On 16 Sep 2021 22:43:00 GMT
Post by Bob EagerPost by Vir CampestrisJust heard he died today.
I used to sell his radios (Micro 6 etc.) in the mid 1960s.
A little later than that I got an Antex model C and a matchbox
radio kit. That was not the best way to learn to solder but I did
eventually make it work.
I spent my early career in Cambridge chasing down jobs with anyone
but Sinclair or Acorn (Torch was too close really). I'd met too many people
who'd worked for them - including one who had the misfortune to work for
both (on the MK14 and the Electron - you may now try and guess who he is).
He was a wonderful character, from a suitable distance.
A friend of mine worked on the C5 (among other things doing
environmental testing), he brought one home for a weekend and showed us
some alarming features like the way the top of the front part could be
pushed to the ground ... with one hand and the way that rolling it
backwards would blow the diode that protected the motor relay contacts from
reverse EMF spikes so that one day soon it would weld closed and the motor
wouldn't stop until the battery ran out.
Apparently racing the twin battery (with series/parallel switch)
version[5] with the heavy duty washing machine motor was hair raising fun,
they got up to about 30mph and cornered rather excitingly on two wheels.
[5] Never released of course, pure internal hackery for the test track.
--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
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The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
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