HP Forum Archive 03

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9815A/S questions Message #1 Posted by Reinhard Hawel on 10 Aug 2000, 8:03 p.m. Hi I finally received my 9815S It's surely the desktop calculator with the "sexiest" form. I really like to look at it. Nice industrial design of the 70s Now I have some questions: -) What paper should I use for the machine? Is it thermal paper and is there a replacement? -) Where can I get the DC-100 tape cartridge? Are they available somewhere ? -) My 9815 shows a "9821A" on the front, but "9815S" in the paper compartment. Was that common? I'm pretty sure, that I own a 9815S, because it has the 3800 steps...

Re: 9815A/S questions Message #2 Posted by Joe on 10 Aug 2000, 9:06 p.m., in response to message #1 by Reinhard Hawel Hi Reinhard, Take a look at the pictures of the 9815 and 9820 (or 9821) here on the HP museum. The 9815 and 9821 are very different machines. The 9821 is much larger than a 9815, and it would be hard to mistake one for the other. The 9820 and 9821 have three ROM sockets on the left side of the top of the machine directly behind the keyboard. Directly below them on the keyboard is three sets of keys. Each set has two columns of keys. When a ROM is plugged in, it's functions are automaticly assigned to the set of keys below it. The 9815s don't have any ROM sockets. The 9815S, 9815 option 1, 9820 and 9821 all have sockets in the back of the machine for I/O interfaces. (The 9815x and 982x machines have different intefaces.) I have no idea how you ended up with a machine that has both labels. BTW, A 9821 is a 9820 with a tape drive instead of mag card reader. You can use ordinary thermal paper in the printer. If you can find a supply of old DC-100 tapes they'll work fine in your machine. Or you can buy the HP brand tapes but frankly the HP tapes aren't very good. They have a tendency to shed the medie. When they do, the clear tape material is exposed and the End-Of-Tape sensor detects it and reports it as an Unexpected End of Tape error. ALL of those type of tapes were made by 3M company but for some reason the HP marked ones seem to be the worst of any of the brands that I've tried. I've also used old DEC tapes in these tape drives. All the different brands work fine but you have to INITIALIZE the non-HP tapes in the machine before you can use them. But before you try a tape in the drive, check the drive wheel. You'll probably find that it's gotten soft and gooy. That's a common problem with this type of tape drive. The HP-85s have the same problem and it's rare to find one that still has a good drive wheel. I have both of these machine so let me know if you have any more questions. Joe

Re: 9815A/S questions - Ooops - small typo in the message Message #3 Posted by Reinhard Hawel on 11 Aug 2000, 2:41 a.m., in response to message #2 by Joe OOOps "9821" is a typo. It should read "9815A" on the front and "9815S" in the paper compartment. Sorry for any confusion I might have created. (It was 3 a.m. here, when I wrote this message. I KNOW, I have a 9815(A or S) (guess, they aren't easy to confuse) BTW, thanks for the info. Reinhard

Re: 9815A/S questions - Ooops - small typo in the message Message #4 Posted by Joe on 11 Aug 2000, 8:30 a.m., in response to message #3 by Reinhard Hawel Reinhard, Ok, that makes a lot more sense. The 9815A did not have any expansion slots unless you added option 002. Later, the 9815S included the expansion slots as standard. It sounds like you have a transistion model that was built as an S but it still has the A sticker on the front. See my 9800 webpage for more details. Joe

Re: 9815A/S questions - further questions Message #5 Posted by Reinhard Hawel on 12 Aug 2000, 6:16 a.m., in response to message #4 by Joe Yes, then it's clear, that mine is a 9815S. Great machine. BTW: I own a 9872S plotter which has a port labeled "9815A" besides it HP-IB port. The 9815A port has 13 pins (it's a 14-pin Amphenol plug, just like the larger IB plug, one contact isn't present). Does anybody know, how to connect these ? Do I need a seperate interface ? (I think yes, but which interface ?) How can I get such a goodie ?

Re: 9815A/S questions Message #6 Posted by Dave Hicks on 10 Aug 2000, 10:50 p.m., in response to message #1 by Reinhard Hawel If you meant 9815A on the front and 9815S inside, then yes - I have calculators marked like that too. I also have 9815As with options that make them equivalent to the 9815S. This is also one of my favorite designs.

Re: 9815A/S questions Message #7 Posted by Reinhard Hawel on 11 Aug 2000, 3:18 a.m., in response to message #6 by Dave Hicks You write in the 9815 page: HP later introduced the HP 9815S which included 3800 total program steps and two I/O channels standard. So I guessed, that an upgraded 9815A had a maximum of abt. 2500 steps. What does "2 I/O channels standard" mean ? Were there any 9815s with only one rear expansion port ? Or were 2 interfaces included in the "S" version ?

Re: 9815A/S questions Message #8 Posted by Joe on 11 Aug 2000, 8:38 a.m., in response to message #7 by Reinhard Hawel The two I/O channels (rear interface slots) were optional in the 9815A but standard in the 9815S. There was no option for a single I/O channel in either model. The 9815A was initially offered with 10 data registers and 472 programming steps. Option 001 upgraded it to 2008 steps. HP introduced the 9815S in 1980. The 9815S replaced the 9815A and included the two I/O slots and 3800 programming steps as standard. HP dropped the 9815A from the catalog in 1981. The 9815S was dropped after the 1982 catalog. 9815 Options Option 001 (9815A only) 2008 programming steps Option 002 (9815A only) two I/O slots

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