HP 5036A microprocessor lab

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_cfl.rr.com>
Date: Sun Apr 27 10:20:05 2003

   I've kept quite for a while about the 5036s since I didn't want to be repeatedly pestered for copies of docs and other items but since there seems to be some real interest in the 5036s I'm going to reply just this once.

   I used to do a lot of work with the 5036s and I owned about 8 of them at one time. (FWIW Mike H. ended up with most of them and he's been selling them on E-bay). I think I still have loose leaf copies of ALL of the 5036 manuals, including the SM, Practical Microprocessors and User's (Owner's?) manual. I'll *loan* them anyone that is willing to scan them and post them on a website somewhere. I also still have a copy of the webpage that I used to have for the 5036. I intended to post it and a lot of other HP related web pages on Jay's wesite but I ran into too many problems with his site (it wouldn't work with any of the FTP programs that I had, the directories couldn't be found, the passwords didn't work, etc) so none of them ever got posted.


At 01:08 PM 4/26/03 -0500, you wrote:

>
>I would rate the book "Practical Microprocessors" together with an HP 5036A
>as a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. I also have the Heath ET-3400A, an ETA-3400
>(memory & I/O) expansion, and the Heath manuals. I would rate that as
>perhaps a 6 or 7 on the same scale.


    I used to rate the Heathkit trainers at 8 or 9 on a scale of ten but after using the HP 5036 I wouldn't rate the HK higher than about a 4! The HP beats it hands down in every area. It's better built, it's better laid out, it's easier to expand, the docs are MUCH better, the training course is also much better and includes many areas that HK never talked about and finally it has a real service manual.

   Tip: the push button locks that hold the 5036 circuit board in place are frequently broken. I found that a lot of the PS-2s use similar locks. They can be removed from junk PS-2s and used to fix the 5036. If you have problems figuring out how to R&R the locks let me know and I'll explain how to in detail.


    Joe
Received on Sun Apr 27 2003 - 10:20:05 BST