UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - MK14 programming interface

Timbucus · 14th Apr 2019, 10:26 am

Indeed I found that advert and thought it very early. The first mention in ETI is in the March 1978 issue in Microphile - they make it sound very mysterious:

"THE FIRST ITEM WE look at is from a company thought by some to like the cloak and dagger game, but then so do quite a few semiconductor manufacturers, Science Of Cambridge - don't mention Sinclaur (sic). At the time of going to press they have just launched their MK14 with an advertisement in a magazine that is generally not associated with a dedicated commitment to micros."

Their advert does not actually appear in that issue of ETI but, an even earlier one with a funny looking MK14 does appear in the April issue - take a look. I suspect this was the classic Sinclair "it's working on a breadboard" so get the adverts out before it was even finished - that pictured device certainly does not have the IO chip!

Not sure which magazine they mean (I remember someone mentioning Practical Wireless perhaps?) which if ETI had seen it (or had mates on the advert desk who rang them, not unreasonable if it was mainly electronics that they pass on snippets of news to a more digital focus magazine) would have had to be the Feb/Mar issue which would have appeared in Jan/Feb so Sinclair would have booked and supplied the artwork very early January.

The other find was the other article of the above mentioned series on adapting the EX42 keyboard which is in the Sept 1984 issue on Page 22. As an aside but, sort of ties in with tape controls we were talking about, there was in the same issue, an article on digital control of a tape deck - this does not mention, but reminds me of an article by Williamson somewhere which I cannot find where he suggests developing such a system.

Finally Jan 1978 Page 74 has a great little idea (which could be added to the MK14 Cassette Interface) to defeat the AGC on tape decks by superimposing a continuous HF signal...

Between Dad and I we used to get ETi, Hobby Electronics, Practical Electronics almost every month and Elektor quite often. There are now some magazines emerging to support the 'maker' market around the PI and the Arduino which is heartening as creativity is not a common skill these days. I also think that the demise is very much due to online availability as well replacing paper but, it just doesn't feel the same.

14th Apr 2019, 10:26 am	#58
Timbucus Octode Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK. Posts: 1,363	Re: MK14 programming interface - MK2 Indeed I found that advert and thought it very early. The first mention in ETI is in the March 1978 issue in Microphile - they make it sound very mysterious: "THE FIRST ITEM WE look at is from a company thought by some to like the cloak and dagger game, but then so do quite a few semiconductor manufacturers, Science Of Cambridge - don't mention Sinclaur (sic). At the time of going to press they have just launched their MK14 with an advertisement in a magazine that is generally not associated with a dedicated commitment to micros." Their advert does not actually appear in that issue of ETI but, an even earlier one with a funny looking MK14 does appear in the April issue - take a look. I suspect this was the classic Sinclair "it's working on a breadboard" so get the adverts out before it was even finished - that pictured device certainly does not have the IO chip! Not sure which magazine they mean (I remember someone mentioning Practical Wireless perhaps?) which if ETI had seen it (or had mates on the advert desk who rang them, not unreasonable if it was mainly electronics that they pass on snippets of news to a more digital focus magazine) would have had to be the Feb/Mar issue which would have appeared in Jan/Feb so Sinclair would have booked and supplied the artwork very early January. The other find was the other article of the above mentioned series on adapting the EX42 keyboard which is in the Sept 1984 issue on Page 22. As an aside but, sort of ties in with tape controls we were talking about, there was in the same issue, an article on digital control of a tape deck - this does not mention, but reminds me of an article by Williamson somewhere which I cannot find where he suggests developing such a system. Finally Jan 1978 Page 74 has a great little idea (which could be added to the MK14 Cassette Interface) to defeat the AGC on tape decks by superimposing a continuous HF signal... Between Dad and I we used to get ETi, Hobby Electronics, Practical Electronics almost every month and Elektor quite often. There are now some magazines emerging to support the 'maker' market around the PI and the Arduino which is heartening as creativity is not a common skill these days. I also think that the demise is very much due to online availability as well replacing paper but, it just doesn't feel the same.