26 Aug
2011
26 Aug
'11
10:40 a.m.
Erm, have you
tried balancing even a laptop on a lathe bed? Many times I
need to claculate angles, amount of metal to remove, etc and an HP
calculator is a lot more usable than a PC...
\begin{trol}
That's the time where I pull out my Android smart phone and start the
HP48 emulator App... ;-)
\end{trol}
p.s. That HP48 emulator for Android is no joke.
p.p.s. Yes, I really use that emulator.
p.p.p.s. Yes, I prefere real hardware. Therefor I have a HP48SX on my
desk at home, a HP41CV on my desk at work and a HP33 in the kitchen /
work shop / dark room.
Which HP33? The real one (Spice series 33E or 33C with a red LED display)
or the modern HP33S thing?
FWIW, the physical cosntrruction of early HP3xE/3xC machines was odd.
There was a flexible PCB rwrapped round a metal chassis plate. The top
surface of this had the keyboard conctacts formed in it. The lower side
had a laeary of foam betwen the metal and the flexible PCB. The ICs
(normal DIL packages,40 pin processor and 8 pin memory devices) had their
pins bend outwards and were fitted into a plastic frame that was clamped
agained the flaxible PCB so that the IC Pins came into contact with pads
on the PCB. No sodler was used. The display unit was fitted similarly.
There was a ocnventional PCB with the PSU circuitry on it, this had a
felxible PCB tail that was also clamped (not soldered) to to the main
flexible PCB.
Amazingly it works, althogh apparently it wansn't all that reliable, so
later machine were built in a move conventional way with the ICs and PSU
'tail' soldrred to a normal PCB.
-tony