Calculator newsletter

[DaveJ]

I just notice this HP calculator newsletter.

Dave.

[Karl Schneider]

Dave --

Thanks for the link!

The HP-35s is highlighted in the third (latest) issue of the HP Solve newsletter, at

http://h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/downloads/HP_0408_Calculator_eNL_v1_2.pdf

Two small things caught my eye right away: The headline read, "Feature [sic]Calculator of the Month", instead of "Featured". Then, the HP-35s was listed cutely as "Born: July, 12th 2007", also with the comma in the wrong place.

This got my goat, though: Following this verbiage:

Quote:

---

NCEES and many colleges and universities around the world recommend HP Scientific Calculators to their students as the learning tool of
choice for accurate and reliable results.

...

Get professional performance from HP's ultimate RPN scientific programmable calculator—ideal for engineers, surveyors, college students, scientists and medical professionals. It is certainly the first choice of for science and engineering students, educators, and professionals.

---

was a list of "Fun facts" including this one:

Quote:

---

To encourage exploration of the calculator by the user, the HP 35s does not give you a command to split a complex number into its real and imaginary parts. It leaves this as an exercise for the user, to be programmed using the SIN and COS functions."

---

Crikey! Is that for real? Or was that just a marketing spin on the issue? ("Why, that's not a bug or oversight; that's a feature.)"

I'll tell ya, NCEES testees and professionals don't need exercises and exploratory adventures; they need good answers quickly.

I've already provided my feedback in writing on this and other issues, and I hope to help bring about some improvements.

-- KS

Edited: 9 May 2008, 11:36 a.m.

[Hal Bitton in Boise]

Quote:

---

To encourage exploration of the calculator by the user, the HP 35s does not give you a command to split a complex number into its real and imaginary parts. It leaves this as an exercise for the user, to be programmed using the SIN and COS functions."

---

I assume they are referring to complex numbers written in polar form.

Do you mean to tell me that the 35s does not have indigenous P>R and R>P (Polar to Rectangular and Rectangular to Polar) functions?

Best regards, Hal

[Karl Schneider]

Hal --

The only available P->R and R->P "conversions" are display-mode settings that work only on a complex number. There is no equivalent function for two real-valued numbers in the x- and y-registers.

"ABS" will return the magnitude of a complex number in either form, and "ARG" will return its angle, much like RPL-based models.

But, alas, there is also no equivalent of RPL's "C->R" function to simply separate a complex number into its components.

(On the HP-42S, "COMPLEX" peforms the C->R operation upon a complex number or matrix in the x-register. The HP-15C provides no equivalent of C->R, but it's not absolutely necessary, as the components are individually accessible.)

A quote from a post of mine from July 2007:

"... you'll see why I consider the omission of Rec->Pol, Pol->Rec, Cx->Re (disassembly of complex number), and Re->Cx (assembly of complex number) on the HP-35s to be blunders."

-- KS

Edited: 9 May 2008, 11:21 p.m.

[Reth]

I love your use of the word "indigenous" addressing P-R and R-P (HP41 notation :) ) and back you up on it. As far as I am concerned that is the major problem of the HP35S
regards
reth

[Trent Moseley]

It must be noted that somewhere in the archives Reth has given us two short programs to achieve this end.

tm

[Paul Dale]

These two are the final versions of the conversions I (and others) came up with:

P001  LBL P

P002  FS? 10

P003  GTO P011

P004* Rv

P005  Rv

P006  (EQN) REGZ+i*REGT

P007  ARG

P008  LASTx

P009  ABS

P010  RTN

P011* CF 10

P012  XEQ P004

P013  SF 10

P014  RTN

R001  LBL R

R002  FS? 10

R003  GTO R012

R004* Rv

R005  Rv

R006  eqn [REGZ*SIN(REGT),REGZ*COS(REGT)]

R007  [1,0]

R008  x<>y

R009  *

R010  EQN LASTx*[0,1]

R011  RTN

R012* CF 10

R013  XEQ R004

R014  SF 10

R015  RTN

They were submitted to the software library back then but still no sign of them there.

- Pauli

[Thomas Radtke]

From the April issue:

"To encourage exploration of the calculator by the user, the HP 35s does not give you a command
to split a complex number into its real and imaginary parts. It leaves this as an exercise for the
user, to be programmed using the SIN and COS functions."

That's either rediculous or self-irony.

Edit: Karl was faster! :-)

Edited: 9 May 2008, 4:12 a.m.

[Antonio Maschio (Italy)]

Thomas and Karl:

you're right! That's ridiculous! Astonishing from HP!

-- Antonio