SAE to metric conversion?

[Rob Frankhamr]

Good old Uncle Clive... I started out with his 'build it yourself' Hi Fi system, then it was the black calculator followed by the white scientific one and the 'Black Watch' My first computer was a ZX81 before veering off into Memotech and PCs. Now, for fun, I sometimes run a ZX81 emulation on a PC... trying to remember the keystrokes is great fun...

Rob

I bet you wish you still had the "black watch", unless you haven't seen what they fetch nowadays. Did yours actually work? I believe most didn't. The only Sinclair I built from a kit was the Micromatic radio. Most of Sinclair's designs were actually very good, technically - often ingeniously so. Then usually let down by cheapest-sourced components, cheap, flimsy cases and cost-cutting on things like heatsinks. The ZX81's "slow-mode" performance can be boosted by about 15% by adding one transistor and a couple of resistors that the bean-counters removed. Mine has a sensibly-sized heatsink fitted on the regulator and (so far) the over-utilised ULA chip has held out too.

EDIT: just popped into my head that electronic stuff tends to be based on imperial sizes (e.g. 0.1" pin spacings on DIL chips)

Nah, it's metric... 2.54 mm... in any case, you're cheating... using a metric division of an imperial unit. Should be one tenth of an inch.

Yes, the black watch did work for a bit but it went through batteries like they were going out of fashion and eventually, the buttons stopped - well - buttoning.

Rob

[Rob Frankhamr]

Good old Uncle Clive... I started out with his 'build it yourself' Hi Fi system, then it was the black calculator followed by the white scientific one and the 'Black Watch' My first computer was a ZX81 before veering off into Memotech and PCs. Now, for fun, I sometimes run a ZX81 emulation on a PC... trying to remember the keystrokes is great fun...

Rob

I bet you wish you still had the "black watch", unless you haven't seen what they fetch nowadays. Did yours actually work? I believe most didn't. The only Sinclair I built from a kit was the Micromatic radio. Most of Sinclair's designs were actually very good, technically - often ingeniously so. Then usually let down by cheapest-sourced components, cheap, flimsy cases and cost-cutting on things like heatsinks. The ZX81's "slow-mode" performance can be boosted by about 15% by adding one transistor and a couple of resistors that the bean-counters removed. Mine has a sensibly-sized heatsink fitted on the regulator and (so far) the over-utilised ULA chip has held out too.

EDIT: just popped into my head that electronic stuff tends to be based on imperial sizes (e.g. 0.1" pin spacings on DIL chips)

Nah, it's metric... 2.54 mm... in any case, you're cheating... using a metric division of an imperial unit. Should be one tenth of an inch.

Yes, the black watch did work for a bit but it went through batteries like they were going out of fashion and eventually, the buttons stopped - well - buttoning.

Rob

[Mjolinor]

I think there are more metric pin spacings than Imperial now. 1/10 is rarely used except for legacy stuff.

[dacsceilings]

Eeeee, they don't make nostalgia like they used to in my day

[Rob Frankhamr]

I think there are more metric pin spacings than Imperial now. 1/10 is rarely used except for legacy stuff.

I suspect that's a sign of the movement of electronic research and production to the Far East from the US...

Rob

[Electrajohnt]

Just been tracking down piston rings for a Matchless, they were sized in multiples of 3/64” for thickness. Good old Christian units, don’t want none of them heathen units now we are out.

[windmill john]

3/64”... now is that in:

Whitworth
AF
BSP
UNC
BSW
BSP
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Give me metric

I can almost hear Mjolinor running to his keyboard.

[Rob Frankhamr]

I wonder how many people born after - say - 1980 would be able to visual one sixtyfourth or work easily in fractions... let alone spell the words...

Rob

[Mjolinor]

3/64”... now is that in:

Whitworth
AF
BSP
UNC
BSW
BSP
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Give me metric

I can almost hear Mjolinor running to his keyboard.

3/64 BSP, mon dieu, c'est impossible.

[windmill john]

I wonder how many people born after - say - 1980 would be able to visual one sixtyfourth or work easily in fractions... let alone spell the words...

Rob

I was born quite a bit before that, okay with factions, but can’t really recall using fractions or imperial since school; let’s ignore full miles and feet for a minute.
I don’t see 30mph as imperial, but I’d rather work in mph than kph, even though I know the main ones.

Of course the benefit of km is when touring aboard. When I see 200 km to blah blah, I see it as 200 miles... it comes down very quickly then!

[Mjolinor]

Of course the benefit of km is when touring aboard. When I see 200 km to blah blah, I see it as 200 miles... it comes down very quickly then!

Same here, I just love that about driving in Europe. :)

[DEEP DIVER]

I used both at work, I'd order steel strip 50mmx4mm in 10 ft lengths.

[george baker]

Hi

200 km to blah blah, I see it as 200 mile

I feel the same about litres and kg, but sometimes wonder why the steaks and beer fill me up so quickly -- must be the fresh air on holiday

George