Monroe 325 Scientist

[Tom Ward]

Hello all,

Just recently had a bit of good fortune mixed with a minor disaster.
Was pursuing TAS in the vinintage computing stuff and spotted a strange looking calculator with lots of buttons, after a hurry up Google search search, and with what the seller was asking, I decided to risk the purchase.
After some hassle with the shipping, the unit arrived, boxed with a single layer of bubble rap and some newspaper. Apparently, this box was heavier than it appeared as it seems it was dropped several times.
After careful removal from its meager wrappings, my heart sank at the carnage that was revealed. The bottom rear corner near the AC connection was broken away and most of the bottom front was shattered. The top she'll of the 325 did survive mostly intact with only the right rear internal screw post broken.
After a few days of fitting the puzzle pieces back together, and fashioning a new power cord, I'm pleased to say that the 325 seems to operate without flaw. Will need to secure a ribbon and paper for the printer, but even it appears to be functional.
The original listing did show that the paper cover a piece broken away as well as several missing key caps. I hope to make a mold and re-create the missing caps. After scouring Google and reading all that I could find, this is a pretty fantastic piece of kit (although I'm still partial to HP's offerings) and am looking forward to learning more.
I'm now on the look out for the 392 tape drive. Is there an alternative tape drive that anyone is familiar with?

Tom