HP 9100B upgrade and case mod

[Dave]

I thought my latest little retrocomputing project might beof interest. A few weeks ago, our accounting department trashed some oldequipment that had been in a closet sine the 70’s.  Because it was all fully depreciated long ago, the stuff wasup for grabs.  Most of it was junk,but they did have 5 HP 9100B calculators that seemed to be in pretty goodphysical shape.  These are from the1960’s, and are pretty huge for a calculator, by today’s standards.  I tried them all, and they all seemedto have some pretty weird behavior. When you hit the “+” key, it doesn’t wait for another number, butinstead adds the last row directly to the second row.  I suppose that’s why these have been out of commission allthese years.  
View image: Strange calculator behavior 

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| View image: Strange calculator behaviorhttp://postimg.org/image/rnyl9uexz/ Link copy to clipboard http://s23.postimg.org/otvfwecrv/Strange_calculator_behavior.jpg Direct Link copy to clipboard    |
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I figured since they are free, I’d pick one up and find aproject for it.  They do have somepretty cool cases.  They had someprinters as well, off in a corner, but I was more interested in using thecalculator as the basis for some kind of retrocomputing project, and theprinters were not compatible with anything else, so I passed. This weekend, while cleaning up the lab, I came across anold Jumptec PC104 form-factor board with a 486 processor and an add-on LCDcontroller.  I figured this couldbe the perfect “upgrade” for the 9100B. Luckily, the HP machine was very well designed, and easy todisassemble.  I was very easilyable to fit the PCM-104 stack, a power supply, screen, SD card, and HappyHacking keyboard.  Almost a perfectfit!! View image: Out with the old, in with the new!!

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| View image: Out with the old, in with the new!!http://postimg.org/image/6051lnp5z/ Link copy to clipboard http://s23.postimg.org/5am99aomj/Out_with_the_old_in_with_the_new.jpg Direct Link copy to clipb... |
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Of course, no retro-computer is complete without a properretro-operating system.  Here youcan see the project in near final shape, running windows 95Perhaps some time inthe future, I’ll upgrade this to a more modern processor, but for now, justpure retrocomputing goodness!
View image: Up and running, retro style!

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| View image: Up and running, retro style!http://postimg.org/image/xm7t6c8iv/ Link copy to clipboard http://s23.postimg.org/ki28tngh7/Up_and_running_retro_style.jpg Direct Link copy to clipboard    |
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 Future upgrades include:·     Laser-cutting or 3d-printing a proper faceplatefor the keyboard, and transplanting the keyboard PCB directly to the case.·     Adding some LED strip-lighting for a morestriking presentation. Let me know what you think! Dave