Updates to my hillbilly RPN page

[db (martinez, ca.)]

I have put up 6 new photos of non hp RPN calcs. This has always been meant as a quick stop resource. There are more in-depth pages on most of these, and i hope i linked to any those.

Dismac HF 90

Compucessory

uWatch

PTK

DM 15cc

the Incomparable WP 34s


I cheated on the 34s, since it started it's life as an hp, but it's so cool and radically different than the 20b it was born as; i just couldn't help myself.
The first of the three main pages are here

Thanks again to Mike Davis for the space.

[Katie Wasserman]

Nice collection!

I'm amazed at the blatant re-badging that so many small-name calculator sellers did back then. The PTF and the Dismac are so obviously from Novus (National Semi) and Commodore I had to look twice to see that they weren't.

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Hey kt - enjoying the New York summer?
My guess is that those two you mentioned and other models like the Norman from Argentina and Emerson from Hong Kong for instance, were package deals, with the rights sold to overseas electronics manufacturers when the original makers here wanted to go on to other things. I've lost track of how many calculators used the old National Semiconductor Mathematician's RPN ROM. And as you know; even HP did this with a couple of their models to enter the Japanese market under the Yokagawa name.

The more the merrier.

[Michael de Estrada]

That's great, but where are the Hanimex and Konkret ?

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Michael; You demand it, I deliver. Thanks again for finding some of the more interesting of these treasures over the years.

Konkret 600

Hanimex 276

Hiradastechnika 1024

Universal 35

Harvard 606

The first of the (now) four main pages is here

Thanks again to Mike Davis for the space.

Edited: 10 Sept 2012, 10:11 p.m.

[Joerg Woerner]

And... and... and...?

Just before we barely survived Curry Village in the Yosemite Park you received a box from France...

Remember???

Cheers, Joerg

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Joerg; I somehow got the 11th digit to work, don't ask me how. The ten's place in the exponent is still dead while in exponent mode. No loss. I don't use scientific notation - so to me it's perfect. Here it is:

Emerson E12

The first of the four galleries is here

As always, thanks to Mike S. Davis for the space.

[Eddie W. Shore]

I had no idea how many manufactuers made RPN calculators.

[Dale Reed]

I just got an NS calculator on eBay that looks exactly like your Hiradastechnika 1024. Once I clipped out the exceedingly dead 3-sub-AA NiCd pack, I powered it up with a regulated supply and it works perfectly, except for the third and fourth rows of buttons. Should be no problem to fix that.

What I really like about it is the LED display units. Each of the seven 'segments' is made up of tiny dots, and the numbers that should be rounded in the corners (3, 6, 8, 9, 0) actually look rounded, because the dot in the corner is left off for those numbers. Nice design.

If only they were a tad brighter...

Other than the keyboard and the (expected) defunct battery, mine is in great shape -- like yours, the chrome border on the plastic is not worn at all (probably because the power switch is on the side, not on top near the border), plus the carry case is near perfect.

I like the old ones because they're built on a not-too-microscopic scale where there's a chance I can fix whatever problems I'm most likely to find. I should take a screenshot of "For parts or not working" from an eBay listing and put it on a T-shirt. Some folks say that if you can't open it up and fix it yourself, you shouldn't buy it. That gets tougher every day. But it's really easy if you design and build your own (DIY5, for example)!

Dale

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Joerg; No problem surviving Curry Village, that was just wine at a low elevation. The hard part was keeping up with your kids on an easy trail. Easy when i was only two and a half times their age, anyway. I've had that calc apart but i can't find the problem with the two entire numbers that are blank. Since it's not visible and one is only out when it's accepting exponents i guess the gremlin is inside an IC. I can still display 0771738 if i'm not in scientific notation mode so i'll put it together and take a picture tomorrow in the daylight. We can't skip an RPN calculator named after a Transcendental philosopher.

Dale; You got the NS 4640! Solid unit isn't it? You could use it for a football, although i don't think that function is covered in the manual that i downloaded from Katie's site. I never noticed the dotted screen but i stacked two pairs of glasses and there they were. I'll put that on the pages and credit you for noticing it. At least two of your parts (your eyes) are working. Sadly; that for parts only tee shirt fits me better every year.

[Joerg Woerner]

Dennis,

Why don't you try 7353.315 on the German calculators?

Cheers,
Joerg

[db (martinez, ca.)]

i asked my old friend steve's german wife and she didn't know what that meant. she had been a bartender in the old country and i trust that she's heard every word in the language. maybe she was trying to spare me?

[Walter B]

Turn the calculator around and let her read ;-)