HP Forum Archive 19

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What do the following have in common, other than they are used to calculate? Message #1 Posted by Geoff Quickfall on 2 May 2009, 3:28 p.m. starting at the upper left corner: 1. BOWMAR 901 2. OTIS KING MODEL "K" 3. COMMODORE MINUTEMAN 1 4. POST 1461 6" SLIDE RULE 5. JCE MARK II 6. UDC "TKB 1" You could find them all in the local tech store or university book store in 1972, maybe in the same display case! Then of course, this showed up: Edited: 2 May 2009, 3:31 p.m.

Re: What do the following have in common, other than they are used to calculate? Message #2 Posted by Juergen Keller on 2 May 2009, 5:34 p.m., in response to message #1 by Geoff Quickfall My guess is that they are all manufactured around 1972. BTW, 1972 was the longest year in the Gregorian calendar. As a leap year, it was one day plus an additional 2 leap seconds longer than normal. Do I win the very nice HP-35 for the correct answer? ;-) Cheers, Juergen

Re: What do the following have in common, other than they are used to calculate? Message #3 Posted by Egan Ford on 2 May 2009, 5:43 p.m., in response to message #1 by Geoff Quickfall They all fit in a pocket?

Well, not all at once ;-) Message #4 Posted by Geoff Quickfall on 2 May 2009, 6:57 p.m., in response to message #3 by Egan Ford nt

Ha, Ha, wish I had a spare red dot to give you ;-) Message #5 Posted by Geoff Quickfall on 2 May 2009, 6:25 p.m., in response to message #1 by Geoff Quickfall I actually answered, well my answer anyway; You could find them all in the local tech store or university book store in 1972, maybe in the same display case! Cheers, Geoff

Re: Ha, Ha, wish I had a spare red dot to give you ;-) Message #6 Posted by Juergen Keller on 3 May 2009, 3:43 a.m., in response to message #5 by Geoff Quickfall Your pictures are so nice and it was around midnight, so I just skipped your answer. Anyway, if you ever have a spare red dot remember me ;-) BTW, the 35 looks very nice. Did you (master of restoration) restore it or were you just lucky to get such a nice item? I'm looking for information of how to restore the top silver trim. I read about bare metal foil which gives good results. Any hints you can share? Juergen

Re: Ha, Ha, wish I had a spare red dot to give you ;-) Message #7 Posted by Geoff Quickfall on 5 May 2009, 2:08 a.m., in response to message #6 by Juergen Keller Yes, a restoration. The silver trim is a problem, at the moment remedied with aluminum/chrome modellers paint. I am going to experiment with chrome foil. This requires a size (base glue) be applied and then the foil placed on top. The foil is rubbed on with a cloth and the excess trimmed off. I shall see if that works!

Re: Ha, Ha, wish I had a spare red dot to give you ;-) Message #8 Posted by Ron G. on 5 May 2009, 1:33 p.m., in response to message #7 by Geoff Quickfall I tried this, Geoff, and it did not work well at all. I just used the glue that came with the foil leaf, and it didn't hold the foil well. There may be a better glue available for this particular application.

Re: Ha, Ha, wish I had a spare red dot to give you ;-) Message #9 Posted by Dave Shaffer (Arizona) on 5 May 2009, 5:05 p.m., in response to message #8 by Ron G. Quote: There may be a better glue available for this particular application. What about contact cement? (But, you only get one chance to lay it on straight! Although, if you are planning to trim the excess away, that shouldn't be a problem.)

Re: Ha, Ha, wish I had a spare red dot to give you ;-) Message #10 Posted by Charles Oxford on 5 May 2009, 6:30 p.m., in response to message #8 by Ron G. Maybe this will help: Bare Metal Foil instructions

Re: What do the following have in common, other than they are used to calculate? Message #11 Posted by Richard Ottosen on 2 May 2009, 6:36 p.m., in response to message #1 by Geoff Quickfall Quote: What do the following have in common ... One thing the calculators have in common is the keyboard! I seem to remember seeing these keyboards in electronics surplus stores for years. I think that they were marked "Wild Rover" or something like that. -- Richard

Klixon Message #12 Posted by Geoff Quickfall on 2 May 2009, 6:55 p.m., in response to message #11 by Richard Ottosen Klixon keyboards by Texas Instruments before they got into the calculator business.

Re: What do the following have in common, other than they are used to calculate? Message #13 Posted by Mike Morrow on 2 May 2009, 6:52 p.m., in response to message #1 by Geoff Quickfall The Bomar 901 was my first calculator, purchased in October 1972 in Atlanta for $130 ($660 corrected to 2009). I couldn't afford the $400 HP-35 at the Georgia Tech bookstore. I've still got the 901, but it doesn't work.

All those still work, problem is Message #14 Posted by Geoff Quickfall on 2 May 2009, 6:56 p.m., in response to message #13 by Mike Morrow they came with hard wired 5 or 6 pack AA size nicads which by now have rotted. If your lucky the replacement would let the machine power up. cheers, Geoff

they have lots in common Message #15 Posted by Frank Boehm (Germany) on 4 May 2009, 6:02 a.m., in response to message #1 by Geoff Quickfall They all use the same TI chip (TMS0103) plus a TI Klixon keypad. The Commodore MM1 is actually a repackaged Bowmar 901.

wrong ;-) but I no what you mean ;-) Message #16 Posted by Geoff Quickfall on 4 May 2009, 2:09 p.m., in response to message #15 by Frank Boehm (Germany) Actually the Otis King and the Post don't have a Klixon keypad or TI chips; ;-) but you are correct about the others......

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