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A BS-1 Blast from the Past — Parallax Forums

A BS-1 Blast from the Past

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
in General Discussion
Someone on the Picaxe forum saw my reference to the BASIC Stamp and offered me his kit from 1994, original Parallax box included! My desktop has a real parallel port, so I'm having exactly 256 bytes of fun playing checking this out today.

This is the same kit I used on my first robot for the Trinity Firefighting Robot contest. But my box & manual are long gone, so I'm hanging onto this one!

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Comments

  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,101
    I ordered one of those kits in the spring of 1994. After work one night I opened it and started playing. The next time I looked up at the clock it was 10AM the next day and I had to call in sick, because calling in tired doesn't work. It is safe to say that nearly every day since I have programmed some form of Parallax processor. I still have some BS1 variants (beyond the original which I kept), and, from time-to-time, write code for Halloweeners who use the BS1 in the form of the EFX-TEK Prop-1 Controller.
  • The_MasterThe_Master Posts: 200
    Notice the Stamp is bigger than the one on the book cover? I'd like to buy the smaller one (for my collection) if anyone has a collection of these things. Don't know how rare they are
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    The_Master wrote: »
    Notice the Stamp is bigger than the one on the book cover? I'd like to buy the smaller one (for my collection) if anyone has a collection of these things. Don't know how rare they are

    The BS1 module is ,(soon to be) avalable:

    https://www.parallax.com/product/bs1-ic

  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    erco wrote: »
    Someone on the Picaxe forum saw my reference to the BASIC Stamp and offered me his kit from 1994, original Parallax box included! My desktop has a real parallel port, so I'm having exactly 256 bytes of fun playing checking this out today.

    This is the same kit I used on my first robot for the Trinity Firefighting Robot contest. But my box & manual are long gone, so I'm hanging onto this one!

    Um erco that guy is the opriginal Stamp alright, it's a Stamp-D. It's what the Stamp-1 evolved into. The board the Stamp-D is standing on, is what became the basic holder for the Stamp-1. I'm surprised your two cats did not point that out.
  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    What' the big blue square thing in the box?
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    frank freedman wrote: »
    What' the big blue square thing in the box?

    What is Frank? It's a floppy. Holds about a whole megabyte of information, and fits into a slot about 3 and one/half inches in size, and spins when its reading the information off of the magnetic encoded surface inside.

    But what's that big furry individual watching you read this? He's got blue eyes and gray fur and eats more then most people do. Oh and communicates better then some people.
  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    The big blue square was mild sarcasm, my first system was an IMSAI with twin double sided floppies (8"), but what's the reference to the furry thing?
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    JonnyMac wrote: »
    I ordered one of those kits in the spring of 1994.

    God bless you and and your lifetime of fine Parallax projects, JonnyMac! I felt the same way then and now. It's still a kick to enter a few keystrokes and completely change a chip's behavior. Pure magic.

  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,101
    edited 2020-03-13 19:18
    Thank you, Eric, that's kind of you to say -- it's especially nice coming from someone who has contributed so much to this community.

    I just recently started deep diving into the P2, and the thing is, I'm getting that same sense of exhilaration as when I started working with the BS1 all those years ago.

    Again, thank you for the kind words, and for all you do for the Parallax community, as well as the wider maker/crafter/hacker community everywhere.
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    frank freedman wrote: »
    The big blue square was mild sarcasm, my first system was an IMSAI with twin double sided floppies (8"), but what's the reference to the furry thing?

    I understood the mild sarcasm without a problem. However the reference should have been obvious, a well dressed for work member of the cat family.
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