displaying their personal collections.
I went over to talk to a man who sells the RC2014 z80 kit. I bought one last year and haven't been able to get it fully working yet. He was able to test most of the PCB's and confirm they were working. It could still be the CPU PCB or the TTL connector kit. I bought one of his Raspberry Pi expansion PCB's so I can connect it to a Raspberry pi for video output and bypass the need for the USB serial TTL connection. I now need to get home and check all my solder joints on the CPU assembly.
About a year ago I purchased a Lego 1093 Interface A set which came with the electronics but no software. I have tried searching online,in forums and even Lego but could not get hold of the required software to use this. I recently found that the Museum had a copy somewhere. On Saturday there was a volunteer demonstrating some similar PC controlled Lego kits and I mentioned this all to him. He was kind enough to locate the software and spoke to a colleague who is going to make a copy and send it out to me. Looking forward to that.
Another exhibitor at the event was the ex managing director of Commodore, David Pleasance, who has just released a new book about his days running Commodore. He has also released an accompanying Blu-ray with interviews and a music CD. He has a musical history as well as looking after one of the most iconic computer companies of the 80's. We bought his book for £30 and Blu-ray for £20 and he threw in the CD. After some problems taking electronic payments, he signed both and allowed a photo opportunity. Looking forward to reading the inside story of Commodore.
One of the things I always enjoy about this event is seeing the enthusiasts and volunteers who continue to maintain old systems and in some cases develop new hardware and software to keep these systems alive and popular as ever. Retro is definitely in.
One of the volunteers was showing off his Altair 8080 emulator. A hardware version of the classic computer that is fully working with an authentic looking control panel.
Some of the great systems to see and play!
Maplin's prices have generally always been much higher than other retailers. This is probably a large part of the reason why they are closing down.
They have been slowly selling off all stock from their stores including fixtures and fittings. We've been going there every couple for weeks and looking to see if there were any bargains. Even with 50% discount much of their stock is better priced elsewhere but in the past couple of weeks they have been increasing their discounts and selling some stock at one-off prices.
We popped into the Slough branch yesterday and managed to pick up some bargains. A Samsung Smartthings hub for £50 (usually about £100), a Meccannoid robot for £50 (usually £200+. This one has no box was but was fully working), a MakeyMakey for £24.99 (usually £49) a Makerbuino about £20 (usually around £70) and an aluminium display stand for £3. Apart from the robot and sign, all new and boxed. The only thing you have to consider is they will not accept returns unless the items are faulty but you still get warranty with the manufacturers so this was not really a concern for us. Now to do something with the Makey Makey and get the smartthings hub working in our house.