Nixdorf LK-3000

From: Francois <fauradon_at_mn.mediaone.net>
Date: Sun May 2 15:24:24 1999

The module I have is the notepad one and I've been trying to find a manual
(or copy) for it as well as for the main unit.

>Many modules were made for it. There are the general purpose modules,
>like the Calulator, and I think there was a Computer module but I'm not
>certain (if there was then I don't have one but I want one). Of course
>its primary goal in life was to be a language translator, and I happen to
>have English-Spanish, English-Italian, English-Polish, English-Arabic, and
>probably a couple others that I forgot (I have one unit with the Arabic
>alphabet above the keys :)

Do you have any spare module?

>I have one carthridge that was already popped open, so I looked inside and
>found nothing extraordinary. Looks like a TI microcontroller of some sort
>and a ROM or two. But yes, the smarts are definitely in the modules. The
>actual handheld unit is really just a dumb terminal.

Any actual info on the pinout of the cartridges? It seems like this unit has
hacking potential...

>I believe the Nixdorf LK-3000 is the first (uh-oh, there's that
>word again) handheld computer device, first introduced in 1978 or 1979.

The dates I found indicated 1975.

>The NiCad batteries shouldn't need replacing. If you just stick it in a
>charger for a day then they should come back alive. The one I played with
>hadn't been on in probably a decade or two and it came up after I left it
>charging for a while. I used a 6V, 200ma power supply, center positive.


The NiCads in mine had started to run (whitish crysltals all over the bottom
of the case) that's why I had to replace them.

Francois
Received on Sun May 02 1999 - 15:24:24 BST