Serial Numbers

[MarkYoungIW]

I am sure this has been asked lots of times before, but I am trying to understand the Acorn Serial numbers.

Currently I have 2 A3010's

01-AGB15-1016418 (Motherboard 194,003 Issue 1)
25-AGB11-1017102 (Motherboard 195,200 Issue 1)

Now from what I understand the AGB15/AGB11 is the type of pack the machine came in (learning curve, family pack etc), but what I want to know is what the 01/25 mean on the beginning and if the serials on the end run consecutively.

The reason for this is I am trying to find an A3010 on eBay, and I see plenty, but nobody is ever willing to open them up to tell me if it is a mezzy type. However, I assume looking at:-

http://www.classicacorn.freeuk.com/32bit_machine_spec/a3010_spec/a3010_spec.html

As the machine here is 01-AGB15-1011147, if I find a machine that has a lower serial than xx-xxxxx-1011147, it should be a mezzy version?

Am I correct with this theory?

Thanks in advance!!

[Chris Evans]

In article <c27803df-0bc8-4f67...@googlegroups.com>,

MarkYoungIW <URL:mailto:MarkY...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I am sure this has been asked lots of times before, but I am trying to understand the
> Acorn Serial numbers.
>
> Currently I have 2 A3010's
>
> 01-AGB15-1016418 (Motherboard 194,003 Issue 1)
> 25-AGB11-1017102 (Motherboard 195,200 Issue 1)
>
> Now from what I understand the AGB15/AGB11 is the type of pack the machine came in (le
> arning curve, family pack etc), but what I want to know is what the 01/25 mean on the
> beginning and if the serials on the end run consecutively.
>
> The reason for this is I am trying to find an A3010 on eBay, and I see plenty, but nob
> ody is ever willing to open them up to tell me if it is a mezzy type. However, I assu
> me looking at:-
>
> http://www.classicacorn.freeuk.com/32bit_machine_spec/a3010_spec/a3010_spec.html
>
> As the machine here is 01-AGB15-1011147, if I find a machine that has a lower serial t
>

> Am I correct with this theory?

The 01 & 25 denote the Manufacturer Acorn used IIRC 01= AB Electronics
25 will be another manufacturer

Some manufacturers may have only been used early on or only later in a
products life.

So
01-AGB15-1016418
could be made later than
25-AGB15-9999999
or possibly earlier than
25-AGB15-0000001

Also
25-AGB11-999999
Could be earlier
25-AGB15-000001

About the only time you can have any confidence is serial number sequence is
the manufcture code and model code are the same.

25-AGB15-102200
Is probably newer than
25-AGB15-107777

Not directly related but for general information Acorn almost never
started serial numbers at 0:

00000000 rare

10000000 sometimes I think

I suspect they often started at something like
10002000

Related:

Acorn sometimes reworked computers and also often gave a bundle a serial
number that included a computer with its own serial number.
So e.g.
Bundle
05-AHG10-1023456
may have included a computer with a serial nimber of
05-AHK15-1032487


Chris Evans

--
CJE Micro's / 4D 'RISC OS Specialists'
Telephone: 01903 523222 Fax: 01903 523679
ch...@cjemicros.co.uk http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/
78 Brighton Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 2EN
The most beautiful thing anyone can wear, is a smile!

[MarkYoungIW]

Excellent, thanks for that. Shed's quite a bit of light.

The one I am looking at is 93-AGB11-nnnnnnn

Seems fairly hard to work out definatively whether this is likely to be a Mezzy one without the lid being removed.

What fun!! :)

Thanks again.

[Stuart]

In article <1ecae24d-94bd-42c3...@googlegroups.com>,

MarkYoungIW <MarkY...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Excellent, thanks for that. Shed's quite a bit of light.

> The one I am looking at is 93-AGB11-nnnnnnn

> Seems fairly hard to work out definatively whether this is likely to be
> a Mezzy one without the lid being removed.

What is the meaning of the term "Mezzy"?

--
Stuart Winsor

Midlands RISC OS and Raspberry pi show, 13th July 2013

[SG nws]

Stuart wrote:
> What is the meaning of the term "Mezzy"?

Short for mezzanine. Refers to a small riser board.

--
Stewart Goldwater
http://janusg.co.nr

[Simon Willcocks]

In message <c27803df-0bc8-4f67...@googlegroups.com>

MarkYoungIW <MarkY...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I am sure this has been asked lots of times before, but I am trying to
> understand the Acorn Serial numbers.
>
> Currently I have 2 A3010's
>
> 01-AGB15-1016418 (Motherboard 194,003 Issue 1)
> 25-AGB11-1017102 (Motherboard 195,200 Issue 1)

Not what you're after, but related to serial numbers, is a thread on
stardot, "How many sold? Germa tank problem:serialnums wtd":
http://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=4321

--
ROLF - The RISC OS Look and Feel on Linux.
http://ro-lookandfeel.blogspot.com/
http://sourceforge.net/users/simonwillcocks

[ch...@chriswhy.co.uk]

On 26-Apr-2013, Simon Willcocks <simon.w...@t-online.de> wrote:

> > I am sure this has been asked lots of times before, but I am trying to
> > understand the Acorn Serial numbers.
> >
> > Currently I have 2 A3010's
> >
> > 01-AGB15-1016418 (Motherboard 194,003 Issue 1)
> > 25-AGB11-1017102 (Motherboard 195,200 Issue 1)
>
> Not what you're after, but related to serial numbers, is a thread on
> stardot, "How many sold? Germa tank problem:serialnums wtd":
> http://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=4321

Basically Acorn serial numbers are made up of 3 parts in format NN-AAANN(A)-
NNNNNN. where N= numeric and A=alphabetic.

(1) The first NN is a manufacturer code, I have never seen anything like a
definitive list of manufactures, but you could probably put one together
from info published information if you wanted.

(2) The second part is a product code, for the A3010 the product codes are:

AGB11 is an A3010 with 1MB and a floppy disc
AGB15 is an A3010 2MB, FD, Family Solution
AGB40 is an A3010 2MB, FD
AGB50 is an A3010 1MB, FD, Action Pack
ALC15 is an A3010 1MB, FD, Learning Curve
ALC16 is an A3010 1MB, FD, Learning Curve
ALC17 is an A3010 2MB, FD, Learning Curve
ALC18 is an A3010 2MB, FD, Early Years

There is a list of product code on Chris's Acorns
(http://acorn.chriswhy.co.uk/ProductCodes.html), I don't claim it is
complete but it is a good start...
A few RiscPCs have serial product codes with a trailing letter A or B. Apart
from the special packs the main difference between the product codes for the
same computer was the hardware configuration, i.e. Memory, Hard Disk, if
present, and Size and CD-ROM.

(3) The last NNNNNNN is the numeric serial number within the product code,
which may or may not have started from 1.

(4) Just to be picky, this serial umber scheme came in early in the life of
the BBC micro. System computers, Atoms and early BBC micros had different
serial numbers.

As far as the A3010s with the mezzanine board instead of the ARM250, there
is no way I know of to identify them apart from the fact they were the very
early models with low serial numbers. If you look at Chris's Acorns you will
see that my example with a mezzanine board is actually a Learning Curve
model (http://acorn.chriswhy.co.uk/Computers/A3010.html)

HTH
Chris

[MarkYoungIW]

Thanks for all the help given here.

The machine at:-

http://www.classicacorn.freeuk.com/32bit_machine_spec/a3010_spec/a3010_spec.html

is:- 01-AGB15-1011147

The machine I was looking at was:- 93-AGB11-1011084 and turns out not to be a mezzy.

So although the final part of the serial number was lower, That sort of gives proof that this machines manufacturers serial numbers weren't related to whoever made Classic Acorns machine.

I am wondering if they were only made by the manufacturer 01 (AB Electronics?) as the few mentions I see of Mezzy A3010's are 01's.