Cool calculator

From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
Date: Thu Apr 3 15:13:00 2003

> I picked up a Compucorp 324G Scientist calculator/micro computer at a thrift
> today for $8.08. Seems to work great.

I have one too, found at a radio rally (hamfest) for about the same
amount of money.

As you've realised by now, it's programmable, in that it will remember a
seqeunce of keys, and when it gets to the end, it restarts from the
beginning. There are no labels or jumps, though. The only waty to stop a
program is either to record a start/stop key, or for an error to occur.
The user manual gave a number of programs that would force an error after
a given number of iterations, thus allowing the machine to calculate
factorials, etc.

The 2nd function key is strange. It's pressed _after_ the other key. So
that, for example SIN and COS are on the same key. Press that key to
calculate one of them (I forget which), then press 2nd function to get
the other.

Inside there are 4 circuit boards IIRC, stuffed with 40 pin custom chips
(and some standard RAMs and PSU parts).

It's one of the first programmable calculators -- the 322 (same machine
with half the memoey) predates the HP65 by a few weeks, or so I was told.

Oh yes, it _eats_ batteries. Officially you're supposed to use 4 D-size
NiCds. It will run of alkaline cells, but it drains them in a few minutes
(!).

-tony
Received on Thu Apr 03 2003 - 15:13:00 BST