|
General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
|
Thread Tools |
12th Nov 2019, 1:04 am | #1 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,556
|
Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Difficult to know where to place this:-
Just tripped over this on iplayer - https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...f-timex-dundee ...Mainly a social history with ex personnel reminiscing about work and troubled times there, but at about 22 minutes in there is a short section regarding Timex's involvement with (and building of) Sinclair computers and at the end of that segment a brief sight of some other piece of (audio?) equipment with an STK power amp slab hanging off it. |
12th Nov 2019, 8:26 am | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 4,982
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Tick a tick a Timex, tra la la. The advert used to run just before Christmas each year during the early/mid 60's. Black and white 405 line of course.
|
12th Nov 2019, 2:40 pm | #3 |
Nonode
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 2,002
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Timex also made the CRT's for the Sinclair FTV1 / TV80.
__________________
Hello IT: Have you Tried Turning It Off & On Again? |
12th Nov 2019, 5:08 pm | #4 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 13,998
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
In the US, a version of the Sinclair ZX81 (with NTSC modulator) was sold as the Timex-Sinclair 1000. I believe these were initially made at the Timex factory in Dundee.
Unlike the ZX81 in the UK market, the TS1000 never made it big in the US - everyone there bought Radio Shack or Commodore. |
12th Nov 2019, 7:19 pm | #5 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,556
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Points of trivia:
The ZX81 / Timex 1000 wasn't a colour (or should I say color?) machine so 'NTSC' may not be the right terminology in this context. Certainly it would have had a modulator specifically aimed at the USA TV system - VHF perhaps? The USA version also had 2K of RAM as standard rather than the 1K the base model sold with in its home territory. It had two switchable TV output channel frequencies. Presumably they didn't have a 'default' TV channel for low power RF TV devices, the way UHF channel 35 seemed to have been adopted here. |
12th Nov 2019, 9:11 pm | #6 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Wigan, Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 9,433
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Would NTSC not cover the system, the Nation Television Standards Committee decided on the Mono system in 1941. Colour added to the standard in 1953.
Although when we mention NTSC we usually refer to colour it covers the monochrome system as well.
__________________
Frank |
13th Nov 2019, 12:28 am | #7 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 2,002
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Quote:
I had thought that channel 36 was the European standard, though I've noticed sometimes I've had to adjust a preset slightly to fine tune in another device.
__________________
Hello IT: Have you Tried Turning It Off & On Again? |
|
13th Nov 2019, 2:02 am | #8 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,556
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Could well have been 36, it was such a long time ago and at the time I used primitive 'knob tunable' (rather than preset) TV sets with my ZX81 so I didn't necessarily know exactly which UHF channel I was tuning into.
The oscillators in those Astec modulators were free running as well, so they tended to drift slowly off frequency as the machine warmed up. I have two ZX81s here, one is my original one and I know Dundee didn't build that because I did, although it may well be that the kit was packaged there before it was dispatched to me. The other machine came to me in a DkTronics full sized keyboard / enclosure and the PCB may very well have been Dundee-built. In the documentary Clive Sinclair said that 'Most' of their ZX81s were being built by Dundee, but, that being the case, who was building the remainder? (The end users, perhaps?). |
13th Nov 2019, 2:38 pm | #9 |
Nonode
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 2,002
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
I know the Spectrums were built by Thorn at Enfield, as was the final assembly of the TV80.
Thorn made a monitor version of the TX designed to work with the Spectrum & QL. Link for monitor, scroll to bottom as I can't link pictures directly https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/ferguson-portables-82-86/
__________________
Hello IT: Have you Tried Turning It Off & On Again? Last edited by Richard_FM; 13th Nov 2019 at 2:59 pm. Reason: Link added |
13th Nov 2019, 9:32 pm | #10 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,339
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Channel 36 was no doubt chosen because channels 35 to 38 inclusive were originally not used for broadcasting because that part of the UHF band was used by something to do with aviation. When those users moved elsewhere, those channels became available for Channel 5.
|
13th Nov 2019, 11:57 pm | #11 |
Nonode
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 2,002
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
IIRC Channel 38 was reserved for radio telescopes & I don't think even Channel 5 used it.
__________________
Hello IT: Have you Tried Turning It Off & On Again? |
14th Nov 2019, 1:22 am | #12 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Haarlem, Netherlands
Posts: 4,199
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
For some reason, radios-tv.co.uk redirects to Google. Is anyone else having this problem? Is the webmaster active in this thread or a forum member?
|
14th Nov 2019, 5:08 am | #13 |
Rest in Peace
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: N.W. Oxfordshire(Chipping Norton)
Posts: 7,306
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
The radios.tv.co.uk link in RichardFM's post works O.K. for me, Maaarten.
|
15th Nov 2019, 12:38 am | #14 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 1,219
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
I'm getting "access denied" for that entire website (and I have given them permission to run scripts and cookies).
|
15th Nov 2019, 12:47 am | #15 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 9,642
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
OK here too, W10/Firefox.
|
16th Nov 2019, 12:01 am | #16 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 1,571
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
|
16th Nov 2019, 1:15 am | #17 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Wigan, Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 9,433
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Quote:
The other problem is if you are using a VPN with the VPN server outside the UK.
__________________
Frank |
|
17th Nov 2019, 7:58 pm | #18 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 18,713
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Quote:
__________________
-- Graham. G3ZVT |
|
17th Nov 2019, 8:05 pm | #19 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 18,713
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Quote:
I managed to solder the thick-film resistor module in backwards, but managed to correct it.
__________________
-- Graham. G3ZVT |
|
18th Nov 2019, 11:12 am | #20 | |
Hexode
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Wigston, Leicester, UK.
Posts: 350
|
Re: Rise and fall of Timex Dundee - BBC iplayer
Quote:
|
|