Hard Disk Dive 1 - Watford Electronics Revisited
You may have seen Watford Electronics advertising new 30Meg Winchester
drives for the BBC/Master series machines for 159 plus the dreaded VAT. As I
was on the look out for a larger drive, this seemed too good to miss, and so on
14th July I placed an order with them.
On the 18th of July, a large parcel was delivered by AMT, and on returning
home from work that evening, I eagerly opened it. Imagine my shock upon opening
the parcel and finding a Watford Electronics 30Meg Winchester that was
obviously second hand and had been somewhat ill treated. They had even left the
last fault note inside the parcel! Somewhat unhappy, I never the less decided
to give it a try. Upon connecting the Winchester to my Master 128, I powered
both up. The Winchester made several attempts to get its disk up to speed and
failed miserably. Upon powering the Winchester down and then back up, the disk
eventually managed to get up to its operating speed. I then tried to *MOUNT the
Winchester and it failed to respond. As a last resort, I powered everything
down and back up again. This time the Winchester managed to get its disk up to
speed first time!, but alas, it still would not talk to my Master 128.
The following day I rang Watford Electronics and explained the problems
that I was having with the Winchester and pointed out that it was not a new
drive. I further decided that I would try the drive on my BBC Model B that
night. This I did do, but it would not talk to the Model B either.
On Wednesday I telephoned Watford Electronics once again and explained the
situation. I was given a returns number and instructed to re-pack the
Winchester for collection on Monday the 25th. This I duly did, and then
proceeded to telephone Watford Electronics every other day for a progress
report!
On Monday the 1st August a large parcel was once again delivered to my
home. Once again I eagerly opened it on my return home from work that evening.
This time the parcel was considerably larger than before, but still contained a
Watford 30Meg Winchester. However, this time the drive was in immaculate
condition. Whilst extracting the drive from its protective wrapping, I noticed
that it had been left switched on! Alarm bells began to ring in my head. Had
they parked the heads on the Winchester before packing it? Switching the drive
off and connecting it up to my Master 128, I powered everything up once again.
The Winchester got its disk up to speed in no time, so I tried a *MOUNT. This
time I got a response, but it was telling me my worst fears. The heads on the
Winchester had not been parked prior to transit, and had damaged the disk.
The next day a further telephone call to Watford Electronics and yet
another returns number and the Winchester was sent back on the 3rd.
On the 12th of August, once again a large parcel arrived at home, and once
again I eagerly opened it on my return from work. This time the contents had
been changed, and I had now been sent an Acorn 30Meg Winchester. This was
somewhat lager than the Watford drive, and the Watford drive was already larger
than I had been expecting! So, that evening I decided to connect it up and give
it a try. But wait! Where is the power lead for the Winchester? I double and
triple checked all packaging and came to the unfortunate conclusion that
Watford Electronics omitted to send it! Fortunately, the lead on my printer was
of the same type, so I used that to test it. Finally, this drive actually works
and is now part of my ever growing hardware collection.
A final telephone call to Watford Electronics had them once again
apologising, and on the 17th of August I received a power lead for the
Winchester.
Despite all the problems, Watford Electronics did eventually supply me with
what I ordered, but wouldn't it have been better if they got it right first
time!
S Richardson K2O.