Complex Numbers on the HP-32S/32SII/33S
Message #2 Posted by Karl Schneider on 31 July 2006, 11:23 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by Trent Moseley
Quote:
After a well thought out treatment of complex numbers on the 15C and the 42S for example, what went wrong with the convoluted management of them on the 32Sii and 33S?
I agree completely with your sentiments, but what had already happened was the HP-32S (the forerunner of the 32SII and 33S), and the HP-41 Math Pac.
Apparently, it was decided not to provide good complex-number handling on the HP-32S, but rather to implement in microcode what had been developed as RPN programs for the HP-41 Math Pac (and later copied to the Advantage Pac). How many readers have noticed how similar those complex-number function sets are?
I'm glad that the functions were included on the HP-32S/32SII/33S, because they are very useful for programmed applications, albeit cumbersome for interactive use.
The HP-32S didn't have the flexibility of the HP-42S display, but the HP-15C's implementation of complex numbers might have been a bit awkward on the menu-driven HP-32S. For example, the indirect register "I" was denoted "i" on the HP-32S because there already was a regular storage register I. Functions for Re<->Im, Re->Cpx ("f I"), SHOW Im ("f (i)"), Cpx mode ("SF 8"), Re mode ("CF 8") would have been needed under a menu (or two).
Here's a post you might find interesting:
http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv014.cgi?read=63415#63415
-- KS
Edited: 31 July 2006, 11:25 p.m.
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