20 May
2009
20 May
'09
3:12 p.m.
Hi, All,
The Google has failed to illuminate me. I have a handful of what look
like 1970s 8-digit calculator modules with National Semiconductor
logos and 1975/1976 manufacturing dates. Both types of modules have
the 8-bubble plastic digit magnifiers common for LED calculators of
the era, but one has 6 digits-worth of diodes behind the plastic, and
the other 8 digits. Both have the same external profile and number of
off-board solder pads, but different numbers of pads going to places
under the epoxy blob that protects the IC. One of the modules just
has "650" in copper at the edge of the board, the other has M830
stamped in the same sort of ink/paint that has the NS logo and the mfg
date.
I know National Semi made lots of LED modules back in the day. I have
a few simple digits and was able to find docs on them without much of
a search. These are a puzzle. The ones with 8 digits installed are
very possibly calculator modules. I've never seen this sort of
display with only 6 digits out of 8 populated. I have no idea what
they are, but one tangental Google hit suggests they could be DVM
modules, but I supposed they could be clock modules or counter
modules.
If anyone would have a mid-1970s or perhaps early 1980s National
Semiconductor databook that covers LED displays, that might have some
info. I do not (I only have NS memory/logic books).
Thanks for any hints or tips,
-ethan
20 May
20 May
3:40 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
If anyone would have a mid-1970s or perhaps early
1980s National
Semiconductor databook that covers LED displays, that might have some
info. ?I do not (I only have NS memory/logic books).
Cripes - of the eight shelf-feet of pre-1980 National databooks here,
none cover the opto line. I do know, however, that the modules (and
there were many, many variants) have numbers that start with NSN, like
NSN70 or NSN200. Back in the mid 1980s, they dumped scads of the
things on the surplus market (think "Poly Packs").
National Semiconductor actually made calculators back in the 1970s - I
used to have one maybe 20 years ago, but it is long gone. They also
made a line of plug compatible S/370 mainframes, as well.
--
Will
3:51 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
On 20 May 2009 at 11:40, William Donzelli wrote:
National Semiconductor actually made calculators back
in the 1970s - I
used to have one maybe 20 years ago, but it is long gone. They also
made a line of plug compatible S/370 mainframes, as well.
As well as watches and video games. I still have an NSC watch
(nonfunctioning) and I recall giving a Pong game to my brother's
family as a gift back then.
--Chuck
21 May
21 May
8:03 a.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
National
Semiconductor actually made calculators back in the 1970s - I
used to have one maybe 20 years ago, but it is long gone. They also
made a line of plug compatible S/370 mainframes, as well.
As well as watches and
video games. I still have an NSC watch
(nonfunctioning) and I recall giving a Pong game to my brother's
family as a gift back then. 
10:16 a.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
On Thu, 2009-05-21 at 05:03 -0300, Alexandre Souza wrote:
Chuck, you made me remember my first digital clock
I was very young, about 4 or 5 years old (I'll be 35 in 3 days) and it
was a white plastic watch with a red face and very tiny red numbers that
lighted only with a press of a buttom. I remember clearly it was made by
texas instruments. I'd love to have one of these again, but I think with
this new wave of "everything vintage", it must be very expensive (and rare!)
these days... :o(
Stop the press!!! Here it is:
http://www.ledwatches.net/photo-pages/texas-instruments3.htm
I had the white one :o)
A friend of mine had the black one. I remember him showing my Dad and I
it, as we sat and fiddled with CB radios out in the back field. Wow,
technology has moved on... (just comparing a ?100-in-late-70s-money
4-watt CB radio the size of two bricks that guzzled AA nicads with my
?15 5-watt 70cm handheld the size of an espresso cup)
Gordon
National Semiconductor actually made calculators back
in the 1970s - I
used to have one maybe 20 years ago, but it is long gone. They also
made a line of plug compatible S/370 mainframes, as well.
As well as watches and
video games. I still have an NSC watch
(nonfunctioning) and I recall giving a Pong game to my brother's
family as a gift back then.
4:54 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
On 21 May 2009 at 11:16, Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
A friend of mine had the black one. I remember him
showing my Dad and
I it, as we sat and fiddled with CB radios out in the back field.
Wow, technology has moved on... (just comparing a
?100-in-late-70s-money 4-watt CB radio the size of two bricks that
guzzled AA nicads with my ?15 5-watt 70cm handheld the size of an
espresso cup)
Around 1972, a co-worker obtained a divorce from his well-to-do wife
who hadn't the foresight to execute a prenuptual agreement with him.
He engaged in a lot of interesting buying afterwards--one item was a
Pulsar digital. I recall it was freakishly expensive--over USD$1000.
Even then, it seemed inevitable that LED watches would eventually be
cheaper than the mechanical variety. Having to push a button to read
the time was ridiculous.
--Chuck
6:43 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
On Thu, 21 May 2009, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Around 1972, a co-worker obtained a divorce from his
well-to-do wife
who hadn't the foresight to execute a prenuptual agreement with him.
He engaged in a lot of interesting buying afterwards--one item was a
Pulsar digital. I recall it was freakishly expensive--over USD$1000.
Even then, it seemed inevitable that LED watches would eventually be
cheaper than the mechanical variety. Having to push a button to read
the time was ridiculous.
Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an
utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life
forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are
a pretty neat idea.
. . .
. . .
"Haaaauuurrgghhh ..." said Arthur as he felt his body softening and
bending in unusual directions. "Southend seems to be melting away ... the
stars are swirling ... a dustbowl ... my legs are drifting off into the
sunset ... my left arm's come off too." A frightening thought struck him:
"Hell," he said, "how am I going to operate my digital watch now?" He
wound his eyes desperately around in Ford's direction.
7:33 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
On Thu, 2009-05-21 at 11:43 -0700, Fred Cisin wrote:
"Hell," he said, "how am I going to
operate my digital watch now?" He
wound his eyes desperately around in Ford's direction.
"Fred, you're turning into a sci-fi author. Stop it."
(with apologies to the late great DNA)
Gordon
7:45 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
"Hell," he said, "how am I going to operate my digital watch now?" He
wound his eyes desperately around in Ford's direction.
"Fred, you're
turning into a sci-fi author. Stop it."
(with apologies to the late great DNA) 
7:37 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
Fred Cisin wrote:
"Hell," he said, "how am I going to
operate my digital watch now?" He
wound his eyes desperately around in Ford's direction.
Don't panic.
:-)
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/
8:15 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
Philip Pemberton wrote:
Fred Cisin wrote:
For the life of me, I can't remember what book that came from ...
I stopped reading after about the third book. Not that it makes
much difference, the watch could have black emiting diodes for
the display.
"Hell," he said, "how am I going
to operate my digital watch now?" He
wound his eyes desperately around in Ford's direction.
Don't panic.
:-)
8:43 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
"Hell," he said, "how am I going to
operate my digital watch now?" He
wound his eyes desperately around in Ford's direction.
. . .
Don't panic.
6:34 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National SemiconductorLED modules?
Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
A friend of mine had the black one. I remember him
showing my Dad and I
it, as we sat and fiddled with CB radios out in the back field. Wow,
technology has moved on... (just comparing a ?100-in-late-70s-money
4-watt CB radio the size of two bricks that guzzled AA nicads with my
?15 5-watt 70cm handheld the size of an espresso cup)
But how many people have the Nixie Watch. !?
Gordon
9:20 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era NationalSemiconductorLED modules?
A friend of mine had the black one. I remember him
showing my Dad and I
it, as we sat and fiddled with CB radios out in the back field. Wow,
technology has moved on... (just comparing a ?100-in-late-70s-money
4-watt CB radio the size of two bricks that guzzled AA nicads with my
?15 5-watt 70cm handheld the size of an espresso cup)
Two things that amazed me in the world of amateur radio (I'm PU1BZZ,
GG99vv for the curious ones):
- IC706. I was amazed. HF radios for me was something akin of a big
receiver (FT-101 and like). And someday a friend walks my home with a
51/4-slim-sized radio that has all HF bands AND 2m. (and in the later
versions, also 6m and 70cm). I spent 10 minutes opening the radio and
examining each detail. That was a shellshock. Of course, I have one.
- TH-78. I had a TH28, lended from my business partner. So he came to my
home with the mighty TH-78. I could even listen to cellular talking. VHF and
UHF into a very small HT, a bit ugly but it had everything but the
cofeemaker. Also, I have one :)
And BTW, this week I got a TS-440SAT. What such a nice radio! ;o)
73s
PU1BZZ Alexandre
22 May
22 May
12:47 p.m.
New subject: NSC, Litronix junk (was Re: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?)
Chuck Guzis ????????:
As well as watches and video games. I still have an
NSC watch
(nonfunctioning) and I recall giving a Pong game to my brother's
family as a gift back then.
I still have two working NSC caluclators. One is a tiny programmable,
the size of a tiny cell phone, sold by Radio Shack, the other is a
checkbook calculator with the NSC brand.
I think I still have a couple NSC watches. Those two watches are the
most accurate I've ever had: 2 seconds error in about 30 days,
referenced to WWV/WWVH. The original battery lasted 8 years but the
replacements barely last 6 months, now. Strange.
I'm reminded of Litronix, which also made LEDs, arrays and watches.
They made an abortive foray into the then booming calculator market,
ISTR. I still have one of the watch innards, which perished in the
laundry somehow. It seems that they were in the business of producing
scrap and bullying employees and lower management. IIRC, Litronix was
soon consumed by the Great Siemens and (thankfully) is now little more
than a vague and somewhat unpleasant memory.
jd
20 May
20 May
3:52 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 11:40 AM, William Donzelli <wdonzelli at gmail.com> wrote:
My situation exactly. I have lots of pre-1980 National databooks,
too. No opto. :-(
If anyone
would have a mid-1970s or perhaps early 1980s National
Semiconductor databook that covers LED displays, that might have some
info. ?I do not (I only have NS memory/logic books).
Cripes - of the eight shelf-feet of pre-1980 National databooks here,
none cover the opto line. I do know, however, that the modules (and
there were many, many variants) have numbers that start with NSN, like
NSN70 or NSN200. Back in the mid 1980s, they dumped scads of the
things on the surplus market (think "Poly Packs").
These came in a box of ancient Radio Shack parts and such (like a
1-in-10), so that's consistent.
National Semiconductor actually made calculators back
in the 1970s...
It wouldn't surprise me that these are from one of those.
-ethan
7:24 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor actually made calculators back
in the 1970s - I
Weren't 'Novus' related to National Semiconductor? The Novus line of
calculators is farily well-known (if only because there was at least one
RPN model).
I also rememebr reading about their calculator chips in one of their
databooks (I don't have the right databook, I think it was shown in an
application schematic for a display driver chip).
used to have one maybe 20 years ago, but it is long
gone. They also
made a line of plug compatible S/370 mainframes, as well.
And add-on memory for PDP11s, etc
-tony
7:59 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor
On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 3:24 PM, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Now that you mention it, I think I have a National Semiconductor-made
memory card for a VAX-11/750 or -11/730. (same memory bus architecture
as an 11/70, but supports individual cards larger than 256K with the
right wires on the memory backplane and the right memory controller
card).
-ethan
National
Semiconductor actually made calculators back in the 1970s...
And add-on memory for PDP11s, etc 
10:49 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
The ones with 8 digits installed are
very possibly calculator modules. I've never seen this
sort of display with only 6 digits out of 8 populated.
National made a 6-digit fixed-point calculator chip.
Commodore sold a calculator, claimed to be the first
to break the $20 barrier (in 1974 or so), that used
it.
--Bill
11:01 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 6:49 PM, William Maddox <wmaddox at pacbell.net> wrote:
--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
Hmm... that's a promising lead. I should go surf some C= calculator
sites (I just have one Minuteman that mostly works but individual keys
are somewhat sketchy, and it does want four "N" cells).
Thanks for the tip.
-ethan
The ones with 8 digits installed are
very possibly calculator modules. ?I've never seen this
sort of display with only 6 digits out of 8 populated.
National made a 6-digit fixed-point calculator chip.
Commodore sold a calculator, claimed to be the first
to break the $20 barrier (in 1974 or so), that used
it.
11:12 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
Hmm... that's a promising lead. I should go surf
some
C= calculator
sites (I just have one Minuteman that mostly works but
individual keys
are somewhat sketchy, and it does want four "N"
cells).
The calculator I mentioned was apparently the Minuteman 6:
http://www.vintage-technology.info/pages/calculators/commodore/comin6.htm
I owned one of these as a kid.
--Bill
11:20 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 7:12 PM, William Maddox <wmaddox at pacbell.net> wrote:
--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
I was just on...
http://www.vintage-technology.info/pages/calculators/commodore/calccommodor…
Mine is some flavor of Minuteman 3.
(I just have one Minuteman that mostly
works...).
The calculator I mentioned was apparently the Minuteman 6:
http://www.vintage-technology.info/pages/calculators/commodore/comin6.htm I owned one of these as a kid.
Not me... this is a $3 thrift store find from a few years back. Now
it's hard to find LED calcs in that venue - just too old for folks to
run across and discard. Plenty of cheap chinese LCD world
clock/alarm/calculators now though (and I already have one that's
CompuServe branded and another that's Sanrio branded, so I don't need
more of them).
-ethan
11:27 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
Found it!
I have a couple of these modules...
http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/novus_650__mathbox_.html
... right down to the 470 Ohm resistor
And a couple similar ones with 8 digits which might be the main
component mentioned in the text of the above page as the "model 852"
(especially since my LEDs are marked M850!)
... or maybe it's this...
http://www.vintage-technology.info/pages/calculators/n/novus850.htm
Thanks for the nudge to Commodore, Will... that gave me a good
starting point to end up at the Novus series.
Now to power them up and stick a keypad on them.
-ethan
21 May
21 May
12:25 a.m.
New subject: Does anyone have any info about 1970s-era National Semiconductor LED modules?
Ethan Dicks wrote:
Not me... this is a $3 thrift store find from a few
years back. Now
it's hard to find LED calcs in that venue - just too old for folks to
run across and discard. Plenty of cheap chinese LCD world
clock/alarm/calculators now though (and I already have one that's
CompuServe branded and another that's Sanrio branded, so I don't need
more of them).
I fear that what happens with a lot of the old pocket calcs is they may get
delivered in boxes of stuff to thrift stores but because they likely don't
function, even if somebody bothers to put batteries in, they simply get
tossed. A lot of thrift stores won't bother putting out non-functioning stuff.
Unfortunately, I've had problems in a couple of Novus calcs using the Nat Semi
LED modules with loss of individual segments, although admittedly the same can
be said for some earlier TI calcs.
5705
days inactive
5707
days old
23 comments
12 participants
participants (12)
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alexandre-listas＠e-secure.com.br -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
cclist＠sydex.com -
cisin＠xenosoft.com -
classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
gordonjcp＠gjcp.net -
hilpert＠cs.ubc.ca -
jdebert＠garlic.com -
wdonzelli＠gmail.com -
wmaddox＠pacbell.net