RIP Sir Clive Sinclair

CaptainBlood · Advocate Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 3586

The Gardian
I've owned a Z88 a few decades ago.

Thks 4 ur attention, interest & support.
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NeddySeagoon · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2021 2:02 pm Post subject:

I still have my Sinclair Scientific calculator.

A guy in my group at college (approx 1972) bought the kit but couldn't solder, so I offered him £20 for it, in its non working state.
I removed the excess solder and lots of solder bridges and it just worked.
The batteries don't last very long, LCDs had not been invented, so its seven segment LED displays.
Its reverse Polish notation and trig functions in radians in the first quadrant only.

Pretty good for a reprogrammed four function calculator chip of the time.
Oh, the readout is scientific notation only.

I've got a Speccy somewhere too.

RIP 'Uncle' Clive.

He is not my uncle, but the story I heard in that a radio station was running a competition to discover who wrote the BASIC for one of Clive Sinclairs computers.
A wee squeaky voice phoned in and said "If I tell you you who wrote the BASIC for Uncle Clives computer do I win the prize?"
I have no idea if its true or not.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

CaptainBlood · Advocate Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 3586

I could read ZX80 ads in electronic reviews in the late 1970, when I barely knew what a computer is.
I didn't undertand what it could do for me, nor could afford it.

Sinclair QL had been an option but finally went for an Atari ST, easier to get on the continent.

Later went to UK, almost just to buy Z88 in Tottenham Court Rd, London, maybe @Dixon's.

It had a hard case which was hurting the (french) keyboard when sliping HW improperly inside.
Optiflex screen ribbon connector once got moisture inside, weakening contrast on some part of the display.

Much later, I tweaked the MB 512Kb chip socket to allow 1024Kb, (may be RAM???).

Keyboard was already out of stock at Rakewell by then.

Hardware & shipping prices to the continent were prohibitive for me.
So I gave up all attempts to bring it back to service.

The hardware has a bios like rom which source code seems to have been lost. What a pity...
Hard cloning was impossible.

Thks 4 ur attention, interest & support.
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Tony0945 · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2021 3:17 pm Post subject:

Bought a completed ZX80 for mydaughter when she was 12. Her first computer,

cboldt · Veteran Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 1046

Used to POKE assembly code into a ZX81. Good stuff.

Also, of course, composed BASIC. Learned much with that platform.

drizzt · Guru Joined: 21 Jul 2002 Posts: 428

Rest in Peace. The ZX81 was my first contact with computers and I loved it... It is still somewhere in the attic. I should dig it out someday and restore to operation.
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