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Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) [message #411010] Thu, 16 September 2021 16:36 Go to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Vir Campestris

Just heard he died today.

Andy
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) [message #411017 is a reply to message #411010] Thu, 16 September 2021 18:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Bob Eager

On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:36:52 +0100, Vir Campestris wrote:

> Just heard he died today.

I used to sell his radios (Micro 6 etc.) in the mid 1960s.

--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

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Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) [message #411029 is a reply to message #411017] Fri, 17 September 2021 02:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ahem A Rivet's Shot is currently offline  Ahem A Rivet's Shot
Messages: 4843
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 16 Sep 2021 22:43:00 GMT
Bob Eager <news0009@eager.cx> wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:36:52 +0100, Vir Campestris wrote:
>
>> Just heard he died today.
>
> I used to sell his radios (Micro 6 etc.) in the mid 1960s.

A little later than that I got an Antex model C and a matchbox
radio kit. That was not the best way to learn to solder but I did
eventually make it work.

I spent my early career in Cambridge chasing down jobs with anyone
but Sinclair or Acorn (Torch was too close really). I'd met too many people
who'd worked for them - including one who had the misfortune to work for
both (on the MK14 and the Electron - you may now try and guess who he is).

He was a wonderful character, from a suitable distance.

A friend of mine worked on the C5 (among other things doing
environmental testing), he brought one home for a weekend and showed us
some alarming features like the way the top of the front part could be
pushed to the ground ... with one hand and the way that rolling it
backwards would blow the diode that protected the motor relay contacts from
reverse EMF spikes so that one day soon it would weld closed and the motor
wouldn't stop until the battery ran out.

Apparently racing the twin battery (with series/parallel switch)
version[5] with the heavy duty washing machine motor was hair raising fun,
they got up to about 30mph and cornered rather excitingly on two wheels.

[5] Never released of course, pure internal hackery for the test track.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) [message #411033 is a reply to message #411017] Fri, 17 September 2021 05:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: maus

On 2021-09-16, Bob Eager <news0009@eager.cx> wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:36:52 +0100, Vir Campestris wrote:
>
>> Just heard he died today.
>
> I used to sell his radios (Micro 6 etc.) in the mid 1960s.
>

He tried developing a small car, to reverse it you got out and pushed it
back. I think he was like the mad professor in back to the future.

Inventor of many gadgets that never really worked, Microdrive, etc.

I was always sorry that I didn't buy a C64 instead.

--
greymausg@mail.com
Down the wrong mousehole.
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) [message #411034 is a reply to message #411029] Fri, 17 September 2021 07:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: John

"Ahem A Rivet's Shot" wrote in message
news:20210917073203.53ee032e85d900efa53287df@eircom.net...


> A friend of mine worked on the C5 (among other things doing
> environmental testing), he brought one home for a weekend and showed us
> some alarming features like the way the top of the front part could be
> pushed to the ground ... with one hand and the way that rolling it
> backwards would blow the diode that protected the motor relay contacts from
> reverse EMF spikes so that one day soon it would weld closed and the motor
> wouldn't stop until the battery ran out.

> Apparently racing the twin battery (with series/parallel switch)
> version[5] with the heavy duty washing machine motor was hair raising fun,
> they got up to about 30mph and cornered rather excitingly on two wheels.


Even better - Google Jet powered C5!
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) [message #411035 is a reply to message #411034] Fri, 17 September 2021 08:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ahem A Rivet's Shot is currently offline  Ahem A Rivet's Shot
Messages: 4843
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Fri, 17 Sep 2021 12:31:41 +0100
"John" <John@nospam.please> wrote:

> Even better - Google Jet powered C5!

Pure insanity, please nobody let Colin Furze have one.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair [message #411036 is a reply to message #411010] Fri, 17 September 2021 10:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
D.J. is currently offline  D.J.
Messages: 821
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:36:52 +0100, Vir Campestris
<vir.campestris@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> Just heard he died today.
>
> Andy

Yes, I saw him mentioned on BBC America.

I bought the Sinclair ZX-81, and later the 16kilobyte ram pack. I used
it for months.

( I had to edit the subject line, due to reject by eternal-september
server)
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) [message #411039 is a reply to message #411033] Fri, 17 September 2021 11:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Andy Leighton is currently offline  Andy Leighton
Messages: 203
Registered: July 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 17 Sep 2021 09:31:47 GMT, maus <maus@dmaus.org> wrote:
> On 2021-09-16, Bob Eager <news0009@eager.cx> wrote:
>> On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:36:52 +0100, Vir Campestris wrote:
>>
>>> Just heard he died today.
>>
>> I used to sell his radios (Micro 6 etc.) in the mid 1960s.
>>
>
> He tried developing a small car, to reverse it you got out and pushed it
> back. I think he was like the mad professor in back to the future.
>
> Inventor of many gadgets that never really worked, Microdrive, etc.

Maybe I should dig out the QL and the Cub monitor and see if it still
works. The last time I played with it everything was OK (even read
the microdrives well) - although that was about a dozen years ago.

--
Andy Leighton => andyl@azaal.plus.com
"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"
- Douglas Adams
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair [message #411042 is a reply to message #411036] Fri, 17 September 2021 12:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Harry Vaderchi is currently offline  Harry Vaderchi
Messages: 719
Registered: July 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Fri, 17 Sep 2021 09:09:35 -0500
D.J. <chucktheouch@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:36:52 +0100, Vir Campestris
> <vir.campestris@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> Just heard he died today.
>>
>> Andy
>
> Yes, I saw him mentioned on BBC America.
>
> I bought the Sinclair ZX-81, and later the 16kilobyte ram pack. I used
> it for months.

You couldn't do much without it!; 'ware the infamous wobbly connection.

> ( I had to edit the subject line, due to reject by eternal-september
> server)


--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) [message #411044 is a reply to message #411034] Fri, 17 September 2021 14:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: maus

On 2021-09-17, John <John@nospam.please> wrote:
>
>
> "Ahem A Rivet's Shot" wrote in message
> news:20210917073203.53ee032e85d900efa53287df@eircom.net...
>
>
>> A friend of mine worked on the C5 (among other things doing
>> environmental testing), he brought one home for a weekend and showed us
>> some alarming features like the way the top of the front part could be
>> pushed to the ground ... with one hand and the way that rolling it
>> backwards would blow the diode that protected the motor relay contacts from
>> reverse EMF spikes so that one day soon it would weld closed and the motor
>> wouldn't stop until the battery ran out.
>
>> Apparently racing the twin battery (with series/parallel switch)
>> version[5] with the heavy duty washing machine motor was hair raising fun,
>> they got up to about 30mph and cornered rather excitingly on two wheels.
>
>
> Even better - Google Jet powered C5!
>


Cool!.. even looks safer than some of the things that children run
around city streets

--
greymausg@mail.com
Down the wrong mousehole.
Re: Sir Clive Marles Sinclair [message #411169 is a reply to message #411036] Sat, 18 September 2021 11:15 Go to previous message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Kurt Weiske

To: D.J.
-=> D.J. wrote to alt.folklore.computers <=-

D.> Yes, I saw him mentioned on BBC America.

D.> I bought the Sinclair ZX-81, and later the 16kilobyte ram pack. I used
D.> it for months.

You wouldn't get carpal tunnel, you'd get calluses on the tips of your
fingers from that membrane keyboard. I had to use gaffa tape to try and keep
the contacts on the memory expansion connected, otherwise 3/4 of the way
into typing a program into it, you'd bump the case and it'd freeze or
reboot.

kurt weiske | kweiske at realitycheckbbs dot org
| https://www.realitycheckbbs.org
| 1:218/700@fidonet



.... Imagine the music as a set of disconnected events
--- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
--- Synchronet 3.19a-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
* realitycheckBBS - Aptos, CA - telnet://realitycheckbbs.org
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