6502.org

Hi All.

I have an genuine, unused & unpopulated Acorn Atom PCB that maybe of interest to someone who wants to document the design & / or copy it & get some replica PCB’s made.

I’d be happy to loan the board to someone who wants to do this as long as they cover the postage.

Or, I may consider selling it?

I acquired it many moons ago with the intent of building an Atom from scratch, but, like many things, I never found the time!

Cheers.

Pete.

(If it happens that you don't get any interest here, after say a week, you might well find more interest over on the Stardot forums. There's a small but active Atom scene over there.)

I did. Great fun. Although rounding up all the different parts (all NOS as a matter of principle) was cumbersome.

I probably got the PCB the same way you did.

I probably did!

If I remember correctly, I purchased two PCB’s from a company called Telec Electronics based in the Netherlands.

I think I ordered they’re last two units?!

I wonder where they got them from?

Cheers.

Same here. Ebay, March 2010, it seems.
From kits that were never built, I suppose. The Atom was my first computer, and at the time they came as a kit or ready built (mine was the latter).

Hi Pete,
I sent you a PM. I am working on a redraw of the Atom PCB and would be interested in scans or the board itself.

Fletch

Ha, I remember building the kit as a teenager, together with my dad. It didn't work, and we didn't know how to fix it, so it sat idly in the bookcase for some time. At some point I remember him shipping it, and getting it repaired.

I was saving up for a kit back in 1980 so I've always wanted to build one.

I found some scans of the Atom PCB on the net and have been trying to reproduce the PCB. However, the scans just aren't clear enough and I made a lot of mistakes that I had to correct by hand.

I am having problems getting the prototype working and I still don't know if the problem is a board fault, dodgy components or a construction fault. Having access to a better quality scan or an original board would help.

I think that the latest version 7 of kicad has a mode in which an image can be used as a template for a PCB layout. At least you'd start with the chips in the right place.

Are you looking to do an exact recreation or e.g. something with modern memory?

Neil

The plan is to create a reproduction board along the lines of the OSIwebs Superboard II PCBs. I'm trying to duplicate the original layout using a program called Sprint-Layout. This will allow someone with the right chips to make a replica Atom just as if they had ordered a board back in 1980. Once that is done I may make another version that uses modern EPROMs and Cherry keyswitches.

(Welcome, fletch!)

Are the original Atom keyswitches available anywhere? I have two Atoms with a few broken switches each (and most likely some other problems).

Which issue of the board do you have? Issue 5 boards use Futaba switches like the BBC Micro and those are still available NOS.

I believe the two I have use the earlier switches: https://deskthority.net/wiki/MEI_Sabrecoil

I wonder if you can 3D print those?