ACT available

[PANAMATIK]

HP-67E ACT available

The "new ACT" has gone foreign. For the first time it stepped into an another calculator model. Some weeks before it emulated the HP-67 on a woodstock calculator hardware, now it runs on the real HP-67 calculator!



As already the case in the HP-29C the HP-67 hardware doesn't offer to display the letter "P". The logo therefore is "HC-67E", Hp Calculator - 67 Extended.



It fits easily into the HP-67 main board on its low profile sockets. However the space is so tight, that the original ACT cannot be socketed, unless you remove
1 mm of the plastic strutting of the back case.

But I had some problems, since I tried to run the ACT on the HP-67 some weeks ago, which I still couldn't solve. I don't know exactly why, but the new ACT doesn't communicate with the PIK chip, the big chip above the ACT, which is the interface to the card reader. I had only one calculator to try. I'm sorry, for this reason the card reader will not be active. Also the PRGM/RUN switch is accessed by the PIK and it will not work. You have to switch between the modes with the f g keys.

But do you really need the card reader, when you have "Continuous Memory"? You will have access to 18 programs of 224 steps each available directly from ROM, which should meet your needs. And the calculation speed is four times the original speed. Perhaps you have a HP-67 with defective card reader by the well known gummy wheel problem, then you can use the HP-67E "Continuous Memory" and its set of ROM programs to make it a fully functional HP-67.

The ACT for HC-67E hardware is the same as for the woodstocks, it is not modified, therefore you can flash your ACT with the update kit for having a replacement of the HP-67 ACT.

I'm still working on some minor software problems, but nevertheless I will release the HC-67E in a few days.

Many thanks go to Olivier de Smeet, who gave me valuable hints, how some extended ACT instructions had to be handled.

Bernhard