Happy 60th, Sinclair Radionics: We'll remember you for your revolutionary calculators and crap watches
- Reference: 1627653666
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/07/30/sinclair_radionics_60/
- Source link:
The company was founded by Clive Sinclair, then a mere 20 years old, in July 1961. Its first product was the Sinclair Micro-amplifier for hi-fi systems, which was followed by the Sinclair Slimline radio kit.
During the course of the 1960s, the company released more amplifiers and ever smaller radios before launching its first electronic calculator in 1972, the Sinclair Executive.
[1]
Sinclair Executive (Science Museum Group Collection, [2]CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 )
Compared to the competition, which normally needed mains power or a hefty set of batteries to run, the Executive was a slimline design. Calling the maths functions limited would be charitable, but clever power management meant the LEDs of the display did not drain the batteries quite so rapidly and, at a shade under £80, the plastic slab sold like hotcakes.
During the 1970s, Sinclair introduced other calculators. But it was the disastrous watch, with a display of red LEDs that only displayed when a user pressed the surface, that nearly did for the company. Not only was the kit version a challenge to assemble, but assembled units proved easy to break. Sadly, the batteries were no match for Sinclair's [3]marketing , which boasted "it runs for up to a year on cheap batteries." It didn't.
[4]The 40-Year-Old Version: ZX81's sleek plastic case shows no sign of middle-aged spread
[5]Looking for the perfect Valentine's gift? How about a week of retro gaming BBC Microlympics?
[6]Arm at 30: From Cambridge to the world, one plucky British startup changed everything
[7]ZX Spectrum reboot promising – steady now – 28MHz of sizzling Speccy speed now boasts improved Wi-Fi
Chris Owen's [8]Planet Sinclair documents the woes of the watch which, as well as a 10-day life for the batteries, also included static sensitivity, malfunctioning control panels, and a timing crystal that ran at different speeds depending on the temperature.
The fiasco led to the UK's National Enterprise Board (NEB) stepping in and buying a stake in the company in 1976. As the 1970s wore on, Sinclair Radionics also had a crack at making a portable TV, which was ultimately unsuccessful, and began work on the NewBrain computer project. The NewBrain outlived Sinclair Radionics, which was shuttered in 1979, finally emerging in the 1980s as the Grundy NewBrain.
[9]
With Radionics bending to the will of the NEB, Sinclair Instrument arrived in 1975 with a wrist calculator. The company introduced the ZX80 computer in 1980 in kit and assembled forms before becoming Sinclair Research (via a number of company names) and producing the ZX81 and wildly successful ZX Spectrum in 1981 and 1982 respectively.
[10]
Sadly, it didn't last and the company's downfall was swift. Its next computer, the QL, was not as successful as its predecessor and Sinclair's C5 electric vehicle was a commercial disaster.
The Sinclair brand was eventually sold to Amstrad in 1986 but continues to attract interest today. [11]If not always for the right reasons . ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/07/27/sinclair_executive.jpg
[2] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
[3] https://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/other/gallery/blackwatch_ukad.jpg
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/05/zx81_at_40/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/12/tnmoc_microlympics/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/01/arm_at_30/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/13/spectrum_next_issue_2_crowdfunding/
[8] https://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/other/blackwatch.htm
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YQQiEp-g3mp08uefu7AFPwAAAIo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YQQiEp-g3mp08uefu7AFPwAAAIo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2019/02/22/retro_computers_ltd_winding_up_backers_creditors/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Sinclair Cambridge
Working Sinclair calculators go on Ebay, £20 - £30, and can be up to £50 in good nick with packaging.
Re: Sinclair Cambridge
Got one myself: I think it's a type 3 as it's got the two C CE and K buttons at the top and the PCB traces inside the battery cover compartment look like those on a type 3.
Is this where I find out it's worth a small fortunate? :D
Sinclair actually launched two monochrome mini TVs, the MTV1 in 1977 was a miniaturised conventional CRT with cathode behind. The FTV1 (TV80) came along in 1983 and had an amazing CRT with a sideways electron gun, to a shrunken screen that was then made conventional format using a lens. It also used a flat pile battery from a polaroid camera. Sony and Panasonic also did a CRT pocket TV, but Casio came along with LCD and blew them all away.
" Sony and Panasonic also did a CRT pocket TV "
The Sony Watchman with its 1 inch CRT was actually high enough resolution that I could power it up under the duvet (to not bother anybody else in the dormitory) and read the teletext carousel that used to be on BBC2 in the early hours. Well, it was something to do if I couldn't sleep. Just had to keep my ears alert for matron doing the late night round, because if she caught me I'd have something else to do that was much less enjoyable...
> ears alert for matron .... because if she caught me I'd have something else to do that was much less enjoyable...
Mind = Boggled
Sinclair MK14
Significantly there was the [1]Sinclair MK14 in there too between the watches and the ZX80.
[1] http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/8095/science-of-cambridge-mk14/
Re: Sinclair MK14
The Register covered some more about the gap between the watches and the ZX80 here:
https://www.theregister.com/2014/01/16/archaeologic_ian_williamson/
It discusses the MK14 too. (I know all this isn't Sinclair Radionics, but it's a bit of an insight for some of us into 1970s business and entrepreneurship in the UK).
Calculator
I've still got my Cambridge Scientific calculator. The power switch went a bit dodgy after only a couple of months, but it didn't deteriorate any more after that and the calculator is as good as it was in the 70s when I got it. Mine must have been a second version because my mate got one a few months before me and the numbers wore off the keys of his after a year or so, which has never happened to mine. I remember it being a battery hog and having to use alkaline batteries, which were quite expensive on paper-round money!
Replaced with an HP-11C when I got my first job - which is also still going strong and runs for ever on 3 button cells.
Oddly...
The c5 probably would be a bigger success now. Far safer than a death trap electric scooter, but not as "safe" as a ebike.
Calculator emulator
I built my Sinclair Scientific from a kit (thanks Mum!), it still works. If anyone wants to see what it is like, have a look at this [1]great piece of reverse engineering by Ken Shirriff.
[1] http://files.righto.com/calculator/sinclair_scientific_simulator.html
Don't forget the multimeters
[1]radiomuseum.org page.
I've still got my PDM35. I built myself Sinclair Scientific calculator too, but sold that on when I got myself a [2]Texas Instruments SR51A
[1] https://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/other/multimeters.htm
[2] https://www.calculator.org/calculators/Texas_Instruments_SR-51A.html
Rubber keyed ZX spectrum was probably the first computer I ever used, and definitely was the first computer I wrote a program on. To me (and probably many others in the UK), calling it "life changing" is a massive understatement.
Sinclair pocket calculator
A friend in the 6th form had a Sinclair calculator. We were doing 'A'-level maths and he got it out to calculate the square root of 36 (which I knew to be 6). The Sinclair gave the answer 5.9999999999.
Re: Sinclair pocket calculator
It's because the early calculators didn't actually have a square root function properly programmed either in their software or in the hardware. Instead they used Taylor Polynomials to approximate the answers so would always be slightly off when it came to rounding to a fixed number of decimals.
[1]Taylor expansion for sqrt(x)
[1] https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analysis/Supplemental_Modules_(Analysis)/Series_and_Expansions/Taylor_Expansion_II
I want a C5
I know, I am strange.
I really want a C5. Strangely they are stunningly expensive theses days. At least by the time it is shipped to me in the west coast of Canada. (Where it would fit right in.)
I do believe if it were released today with a modern motor and battery combo it would probably be successful.
Sinclair Cambridge
I still use my Sinclair Cambridge calculator. The power switch is a bit dodgy, so it has a tendency to cut out mid-calculation, but that just adds to the excitement.