Wow! I bought one when they launched it! I was an student, in the last century...I'm 66 now... But I have no idea where it can rest. I swear I don't broke it! What an illusion to have it. You were the king with such a machine those days. Thank you for remembering it!.
Not sure how old I was but I built a few of the modular amplifier kits they made using an aluminium chassis and case and finished with a black crackle finish you sprayed in a can that you baked in an oven and the pll fm tuner. Got me into basic electronics 😂
Allegedly they bought a stack of rejected audio amplifier IC's. tested them to see if they worked at all, then re labeled them them. I do remember buying a Sinclair Cambridge calculator after about a year of saving up pocket money.
Another good one Mick!! Just my opinion, with something that old, with that few electrolytics, I would replace them first step, see what happens, then check the ones that came out if I get lucky...LOL Thank You for your time and work.
Awesome repair on that dino...... Those red led's bring back memories of an old Texas Instrument Calculator I had when I was a young teenager ... I traded my cousin a huge stereo speaker for it ..... Take Care Mon Ami ...
Great fix. Nice to see old stuff and how much circuit boards have changed. My first Scientific Calculator was a Texas Instruments and it had those magnifying lenses over the LED’s It even had a power saving mode as it sucked those 9V batteries dry like a rocket. Must have been around 1980 🤠
Great fix. Thinking back to analogue meters, when measuring resistance, you had to select the range required, THEN touch the probes together and use the zero control to zero the display. You have to zero the reading for each resistence range. All analoue meters had a zero knob, presumably to account for inacurate range resistors inside.
Cheers Mike👍, seems a ball ache having to zero every time. I think the analogue meters had a knob where you turn and this you have to poke a screwdriver in, so seems a little awkward if you have to adjust when changing ranges. It's supposed to have an accuracy of ~ 1%
yea I remember the Timex Sinclair 1000 computer.. My parents gave my brother and me both Commodore Vic 20's when they came out I was 5 and I got hooked .. just kept upgrading and learning. Those old computers took my down a path to engineering. Wonderful Fix there .. I was worried you might have to work some of the other pots to get it line up. Thanks for showing that brings back memories. Do you remember when those calculator watches first came out ? How about the Simon Says game .. lol wow we had fun with simple toys growing up compared to today ;) Love ya brother .
Another triumphant repair video! Just love those old types of displays. Had it on my first calculator, a Ti58 (which I sadly don't have anymore). Was even programmable back in 1977! Edit: Fun story: My local optician had a Ti59 as the cash register, using the magnetic memory strips and an attached receipt printer. Probably why I got a (cheaper) Ti58 myself. I was thoroughly impressed.
Very nice troubleshooting, and I learned the opamp test trick too! I'm amazed you could find the same compoment used back in 1977! Opamps have not changed much, though.
Goodness, I had forgotten how much I drooled over the ads for this thing in electronics magazines. It’s definitely an old timer like me. Urethane foam dust 😂😂😂
Awesome fix sir👍👍 A digital calculator turned into a digital multimeter....it's always about the bottom line eh. I knew a capacitor or two would be replaced😉 Troubleshooting triumph here, that was a busy hand populated "old school" board. Surprised that IC was available after 45yrs.. Great video and success, thanks for the work. See ya next time.
Ha ha, I was just about to suggest remove and test electrolytic capacitors and then you did at last minute. It’s always the first thing I do when repairing very old equipment. Great video. Great commentary. Greetings from Australia.
I got one of those off someone back around 1985 and I donated it to the school computer class, wish I'd have kept it now. I think it was white with a blue shiny keyboard.
couple of things I spotted, 1st the very shiny solder on the board, I'll lay a £10 bet that it's leaded solder. 2nd, the beautiful art work of the tracks, somebody must have got great deal of satisfaction creating those swirls and loops, you don't see that these days...
Yes, I don't think unleaded solder came out until around the 2000's. I still prefer leaded solder, the "silver solder" is pretty crap. Yes, it's a nice pattern 👍
I had a Sinclair Oxford 300 in around 1976 - same case (and probably explains the spare digit positions on the display board) but I had the model with the VFD-green display. The trig functions were laughably inaccurate and I returned it to Boots and bought a Casio scientific which was a joy.
I had never seen one of those before. I used my Triplett analog VOM until the 1990s. 🙂 Interesting to see this dinosaur come back to life.. Thanks for another entertaining and educational video.
That is a piece of electronics history. They didn’t even bother to design a dedicated case; they just used a calculator case and blocked off some of the key holes. That was fairly common back in the day, but still you have to wonder if they held great hopes for its success.
Sinclair were notorious for using the cheapest stuff available for production. The designs & theory was fairly innovative for their time, but the construction quality was generally terrible (& not very consistent) :(
A Little tip: When you cutoff the "used" portions of the solder braid- keep them. They make great bridges for repairing cracked tracks etc- especially the larger EARTH tracks.
Ah yes, I think I've done that myself before on a repair way back (can't remember which video) but I think it was one of the old vintage games. Thanks for the tip, but I'd probably end up with a box full of used bits as I seem to go through a fair bit of it 😂😂😂👍
Great to see classic tech brought back to life. Love the high input impedance (20mA at 12V), though motherboard may be pushing it a bit (40:48). Looking forward to a C5 repair.
Heya, good to see those old meters and nice repair, wen I saw it was already open I was like "oeps" but after some foto's and shematics and looking up some ic's it's working again well done
I recently rebuilt and modded a Soviet 4341 multimeter which was a NOS I believe lingered in a warehouse or storage for decades. I modified it to take three AA rechargables and it works beautifully with the only downside is the foam protectors in the heavy case had turned to liquid and erased some of the pad printing on the faceplate. Everything was in its little wax paper baggies including the glass bead components used to calibrate the device, all the leads and clips in pristine condition and is very precise but lacks the continuity beeper my Aldi digital one has. I also rebuilt and is in immaculate condition a GPO 12/1 multimeter, took a bit of work to find a 15v cell and the GPO engineer who owned it kept it in abs mint condition. Both the GPO and Soviet 4341's are considered very high end multimeters and I would prefer a needle gauge over cold LCD segs all day long imho :D The 4341 is still made today albeit with SMD components instead of through hole, it is still considered military spec quality. My last "grail" multimeter is the downward turned mouth bakelite AVO meter as used by British Rail and electricity companies, I have my eyes out for an ex British Rail S&T one which some folks would consider the tip of the iceberg for quality and were incredibly accurate as they were used to wire in signalling power boxes, points, signals, signal treadles where voltages and current had to be measured in very strict measures.
Thanks for sharing. One of the guys who taught me how to program when I was a kid had one of those AVOs he was a radio ham too. Very clever guy, and was retired from Marconi radar systems, but unfortunately passed away many years ago.
Still got and occasionally use mine; it's still accurate. Also still got an analogue AVO style meter that I had earlier than that, but that is a bit 'flaky' and needs fixing. I'm terrible for hanging on to old kit.
Your multimeter looks in very good condition, I have bid on a few on eBay but never in as clean condition as yours. The air soluble sponge used back in the day was so annoying. Got 3 different Sinclair calculators including the executive scientific version, a micro radio and the very terrible digital watch which should have come with a mains power supply 😂 and they all still work surprisingly well. How great would these devices be if they hadn't used such flimsy and badly fitting plastics for the cases, I believe it is possibly polystyrene. Always wanted the MicroTV as it looked like the Space 1999 communicator, they are now rarer than hens teeth. Still recall proudly taking my very 1st calculator which was a Sinclair into school back then and everyone was amazed at it, even the teachers. Seemed impossibly Space Age in those days. Sinclair was the Apple of its day in the 1970's but with none of the build quality. Sir Clive was a wizard of miniaturisation and component choice and also the design aesthetics were fantastic and cutting edge. I feel certain that Steve Jobs would have been extremely familiar with Sinclair products and very likely poached more than a little inspiration from Sir Clive Sinclair. I remember that most of Sinclair offerings had that triangle shaped British Industry Design Award on the boxes (as did the Mastermind Boardgame I recall). With that in mind it is crazy that he opted for chronically bad plastics to be used on the engineering final fit and finish side of things. He was always trying to keep the purchase price within reach of everybody but the savings can't have been that great between one plastic versus another. Hand traced PCBs always have a certain charm to them, almost a work of art.
Thanks for commenting, and taking the time to write that 👍I used to have one of the Sinclair TV's, I remember it used a special pouch type battery that slid in the side of it. I can't remember what happened to it, or where I got it from (think I swapped something for it). I'd never heard of Sinclair until a someone loaned me a ZX81 before I ended up getting my ZX Spectrum. I had many hours / days / weeks messing about with that, learning basic, trying to write bits of games and even my first ever software hack (Jet-Set Willy, POKE 34499,201) I still remember that even though it was 40 years ago!
You should see if you can find an old Huntron Curve Tracer. They are a huge help characterizing components while still in circuit. Great video as Always, thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for that 👍The site here shows quite a few Oxford models, and even the multimeter. The Oxford scientific and universal were also white. There's some pictures of them here: www.vintagecalculators.com/html/sinclair1.html
Looks much like the inside of Texas Instruments calculators from the same time. The rounded board traces and the long leads connecting the LEDs to the board always catch my eye.
I found this one really interesting as I remember that meter in adverts in the electronics magazine I used to buy as a teenager. It was probably more accurate than the average hobbyist analogue meter of the time but expensive. 47 years ago now - Jeez where did the time go?
24:20 - This is useful for comparison of many IC's, but only OUT of circuit. Unless you have two the same boards of which one is known good, this method while on board can be used. Best and precise method is to compare IC's out of circuit.
Nice fix on this vintage tool. I bet it might have cost a pretty penny in the old days. My first digital 3,5 digit multimeter with led 7 segment displays 30-min NC battery life, brand Nippon did cost me f 650,-- (Dutch gulden) in about 1976
Awesome! Was there a dry joint about pin 11 on that quad op amp ? I thought I also saw a pin from a passive nearby that might have had very little solder. I think you might have wicked it away and not resecured it. Keep up the amazing work! Yours is always the first video on my list to watch on Sunday mornings!
Cheers Paul, someone else mentioned one of those huntron trackers. I've never heard of them before. I did a search and saw a few people making them (if it's the right thing? that hooks up to a scope in XY mode?).
Didn't know they had existed even though it would have been in the era of me buying electronics mags. Probably just forgotten, it was a long, long time ago.
BTW 15v cell hack, get 10 1.5v watch cells stack them inside a suitable bit of heatshrink and solder on some take off leads either end of the stack gives you a passable 15v multimeter cell. The draw of a multimeter usually isn't that strong so it will last a fair good time, being a watchmaker I have a box full of multi type watch cells and just built up some stacks, shrunk the heatshrink and soldered on a couple bits of wire, will pay to mark + and - on the stack as old multimeters are not robust when shorted or reverse volted.
I did something similar to that a few videos back on the vintage geiger counter I looked at, used 10x 3V 2032s to make a 30v cell for the -30V battery it needed 👍
Did you test AC and current? I bet they were working since the rest were. That's a nifty trick for testing op amps. I'll have to remember to do diode checks on these in the future.
Thanks, no I didn't test current etc, but the circuit looked pretty basic on the input side, so if the voltage and resistance works, the rest probably will too.
_testing, testing,_ this is Only a Test. This Multimeter has *much improved* since you received it. : } I may be grasping bit more Each time you trace power on boards. Seems if this meter can function, my brain cell will calibrate. _ps_ Pockets must have been larger then. *Cheers!*
Nice 👍I spend hours and hours messing around with mine when I was a kid 😊 also playing things like manic miner, jet set willy and those "ultimate" games like jet-pac etc
I don't think it was led's, maybe a variant in that direction, I still have that display laying around so maybe I can check. Texas Instruments made also pocket calculators with the same display.
I'm pretty sure it's a LED Bubble display from what I remember. You also used to get LED digital watches back in the day which also had the same display but just 4 digits.
Sure, the schematic is at the end of the pdf here: manual.kikusui.co.jp/P/PDM35_3_E2.pdf and the AY-5-3507 is here: www.tsf-radio.org/forum/im/249794dsa2ih0053651.pdf
28:55 I doesn't look like they have used lead-free solder back in 70s 😄 They use solder on both sides because they didn't use any through hole on those two pins. 35:32 There was one pin that has very little solder ...
Yup, totally agree. I got an engineer solder sucker and for the first time ever I've started to enjoy using it, the silicone sleeve is a big part of how it works so well
i have a space invaders arcade machine and the game board uses about 8 of them lm7800 for the sound and they fail all the time, would have been a good idea to fit a socket for the next time it fails, lol
Nice 👍I've got a taito space invaders pt II board that I started working on years ago. I think I got it to boot but it still had some issues. Got a box full of boards somewhere from when I worked in the arcades.
I've just been given another supply which doesn't have a fan, I've got to figure out how to use it yet as it's got loads of buttons on the front for programming etc.
Using a modern meter to fix an old meter. There I was thinking you were going to be throwing out the fluke and replacing it with the Sinclair, I was about to say let me make you an offer for the fluke. 😁 Thank you for the Sunday entertainment beats watching Strictly.
I’ve left a message before regarding a logitech master 3 mouse that I own that is faulty. Was £100 and after two year it died. Would be great if I could send this to you for repair. If it’s fixable please keep or give it away, just don’t want to throw to landfill.
@chrisprobert6 Yes, manic miner indeed. Poke 34499,201 was the first hack in computer software I ever made.Edit: actually that was jetset willy. Manic miner had a secret code that was 6031769 which I still remember. It might have been part of Mathew Smith's phone number or something...
@@BuyitFixit eek! As someone who had lead poisoning and spent 4 months in hospital hooked up to a dialysis machine as a child, I hope you start taking precautions for your own health and safety
@@BuyitFixit This was back when lead paint was still used (even though the dangers were known) as well as we still had a bottle of mercury in the garage and other health hazards. I got the lead poisoning due to environmental factors (mainly the lead paint) but also due to exposure to lead solder and lead pipes for the water supply.
Wow! I bought one when they launched it! I was an student, in the last century...I'm 66 now... But I have no idea where it can rest. I swear I don't broke it! What an illusion to have it. You were the king with such a machine those days. Thank you for remembering it!.
Nice 👍Glad it brought back some fond memories 🙂
I learned something new today, testing ampops!!
A hug from Portugal
Thank you 👍🙂
Oh the irony of fixing a 1977 DVM with a 2024 DVM. Your patience is amazing, not to mention your diagnostic skills. Thank you.
Thank you too 🙂👍
Not sure how old I was but I built a few of the modular amplifier kits they made using an aluminium chassis and case and finished with a black crackle finish you sprayed in a can that you baked in an oven and the pll fm tuner. Got me into basic electronics 😂
@@tazmaniachill Nice 👍
Allegedly they bought a stack of rejected audio amplifier IC's. tested them to see if they worked at all, then re labeled them them. I do remember buying a Sinclair Cambridge calculator after about a year of saving up pocket money.
Another good one Mick!! Just my opinion, with something that old, with that few electrolytics, I would replace them first step, see what happens, then check the ones that came out
if I get lucky...LOL Thank You for your time and work.
Cheers mate 👍
Another magnificent video made in the early hours. Top job chap👍
Cheers Darren 👍Yes it usually ends up being the early hours time I get everything else done I usually have to do 😂😂😂
Awesome repair on that dino...... Those red led's bring back memories of an old Texas Instrument Calculator I had when I was a young teenager ... I traded my cousin a huge stereo speaker for it ..... Take Care Mon Ami ...
Cheers Cajun, yes there quite common in old calculators, and even in old digital watches 🙂
Great fix. Nice to see old stuff and how much circuit boards have changed.
My first Scientific Calculator was a Texas Instruments and it had those magnifying lenses over the LED’s
It even had a power saving mode as it sucked those 9V batteries dry like a rocket.
Must have been around 1980 🤠
Cheers Dave 👍
It's good to relax once in a while and watch someone fix 1970s electronics
Thanks 🙂👍If you like this sort of stuff I've done quite a bit of old vintage VFD and LCD games too in older videos.
Lovely stuff. Sinclair were innovators and corner cutters extraordinaire.
Thanks 👍Yes I read that they did it around half the price of the competition.
@@BuyitFixit With at least one RCA component in there, interesting.
Good stuff as always. The Op Amp testing thought helped me out…was struggling with an issue around one. Please keep up the good work. Many thx!
@@Rustybritjunk Glad you found it useful 👍
Great fix. Thinking back to analogue meters, when measuring resistance, you had to select the range required, THEN touch the probes together and use the zero control to zero the display. You have to zero the reading for each resistence range. All analoue meters had a zero knob, presumably to account for inacurate range resistors inside.
Cheers Mike👍, seems a ball ache having to zero every time. I think the analogue meters had a knob where you turn and this you have to poke a screwdriver in, so seems a little awkward if you have to adjust when changing ranges. It's supposed to have an accuracy of ~ 1%
yea I remember the Timex Sinclair 1000 computer.. My parents gave my brother and me both Commodore Vic 20's when they came out I was 5 and I got hooked .. just kept upgrading and learning. Those old computers took my down a path to engineering. Wonderful Fix there .. I was worried you might have to work some of the other pots to get it line up. Thanks for showing that brings back memories. Do you remember when those calculator watches first came out ? How about the Simon Says game .. lol wow we had fun with simple toys growing up compared to today ;) Love ya brother .
@@edgarcornette6387 Hey thanks so much 😊 yes I remember vic20s, never had one but had a C64 and Amiga and loved them both!
Another triumphant repair video! Just love those old types of displays. Had it on my first calculator, a Ti58 (which I sadly don't have anymore). Was even programmable back in 1977! Edit: Fun story: My local optician had a Ti59 as the cash register, using the magnetic memory strips and an attached receipt printer. Probably why I got a (cheaper) Ti58 myself. I was thoroughly impressed.
Thanks 👍and nice little story 🙂
A deserved 50K subs coming very soon Mick. Well earned.
Yes! Cheers Paul 👍
Very nice troubleshooting, and I learned the opamp test trick too! I'm amazed you could find the same compoment used back in 1977! Opamps have not changed much, though.
Thanks, and glad you found it useful 👍
Wo😻ow , i love the mikro seven digits displays.
This lovley peace , multimeter is great.🥰
Thx. Mick to let it show us 👍👍👍👍
Cheers mate 👍
Goodness, I had forgotten how much I drooled over the ads for this thing in electronics magazines. It’s definitely an old timer like me. Urethane foam dust 😂😂😂
Glad it brought back some memories 👍
Awesome fix sir👍👍 A digital calculator turned into a digital multimeter....it's always about the bottom line eh. I knew a capacitor or two would be replaced😉 Troubleshooting triumph here, that was a busy hand populated "old school" board. Surprised that IC was available after 45yrs.. Great video and success, thanks for the work. See ya next time.
Thanks Terry 👍
Ha ha, I was just about to suggest remove and test electrolytic capacitors and then you did at last minute. It’s always the first thing I do when repairing very old equipment. Great video. Great commentary. Greetings from Australia.
Thank you very much 👍Greetings from the UK 🙃
First computer I had was a Sinclair ZX80 with a whopping 1k of ram! now I have 196gb, how things change. Great video and skill as usual.
I got one of those off someone back around 1985 and I donated it to the school computer class, wish I'd have kept it now. I think it was white with a blue shiny keyboard.
196gb is a lot, what are you planning to do with it? I have 64gb and don't think I've ever managed to use more than half at once
couple of things I spotted, 1st the very shiny solder on the board, I'll lay a £10 bet that it's leaded solder. 2nd, the beautiful art work of the tracks, somebody must have got great deal of satisfaction creating those swirls and loops, you don't see that these days...
Yes, I don't think unleaded solder came out until around the 2000's. I still prefer leaded solder, the "silver solder" is pretty crap. Yes, it's a nice pattern 👍
Great repair, on something i would tossed in the bin. Your patience is astonishing, thank you for sharing.
Paul, USA!!!
Cheers Paul. It's just something a bit unusual, and that's some of the stuff I like repairing 👍🙂
@BuyitFixit I can see that, and it's awesome, to watch you diagnose and repair, items such as this.
I had a Sinclair Oxford 300 in around 1976 - same case (and probably explains the spare digit positions on the display board) but I had the model with the VFD-green display. The trig functions were laughably inaccurate and I returned it to Boots and bought a Casio scientific which was a joy.
Nice, I've got a bit of a soft spot for VFD's and Nixies 😊
Something different and very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing, Mick.
Cheers Brian 👍
Thank you for a great video. I love the problem solving and i have a slecial place in my heart for vintage tech.
Thanks 👍yes me too 😊
that thing is awesome , i love looking at the old school led displays under a microscope
Glad you liked it 👍
I had never seen one of those before. I used my Triplett analog VOM until the 1990s. 🙂 Interesting to see this dinosaur come back to life.. Thanks for another entertaining and educational video.
Thanks Bruce 👍
That is a piece of electronics history. They didn’t even bother to design a dedicated case; they just used a calculator case and blocked off some of the key holes. That was fairly common back in the day, but still you have to wonder if they held great hopes for its success.
Sinclair were notorious for using the cheapest stuff available for production. The designs & theory was fairly innovative for their time, but the construction quality was generally terrible (& not very consistent) :(
And thats why there are unused elements in the LED array. Would have used all 8 for the calculator
A Little tip: When you cutoff the "used" portions of the solder braid- keep them. They make great bridges for repairing cracked tracks etc- especially the larger EARTH tracks.
Ah yes, I think I've done that myself before on a repair way back (can't remember which video) but I think it was one of the old vintage games. Thanks for the tip, but I'd probably end up with a box full of used bits as I seem to go through a fair bit of it 😂😂😂👍
Brilliant Mick. Cheers! and Thank you for posting
My pleasure! Cheers Neil 👍
Great to see classic tech brought back to life. Love the high input impedance (20mA at 12V), though motherboard may be pushing it a bit (40:48). Looking forward to a C5 repair.
Thanks Ralph 👍
It’s amazing you can still order IC’s from all those years ago!👍
Yes, and it least they weren't fake too 😂😂😂👍
archeologique find maybe between 200/300 befort JC !! nothing can resist you dear Mike !
😂😂😂😂👍
Heya, good to see those old meters and nice repair, wen I saw it was already open I was like "oeps" but after some foto's and shematics and looking up some ic's it's working again well done
@@Dutch_off_grid_homesteading Cheers mate 👍
Amazing old bit of kit there Mick, great to see proper circuit boards, no multilayer here lol, excellent fix Mick wouldn’t expect anything else 😊
Thanks Gary 👍
@ you’re very welcome 😊
I recently rebuilt and modded a Soviet 4341 multimeter which was a NOS I believe lingered in a warehouse or storage for decades. I modified it to take three AA rechargables and it works beautifully with the only downside is the foam protectors in the heavy case had turned to liquid and erased some of the pad printing on the faceplate. Everything was in its little wax paper baggies including the glass bead components used to calibrate the device, all the leads and clips in pristine condition and is very precise but lacks the continuity beeper my Aldi digital one has. I also rebuilt and is in immaculate condition a GPO 12/1 multimeter, took a bit of work to find a 15v cell and the GPO engineer who owned it kept it in abs mint condition. Both the GPO and Soviet 4341's are considered very high end multimeters and I would prefer a needle gauge over cold LCD segs all day long imho :D The 4341 is still made today albeit with SMD components instead of through hole, it is still considered military spec quality. My last "grail" multimeter is the downward turned mouth bakelite AVO meter as used by British Rail and electricity companies, I have my eyes out for an ex British Rail S&T one which some folks would consider the tip of the iceberg for quality and were incredibly accurate as they were used to wire in signalling power boxes, points, signals, signal treadles where voltages and current had to be measured in very strict measures.
Thanks for sharing. One of the guys who taught me how to program when I was a kid had one of those AVOs he was a radio ham too. Very clever guy, and was retired from Marconi radar systems, but unfortunately passed away many years ago.
Still got and occasionally use mine; it's still accurate. Also still got an analogue AVO style meter that I had earlier than that, but that is a bit 'flaky' and needs fixing. I'm terrible for hanging on to old kit.
Nice 👍Yes me too 😂😂
Enjoyed the challenge,good repair thought,thanks for the video.
Cheers 👍
That was a great video mate. Back to basic. I liked it. 👍👍
Cheers mate 👍
Your multimeter looks in very good condition, I have bid on a few on eBay but never in as clean condition as yours.
The air soluble sponge used back in the day was so annoying. Got 3 different Sinclair calculators including the executive scientific version, a micro radio and the very terrible digital watch which should have come with a mains power supply 😂 and they all still work surprisingly well.
How great would these devices be if they hadn't used such flimsy and badly fitting plastics for the cases, I believe it is possibly polystyrene.
Always wanted the MicroTV as it looked like the Space 1999 communicator, they are now rarer than hens teeth.
Still recall proudly taking my very 1st calculator which was a Sinclair into school back then and everyone was amazed at it, even the teachers. Seemed impossibly Space Age in those days.
Sinclair was the Apple of its day in the 1970's but with none of the build quality.
Sir Clive was a wizard of miniaturisation and component choice and also the design aesthetics were fantastic and cutting edge. I feel certain that Steve Jobs would have been extremely familiar with Sinclair products and very likely poached more than a little inspiration from Sir Clive Sinclair.
I remember that most of Sinclair offerings had that triangle shaped British Industry Design Award on the boxes (as did the Mastermind Boardgame I recall). With that in mind it is crazy that he opted for chronically bad plastics to be used on the engineering final fit and finish side of things. He was always trying to keep the purchase price within reach of everybody but the savings can't have been that great between one plastic versus another.
Hand traced PCBs always have a certain charm to them, almost a work of art.
Thanks for commenting, and taking the time to write that 👍I used to have one of the Sinclair TV's, I remember it used a special pouch type battery that slid in the side of it. I can't remember what happened to it, or where I got it from (think I swapped something for it).
I'd never heard of Sinclair until a someone loaned me a ZX81 before I ended up getting my ZX Spectrum. I had many hours / days / weeks messing about with that, learning basic, trying to write bits of games and even my first ever software hack (Jet-Set Willy, POKE 34499,201) I still remember that even though it was 40 years ago!
You should see if you can find an old Huntron Curve Tracer. They are a huge help characterizing components while still in circuit.
Great video as Always, thanks for sharing!!
Thanks and thanks for the suggestion. Is that the device that hooks up to a scope in XY mode? I saw another channel make one from parts.
The Cambridge Scientific was white, which I got for Christmas 76'. The Oxford was black, which one of the other lads in my class had. 🙂
Thanks for that 👍The site here shows quite a few Oxford models, and even the multimeter. The Oxford scientific and universal were also white. There's some pictures of them here: www.vintagecalculators.com/html/sinclair1.html
Fantastic job as always!! 👍
Thanks Tomlov 👍🙂
I SO enjoy your videos! Thank You!👍
Thanks so much 👍😊
Looks much like the inside of Texas Instruments calculators from the same time. The rounded board traces and the long leads connecting the LEDs to the board always catch my eye.
Yes, I think a lot of stuff around that period had the rounded traces 😊👍
I found this one really interesting as I remember that meter in adverts in the electronics magazine I used to buy as a teenager. It was probably more accurate than the average hobbyist analogue meter of the time but expensive. 47 years ago now - Jeez where did the time go?
Cheers Mike 👍yes where does the time go indeed 🤷♂️
Impressive you've fix it!
Thanks 👍
24:20 - This is useful for comparison of many IC's, but only OUT of circuit. Unless you have two the same boards of which one is known good, this method while on board can be used. Best and precise method is to compare IC's out of circuit.
Nice fix on this vintage tool.
I bet it might have cost a pretty penny in the old days.
My first digital 3,5 digit multimeter with led 7 segment displays 30-min NC battery life, brand Nippon did cost me f 650,-- (Dutch gulden) in about 1976
Thanks👍, and thanks for sharing. That's slightly earlier than I think this meter was made.
Awesome!
Was there a dry joint about pin 11 on that quad op amp ? I thought I also saw a pin from a passive nearby that might have had very little solder. I think you might have wicked it away and not resecured it.
Keep up the amazing work! Yours is always the first video on my list to watch on Sunday mornings!
Thanks 👍Yes I noticed that when I was editing the video 🙂
another great fix and save
Thank you 👍
Well done Mick 😀
Cheers Mike 👍
when i hear sinclair i remember my first computer ZX81 .
I borrowed one of those before I got my spectrum. I remember typing in some airplane game, and it crashing if you moved the 16k ram pack slightly 😂😂
Another Sound job mick 👍🏼
Cheers Sean 👍
What! I never knew they made one!
Neither did I. They also made a frequency meter too!
Another great video. Thanks
Cheers 👍
That was my first dgital meter when i starting doing repairs back in 1983/4 just after leaving school.
Nice 👍
At twenty-one your eyes are just fine... 😂Nice job!
Yes but that was about 25 years ago...😂Thanks 👍
Nice rep sir :)
Cheers 👍
Nice save.
Cheers 👍
testing those opamps would of been an ideal job for an octopuss tester or a huntron tracker!.
Cheers Paul, someone else mentioned one of those huntron trackers. I've never heard of them before. I did a search and saw a few people making them (if it's the right thing? that hooks up to a scope in XY mode?).
@@BuyitFixit yes it is,handy things.
Didn't know they had existed even though it would have been in the era of me buying electronics mags. Probably just forgotten, it was a long, long time ago.
Yes, I remember my dad bought me a couple of mags. I remember one called "Hobby Electronics"
I have a Sinclair frequency meter. Same case, last time i’ve checked it, it was still working.
Nice, I came across those when I was looking for info on the multimeter 👍
BTW 15v cell hack, get 10 1.5v watch cells stack them inside a suitable bit of heatshrink and solder on some take off leads either end of the stack gives you a passable 15v multimeter cell. The draw of a multimeter usually isn't that strong so it will last a fair good time, being a watchmaker I have a box full of multi type watch cells and just built up some stacks, shrunk the heatshrink and soldered on a couple bits of wire, will pay to mark + and - on the stack as old multimeters are not robust when shorted or reverse volted.
I did something similar to that a few videos back on the vintage geiger counter I looked at, used 10x 3V 2032s to make a 30v cell for the -30V battery it needed 👍
Did you test AC and current? I bet they were working since the rest were. That's a nifty trick for testing op amps. I'll have to remember to do diode checks on these in the future.
Thanks, no I didn't test current etc, but the circuit looked pretty basic on the input side, so if the voltage and resistance works, the rest probably will too.
Cool retro device.
Cheers Diane 👍
Good job you seem to repair anything!...... but I think you missed a solder joint on the board ........
Yes, when editing one of the pins near the IC could have done with a little more solder 😊
I still have my Sinclair Oxford 300 and power supply, still works. I think it cost me about £30.00 in the 1970's.
Nice 👍😊
_testing, testing,_ this is Only a Test. This Multimeter has *much improved* since you received it. : }
I may be grasping bit more Each time you trace power on boards. Seems if this meter can function, my brain cell will calibrate.
_ps_ Pockets must have been larger then. *Cheers!*
Cheers 👍
Interesting to see how we all worked in the past. This thing must have cost a fortune.
I think it was £34.50 when launched, but that bought a whole lot more in 1977 than it does now.
My first calculator, a TI-1450, basic math functions, was $60 US in
1976.
I still have a sinclair spectrum 😁
Nice 👍I spend hours and hours messing around with mine when I was a kid 😊 also playing things like manic miner, jet set willy and those "ultimate" games like jet-pac etc
I don't think it was led's, maybe a variant in that direction, I still have that display laying around so maybe I can check. Texas Instruments made also pocket calculators with the same display.
I'm pretty sure it's a LED Bubble display from what I remember. You also used to get LED digital watches back in the day which also had the same display but just 4 digits.
Great work! Can you share the documents? Schematics, datasheet of the AY5.... ? Thanks!
Sure, the schematic is at the end of the pdf here: manual.kikusui.co.jp/P/PDM35_3_E2.pdf and the AY-5-3507 is here: www.tsf-radio.org/forum/im/249794dsa2ih0053651.pdf
I had one of these I bought from Radio Shack back in the 70's. Case was black. $69.95 USD.
Hi, would your fancy little tester test those op amps?
It wouldn't. It only has 3 probes. You can build an op amp tester though that flashes an LED if the op amp is working.
DId you not resolder the two incorrect pins you desoldered when you took off that capacitor?
@@neildeaville4193 Yes, there was another pin which had some solder wicked off which I noticed when editing, but it still had a connection.
28:55 I doesn't look like they have used lead-free solder back in 70s 😄
They use solder on both sides because they didn't use any through hole on those two pins.
35:32 There was one pin that has very little solder ...
Cheers 👍Yes no vias on them old boards. I always use leaded anyway 😂😂😂Yes noticed that too when editing but thank you for letting me know 🙂
Great job =D
Thanks 👍
The efficiency of solder suction hand tool increases by 100% if a piece of silicone tube is installed on the tip.
Great tip! (no pun indented). I think someone else mentioned that too, and I've got some silicone tube. I'll have to remember and put some on!
Yup, totally agree. I got an engineer solder sucker and for the first time ever I've started to enjoy using it, the silicone sleeve is a big part of how it works so well
I replace loads of LM3900in Space Invaders sound circuitry, well know old failures
I've got a taito space invaders PT2 board somewhere. I think it used 555 and 556 timers to generate the sound effects.
Sinclair Spectrum 👍
Indeed 👍
i have a space invaders arcade machine and the game board uses about 8 of them lm7800 for the sound and they fail all the time, would have been a good idea to fit a socket for the next time it fails, lol
Nice 👍I've got a taito space invaders pt II board that I started working on years ago. I think I got it to boot but it still had some issues. Got a box full of boards somewhere from when I worked in the arcades.
Always love the videos! Wondering if you're willing to help me troubleshoot a pellet grill control board with no power to the fan motor?
Thanks 👍Drop me an email at the channels name at out look dot com
@@BuyitFixit Sent. I tried to sketch out a portion of the schematic.
i have a unifi 150 w 54volt power supply
that need fixing can you help as i not able to fix it. you could do a program on it
You can drop me an email at the channels name at out look dot com
@@BuyitFixit tried to email it bounced back
There must be a fan mod out there for your power supply. It can't be generating much heat with a few mA of load..
I've just been given another supply which doesn't have a fan, I've got to figure out how to use it yet as it's got loads of buttons on the front for programming etc.
@35:33 Did you miss a pin? Look to the left of the "hole". Sorry if I am wrong. I have old eyes, also. 👴😄
Yes, noticed that when editing the video, it's still soldered just could have done with a bit more on 👍😊
Using a modern meter to fix an old meter. There I was thinking you were going to be throwing out the fluke and replacing it with the Sinclair, I was about to say let me make you an offer for the fluke. 😁 Thank you for the Sunday entertainment beats watching Strictly.
Cheers mate, no I love my fluke meters. They are really good 👍
Build a model monument out of all the bad IC's you have and call it "Faulty" Tower. 🤣😂😉🗼
😂😂😂
I’ve left a message before regarding a logitech master 3 mouse that I own that is faulty. Was £100 and after two year it died. Would be great if I could send this to you for repair. If it’s fixable please keep or give it away, just don’t want to throw to landfill.
Sorry I get lots of messages and sometimes I miss one or forget to reply. Drop me an email at the channels name at out look dot com 👍
I had one from new plus the oscilloscope
@@richardwoodwards1202 Nice 👍
That is funny how they repurposed a calculator enclosure to make this.
Yes, I guess it was to reduce cost.
allways 💯
Cheers 👍🙂
Fifty five... ISH 😅💪💪🏴
😂😂😂😊👍
@@BuyitFixitechoes of manic miner. Fix up a three wheeler next...haha
@chrisprobert6 Yes, manic miner indeed. Poke 34499,201 was the first hack in computer software I ever made.Edit: actually that was jetset willy. Manic miner had a secret code that was 6031769 which I still remember. It might have been part of Mathew Smith's phone number or something...
Was tearing hair out, trying to remember the other one . Jetset ...lol
Cheers 😂👍
I hope you had your air running to pull off the fumes. THese old electronics used lead solder and you do NOT want to breathe in those fumes
It's probably a bit late for that now... I've soldered using leaded solder all my life, and never used fume extraction...
@@BuyitFixit eek! As someone who had lead poisoning and spent 4 months in hospital hooked up to a dialysis machine as a child, I hope you start taking precautions for your own health and safety
Sorry to hear that, may I ask how that happened? I assume you weren't using a soldering iron?
@@BuyitFixit This was back when lead paint was still used (even though the dangers were known) as well as we still had a bottle of mercury in the garage and other health hazards. I got the lead poisoning due to environmental factors (mainly the lead paint) but also due to exposure to lead solder and lead pipes for the water supply.
👍
Cheers 👍
How Bizarre ! A multimeter that you had to use maffamatiks to use !
Well it is based on a calculator 😂😂👍
What a strange device...
Yes, something a bit different! I like fixing unusual things, it makes it a bit more interesting I think 🙂👍
Not easy to fix 😊
Wasn't too bad, but I've had worse.. that motorcycle headset springs to mind, although that wasn't really blown components or troubleshooting.
capacitors.... always the capacitors. At least electrolytics.
Very true 👍I even mention comments like this in another video which I haven't put out yet 😂😂😂🙂
Ahhhhh, classic Sinclair equipment i.e. crap! Still, it's nice to see it restored to working condition. Now do a C5!
I doubt theres much in a C5 apart form a battery, motor and a switch..oh and pedals of course 😂😂😂