Category Archives: Blog

This new release contains a redesigned 3_0 PCB providing three major new features: Elliptic 2nd order filter – greatly reduced aliasing and better overall gain performance across the entire sampling bandwidth Configurable gain – Design now includes a user-configurable gain setting allowing the board to work with the majority of LaserDisc player models (once adapted for direct RF output) 50 Continue reading Domesday Duplicator hardware 3_0 released→

Domesday86 is a project that aims to recreate the experience of the original BBC Domesday project using modern hardware and software. On this site you will find a growing collection of documentation for the original Acorn/BBC Domesday project as well as details of the Domesday86 project itself.  If you would like to read more about the BBC Domesday system or Continue reading BBC Domesday and the Domesday86 Project→

A new version of the Domesday Duplicator hardware (and associated software) has been released.  The new PCB is now smaller and more cost-effective to produce and features a clearer silkscreen layout to make the build process easier. The firmware and GUI have also been improved to support higher sampling as well as an improved GUI application with a clearer layout Continue reading Domesday Duplicator 2_2 hardware released→

The BeebSCSI 7_7 version board is an incremental improvement over the previous 7_5 version and is intended for professional PCB manufacturing.  The new features are as follows: Smaller PCB (66 x 51mm) Four M3 mounting holes (fits both Master AIV slot as well as external case mounting) Straight and right-angle configuration (all sockets and headers can now be right-angled if Continue reading BeebSCSI 7_7 Released→

The North Polar Expedition box set is the only laserdisc made specifically for the Acorn Domesday system that was not produced by the BBC.  Instead the laserdisc was produced by Virgin Media.  Although this is not a LV-ROM (the data was provided on two floppy discs), it is extremely rare and virtually no information has been available on the web Continue reading Rare North Polar Expedition Box Set added→

Continuing the effort to provide extensive technical documentation on the BBC Domesday system, a new section has been added detailing the individual modules present in the Philips VP415 Domesday Laserdisc player. Each module contains a description and a high-resolution photograph of the module.  More information will be added to the individual module pages over time (with the intent of providing Continue reading Philips VP415 Module Guide added→

I’m pleased to announce that the Domesday Duplicator project has finally reached release status.  The Domesday Duplicator is a sub-project of Domesday86 that aims to allow the creation of detailed (RF level) back-ups of the BBC Domesday AIV laserdiscs. The Domesday Duplicator is an open-source, open-hardware solution for direct RF capture of laserdiscs that allows the raw information on any Continue reading Domesday Duplicator released!→

The Domesday86 team recently attended the Midlands ABUG meeting in Leicester and demonstrated the emulated Domesday system.  The demonstration system consisted of a standard Acorn Master computer (using both the Acorn Co-Pro and the Raspberry Pi based co-pro emulator), SmallyMouse2 (with USB trackball), BeebSCSI (providing the SCSI emulation) and the Windows-based VP415 video emulator (all available from the project’s Github Continue reading Emulated Domesday system demonstration at Midlands ABUG 2017→

A copy of the Eco Disc CD-ROM produced by Apple and the BBC’s Interactive Television Unit was kindly donated by its original producer Stewart Atkins and copies of the graphics and user manual are now available for download on this site.  The CD-ROM was produced for the Apple Macintosh range of computers and is based on Hypercard. Please see the Continue reading Eco Disc CD-ROM→

Thanks to a dedicated group of enthusiasts over on the Acorn Stardot forums, an original Domesday development machine has been imaged and the hard drive contents are now available on this website.  The original machine was an Acorn A500 (a prototype type of the Acorn Archimedes) which was used by Logica (the company that originally developed the Domesday project for Continue reading Original Domesday development machine imaged!→