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MK14
The MK14 (Microcomputer Kit 14) was a computer kit sold by Science of Cambridge of the United Kingdom, first introduced in 1977 for £39.95. The price was very low for a complete computer system at the time, and Science of Cambridge eventually sold over fifteen thousand kits. History In 1977, Ian Williamson approached Clive Sinclair and Chris Curry with a computer design based around the National Semiconductor SC/MP processor. Sinclair and Curry both liked the idea and saw the potential of making a low cost microprocessor system available to the hobbyist market. Initially it was planned to market a kit based on the Williamson design. However, after National Semiconductor had been contacted regarding a bulk purchase of the SC/MP processor Sinclair and Curry decided to use the chip manufacturer's own design. This design used all National Semiconductor chips and the company allowed the use of its designs, the SC/MP Introkit and Keyboard Kit, for free. The National Semiconduct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics in the 1970s and early 1980s. After spending several years as assistant editor of ''Instrument Practice'', Sinclair founded Sinclair Radionics Ltd in 1961. He produced the world's first slimline electronic pocket calculator (the Sinclair Executive) in 1972. Sinclair then moved into the production of home computers in 1980 with Sinclair Research Ltd, producing the Sinclair ZX80 (the UK's first mass-market home computer for less than £100), and in the early 1980s, the ZX81, ZX Spectrum and the Sinclair QL. Sinclair Research is widely recognised for its importance in the early days of the British and European home computer industry, as well as helping to give rise to the British video game industry. Sinclair also had several comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Curry
Christopher Curry (born 28 January 1946 in Cambridge) is the co-founder of Acorn Computers, with Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper. He became a millionaire as a result of Acorn's success. In his early career days, he worked at Pye, Royal Radar Establishment and W.R. Grace Laboratories. Then, in April 1966 he joined Sinclair Radionics where he worked for 13 years. He was involved with their hifi products and their Sinclair C5 electric vehicle. In 1972, he helped Sinclair Radionics to launch its first electronic calculator, the Sinclair Executive. He set up Cambridge Processor Unit Ltd. (CPU) in December 1978. Their first product was the Acorn Microcomputer (later called the System 1). In 1983, he co-founded Redwood Publishing with Michael Potter and Christopher Ward and they bought the ''Acorn User'' title. In 1985, he founded General Information Systems Ltd (GIS) and remains the director. In 2012, he announced his latest project for GIS, Care with Canary. Early li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinclair Research Ltd
Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, then Sinclair Computers Ltd, and finally Sinclair Research Ltd. It remained dormant until 1976, when it was activated with the intention of continuing Sinclair's commercial work from his earlier company Sinclair Radionics, and adopted the name Sinclair Research in 1981. In 1980, Clive Sinclair entered the home computer market with the ZX80 at £99.95, at that time the cheapest personal computer for sale in the United Kingdom. In 1982 the ZX Spectrum was released, becoming the UK's best selling computer, and competing aggressively against Commodore and Amstrad. At the height of its success, and largely inspired by the Japanese Fifth Generation Computer program, the company established the "MetaLab" research centre at Milton Hall near Cambrid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microprocessor Development Board
A microprocessor development board is a printed circuit board containing a microprocessor and the minimal support logic needed for an electronic engineer or any person that wants to become acquainted with the microprocessor on the board and to learn to program it. It also served users of the microprocessor as a method to prototype applications in products. Unlike a general-purpose system such as a home computer, usually a development board contains little or no hardware dedicated to a user interface. It will have some provision to accept and run a user-supplied program, such as downloading a program through a serial port to flash memory, or some form of programmable memory in a socket in earlier systems. History The reason for the existence of a development board was solely to provide a system for learning to use a new microprocessor, not for entertainment. So everything superfluous was left out to keep costs down. Even an enclosure was not supplied, nor a power supply. This is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SC/MP
National Semiconductor's INS8060, or SC/MP (pronounced ''scamp'') for Simple Cost-effective Micro Processor, is an early 8-bit microprocessor which became available in April 1976. A unique feature of the SC/MP is a daisy-chained control pin that allowed up to three SC/MP's share a single main memory to produce a multiprocessor system. To lower cost, the system used a bit-serial arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and was thus significantly slower than contemporary designs like the Intel 8080 or MOS 6502 which had parallel ALUs. Another oddity was that the program counter could only access the lower 12-bits of the 16-bit address, and the upper 4-bits had to be set using special instructions. The result was that instructions accessed main memory as sixteen 4 kB "pages" and reaching memory outside those pages required multiple instructions. The combination of slow speed and paged memory limited its attractiveness, especially in the markets that might need a multiprocessing system. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ZX80
The Sinclair ZX80 is a home computer launched on 29 January 1980 by Science of Cambridge Ltd. (later to be better known as Sinclair Research). It is notable for being one of the first computers available in the United Kingdom for less than a hundred pounds. It was available in kit form for £79.95, where purchasers had to assemble and solder it together, and as a ready-built version at £99.95. The ZX80 was very popular straight away, and for some time there was a waiting list of several months for either version of the machine. Name The ZX80 was named after the Z80 processor with the 'X' meaning "the mystery ingredient". Hardware Internally, the machine was designed by Jim Westwood around a Z80 central processing unit with a clock speed of 3.25 MHz, and was equipped with 1 KB of static RAM and 4 KB of read-only memory (ROM). It had no sound output. The ZX80 was designed around readily available TTL chips; the only proprietary technology was the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electronic Kit
An electronic kit is a package of electrical components used to build an electronic device. Generally, kits are composed of electronic components, a circuit diagram (schematic), assembly instructions and often a printed circuit board (PCB) or another type of prototyping board. There are two types of kit. Some build a single device or system. Other types used for education demonstrate a range of circuits. Theses will include a solderless construction board of some type, such as: * Components mounted in plastic blocks with side contacts, that are held together in a base, e.g. Denshi blocks * Springs on a card board, the springs trap wire leads or component leads, such as Philips EE electronic experiment kits. These are a cheap and flexible option * Professional type prototyping boards, (breadboards) into which component leads are inserted, following documentation of the "kit". The first type of kits, those for the construction of a single device, normally use a PCB on which comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Practical Electronics
''Practical Electronics'' (previously known as ''Everyday Practical Electronics'') is a UK-published magazine that is available in print or downloadable format. Publication history ''Practical Electronics'' was founded in 1964 by IPC Magazines as a constructors' magazine for the electronics enthusiast. (It was a sister publication to IPC's other ''"Practical"'' titles, including '' Practical Mechanics'', '' Practical Motorist'', '' Practical Television'', and ''Practical Wireless''.) In 1971 a novice-level magazine, ''Everyday Electronics'', was begun by the same publisher. Until 1977, both titles had the same production and editorial team. In 1986, both titles were sold by their owner, IPC Magazines, to independent publishers and the editorial teams remained separate. By the early 1990s, the title experienced a marked decline in market share and, in 1992, it was purchased by Wimborne Publishing Ltd. which was, at that time, the publisher of the rival, novice-level ''Everyday ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Personal Computer World
''Personal Computer World'' (''PCW'') (February 1978 - June 2009) was the first British computer magazine. Although for at least the last decade it contained a high proportion of Windows PC content (reflecting the state of the IT field), the magazine's title was not intended as a specific reference to this. At its inception in 1978 'personal computer' was still a generic term (the Apple II, PET 2001 and TRS-80 had been launched as personal computers in 1977.) The magazine came out before the Wintel (or IBM PC compatible) platform existed; the original IBM PC itself was introduced in 1981. Similarly, the magazine was unrelated to the Amstrad PCW. History ''PCW'' was founded by the Croatian-born Angelo Zgorelec"About the authors" visit-croatia.co.uk. Article retrieved 2006-11-24. in 1978, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visual Display Unit
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a visual display, support electronics, power supply, housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls. The display in modern monitors is typically an LCD with LED backlight, having by the 2010s replaced CCFL backlit LCDs. Before the mid-2000s, most monitors used a CRT. Monitors are connected to the computer via DisplayPort, HDMI, USB-C, DVI, VGA, or other proprietary connectors and signals. Originally, computer monitors were used for data processing while television sets were used for video. From the 1980s onward, computers (and their monitors) have been used for both data processing and video, while televisions have implemented some computer functionality. In the 2000s, the typical display aspect ratio of both televisions and computer monitors has changed from 4:3 to 16:9. Modern computer monitors are mostly interchangeable with television ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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