HP Forum Archive 16

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Canon Palmtronic LE-84 Message #1 Posted by Antonio Maschio (Italy) on 25 Aug 2006, 10:34 a.m. Hi everybody, I know I'm a bit off-topic, but I need some collector's help. I've just come across a Canon Palmtronic LE-84, a very beautiful basic calculator (no roots, no %, no memory), with red phosporescent numbers in a 8-digit display (image from Datamath). Its Serial Number is 659870. Now, I assume that 6 is the year number: 1976 (I retrived the dacade from Datamath - TI Related models), and 5 is the month (May). Am I right? Anyone can clarify this point about SN and production dates for Canon calculators? If another source is available, please, address me there. Thanks in advance -- Antonio

Re: Canon Palmtronic LE-84 Message #2 Posted by Frank Boehm on 25 Aug 2006, 11:24 a.m., in response to message #1 by Antonio Maschio (Italy) > Am I right? Actually - no. The LE-84 has been made in 1974. I have yet to find some kind of logic in their serial number scheme - they might have changed the first digit when manufacturing a new bunch. They certainly didn't start at 100000000 with each model, so there is probably another hidden trick :)

Re: Canon Palmtronic LE-84 Message #3 Posted by Antonio Maschio (Italy) on 25 Aug 2006, 11:34 a.m., in response to message #2 by Frank Boehm Do you mean that production started and ended in 1974? -- Antonio

Re: Canon Palmtronic LE-84 Message #4 Posted by Frank Boehm on 25 Aug 2006, 1:46 p.m., in response to message #3 by Antonio Maschio (Italy) mine are datecoded 7407 to 7413 (CPU datecode), so that's probably mid 1974 production date, I'd expect an manufacturing timeframe of no longer than a couple of months - 1973 is highly unlikely, maybe until 1975, but unlikely

Re: Canon Palmtronic LE-84 Message #5 Posted by Antonio Maschio (Italy) on 26 Aug 2006, 10:35 a.m., in response to message #4 by Frank Boehm Please, Frank, write the Serial Numbers of your LE-84s. Just to check against mine. Thanks. -- Antonio

Re: Canon Palmtronic LE-84 Message #6 Posted by Frank Boehm on 1 Sept 2006, 3:18 p.m., in response to message #5 by Antonio Maschio (Italy) I have listed 7407: 673942 and 7413: 785973; no datecode for 768370 (which means the datecode was between 07 and 13). I probably have a couple more of these, but haven't noted down the ser#

Re: Canon Palmtronic LE-84 (Do you agree, Frank?) Message #7 Posted by Antonio Maschio (Italy) on 1 Sept 2006, 5:38 p.m., in response to message #6 by Frank Boehm Ok, thanks So, interpolating: SN = 785973 has a chip datecode = 7413 SN = 673942 has a chip datecode = 7407 SN = 659870 should have a datecode around 7406. This should also mean that the calculator has been produced in February-March 1974 (since the chip is form 6th week of 1974, that is mid February). Do you agree, Frank? -- Antonio Edited: 2 Sept 2006, 7:34 a.m.

Re: Canon Palmtronic LE-84 (Do you agree, Frank?) Message #8 Posted by Frank Boehm on 3 Sept 2006, 5:48 p.m., in response to message #7 by Antonio Maschio (Italy) The datecode on the CPU is not the date of manufacture; I'd estimate 4-8 weeks between CPU manufacturing date (made in USA) and calculator manufacturing date (made in Japan). You should consider two other points as well: - they probably made production runs, probably only a couple of days per month for several months - CPU date code can easily be misleading/out of order, as different lots get mixed up After all, you cannot determine the exact date of manufacture, I'd say April/May is a good guess here...

Re: Canon Palmtronic LE-84 (Do you agree, Frank?) Message #9 Posted by Antonio Maschio (Italy) on 4 Sept 2006, 3:10 a.m., in response to message #8 by Frank Boehm Right. I assume May 1974 on your word. Thanks a lot. -- Antonio

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