NEW TO THE FORUM WITH 2 PULSARS, AN ACCUTRON, & A SINCLAIR

[218Accutron]

greetings from baltimore, maryland, usa. names aaron, and i discovered this forum a week ago. great information and i'm gobsmacked that there are as many people interested in this subject. as a youth in the 1970's i was totally taken with the first popular science article displaying the original prototype from hamilton watch company. i even went so far as to contact hamilton while i was doing a science fair project on digital watches. a few days later i received a package from hamilton in lancaster, pa containing not one, but two nonworking P1 modules, a case, a wrist band and tons of material on the subject. sadly, with many moves and such, i am unable to locate those items.
my collection currently stands at the following:
1. my dads original and working pulsar stainless steel sport model (3502-A)
2. my dads original and working pulsar men's dress watch (5408-1)
3. my dads original and working bulova accutron in 18k gold, model 218
4. one of my science fair projects SINCLAIR black watch, functionality unkonwn

(of course, i have several new LCD digital watches that i wear on a daily basis)

i wear my dad's watches from time to time,and nothing starts a conversation more than the mint condition pulsar watches.

anyway, just wanted to introduce myself to the group.
have a great day.
aaron

(how do i post pics of my collection on here?)

[bucko170]

Welcome to the forum Aaron

The P1 parts and paper work would probably be worth some serious money today especially if it is the original 25 chip module, might be worthwhile starting a fresh search. - see this thread here for a photo of the original 25 chip module viewtopic.php?f=79&t=4109&p=26531&hilit=pulsar+chip+module#p26531

There is one or two ways to get photo's onto the forum, I personally use 'image shack' to upload photo's onto the forum, if you want to follow suit.....

1. Log onto image shack (you may have to register for first time use).
2. Select 'Media Upload'.
3. Select 'Browse'.
4. Double click on the photo you wish to upload.
5. Click 'Upload Now'.
6. Once you have 'Upload Successful' displayed click on the box to the right of 'Forum Code' this will highlight the text (URL) in blue, right click the mouse and click on copy (or use 'ctrl and 'c') to copy.
7. Paste it into your post and you should have a photo.............




The 'uploaded with image shack' text that comes along with the photo can be deleted.

Photobucket also works in a very similar way.

[218Accutron]

thanks for the warm welcome. i appreciate it. i'm also a boater, and i've got photobucket already for posting pics on the trojan yacht website. so it's going to be similar then i take it. what i'll do when i get back from the boat this afternoon is try to take some pics of my current collection and post them. in regard to the P1. i'm going to be going through some stuff in the basement in the next few weeks so maybe, just maybe, it might be hidden in the boxes down there. i do remember the case. very thick and heavy and sort of a brass color. crystal that would not scratch even when slid against a side walk. i remember when the module was put in the case, hearing a very faint 'click' when the activation button was pushed. i also remember the design.... PULSAR etched on the lower right corner, two indents at the 2 and 5 position for the magnets and the two screw hatches for the batteries.

as for my pulsar dress and sport, i love seeing those red numerals light up !! i only wish that i could retro fit it for 24hr time. i know pulsar made one, but i'm on 24hr time due to my job and i sort of prefer that. i was in a jewler's last week picking up something and the man behind the counter saw my pulsar sport. he smiled and said to me, ''is that what i think it is? a real pulsar? '' i proudly took it off and let him look at it while i told him of the other pulsar i have in my collection. his response was quick----''my god, it even says <'time computer inc and a serial #'> etched in the back !! amazing. and it still works even after all these years? wow. you have quite the museum piece on your wrist.'' i thanked him and i said that my dad and i always take good care of what we have so i don't see why it would not work. i was also told that i should keep the accutron in a safe. because it was made in 1960 and due to the gold content, it's worth a lot of money especially since it still runs. is this true? i'm sort of new at all this watch collecting stuff.
cheers.
aaron

[SASM]

Hi Aaron,

incredible story regarding the P1! If you do have 25 chip modules.. well I will book a flight* to the US and stop by. I guess you need someone to help you searching for Pulsar parts!

If you would like to have a 24h dress watch - well that´s possible if you use a converted SASM40 module.

So welcome to the forum - we are already waiting for your pictures!

Hanno.

*which I will do anyway this evening as we are already planning the holidays for next autumn.

[vpn]

Welcome to the forum Aaron! You surely have inherited an amzing collection from your father. And if I've heard correctly... TWO P1 modules? I really hope that they are Electro/Data ones, who knows if with some determination, they could be fixed! The Sinclair Black watch is also a very beautiful watch, the only drawback is its reliability, which is the main reason that took away my wish to add one in the collection.

Looking forward to see your collection, and welcome aboard!

[218Accutron]

Welcome to the forum Aaron! You surely have inherited an amzing collection from your father. And if I've heard correctly... TWO P1 modules? I really hope that they are Electro/Data ones, who knows if with some determination, they could be fixed! The Sinclair Black watch is also a very beautiful watch, the only drawback is its reliability, which is the main reason that took away my wish to add one in the collection.

Looking forward to see your collection, and welcome aboard!

again, many thanks for the great welcome. i'm humbled. as for the vintage P1 modules. these were donated to me by hamilton, when i was 14 for my science fair project in intermediate school--- grades 7 and 8. it was 1974 and just a year after my bar mitzvah.
anyway, i called hamilton and they said that they would provide two, unworking, p1 modules and a case along with some technical paperwork and early development information. i told them that i was totally hooked from the moment i saw the article in popular science. they arrived a few days after i made the call and the first thing i did was look at the top of the module with a magnifying glass. i remember seeing the thinner than hair wires connecting the various ceramic squares to the some of LED's on the display. sad to say, hamilton performed surgery on these modules----they clipped some of the wires and soldered two fake ceramic squares to the board. they were black in color and not lettered. needless to say, hamilton did NOT want those modules to function. but it did not prevent me from wearing the non working beast on my wrist from time to time. i just loved the way it felt and looked. i'm still in the process of searching the house for it, my next step is to head to moms to see if in one of the boxes from several moves my stuff is in there.

over the past few decades, my LED collection included a MICRONTA, a LITRONIX, and one of my favorites that now has a new home with one of my nephews, my Texas Instruments black plastic STAR WARS watch. i gave it to him for his college graduation and he absolutely loves the thing. it's the one with darth vader on the far right upper corner and rebel fighters to the left. and yes, that too still functions. it gives off sort of a violet hue when the push button is depressed. he works for the dept. of defense in dc, and his buddies are totally enthralled with this 1977 piece of nostalgia.

as soon as i can, i will upload pics of my collection. (you know what? i remember getting a non working synchronar 2100 module for the fair too....)

regards.
aaron

[Kasper]

Welcome to the forum, we can't wait to see the pics.

[Ade51]

Hi Aaron, if only you could find those P1 part - it would be great to see what you received all those years ago. My first LED in the 70s was a Sinclair but its hard to find a fully working one these days. Have you tried to get itvworkingvagain?Adrian.

[218Accutron]

Hi Aaron, if only you could find those P1 part - it would be great to see what you received all those years ago. My first LED in the 70s was a Sinclair but its hard to find a fully working one these days. Have you tried to get itvworkingvagain?Adrian.

hi adrian, i'm going to try to get the sinclair fired up again, but i'm not exactly sure what type of power cells it used. if anyone has that info, i'd really appreciate it.

it certainly 'looks' like it would work, but you never know.

aaron

[bucko170]

........i'm going to try to get the sinclair fired up again, but i'm not exactly sure what type of power cells it used. if anyone has that info, i'd really appreciate it.
it certainly 'looks' like it would work, but you never know.
aaron

Hi Aaron, I have one and I am pretty sure that it takes size 386 batteries (I don't have it at hand to check at the moment to say 100%), if it is not the 386 it will be the 357 which is the same size required for the Pulsar watches you have so if you try the 357 and they are too big you can safely deduce that it is the 386.

I picked up two Sinclair's a few years back in an obscure lot purchased from a seller on eBay, I was amazed when they both worked 100% OK, I also did not realise that more than one version were produced, one of the watches had the date the other had just the minutes and seconds, I sold the one with the date as I preferred the one with the minute and seconds display, the digits are spaced out wider across the display which I thought looked better.