I added Station 201 to my Econet at the end of May 2003. I had to rearrange things a bit to find room for it but I was keen to get my BBC Master 512 onto my network if at all possible.

There is a lot more about my Master 512 before I added it to my Econet here.

Station 201 is connected to one of the socket boxes on the new part of my Econet which I laid in March 2003. Unfortunately it suffers from the same problem as Station 200 in that it does not recognise the FileStore clock signal. This is either because the FileStore clock is running too fast or due to my "innovative" network wiring technique!

I have made a few changes to the Master 512 since I got it and solved some of the mysteries of the ROM boards inside it.

The first change I had to make was to add an Econet module. This was not a simple as usual because the ROM board which plugs into the MOS slot is in the way of the Econet connectors. I used a ZIF socket in the MOS ROM holder to raise the ROM board and the Econet module just fits rather nicely underneath.

Whilst I was playing about doing this, I finally figured out what this board was for and why the MOS 3.50 ROM did not appear to have all the right ROMs in it. The little board which plugs into the MOS ROM socket is an ingenious device which allows you to "map out" some of the ROMs contained in the MOS ROM and replace them with your own ROMs. On the board is a socket for the Acorn Mega-ROM and three sockets for your own ROMs. There is a set of links on the board to select which ROM on the board replaces which ROM in the operating system ROM.

In other words, if you don't much care for View and Viewsheet, then instead of having them sitting there doing nothing for 15 years, you can replace them in the Master ROM map with utilities of your own choice which might actually be of some use to you.

I have also worked out why the 512 sometimes was temperamental, not powering up despite many tries on occasion. I noticed that the other ROM board was linked to what looks like a ROM socket like the ones on the BBC motherboard. This rests on top of the 65C12 processor making contact with its pins and if it is dislodged, the machine will not power up.

I am still working on what the switch is for!

I have added a ROM called "CPFS" to this machine. I found this in one of the boxes of ROMs which came with my Greatest Find and was delighted to find that it is the "Co-Processor Filing System". This is a super bit of software from "Essential Software" which is designed especially for the Master 512. It allows you to use the RAM on the 80186 co-processor board when the Tube is switched off. All 512K (or 1024K if you have the upgrade) can be used as a combination of RAM disc and printer buffer. Oh yes! Half a megabyte of RAM disc on a BBC! That's enough for the entire Welcome disc and most of the Econet library utilities!!!

Click here to learn more about Second Processors

Click here to learn more about the BBC Master Series

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