RiscPC 30th Birthday at ROUGOL, Mon 15th April 2024

The next meeting of the RISC OS User Group Of London is:

RiscPC 30th Birthday, party time!

Monday 15th April 2024, 7.45pm

The Duke of Sussex
(upstairs in the Chichester or Petworth Room from 6.30pm)
23 Baylis Road, London, SE1 7AY
http://www.rougol.jellybaby.net/venue.html

Also online via Zoom from 7.30pm

https://rougol.jellybaby.net/meetings/

In a bit of fortuitous timing, this month’s meeting coincides with the 30th birthday of the RiscPC, which was launched on 15th April 1994. We will be having a party (well, drinks and food, we are in a pub after all) to celebrate its legacy and/or whinge about its failings.

The direction of the meeting is very much up to you. What are your memories and stories about the RiscPC. Were you (like me!) at the launch event in the Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch in London? Did you have any unusual uses, special software or hardware? Do you still have a RiscPC in use because it’s doing a particular job which can’t be transferred to a modern RISC OS machine? Sibelius springs to mind, but there are bound to be other custom systems still going.

We should have a RiscPC in the pub for everyone to play with. Feel free to bring along your own kit too, or if you can’t make it to the pub, show it off over Zoom. Please reply below if you plan to bring/show something. You will have to provide your own birthday cake!

RISCOSitory published an excellent article on the history of the RiscPC for its 20th birthday which is well worth a read – https://www.riscository.com/2014/happy-twentieth-birthday-riscpc/

Our venue is right next to Waterloo Station and there is parking directly outside. Directions here – https://rougol.jellybaby.net/venue.html

For any queries or to receive the Zoom link (same as previous months) contact us – https://rougol.jellybaby.net/contacts/

Bryan.

WARNING! Pedant Mode!

It’s Risc PC.

The 2 machines next to me have a space between Risc & PC. So does the ‘Acorn Risc PC Welcome Guide’. So does the ‘RISC OS 3 for the Risc PC User Guide’. So does the Acorn issued enamel pin. Also the bumf in the ‘Welcome to the Future’ package issued, I think, to Clan members.

/Rant mode off – next episode – should acronyms be capitalized.

OK, the announcement prompted me to open a box. Gems? Why have I kept ‘Exploring the Internet With Demon Internet services’ by Paul L Allen & the ARM Club?

It’s Risc PC.

Actually… there was a lot of debate about this at the time, as the logo has a sort of “half space” between the “Risc” and the “PC”. As a result, some “house styles” opted for “RiscPC” and some for “Risc PC”.

On the machines, yes. On Acorn’s literature…

Perhaps they were confused.

there was a lot of debate about this at the time

If we’re going to go down that avenue, can I point out the places in the source that say “RiscOS” (capitalised exactly like that)?

Yes, I know it says “RISC OS” on the screen, it says “RiscOS” in the directory in which the sources live, and all the Blacklog files, so…

<🦆&🏃🏻‍♂️> (again)

RiscPC 30th Birthday, party time!

Party time? Time to hold my head in my hands and cry. Where has the time gone? 😭

Are we going to make it a full on Cumberland Hotel reunion in person?

It’s Risc PC

LOL. If you had been quick and seen the first update on the website it had a space, but I decided it looked a bit messy and removed them all! As Steve said, I think it’s meant to be a half space, but I’m not fiddling about with that.

Are we going to make it a full on Cumberland Hotel reunion in person?

That would have been fun, but probably a bit expensive! If you come to the pub (please do!) then it will be less than 3 miles from the original location which is not bad going :-)

BTW if anyone is able to bring a Risc(cough)PC and/or suitable monitor along to the pub that would be very handy. Saves me lugging mine on the bus and removes the risk of our VGA-HDMI converter not working.

it says “RiscOS” in the directory in which the sources live, and all the Blacklog files, so…

That was because the RISC OS/NCOS merge (which was when it switched to CVS) was handled by former Online Media/Galileo engineers who’d never used RISC OS (desktop). It was pointed out (internally) at the time, but renaming under CVS would’ve been a pain.

removes the risk of our VGA-HDMI converter not working

Why a converter? The two displays in my normal work PC setup have HDMI, DisplayPort and VGA, so playing with a VGA only device is only a cable.
Nothing fancy, just Thinkvision panels

Because if we don’t have a monitor, we will be trying to plug into the pub’s big TV.

Because if we don’t have a monitor, we will be trying to plug into the pub’s big TV.

Which is:
1. No effort whatsoever in the transport stakes
2. Conveniently placed for everyone in the room to view
3. Larger than anything you could lug to site.

Yeah, I can see many upsides

Yeah, I can see many upsides

The downside is that modern TVs don’t usually support older screen modes like mode 13, 15, 21 or custom ones used by games or demos, which would limit what could be run on the RiscPC at the meeting.

That said, it might be interesting to try the RiscPC out with the TV anyway. I’ve had success running the desktop at 1280×720×32k and 1280×800×256 on a RiscPC before, which should work OK with the TV.

The downside is that modern TVs don’t usually support older screen modes like mode 13, 15, 21

That should be easy to fix with a GBS 8200 (20/30 quid investment) and the model with the VGA input auto scan for 15KHz, 24KHz, 31KHz. Will always output VGA, so act as an upscaler, has a relatively low latency (it can be improved with a fix btw) and then either connect the VGA out straight to the monitor input if it supports VGA or use a VGA to HDMI converter (but that may introduce a bit more latency, not a problem for demos, but may cause some minor issue when playing games).

I have it here connected to an Archie and it allows my 310, 3010, 3020 in my Acorn rack to play games at the original speed and send the video and audio signal through KVM devices to my desk. latency is fine when playing with keyboard and mouse (never tried to use a gamepad). Keep in mind I have two layers of KVMs (one in the Rack and one on my desk). So, I think they should be fine with the right device.

HTH

Reminder this is tonight. We have some interesting inside information on the development process of the RiscPC to share, plus some rare hardware and software on show.

Join us in the pub if you can, so I’m not wasting my time carrying my RiscPC there!