Sir Clive Sinclair. R.I.P.

[SiriusHardware]

His first computer was also my first computer and the grounding in microprocessor basics which that gave me continues to serve me well. I did and still do own a further two generations of his computers as well.

His thinking regarding personal electric vehicles was not wrong, but simply ahead of its time as we can now see all around us, with electric bikes leading the way and electric cars not far behind.

It was generally held that Clive himself did not use computers or the internet, so I hope he had some other way of knowing how much love there still is for him and his quirky, affordable gadgets and what an impact they made on our lives.

Rest in peace, Sir Clive.

[Andrew2]

It had to happen sooner or later, but I still feel very upset at his death. I had several items of Sinclair stuff in my youth and so did my schoolmates. Between us I recall a Z12 power amp, two Micromatics, A project 60 pre-amp, a project 60 stereo tuner and several Z30s. Plus a few Cambridge calculators, a ZX81 and A QL. All of them worked a treat, although I did manage to blow the smoke out of one of my Z30's by shorting the speaker. We even had a disco amp made from two z50's and a PZ8 PSU. Despite some pretty aggressive use it never let us down. Farewell Sir Clive, and thank you for your inspiration.

[Restoration73]

Not sure of the sentiments in #16. I have some of these products that are in excess of
40 years old and still functional.

I have purchased plenty of technology (mostly made in the far east) that didn't last
beyond 5 years, in some cases failed after less than a year. 'Nuff said.

[Andrew2]

I do hope that BBC4 will dig out the old documentaries the BBC made over the years, and of course the 'Micro Men'.

[Ken G3XSJ]

In my post commencing this thread, I incorrectly referred to the Babani series of books. Apologies, it should have been Bernards Radio Manuals. I see he appeared in print as early as December 1960, so there's a lot of pre history before he became a household name c. 1980. I seem to recall he began his business career sorting and reselling manufacturers rejected transistors.

[saddlestone-man]

Very sad to hear of Sir Clive's death.

It's not generally known that he developed many of his early thoughts on miniature radios while working at PW in the late-1950s.

Although he's not credited (presumably because he was on the staff) I'm sure this is (Sir) Clive on the cover of PW for November 1958. At a time when full-spec transistors were very expensive, his 'Micro-Midget' design used a white spot and two red spot transistors - his first foray into using 'reject' transistors, a philosophy he was to continue when he set up his own company. He also used 16BA screws in the case - very fiddly to handle!

I presume his ex-employers made no issue of where his 'IP' was developed and who owned the rights.

best regards ... Stef

[Hybrid tellies]

RIP Sir Clive Sinclair. A true British innovator.

[kalee20]

Originally Posted by saddlestone-man

Although he's not credited (presumably because he was on the staff) I'm sure this is (Sir) Clive on the cover of PW for November 1958.

Yes I've been led to believe this is Sir Clive!

He was first in many fields... quickly overtaken when he showed it was possible. And it takes a brave person to spearhead any innovation. He deserved his knighthood.

RIP Clive Sinclair.

Today he passed away 81

Rest in peace

[PsychMan]

Its sad news indeed. The world would be a different place without his computer creations of the 80s. He must have inspired many people who went on themselves to do great things in the world of computing.

I read that he had been working on inventions as recently as last week. He loved the challenge and the excitement he got from it. A lot of us will understand that.

Adam

[brenellic2000]

A brilliant mind, and a fellow member of Mensa (a couple of points ahead of me) - but his 'plan A' didn't always work! Do they ever? I had about four Cambridge calculators, all replaced under warranty in quick succession ... until I gave up and got a Bowmar, then my ever faithful Texas TI-30, which I still use daily. The Cambridge lacked a square root button - a pain for statisticians - but one had to use the Newton-Rapheason sequence of guestimates... one got there in the end... yawn!

I was driving an express coach the first time I encountered a C5 - l almost ran over it! It scared the heck out of me!

RIP, Sir Clive

[agardiner]

An absolute legend. RIP Sir Clive.

[Junk Box Nick]

The announcement of his passing did make this morning’s 8am bulletin on Radio 3. The calculators and the ZX Spectrum was mentioned.

The first computer I saw in any home was the ZX81. I knew of someone who had an Atari but that was considered a games machine.

I primarily remember Sinclair for the Micromatic. I remember my local electrical shop had a kit displayed in the window. It was far beyond the reach of my pocket money, though a school friend had one and I was very envious.

(I contented myself with building simple designs from Practical Wireless but knowing achieving the miniaturisation was impossible for me to achieve.)

In the mid eighties I remember seeing someone in a C5 negotiate the Five Ways roundabout in Birmingham. That was a very brave fellow!

[Superscope]

The Sad part for me, is that I had to find out the News from this
Forum last night!

Why was such an important Man's Passing not featured on Mainstream Tv ?

It did make the BBC Website late last night, but I didn't hear a word on the
BBC or any other channel.

My first Computer was the Rubber Keyed Spectrum.
Didn't use it for Games normally, but had it wired up to a Sperry Univac
RS 232 Printer (Remember those?) so it could do proper stuff.

The Spectrum is long gone, but my Microvision TV1B is still alive and kicking
40 odd Years on!
Sinclair products were not always unreliable!

I think I will fire it up tonight as a mark of Respect!

R.I.P. Sir Clive, we all owe you!

[Junk Box Nick]

Originally Posted by Superscope

Why was such an important Man's Passing not featured on Mainstream Tv ?

It did make the BBC Website late last night, but I didn't hear a word on the
BBC or any other channel.

I find there’s a lot of notable events we don’t get to hear about on mainstream TV, etc., though any discussion of the whys and wherefores would be against the spirit of the forum.

Another memory floods back, I "gate crashed" one of Cris Currys fireworks parties carrying a gallon of beer, Clive said "Ah! beer, much better than all that Champagne", we shared a few. That's how I ended up working for him.

Great times Cambridge electronics in the 80's, I remember them with a big smile.

[Welsh Anorak]

I'm pleased to see most headlines are correctly hailing him a computer pioneer and only making passing references to his vehicles. Nice to see Elon Musk (whatever you may think of him) leading the tributes.
I remember coming across an amplifier on a small PCB at school in the Seventies. It was used in a projector and Sinclair Radionics were very helpful in helping me get it going again.

[Hartley118]

There’s an interesting thread from last year on this forum with many reminiscences of Sir Clive and his numerous products at https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...=167980&page=1 .

An interesting and I suspect important spin-off from the typically somewhat unfinished nature of Sinclair products is the way that they generated hobby interest in putting them right. For example, I recall various articles on how best to stop your 16k RAM pack falling off the back of your ZX81 and how to get your programs to upload properly from cassettes. The need spawned a number of monthly magazines to feed the growing hobby of home computing.

Sir Clive was always remarkably quick to capitalise on new ideas, even if they were just floated in a journal article. I recall an article, Wireless World I think in was, on the possibility of pulse-width modulated (PWM) audio amplifiers. Within just a couple of months, sure enough, Sinclair was selling a PCB kit version. Tempted, I bought one, to find that it just about worked, but my naive attempt to connect it to a hifi speaker with a crossover immediately killed the output switching transistors. Today of course, now that it’s been professionally sorted, the technique is pretty standard in ‘digital’ power amplifiers.

RIP Sir Clive - always ahead of your time.

Martin

[Restoration73]

Nice featurette on ITV London news - including praise by Alan Sugar.

The Sinclair item I used most for some years was the PFM200 200MHz pocket DFM,albeit
strapped to an external battery pack. Trade price (1980) about £40.

[SiriusHardware]

I still have one of those (a Sinclair branded PFM200) too. It was the most essential bit of kit I had when starting out in hobby radio.