An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Printable Version +- HP Forums (https://archived.hpcalc.org/museumforum) +-- Forum: HP Museum Forums (https://archived.hpcalc.org/museumforum/forum-1.html) +--- Forum: Old HP Forum Archives (https://archived.hpcalc.org/museumforum/forum-2.html) +--- Thread: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! (/thread-232547.html) |
An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Peter Charter (Durban) - 10-07-2012 My late father gave me a HP calculator (The one that later became the 35) in my second year at Wits University in Johannesburg in about '72. Although I upgraded to many HPs over the years, I never threw it away although the charger and batteries are long gone. I found it an old box and decided to donate it to the technology cabinet at my son's school museum, but was curious as to whether it would still work. Over the weekend I made a plug and power supply for 3.75v from USB, and powered it up. It still works!! - The on/off needs a bit of cleaning and I have to jiggle the switch to make it work, but other than that it does it's old thing. Brought a tear to my old eyes to think of my parents and what it cost them way back then. I'll put the power supply in a box, service the switches, do a bit of a write-up and donate it in working order to the museum. I hope the young men at the school keep it working for another 40 years!!
Edited: 8 Oct 2012, 11:34 a.m.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Katie Wasserman - 10-08-2012 That's nice to hear! Working 35's with flaky power switches are the norm, so you're in good company. I hope that your 35 sees another 40 years, I'll bet it does. I doubt that USB ports will be around then, better to build an AC mains power supply for it.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Luiz C. Vieira (Brazil) - 10-08-2012 Quote:Wow! Did not see that coming... Scary! Truth, indeed... but scary! X^C Edited: 8 Oct 2012, 1:05 p.m.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - David Hayden - 10-08-2012 Quote:Can you elaborate on this? Is it a prototype of the 35? Or something else? Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Garth Wilson - 10-08-2012 Quote:+1. Consumer computing "standards" are not standards for very long. Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Katie Wasserman - 10-08-2012 I read this as just a reference to the label on front of the calculator that changed from "HEWLETT PACKARD" to "HEWLETT PACKARD 35".
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Peter Charter (Durban) - 10-09-2012 The "35" designation was only added after the calculator had been in production for a few months. Before that it was simply the "Hewlett Packard" calculator. This one is one of the "made in Singapore" ones. As far as I remember there were also Mexican ones marketed in South Africa Unfortunately the sticker from the front as well as the back sticker have gone. You are right about the USB interface - will not be lazy and will make a 220v one.
This calculator will probably outlive USB technology.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Lode - 10-09-2012 These days, phones come with a USB wall charger. That means, AC mains input, USB output. Since these things are so ubiquous now and do not depend on something like computer hardware (just an AC socket), I think they'll still be easily obtainable and useable in 40 years. Well, depends on what shape of USB port you need, but same story for the cables with various types of conversions from one shape of port to another. Edited: 9 Oct 2012, 6:40 p.m.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Katie Wasserman - 10-09-2012 I agree that there are zillions of AC to USB converters out there now, but 40 years is a long, long time for technology to change in and for things we take for granted to disappear. 40 years ago you could find a turntable or record player in every home in the western world, what percent of homes have one now. How many people will have a land-line based (POTS) telephone in 10 or 20 years. You probably won't even be able to buy an incandescent light bulb in 10 years and they've been around for 130 years. CRT's (in TV's and computer monitors) they're already gone -- well almost I'm still using one for my main monitor. On the other hand, AC wall outlets are not going anyway for a long time to come. Even if they do get rid of the frequency correction to 60Hz in the US, we'll still have these nominal 60Hz 120VAC (50Hz 220VAC in much of the rest of the world) power outlets in our homes and workplaces.
Edited: 9 Oct 2012, 8:17 p.m.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Harald - 10-10-2012 Quote: Interesting that you should say that. They are banned in Europe now. One of the many crazy things we are doing over here to save the planet. Uhm, I mean, to keep people paying in order to receive indulgence.
Quote:
That is interesting, too. In Germany we have had much higher variations in mains frequency in recent years. This is due to a change in the way power is generated as well as used. More and more solar and wind power is supplied to the grid, and instead of induction motors directly running of the grid there are more and more inverter drives out there. Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Dave Shaffer (Arizona) - 10-10-2012 I'm all for getting rid of incandescents. I have switched nearly completely to CFLs and LEDs and my electric bill last year was 80% of the average of the previous 5 years ($160 lower). They really do save money on the power bill, and if they last anywhere near as long as claimed, the overall savings will be significant. There is no loss in light quality, either - my wife won't let me get away with that!
I still need to find decent LED floodlights, though. For some reason (some kind of thermal or electrical warmup?), they take a half second or so to turn on after the switch is thrown. Anybody know why?!?!?!?!?! (This is not like the warm up time for CFLs - the LEDs are either full ON or OFF, but they have this obnoxious delay.)
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Luiz C. Vieira (Brazil) - 10-10-2012 Just reasoning about: LEDs need low current and low voltage, even the high-gain type. Considering a 120VAC/60Hz source, after rectifying and linearizing (filtering?) we have about 170Vcc. Considering also a small SMPS to convert the 170Vcc to a suitable power source for the LEDs, chances are that the whole circuit needs this 1 second to stabilize. The new white LEDs use about 3Vcc (3.3Vcc, IIRC), and we'd need about 57 LED's (or about 52 for a 3.3Vcc) connected in series to allow their connection to the 170Vcc without a voltage reduction. Also, in order to protect the LED's, there would be necessary to add some over-voltage, peak/spike suppress components, etc. So, having a small SMPS to do the job would even allow to use less LED's. I have a LED lamp with (edited to correct this data) 30 LED's, being connected to a 220VAC, 60Hz outlet. And it actually takes a brief to lit after being turned on. Cannot say if they are connected in series or parallel, though. Cheers.
Luiz (Brazil) Edited: 10 Oct 2012, 12:38 p.m.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Garth Wilson - 10-10-2012 CFLs take a couple of minutes to come up to full brightness. I have measured one in our living room with my light meter, and initially it is only at half brightness. I end up turning it on before I need it, to give it time to get up to speed. For something like a hall closet where it's only on for ten seconds at a time, incandescents are appropriate. Also, the oven light can't be LED or CFL, and the whole point of the oven is to produce heat anyway, so it makes sense to have an incandescent there. I don't know if that's true of the light in the clothes dryer.
But a 20% savings was $160?? So the whole bill is $800?? We have at least three computers and two aquarium pumps running 24*7, an aquarium light running all day every day, electric stove and oven, and the total electric bill is about $60, with several incandescent bulbs. BTW, when we replaced our 30-year-old refrigerator with an Energy Star one, our bill actually went up, not down, and then I read of corruption in the agency that gives the ratings. When I checked the wattage on the refrigerator label, yep, the new one takes more. It's the same size as the old one, and needed repair in the first year.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Dave Shaffer (Arizona) - 10-10-2012 In case it was not clear, the $800 was my total annual. So, my new monthly is comparable to yours ($45-$60 depending on season - in the winter we pump hot water through the floor for heating).
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Mike Morrow - 10-10-2012 I like to listen to AM broadcast radio at night. Such reception is subject to great radio frequency interference (RFI) from any nearby CFL. The new LED lamps also generate some RFI, due no doubt to the power converters they contain.
Incandescent lamps do not pollute the airwaves and thus are an excellent (and really the only) choice where RFI would otherwise be a problem.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Harald - 10-11-2012 If most of your electricity is used for lighting, then yes, you can save a significant amount.
I have stocked up on incandescent bulbs, so I can still use them if I want to. In my opinion they are still the better and cheaper option for a lot of uses.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Peter Charter (Durban) - 10-21-2012 This is a draft of the blurb for the display cabinet at the school - Would appreciate a "proof read" from you experts:-
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In 2007, to mark the 35th anniversary of the HP35, Hewlett Packard introduced the HP 35s
Edited: 21 Oct 2012, 2:40 a.m.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Luiz C. Vieira (Brazil) - 10-21-2012 If I may... I added some bold markings to call your attention to what I am not sure about, but it does not mean it should be changed. Quote:Hope it has been of any help. Luiz (Brazil)
Edited: 21 Oct 2012, 4:51 a.m.
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Peter Charter (Durban) - 10-21-2012 Good points - noted.
Muito obregado O Senhor
Re: An old friend powered up after 30 years !! - Dave Shaffer (Arizona) - 10-22-2012 Quote: Slide rules and 7-figure log tables are in a much different league!
This, of course, refers to either quick calculations or when you were away from your main frame computer - which was where you really did your "complex calculations" in 1972.
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