ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote:
Talking of HP using 555 timers, they used one to
drive the power-on light
in the HP86 (and I assuem the HP97). [...]
(nitpicking here, you are talking about
the 87)
Yes, of course I am. The 97 is a Topcat calculator and is totally
different...
So the LED is dark if the machine is off, on
steadily if the machine is
on and no error (555 is held reset, so the output is low all the time),
and blinks (controlled by the 555) if there's an error.
Actually the LED blinks when the machine is busy (e.g. running a program).
Drat!. That means I have to make a correction to the signal name on my
hand-drawn HP86B schemtic. Oh well... Better to make the correction than
have confusion later.
This is very neat as with the HP85 you sometimes do
not know whether the
program has finished or is still running.
On the 85, the LED just runs off one of the supply lines via a resistor.
-tony