HP Forum Archive 02

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Concorde's pocket calculator HP-41CV Message #1 Posted by franck Quétier on 11 Feb 2000, 8:59 a.m. Hello, This is a thrue message. Each Concorde at Air France has got a hand calculator on board to check engine's performances. At this time some of them are affected by ageing. We would be interrested to trace some brand new calculators and a possibility to repairing. Could you please help us in this research ? Thanks for your help in this matter. Best Regards

Re: Concorde's pocket calculator HP-41CV Message #2 Posted by Dave Hicks on 11 Feb 2000, 11:03 a.m., in response to message #1 by franck Quétier You can try the classified ads section of this site and ebay. When Educalc shut down recently, they sold their stock of NOS (new old stock) HP-41s so there's probably quite a few available.

Re: Concorde's pocket calculator HP-41CV Message #3 Posted by Joe on 11 Feb 2000, 10:54 p.m., in response to message #2 by Dave Hicks Dave, Educalc didn't have any NOS HP 41s when they closed down. They sold ALL their remaining HP 41s to Don O'Rourke at International Calculator & Computer in Orlando. I was there and saw them when Don received them. Most were in very poor condition and all were well used. However NOS HP 41s do turn up at office supply stores and the like from time to time. Louis S. lucked into a bunch of them a few years ago. Joe Rigdon

Re: Concorde's pocket calculator HP-41CV Message #4 Posted by Dave Hicks on 11 Feb 2000, 11:10 p.m., in response to message #3 by Joe The ones I bought from Educalc were new. The boxes were well-scuffed though.

Re: Concorde's pocket calculator HP-41CV Message #5 Posted by Bert on 12 Feb 2000, 10:30 a.m., in response to message #1 by franck Quétier I wonder why these calculations are done by means of a calculator. What's wrong with the on-board computers?

Re: Concorde's pocket calculator HP-41CV Message #6 Posted by Ron Ross on 13 Feb 2000, 4:05 p.m., in response to message #5 by Bert It may not be for the calculations that they are used for. The HP41's also had serial port capabilities and the equipment they interface to is what they still use to do diagnostic checks with. Since this would be custom equipment and would require new programing code to interface other (untried) systems to, it is much easier?? to find more HP41's to extend the life of the testing apparatus.

Concorde's HP-41CV Message #7 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez on 13 Feb 2000, 5:56 p.m., in response to message #5 by Bert Just a personal (and humble) opinion: It would be nice to know *what* are the on-board computers. The Concorde is a magnificent airplane... from the 1960's. Its design belongs to the same timeframe than the Apollo program. I assume it's electronics have been upgraded, but I don't thing it is now an "e-plane" as the Boeing 777 and Airbus of the last decade are. Keep in mind that aerospace systems are anything but "early adopters" of new technologies, so is it not so rare that a HP41 based solution may be good enough for them. May the problem be with the accelerated pace of the consumer market that drives today products, not always in a reasonable (or, for this case, safe) manner. I would like that nobody who is satisfied with a good solution should be forced to re-program it (and re-test and re-certify) just because newer platforms (i.e. calculators) do not support a reasonable migration path, or emulation.

Why not switch to HP48 ? Message #8 Posted by Menno on 14 Feb 2000, 5:11 a.m., in response to message #1 by franck Quétier The HP48 can simulate a 41, so why don't they go to the 48. It has a serial port so there should be no problem. NASA also replaced the 41's with the 48's. Menno

Re: Why not switch to HP48 ? Message #9 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez on 14 Feb 2000, 7:52 a.m., in response to message #8 by Menno How good are HP41 emulators for the HP48G series? (not SX). If the emulators are complete and reliable enough, they are a very good alternative, for the Concorde and for some of us, -41 users/fans. Pray your application does not rely on barcodes, mag cards, etc. Software compatibility via emulation is a minimum feature that newer models should always have, even without the hardware options. It should be part of the standard product. A program conversion utility (sort of a compiler), that could be run on a PC seems possible but rather complicated for these calculators. The Concorde case may be a new opportunity to ask for an updated HP42S follow on, it will be more on the line of the -41.

From 41 to 42 to 43? Message #10 Posted by Menno on 16 Feb 2000, 4:12 a.m., in response to message #9 by Andrés C. Rodríguez Everybody is asking for a "new" type/capability 41/42 calculator. Nice feature the 41=one line display, the 42=2 line, the 43? a three line display???? If the 42 display was one pixel higher it could support 3 lines. OK HP listen up: I want a HP43S with all capabilities of the 41 and 42, same RPN programming-style, the same size of the 42, 8 Kbyte will do but 16 is better and a serial interface. Ok I use the magic word: PLEASE! Thank you Menno

Re: From 41 to 42 to 43? Message #11 Posted by Kevin FitzGerrell on 16 Feb 2000, 11:13 a.m., in response to message #10 by Menno For my HP-43, please add 2 way IR!

Re: From 41 to 42 to 43? Message #12 Posted by Richard C. Anderson on 14 Mar 2000, 4:56 a.m., in response to message #11 by Kevin FitzGerrell Please, Please, please...! For people who do the same stuff over and over (I use mine (42s) for 3-point resections in surveying and other bits of station SETUP that even a Leica TCR 305 is clumsy at) this kind of calculator is really efficient for data entry. It's easy too. Students use it after one run through. Yeah, seeing the z would be nice and so would 16k. I was smart enough to recognize a classic and have 3...but one is suffering from buttonitis after lotsa work in dusty, hot places. Can they be fixed? Richard

Re: From 41 to 42 to 43? Message #13 Posted by Richard C. Anderson on 14 Mar 2000, 4:56 a.m., in response to message #11 by Kevin FitzGerrell Please, Please, please...! For people who do the same stuff over and over (I use mine (42s) for 3-point resections in surveying and other bits of station SETUP that even a Leica TCR 305 is clumsy at) this kind of calculator is really efficient for data entry. It's easy too. Students use it after one run through. Yeah, seeing the z would be nice and so would 16k. I was smart enough to recognize a classic and have 3...but one is suffering from buttonitis after lotsa work in dusty, hot places. Can they be fixed? Richard

Re: From 41 to 42 to 43? Message #14 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez on 21 Feb 2000, 1:44 p.m., in response to message #10 by Menno I agree, I would very much like a HP-43, an updated -42, with 4 level stack and keystroke/menu programming (not RPL). BTW, has the model number 42 something to do with the 42 lines on the function catalog? Or is it only "one after 41"?. Your remark 41 = 1 line display, 42 = 2 line display ... can be extrapolated: the 48 has 8 lines on it's display. But the HP 28 should have been the HP44 :-)

Re: Why not switch to HP48 ? Message #15 Posted by Joe on 19 Feb 2000, 7:42 a.m., in response to message #8 by Menno I called and talked to Franck at Air France. If they switch to another calculator they have to get it certified for aircraft use and that's a LONG and expensive task. Franck is a buyer for Air France so he doesn't know exactly how they using the HP 41s but he's trying to get a copy of the program to send to me. From what he says, they store part of their program in some kind of ROM and part is stored on mag cards. I'll post more when I get the program and have a chance to study it. I think it's all in French so I may need some help with it. Any volunteers? He's already sent me two of the HP 41s to repair. They are standard HP 41 CVs. Joe

Re: Why not switch to HP48 ? Message #16 Posted by Wayne Brown on 19 Feb 2000, 9:01 a.m., in response to message #15 by Joe My French is a little rusty, but I get by well enough to read some French Usenet articles (and occasionally even respond to one). I'd be glad to take a crack at the program when you get it.

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