The Museum of HP Calculators

HP Forum Archive 21

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has everyone seen this?
Message #1 Posted by db (martinez, ca.) on 9 Jan 2013, 10:32 p.m.

It's sold and gone but interesting. Maybe he'll make more? hp should have and could have made these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-HP-Classic-35-45-65-Calculators-w-Any-AA-Batteries-Via-This-Adapter-/110973962660?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item19d69049a4&nma=true&si=KDe%2FMpDs5Unkyb491gMF0VW%2FwHQ%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Sorry for the cut and paste; i can't get the link function to work today.

      
Re: has everyone seen this?
Message #2 Posted by Luiz C. Vieira (Brazil) on 9 Jan 2013, 10:46 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by db (martinez, ca.)

That's clever.

      
Re: has everyone seen this?
Message #3 Posted by Michael de Estrada on 9 Jan 2013, 11:38 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by db (martinez, ca.)

Thanks. I've saved this seller in my eBay preferences.

      
Re: has everyone seen this?
Message #4 Posted by Eddie W. Shore on 10 Jan 2013, 8:55 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by db (martinez, ca.)

What a marvelous invention. :)

      
Re: has everyone seen this?
Message #5 Posted by Katie Wasserman on 10 Jan 2013, 10:04 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by db (martinez, ca.)

db-

I make my own AAA battery holders for the classic HP calcs. Unlike this one it takes only minutes to make and costs very little. It's ugly but once you have the cover on the battery compartment it looks just fine :)

Here's the thread showing this.

-Katie

            
I bought one of these a year or more ago
Message #6 Posted by gene wright on 10 Jan 2013, 10:24 a.m.,
in response to message #5 by Katie Wasserman

Works well, however...

The batteries in this case fixture did not form a good, solid connection with the contacts when the classic series calculators were placed on their back and operated normally, in my experience.

I put some filler in the battery pack to more firmly press them against the contacts and all is well.

Yes, it is possible that my battery prongs might not be as springy as they used to be or were not bending upward with enough force, but it happened on more than one unit, and does not happen with the rechargeable packs, so I suspected this unit.

That said, this was a year or year and a half ago and the construction might have changed a bit.

And, EVEN WITH THE NEED I had to put in some filler to make good contacts, the ability to use AA batteries is very helpful indeed.

FYI.

                  
Re: I bought one of these a year or more ago
Message #7 Posted by Katie Wasserman on 10 Jan 2013, 3:39 p.m.,
in response to message #6 by gene wright

The V-grove battery contacts certainly work better than the flat one in the battery packs I made. I think that the main reason is that the V creates 2 (potentially 3) points of contact, while there's just the one with the flat contact. Get a little oxide on that one contact point and it stops working, adding pressure like you do with the filler material helps overcome this. I find that DeoxIT helps a lot too.

            
Re: has everyone seen this?
Message #8 Posted by BobVA on 10 Jan 2013, 5:29 p.m.,
in response to message #5 by Katie Wasserman

+1 for Katie's version.

I made up a couple using adhesive copper tape for the contacts and they work great. With the capacity of modern batteries, the down-sizing to AAA isn't a big deal (particularly for the shelf-queens that you just want to light up a few times a year).

Edited: 10 Jan 2013, 5:31 p.m.

      
Re: has everyone seen this? (Link working)
Message #9 Posted by Marcus von Cube, Germany on 11 Jan 2013, 2:39 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by db (martinez, ca.)

db, here is a working link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-HP-Classic-35-45-65-Calculators-w-Any-AA-Batteries-Via-This-Adapter-/110973962660

.

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