Acorn Electron

It's been a while, but it's time to spend some cash expanding my collection...

Presenting, the BBC Micro's little sister, the Acorn Electron, essentially a cut down version of the expensive BBC Micro, which was common throughout the UK education system at the time

Despite being a cut-down version of the BBC, there were some hardware differences which meant compatibility between the two machines was not 100%, so software which the kids used on the BBC at school, may not of worked on the Electron at home

Before we have a look at the unit, here's a public service announcement...



Much embarrassment all round...

Now we shall have a look around the unit, as we normally do...



The first thing you notice is this machine is tiny compared to the BBC, it's smaller than the Commodore C64, if you think Sinclair Spectrum +, you wouldn't be far away with the size. Also the keyboard has less keys in a different layout to the Beeb, and the red function keys are nowhere to be found



On the rear of the unit is one edge connector, this supported a range of peripherals to expand the Electron, there are screw holes to aid mounting of the expansions, holding them tight against the Electron. No expansion pack wobble here ZX81



On the left hand side is RF out, mono video out, RGB out, and the cassette interface, on the right hand side is the power socket, there is no power switch or reset button here



The bottom of the unit showing the edge connector and labels



The port identifications are in raised text on the bottom of the unit



The Electron I bought also came with this cassette recorder, this is very heavy and can run from the mains, or from FIVE C cells. I have not tested it yet, the rubber pinch roller feels quite hard



The power pack is very large, and outputs 19 Vac at 14 watts, my memory of ohm's law and maths is very bad, but that sounds like 730mA to me? Is that right?

Software




Theatre Quiz, this is the only game I have at the moment, and despite there being three spaces for cassettes in the case, it only came with two. I haven't loaded it up yet, I need to test the cassette recorder first, the rubber on the pinch roller seems to be quite hard, so it needs a service before use



The machine seems to be fully operational as far as I can tell, everything works as expected. However it only beeps once on start up, and in a different tone to the Beeb



There is a relay on the board to control the cassette recorder, you can hear it click, and a LED illuminates, this is the only indicator on the machine



And a close up of the logo



And finally a comparison against it's bigger brother, the mighty BBC Micro

For more retro hardware check out my online museum here