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Dal giorno in cui mi sono di nuovo appassionato alla Ferguson BigBoard I ho acquisito diverse riviste scansionate come la rivista Byte dal Gennaio 1978 al Dicembre 1986 e/o scansionandole io stesso come numeri iniziali (1-27) della rivista Microcornucopia.

Analizzando le date di pubblicazione delle pubblicità presenti sulle riviste, ho provato a collocare le date di commercializzazione della scheda Bigboard I che vanno nel periodo dal Dicembre 1980 fino al Novembre 1983 e della scheda Bigboard II a partire dal Dicembre 1982.

Allo stesso modo sono stato in grado di “datare” altri eventi relativi agli accessori o addons.

La tabella seguente vuole posizionare gli eventi nel tempo :

Data Rivista Evento
Dec 1980 Byte 1st Advertisement of BigBoard1 by Digital Research Computer – Garland – Texas
July 1981 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 1 (Journal of the Big Board Users) was born without any kind of advertisement of BigBoard I
Sep 1981 Byte David J. Thompson writes an article on the BigBoard I on the magazine (page 52)
Dec 1981 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 3: It has an advertisement for a Dual Density available soon by Otto Hiller; – Madison – Wisconsin
Feb 1982 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 4 : It has the 1st Advertisement of BigBoard1 and the same Advertisement (see dec 1981) for a Dual Density interface available soon both by Digital Research Computer – Garland – Texas
Apr 1982 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 5 page 18 : Cal-Tex was born and soon will be available a new board [It will be call: the Bigboard II]
Jun 1982 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 6 : Has the same Advertisement (see feb 1982) for a Dual Density interface but by SWP Software Publishers Inc – Arlington – Texas
Dec 1982 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 9 page 3: 1st advertisement of Bigboard 2 by Cal-Tex – Boulder Creek – California. At page 4 there is the ROM listing. There is an European distributor: GEFAS – Berlin
Feb 1983 Bit Italian  n° 36 1st advertisement of the MK82 (the Italian Clone – so this is that I think!) by ADE Elettronica – Milano
Mar 1983   I bought my Bigboard 1 from ADE Elettronica ( I bought this board unknown that it was more than 2 years old and that even the BigBoard II was just born, but there was not Internet so available like today!)
Oct 1983 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 14 page 10: It reports an advertisement for a Winchester Interface by Huntington Data Systems – California
Nov 1983 Byte It reports the LAST advertisement of Bigboard 1 by Digital Research Computer – Garland – Texas
Feb 1984 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 16 page 42: There is a New BIOS and an advertisement for a SASI interface for BigBoard 2 by ANDY BAKKERS – Denekamp – The Netherlands (a big European partner for Microcornucopia)
Apr 1984 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 17: There is an advertisement for a 256Kbyte RAM expansion for BBI & 820-1 ( a daughter board to insert on the bigboard 1 after taking out 5 ICs : JU71=U59 Addr, Ju72=U58 Addr, Ju73=U57 Data, Ju74=U56 Select, Ju78=U54 Data) by Ferguson Engineering – Arlington – Texas;
Jun 1984 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 18 page 58: There is an advertisement for a Double Density Hardware interface with WD2795 by AstroTronics Microsystems – Corona – CA
Oct 1985 Micro Cornucopia ISSUE NO. 26 page 22: There is an advertisement for a 1Mbyte RAM expansion for BBI & 820-1 by J.B.Ferguson Inc. – Arlington – Texas
Jun 1986 Micro Cornucopia  ISSUE NO. 30: No more advertisement from any one Digital Research Computer – Garland – Texas, Ferguson Engineering – Arlington – Texas , Cal-Tex – Boulder Creek – California, or J.B.Ferguson Inc. – Arlington – Texas

Ulteriori informazioni da sito tedesco e rivista Elektuur Computing per scheda BigBoard II:

Data Rivista  
sept.-okt.-nov. 1985 Elektuur Computing BIG BOARD II: CP/M – Chamaeleon mit VARBIOS und SASI [Article]
1986 Elektuur extra Computing”, 2e speciale computer uitgave BBII: VARBIOS, BBII: de ROM-monitor, BBII de hardware [Article]   (look for articles here:  http://retro.hansotten.nl/index.php?page=big-board-ii )
1986 Elektuur extra Computing”, 3e speciale computer uitgave harddisk op de Big Board II [Article]

Curiosità:

Digital Research Computer
Garland – Texas
Ha creato la BigBoard 1
Cal-Tex
Boulder  Creek – California
Ha creato la  BigBoard2
SWP Software Publishers Inc
Arlington – Texas
Rivendeva la scheda figlia SWP per offrire la DSDD alla BigBoard I
J.B.Ferguson Inc.
Arlington – Texas
Società che rivendeva ulteriori schede aggiuntive
Ferguson Engineering
Arlington – Texas
Ha creato schede come l’espansione da 256Kbyte RAM per la BigBoard I e lo Xerox 820-1
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