Visit Guide
On this section we have displayed a disassembled Spectrum, as well as some Sinclair Custom Made Devices.
After this section, the tour continues through the corridor that leads to the exit.
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
Even though with little relevance (and even interest from Clive Sinclair), during the ‘70s Sinclair Radionics also developed an array of custom-made digital devices.
Six multimeter versions were released: the DM1 (1974) and the DM2 (1975); the PDM35 (1977); the DM235 (1978); the DM350 (1978) and the DM450 (1978). A Frequency Meter was also released, the PFM200 (1979), as well as an Oscilloscope C110 (1979). All but the DM1 are on display.
Six multimeter versions were released: the DM1 (1974) and the DM2 (1975); the PDM35 (1977); the DM235 (1978); the DM350 (1978) and the DM450 (1978). A Frequency Meter was also released, the PFM200 (1979), as well as an Oscilloscope C110 (1979). All but the DM1 are on display.
Funnily enough, being a field that did not welcome innovation that much (unlike other fields of electronics), the truth is that after the problems the brand had with the DM1 production, it gained solidity and stability reputation.
When Clive Sinclair left Sinclair Radionics, in 1979, the National Enterprise Board created a new company, provisionally called Sinclair Electronics, that was later renamed Thandar. Thandar blossomed to become a reliable manufacturer of custom-made digital devices that still works on today’s market under the name Thurlby-Thandar Instruments (https://www.ttid.co.uk/)
All the devices we have on display are either from Sinclair or Thandar (from the same time frame as the Spectrum), or even own-label brands manufactured by them (for instance, RadioShack).
On the vertical display case we have highlighted a digital Multimeter that belonged to the collection owned by Enrico Tedeschi (see article – we acquired it a few years ago).
REALUX
The desk you see here has a lot of history. It is a watch-making desk from an old Realux factory that was based here, in Cantanhede. Having the computer aesthetic closely related to the watch theme (a clear example of that being Timex), and with Cantanhede being a watchmaker’s town, it was more than obvious to us that we had to have a bench worktop for small workshops and repairs that came from within our city. It is with great pleasure that we also experience this object take on a new life and purpose, serving as a bench worktop where we have soldering and unsoldering equipment, a multimeter, a (black and white) television and a (coloured) monitor.
These devices allow us to make small repairs and run tests on the equipment our visitors bring us, when they need help with making their devices work.
ENRICO TEDESCHI
Enrico Tedeschi is an Italian man that moved to England and was a big collector of all things Sinclair and Marconi. Somehow, he was the first person who tried to create an entire museum dedicated to Sinclair (and Marconi), in Brighton, October 1993. Enrico also deserves great merit for having saved the Marconi collection: it was due to a campaign he led that the collection was not auctioned off and is nowadays a part of Oxford University’s acquis, in England.
In 1996, Enrico released a scrapbook called Sinclair Archeology, with all kinds of information and advertising used at the time for Sinclair products, and that can be found online through the Sinclair Collection Blog, from Didier Luth. You can access it here. Sir Clive like his work so much that he even surprised Enrico by having a thank you note on the cover of the local newspaper, thanking Enrico for his book.
Sir Clive also visited the exhibit and donated several objects, including models of products that later became iconic pieces from the companies. Unfortunately, with his passing in 2014 (at 74 years old), the exhibition was closed, and the collection was sold in bits and pieces. This led to the disappearance of those object’s tracks. Some of our English collector friends (like Mark Smith and even Rick Dickinson) tried to acquire some of those pieces. One of the collection’s multimeters is, supposedly, the non-identified model we have on the vertical showcase in this section.
Enrico Tedeschi’s legacy and life work are being carried on and, in some way, shape or form, we have tried to pay homage to him through our own work. In an interview, Enrico said something we can see ourselves in: “Collecting should not be hoarding the largest possible number of artifacts, but rather serve mainly to investigate and understand why, who, and when he invented and developed something, and the social impact that invention had in the lives of millions of people. Collecting should be a way of learning, growing and self-improving, and not just an hobby or investment.”