Reproduction micros

[Pete Turnbull]

On 21/07/2016 15:12, Liam Proven wrote:
> On 21 July 2016 at 15:24, Pete Turnbull <pete at dunnington.plus.com> wrote:
>>
>>But a StrongARM [ ... ] initially ran 3 times as
>> fast [ ... ] and eventually SA-110 ran to over 200MHz) yet
>> uses less power.

> OK. I think the first announced StrongARM, the SA110, was announced as
> running at 100, 133 and 200, mind you.

Um, isn't that pretty much what I wrote?  I'm pretty sure the first 
batch(es) weren't rated for the full 200.

> But the point about transistor count is well made. For the casual, it
> was displayed by the packaging. The SA110 came in a plastic QFP, and
> it came from the same company and around the same time as the Alpha,
> with threaded shanks on the packaging for screwing a heatsink into
> place. Spoke volumes. :-)

Hmm.  Never seen one like that.  None of the ones I've seen in real life 
are PQFPs, and none have a heatsink.  They're all plastic pin grid array 
packages.  No heatsink at all.  Nor does the datasheet for the PQFP show 
anything related to a heatsink.  It also shows a PLCC version; no 
heatsink there either, and again I've never seen one.  Maybe that's just 
because I normally only saw them in Acorn machines, of course.

>> I wish I'd kept an A500, though.  All I have now is the
>> podule to connect it to a Beeb.  Anybody got the machine to put it in?
>
> I have an A5000, near-new in box. But it's not been removed for about
> 15y and I've no idea what working condition it's in. I could post it
> to you when I'm next in the UK -- probably early next month. If you're
> interested, make drop me a line off-list. It's in my storage unit in
> South Wimbledon, where I have no power or anything, so I can't
> plausibly get it out and test it.
>
> I am planning to move the rest of my stuff here to Czechia next month,
> mainly for cost reasons due to the falling GBP. If you wished you
> could come and meet me and inspect it in person?

There's a thought.  I'd be up for that, though it's not actually an 
A5000 I meant; the A500 was the development system - looks rather like 
an A310 but without the fancy front bezel, and painted blue/grey.  There 
were only a few made.  They were used internally during development - 
hence the podule to connect it to a Beeb, which provided the I/O early 
on - and in the later stages before the Archimedes launch in 1987, 
several were loaned to software developers.

-- 
Pete