HP 9100 programming questions

From: Frank McConnell <fmc_at_reanimators.org>
Date: Thu Oct 2 10:17:38 1997

Howdy,

I am fooling with a 9100B calculator that used to be on exhibit, I'm
guessing in the electronics museum that used to be at Foothill College.
Toward that end it was hacked: a plexiglas strip was screwed to it
above the switches, with cutouts for the switch handles that only let
you move the power switch -- program/run, fixed/floating, and
degrees/radians were all stuck on run, fixed, radians respectively.

Well, I've removed that because I want to find out what if any
programs were in its memory (core remembers things long after they're
better forgotten), and so I want to flip the program/run switch over
to PROGRAM. But I'm a little confused about the 9100's program mode,
and unfortunately I don't have the manuals handy.

When I flip the switch to PROGRAM, the display changes to what I am
guessing is this:

       <step> <instruction>
       <Y mantissa> <Y exponent>
       <X mantissa> <X exponent>

<step> seems to be represented as <hex digit>.<hex digit>. True?
(And does this mean there are only 256 program steps?)

Are <instruction> values 00-09 the keypad switches 0-9, and others in
<column><row> form? And if so, where's <0><0> for the <column><row>
form?

Can I use the STEP PRGM key to single-step forward non-destructively
in program mode? How can I move backward, or to a given location in
program mode?

Can y'all tell I'm spoiled rotten from having learned programmable
calculators about 15 years later?

-Frank McConnell
Received on Thu Oct 02 1997 - 10:17:38 BST