My first computer was purchased to help me gain my Information Technology qualification (called computer science back then) in the early 1980's. I remember buying it with my parents from Boots the chemist in the UK !
The computer was a Dragon Data "Dragon 32" running an 8 bit MC6809E CPU and 32K of DRAM
The Dragon 32 was basically a clone of the Radio Shack TRS-80 Colour Computer (CoCo). It was so similar in design that Radio Shack sued Dragon Data claiming it was a clone of their product. The trouble was that in those days the Data sheets and application notes basically provided the manufacturer with the comp,eye computer architecture and there are only so many ways to wire up the chipset ! Radio Shack failed in their court case against Dragon Data as there were enough differences between the two computers to claim the Dragon was not a clone of a CoCo.
It is interesting though that I purchased the service manual for a CoCo from RS and it was almost identical to the Dragon 32 except for the Dragon using a Parallel printer port whereas the CoCo used Serial ! The CoCo EPROM based program cartridges even worked in the Dragon 32 including the correct dimensions of the ports surround tonallow such ! Dragon Data and Radio Shack CoCo computers could normall use eachothers program cartridges and the cassette based software. There were a few exceptions but they were few.
Dragon Data developed the Dragon 32 into the Dragon 64 during the products life. It was not much of a development though. Just another bank of DRAM which is what 3rd party companies had beem offering via daughter boards for some time. In fact, IIRC, the Dragon 32 actually contained enough memory chips for 64K but the chips were production rejects and only half their capacity was accessed ! These were the days when DRAM was very expensive and so some users chose to use production binning rejects that were tested "half good" in order to acquire DRAM at good prices. That was all a long time ago though and my memory may be in error.
I actually repaired Dragon 32's and CoCo computers as a hobby. I still have a late model CoCo and six Dragon 32's in my attic ! I also have some unusual accessories like the 5 1/4" Floppy Drive, Winchester Drive, Maplin RS232 port, Maplin I/O port and an EPROM programmer. All are connected to the Dragon as Cartridges in the Data Cartridge Port. ThecEPROM programmer saw a lot of use as such devices were normally very expensive in the 1980's.
I have also owned and repaired the venerable Commodore VIC20, Commodore 64, Sinclair Zx81 and ZX Spectrum. Never a BBC Micro though. I still have a few ZX81's in their boxes in my attic. Likely expired over the years... their ASIC was never very reliable !
I know technology moves on, but I still have a huge soft spot for my Dragon 32. I have kept it and will likely never rehome it. In those days I learnt to program an 8 bit computer in Basic, Assembly language and even machine code ! I also knew how to diagnose and repair those simple 8 bit architectures with just basic test equipment, namely a 20MHz CRO, Logic probe, home made 16 channel Logic state display (add on for the CRO) and a multimeter. These days I am not able to program a PC, I am teaching myself to program PIC chips and Arduino. Repairing a modern PC motherboard is anything but enjoyable for me ! I preferred the simpler life of the Z80, 6809 and 6502 based 8 bit architectures
I do carry out repairs on modern PC's but I now need better test equipment to do it. I have expensive POST hardware, diagnostic software, high speed 32 channel Logic Analyzer and DSO's as well a the basic test equipment. It is so much more complicated and, for me anyway, so much less enjoyable.
Oh, did I get my IT qualification at school ? ...... yes I did. A CSE grade 1 and my example program submission was Lunar Lander for the Dragon 32
I wrote other course programming on a mixture of the Commodore PET and Z80 Research Machines that my school owned. Happy days
Fraser