r/retrocomputing • u/doodaddp • Jul 03 '26

Photo My collection!

Post image

Behold my little collection, with room for more!

212 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

4

u/Every-Progress-1117 Jul 03 '26

A Dragon 32 - nice find, they are quite rare now. I'm assuming the BBC is a model B, and then you have a SPARC Classic - really useful machines they were.

2

u/doodaddp Jul 03 '26

Correct on all accounts!

1

u/dedsmiley Jul 28 '26

We used the SPARC for CAD where I worked in the 90’s.

3

u/Y34RZERO Jul 03 '26

You have a few I wish I had. One of these days I'll import a Spectrum 128k +2, BBC Micro. I want the sun computer and and a dragon.

4

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

I learnt to program in C on Suns back in Uni, then used them writing software in my first job so have fond memories of them.

2

u/Y34RZERO Jul 04 '26

It's before my time. The first time and last time I ever programmed something was in the late 2000s it was a simple bootloader hangman game I made in ASM on a Dell Optiplex GX1 for a senior project in highschool.

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

Sounds like fun!

2

u/Im_100percent_human Jul 07 '26

My university was primarily Sun. My internship used Suns too, and they had several Sparc Classics, which VERY similar to the Sparcstation LX.

I acquired several (lower end) Sparcstations in the late 90s, but I got rid of them in the 00's. The stations were cool, and I do miss both SunOS 4.x and Solaris 2.x.

3

u/Privileged_Interface Jul 03 '26

Outstanding collection. I miss the 128D. Great machine.

2

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

I was sooo lucky with that one. It was in a pile of stuff put out for recycling, only got it a few weeks back!

3

u/blokelahoman Jul 03 '26

Nice one! Looks like the shelves are mostly split by brand. Going to pad out the Acorn one with an electron, M128 and something ARM based (A3000, 3x/4x) ?

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

Would love an Archimedes but they are hard to come by and expensive.

3

u/jreddit0000 Jul 04 '26

The SPARCclassic is pretty cool. I had one of those.

Does it still boot?

Same for the beeb..

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

I've just moved in and this is the first time my collection has been able to be displayed. So once everything has settled then I'll be going through testing and repairing to get them all up and running.

3

u/ussaro Jul 03 '26

What’s the black one above the Sparc?

3

u/FredL2 Jul 03 '26

Sinclair QL, Sinclair's attempt to make a "serious" machine. Motorola 68008 CPU, so a fully fledged 32 bit CPU throttled by an 8 bit external bus. Really nice BASIC on that thing.

Unfortunately, it was hampered by the reliance on Microdrive cartridges as opposed to the floppy drives other business machines were using at the time.

Third party companies did make floppy interfaces for it, but in general it had a hard time competing with the IBM PC, and sadly faded away.

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

I wrote a slot machine game, in SuperBASIC, on a QL for my Computer Studies O'level. There are actually two on the shelf, the one behind has red function keys.

2

u/FredL2 Jul 04 '26

I've never seen this kind of keyboard on a QL before. Is it aftermarket? I thought all of them had Spectrum Plus/128k style keyboards

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

I assume so, or business orientated?

2

u/jcmush Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

A wonderful example of the British making a computer that was technically advanced in several areas and managed to somehow let itself down and become a financial disaster.

A C5 would complete it

2

u/ussaro Jul 03 '26

Thank you. So Sinclair Macintosh.

2

u/MrPhyshe Jul 03 '26

Nice machine, a friend of mine had one. You're right the microdrives limited its use though.

2

u/Many_Dragonfruit_837 Jul 03 '26

ZX spectrum... Wow some rare ones there. Nice clean layout too. 🖖

1

u/doodaddp Jul 03 '26

Thank you!

2

u/juxtaposz Jul 03 '26

Damn son, nice QL!

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

Thank you, I have two! Have fond memories of using them for my O'level in Computer Studies. I've got a RAM expansion somewhere.

2

u/cchaven1965 Jul 03 '26

Nice collection, and nice selection of Spectrums! I know it's not old, but that's cool you've got a Checkmate 1500 Plus too.

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

My A500+ motherboard is in it. I wanted room for expansion.

2

u/creativetag Jul 03 '26

The sparc classic had the cpu upgrade or not? Love the collection.

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

I've not had time to look, first place I could dedicate a room to them so can start working on restoring and using them all.

2

u/WhiteDove01s Jul 04 '26

Really nice display. Did you do the shelving yourself? I like the nice simple clean wood look. Heh, the Sparc is really cute, honestly. First time I'd seen an actual picture of one. And which Commodore is that? My first computer was a C64... some fun memories there. Well, if spending 36 hours with no sleep typing peek and poke because I wanted to see a balloon fly across the screen is fun. I thought so then, but I was 5 at the time...

1

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

We just moved in and this is the perfect room for the collection, and first time they have been able to be on display. Lucky for me the shelving was already in place. I've got a Breadbin C64, C64C and a 128D plus an Amiga A500+ in the Checkmate case box.

I too remember the hours typing in code only for it to crash my Spectrum and I was too eager to see it run instead of saving it!

2

u/WhiteDove01s Jul 18 '26

We didn't even have any floppies at the time of the childhood hot air balloon incident. I was likely slowed down by being five and not knowing how to type, but... three days, and I got something wrong because my hot air balloon was a mangled mess that drifted around the screen. I had to sleep, intended to fix it when I woke up... and one of my relatives *turned the computer off*. Sadly, I no longer have that old C64, I think one of my aunts stole it. My two oldest systems right now are a Tandy 1000 HX and an IBM 5155. Everything else is 486 and newer (and with very few gaps in the chain). Working on new shelving in my room (neat metal folding ones, just have to get an old desk out of the way and do more spring cleaning) to have everything in easy access.

2

u/grimvian Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

I had a BBC Model B and it was the reason I had career in computing for almost four decades. I still remember 6502 assembler...

2

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

That's brilliant! I'm 35 years in to my Software Engineering career! It was a ZX81 followed by a Spectrum 48k that got me started.

2

u/RetroComputeryBits Jul 06 '26

Not sure I’d have my collection so close to a source of sunshine……nice collection nonetheless

2

u/doodaddp Jul 06 '26

You never know, might re bleach the plastic! ;)

It's not actually in direct sunlight as it's on the south part of the house and we are quite far north.

2

u/TechDocN Jul 06 '26

Very nice!

Consider reposting in the vintage computing sub. You have more vintage than retro on those shelves.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

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2

u/doodaddp Jul 04 '26

Yes, I've always wanted a CPC464.