Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
03-10-2017, 11:31 AM
Post: #21
 TomC Member Posts: 156 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
X10 home power control:

I had connected a HP48G to a serial <->X10 converter. I then wrote code to 'talk to' the various X10 devices in my home. This was a most flexible controller that could turn lights on, dim up, dim down dependent on the day of week, time of year, etc...

TomC
03-10-2017, 07:23 PM
Post: #22
 Han Senior Member Posts: 1,811 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-10-2017 12:39 AM)Egan Ford Wrote:  That 48GX was the best gift my father ever gave me. And [IMHO] one of the finest machines ever created. Still have it.

My history with HP calcs started with the same gift from my father as well. Actually, I first got an HP48G using my own savings (it was around $100, my biggest purchase ever), but I gave that one to my sister who seemed to need a graphing calculator more than I did. My father then got me the GX version. That line of calculators was really the pinnacle (IMHO) of the Saturn calculators (here, I mean the real Saturn chip). The HP49 used the real Saturn chip, but its exterior design was such a huge failure in aesthetics and usability. Graph 3D | QPI | SolveSys 03-10-2017, 10:19 PM Post: #23  bshoring Member Posts: 258 Joined: Dec 2013 RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related? As a retiree, I rarely need more than the four arithmetic functions. However, I use my HP calculators to stimulate my mind, whether it's finding new ways to program in RPN or other things. I figure an active mind may help keep dementia away. Regards, Bob 03-11-2017, 01:02 AM Post: #24  Dave Britten Senior Member Posts: 1,142 Joined: Dec 2013 RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related? I have a 48G with a slightly messed up screen (some annunciators are stuck on) that I got for$5, and I've used it as my alarm clock for quite a few years. I have a couple simple programs on there to set an alarm for work the following morning with just two keystrokes, or I can put a time on the stack and set an alarm for the next occurrence of that time. I have to correct for clock drift every few months, but it works great otherwise.
03-11-2017, 10:26 AM
Post: #25
 pier4r Senior Member Posts: 2,016 Joined: Nov 2014
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-09-2017 11:19 PM)ttw Wrote:  Since my HP-Prime fried one of my computers, it has served as a paperweight. I'm waiting to try to update the software to something that runs well enough to judge whether the Prime works at all until I can borrow someone else's computer.

The prime fried your computer, how come?

Wikis are great, Contribute :)
03-11-2017, 04:51 PM
Post: #26
 Giancarlo Member Posts: 207 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
Hello,
I used my hp48 and 49 in my spare time to:
- calculate compare mortages and buy a house
- creating shopping lists and bring them with me at the supermarket
- to do lists
- time functions (calendar, holidays)
- programming games or routines (95% of the time :+)
- flash cards (english words)
- alarm and reminder
- small dbs
-...

I found hundreds of ways to use my calculators out of my daily work as a mechanical engineer.

Now i use the Prime as main calculator. The programming language is very intuitive to read. However it hardly replace the previous calculator. From an hw point of view i am really missing the buzzer.

Giancarlo
03-11-2017, 07:04 PM
Post: #27
 MattiMark Member Posts: 57 Joined: Dec 2014
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
I used my 48SX to compute the optimal speed from the final thermal (upwind) when taking the last leg home. This was as you may imagine in the early '90-ies when flying the club gliders did not all have a flight computer.
This approach also made it possible to have several types of gliders preprogrammed into the HP. I must admit that the program, when using user-rpl, was slow... But it worked.

The 15C/LE would have been nice those days.

Regards,
Matti Sweden
03-11-2017, 07:10 PM (This post was last modified: 03-11-2017 07:14 PM by Don Shepherd.)
Post: #28
 Don Shepherd Senior Member Posts: 627 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-10-2017 10:19 PM)bshoring Wrote:  As a retiree, I rarely need more than the four arithmetic functions. However, I use my HP calculators to stimulate my mind, whether it's finding new ways to program in RPN or other things. I figure an active mind may help keep dementia away.

Bob, I feel the same way. I enjoy programming my HP-65 (or 17b) to solve little number theory problems and games. And I really enjoy optimizing the programs to save space, make optimal use of the stack, or reduce running time. It is amazing what can be achieved with 100 bytes of memory. My goal is to stay alive at least until 2024, the 50th anniversary of the HP-65; I'll be 74 then.

I also run an air traffic control simulator on my Nexus 7 several times each day, to keep my mind active. Each scenario of planes presents a different airspace problem that must be solved. And lately I have been running an air traffic control simulator that I wrote on the Tandy 102 laptop computer from 1987 (thanks Bill).

I also love to play Hidato puzzles. I never really liked Sudoko, but the Hidato puzzles are a pleasure. Here is a link to one of about 20 books of Hidato puzzles:

puzzle book

Oh, in about a week my daughter is due to give birth, which will make me a grandfather. Maybe I'll teach little Juliet how to use the 65!
03-12-2017, 07:14 PM
Post: #29
 pier4r Senior Member Posts: 2,016 Joined: Nov 2014
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-11-2017 04:51 PM)Giancarlo Wrote:  - programming games or routines (95% of the time :+)

Could you tell us more about this? I'm interested if what you did is similar to my same usage (automate tedious dice comparisons, rolls, conditions, etc...)

Wikis are great, Contribute :)
03-12-2017, 07:20 PM (This post was last modified: 03-12-2017 07:22 PM by pier4r.)
Post: #30
 pier4r Senior Member Posts: 2,016 Joined: Nov 2014
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-11-2017 07:10 PM)Don Shepherd Wrote:  cut

If I may suggest relaxing activities that keep one mentally active: on android/PC, gladiabots (it is a visual programming game, more here) ; on android / PC spacechem (see wiki entry) and in general the titles mentioned in the programming games wiki.

edit: the books of Hidato seems interesting!

Wikis are great, Contribute :)
03-13-2017, 05:14 AM
Post: #31
 buffalo Junior Member Posts: 20 Joined: Mar 2016
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
Type: HP48/HP50
Used For: Phone directory
Appointment diary
Alarm clock
Shop lists
English/German dictionary
Timesheet aid (work)
Song lyrics (play)
Games
Program (database like- under construction)

and much much more.
PW
03-13-2017, 06:20 PM
Post: #32
 Ángel Martin Senior Member Posts: 1,032 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-11-2017 07:10 PM)Don Shepherd Wrote:  I also love to play Hidato puzzles. I never really liked Sudoko, but the Hidato puzzles are a pleasure. Here is a link to one of about 20 books of Hidato puzzles:

puzzle book

Sudoku Manual - HP-41 Module

Cheers,
ÁM
03-14-2017, 01:17 AM
Post: #33
 EugeneNine Member Posts: 229 Joined: Feb 2017
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
Back in the great Ti/HP wars of the 1990's the Ti camp claimed the shape of the HP 48 series was good for keeping doors open. I didn't give in and let them use my 48 to prove it was better than Ti's at holding doors open though.
03-14-2017, 11:08 PM
Post: #34
 Egan Ford Member Posts: 165 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-10-2017 11:31 AM)TomC Wrote:  X10 home power control:

I had connected a HP48G to a serial <->X10 converter. I then wrote code to 'talk to' the various X10 devices in my home. This was a most flexible controller that could turn lights on, dim up, dim down dependent on the day of week, time of year, etc...

TomC

I did the same with the 41CX and I completely forgot to mention it:

03-14-2017, 11:42 PM
Post: #35
 eried Senior Member Posts: 719 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
Used my 48 for "counting boxes" with a laser

My website: erwin.ried.cl
03-15-2017, 08:22 PM
Post: #36
 pier4r Senior Member Posts: 2,016 Joined: Nov 2014
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-14-2017 11:42 PM)eried Wrote:  Used my 48 for "counting boxes" with a laser

That was pretty neat! Any chance that you posted more about it? Like source code, the process of solving problems during the project and so on? In short: an article about it.

Wikis are great, Contribute :)
03-15-2017, 10:02 PM
Post: #37
 eried Senior Member Posts: 719 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-15-2017 08:22 PM)pier4r Wrote:
(03-14-2017 11:42 PM)eried Wrote:  Used my 48 for "counting boxes" with a laser

That was pretty neat! Any chance that you posted more about it? Like source code, the process of solving problems during the project and so on? In short: an article about it.

Sure, http://services.ried.cl/calculators.html at the bottom you can see the arduino code and HP48 code too bad that it is an old video, and youtube butchered the audio because some copyright issues.

My website: erwin.ried.cl
03-16-2017, 01:03 PM
Post: #38
 Martin Hepperle Member Posts: 218 Joined: May 2014
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-09-2017 09:48 AM)brickviking Wrote:  I don't quite know if this is math-related or not, but here goes. One really simple thing I use my HP50G for is to keep a list of V1/Vr/V2/Vfr speeds in an array which I feed with table data, i.e. I look up the weight and flaps from a paper table, get speeds, put them into the array. Trying to automate that is considerably beyond me and my current programming skills on UserRPL (practically non-existent).

Does anyone have any suggestions for that? I've got all the relevant data, I'm even prepared to input the whole lot into the calculator, but what I don't know how to do is to correlate that for input values of weight, flaps, altitude and temperature. The way I would have done it in bash (a scripting language) would have been to create large arrays and simply report which value matches most closely. On a stack-based language, that's a bit more difficult.

(Post 56)

Here is a simple way to lookup values from tables. Nothing polished, just to give you an idea.

1) Create a variable 'SPD' with a list of lists with mass and speeds.
Each sub-list contains the mass as its first element and then the associated speeds. The first element is the one which is used for the lookup.
(do not type in the comments shown at the right)
Code:

{ 14. 100. 101. 102. }              for 14 tons
{ 15. 101. 102. 103. }              for 15 tons
{ 16. 102. 103. 104. }              for 16 tons
{ 99. 0. 0. 0. }                    for all above 16 tons (ERROR)
}
'SPD' STO

2) Create a simple lookup program. This program takes the mass from the stack and then walks through the list of speeds.
It stops when the next higher speed is found. I.e. if the table contains masses of 14 and 15 tons, and the actual mass given is 14.5 then the values for the higher speed (15 tons) will be returned.
I used the INFORM dialog to show the results. If the dialog is closed with "OK" the selected sub-list with the values is returned, in case of cancel nothing is returned.
The input mass is also left on the stack.

Code:

« 1. SPD SIZE                      setup the for loop, based on the size of the 'SPD' list
FOR
I DUP SPD I GET 1. GET           get each mas from the list and compare with the given mass
≤ IF
THEN I 9999. 'I' STO SPD SWAP GET             if found: stop by storing a high value into the loop count 'I'
END                                           and put the sub-list on the stack
NEXT

"Speeds"                                        prepare input for INFORM
{ { "Mass" "tons" 0. }
{ "V1" "kts" 0. }                             one {} for each entry in sublist
{ "V2" "kts" 0. }
{ "Vr" "kts" 0. } }
{ 1. 6. }                                       for alignment
{ }
5. ROLL                                         put sub-list in proper position
INFORM                                          show results
DROP                                            get rid of OK/Cancel flag
»
'GETV' STO
03-16-2017, 05:01 PM
Post: #39
 EugeneNine Member Posts: 229 Joined: Feb 2017
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
I've been wondering though, and I probably should have started a new thread, I see quite a bit of new posts in the Prime section in the short time I signed up for the forum but not a lot in any of the other calculator sub-forums. Is no one using the older models much anymore? Is my 48SX more of a collectors piece than a tool now.
03-16-2017, 05:15 PM
Post: #40
 Dave Britten Senior Member Posts: 1,142 Joined: Dec 2013
RE: Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?
(03-16-2017 05:01 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  I've been wondering though, and I probably should have started a new thread, I see quite a bit of new posts in the Prime section in the short time I signed up for the forum but not a lot in any of the other calculator sub-forums. Is no one using the older models much anymore? Is my 48SX more of a collectors piece than a tool now.

I keep a 48SX with a 128 KB card in it on my desk. That one's the best I've found in terms of the balance between functionality, usability, and durability. Don't scrap your SX and give in to the cult of the new!
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