I have recently gained access to the Reigate Grammar School computer storage cupboards, and was surprised by the amount of old Acorn technology there is there. I have found numerous books about BBC hardware, as well as a large amount of Econet hardware. The school is keen to sell these, and so please write to me if you want any Econet equipment. There are over a dozen BBC Econet module cards, which are on sale for £5 each. I may also be able to supply other leads and hardware items: Please write if you have anything specific which you want, and I will try to find one for you and give your the price.
If you want any information about Econets, please write to me either directly or through EUG, and I will try to answer your queries from the books.
Incidentally, are there any readers out there who have managed to hook up their Electrons to an Econet? I can only find information about linking BBCs, and not Electrons. If you have managed it, please write into EUG and tell me how.
Dominic Ford
Way back in the heady days when the Acorn Plus 3 was first released, a number of people asked, "What about the Plus 2?" There was some debate as to what exactly the Plus 2 would be and this gradually changed to what the Plus 2 should have been.
I was working in Winchester General Hospital during the late 80s and, believe it or not, the computer system which they installed was a network of Electrons, intended to communicate with each other by Econet. They also had Acorn Plus 3s attached. And the Econet module between the Elk and the Acorn Plus 3 was the Plus 2.
The set up failed at great expense, not because of any intrinsic fault with the system but because...well, that's another story and one which I won't put into print for fear of appearing in the libel courts.
1st October 1997