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The short flight of the Phoenix?
Message #1 Posted by Walter B on 27 Nov 2007, 2:57 a.m.

What happened to this project? IIRC, last consensus was

  • we shall use as many plastic parts of present models as possible to cut mold costs - so a 12C, 17BII+ or 35S may deliver blank keys and housing parts
  • we may use a 20x4 character line LCD, since it fits into the target dimensions and it's easier to control than a full dot matrix, though we will have to model the indicators within this framework
  • some form of I/O shall be necessary (e.g. via SD card)
  • keys shall be of Voyager type with beveled front
  • the user shall be allowed to customize the keyboard to some extent (similar to 41C or 42S) to take care of individual preferences.
If these are all the basic constraints put upon us, then this community should be able to create something reasonable within, shouldn't it?
      
Re: The short flight of the Phoenix?
Message #2 Posted by DaveJ on 27 Nov 2007, 3:16 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by Walter B

Quote:
What happened to this project? IIRC, last consensus was
  • we shall use as many plastic parts of present models as possible to cut mold costs - so a 12C, 17BII+ or 35S may deliver blank keys and housing parts
  • we may use a 20x4 character line LCD, since it fits into the target dimensions and it's easier to control than a full dot matrix, though we will have to model the indicators within this framework
  • some form of I/O shall be necessary (e.g. via SD card)
  • keys shall be of Voyager type with beveled front
  • the user shall be allowed to customize the keyboard to some extent (similar to 41C or 42S) to take care of individual preferences.
If these are all the basic constraints put upon us, then this community should be able to create something reasonable within, shouldn't it?

Yes it should, in theory. But who's going to actually do it? It will come down to just one person with the skills and motivation.

Personally, I'd rather just buy Eric Smith's DIY3 (at least the case and keys) and be content with the 16x2 line display, until the DIY4 comes along that is. In fact I'd be very happy with a 16x2 line display for my modest needs. Eric's case and keys are exactly how I would have done it if I had the CAD skills. I think to re-invent the wheel here would be a waste of time.

BTW, you can't really just "reuse" some parts from a 12C/35S,17BII+ etc That talk was all about reusing the entire calc, just changing the PCB (and maybe the LCD if you lucky enough to find one to fit).

Dave.

            
Re: The short flight of the Phoenix?
Message #3 Posted by Eric Smith on 27 Nov 2007, 3:33 a.m.,
in response to message #2 by DaveJ

Thanks for the words of support. Please don't forget that Richard Ottosen also has played a huge role in the development of our DIY series; it is no exaggeration to say that there wouldn't be a DIY3 (or 2, or 1) without him.

      
Re: The short flight of the Phoenix?
Message #4 Posted by Maximilian Hohmann on 27 Nov 2007, 3:27 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by Walter B

Hello!

Quote:
IIRC, last consensus was ...

What a pity that this is exacltly the calculator I'm least interested in and that will be of no use for me at all. But I stand to my commitment below and will contribute in some (probably: financial) way to its realisation.

Greetings, Max

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