HP41C, a giant leap for mobile "Turing Completeness"...

idssteve

Active member
Below is my HP41CX. With belt loop holster. A rare day that it's not on my belt. I walk phunnie without it. Lol.

Not photo'd are the accessories. Card reader, tape drive, strip printer, wide carriage printer, 232 interface, discrete AND analog io... I've set these up to analog measure and control heat treating temperature schedule. Etc, etc.

Saved up and traded my HP65 for early HP41C. 1979. Carried it till wrecked with security Xray while entering a nuke plant. 1991. They gave me this CX as replacement. Lol. They really wanted my calcs on a "thang". Lol. I was a "calculator" as highschool job well before calculator as device became popular. Lol. CX includes built in time module and etc. These things are NOT Xray tolerant. Odd considering HP's radar history, imo. Go figure. Lol

Note the rom cards. Gotta pretty complete collection. Quite a few custom. "Synthetic Programming" proved supremely advanced capabilities. Got one interfaced thru HAM. Original "wireless text"? Lol.

Still hunting "=" key... anyone see one? Lol
 

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SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
Below is my HP41CX. With belt loop holster. A rare day that it's not on my belt. I walk phunnie without it. Lol.

Not photo'd are the accessories. Card reader, tape drive, strip printer, wide carriage printer, 232 interface, discrete AND analog io... I've set these up to analog measure and control heat treating temperature schedule. Etc, etc.

Saved up and traded my HP65 for early HP41C. 1979. Carried it till wrecked with security Xray while entering a nuke plant. 1991. They gave me this CX as replacement. Lol. They really wanted my calcs on a "thang". Lol. I was a "calculator" as highschool job well before calculator as device became popular. Lol. CX includes built in time module and etc. These things are NOT Xray tolerant. Odd considering HP's radar history, imo. Go figure. Lol

Note the rom cards. Gotta pretty complete collection. Quite a few custom. "Synthetic Programming" proved supremely advanced capabilities. Got one interfaced thru HAM. Original "wireless text"? Lol.

Still hunting "=" key... anyone see one? Lol
I had to take a few photos of the technology I still use everyday!
 

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idssteve

Active member
Ha! Not a very "modern" attitude? "Modern" = fix it till ya break it. Then break it till ya fix it! Job security for SOME one. Lol.
 

idssteve

Active member
Here's mine
I love how tube amps modulate pluck to pluck variability in my pathetic attempts at playing Kottke, Atkins, etc. I don't use finger picks. Finger nails are always damaged and abused. Tube amp modulation "smooths" my playing to tolerable. Lol
 

idssteve

Active member
The oldest tech I've personally played with was an early 18th century Stradivarius. I won't divulge its date as that would identify its owner. No photos either. Long story.

We were recording and analyzing wave forms, etc. I intentionally induced "screech and squeel" but that thing turned what ever abuse inflicted into amazing beauty! The owner commented how well "i" played it. That thing played ME! The incomprehensible cacophony of overlapping resonance might have made a second grade Steve sound "good"? Lol. Still trying to model some of its wave forms.. Lol. A cherished experience. Imo.
 

SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
The oldest tech I've personally played with was an early 18th century Stradivarius. I won't divulge its date as that would identify its owner. No photos either. Long story.

We were recording and analyzing wave forms, etc. I intentionally induced "screech and squeel" but that thing turned what ever abuse inflicted into amazing beauty! The owner commented how well "i" played it. That thing played ME! The incomprehensible cacophony of overlapping resonance might have made a second grade Steve sound "good"? Lol. Still trying to model some of its wave forms.. Lol. A cherished experience. Imo.
One of the oldest technologies I played with and repaired was a player Piano. Fantastic technology sounded wonderful, simple and it just works
 

idssteve

Active member
One of the oldest technologies I played with and repaired was a player Piano. Fantastic technology sounded wonderful, simple and it just works
Yep. Got one. Turn of century about. Vacuum operated. It's been updated with electric vacuum but still have foot bellows for it. Player rolls are pretty old and fragile. Seeking to copy them to modern paper or mylar or?

It's lived its life in mostly humid environments. We had it in Phoenix for a year, decades ago, and the slave bellows operating the keys wouldn't actuate. What looks like pig skin actuating bellows had dried out enough to leak excess air.. Upsetting a leather flapper "shuttle valve", for lack of better name? Operating each actuator. Someone had cleverly balanced the leak rate thru that bellows pigskin to sorta simulate a PNP transistor junction? Very progressive response to uncovering that key's hole. If that makes sense? VERY impressive sophistication. Imo. Keeping humidity to at least 30% does the trick.

Fabulous old songs. Much ragtime. NO way I'd keep up with its playing. Lol.
 
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SteinwayTransitCorp

Well-known member
Yep. Got one. Turn of century about. Vacuum operated. It's been updated with electric vacuum but still have foot bellows for it. Player rolls are pretty old and fragile. Seeking to copy them to modern paper or mylar or?

It's lived its life in mostly humid environments. We had it in Phoenix for a year, decades ago, and the slave bellows operating the keys wouldn't actuate. What looks like pig skin actuating bellows had dried out enough to leak excess air.. Upsetting a leather flapper "shuttle valve", for lack of better name? Operating each actuator. Someone had cleverly balanced the leak rate thru that bellows pigskin to sorta simulate a PNP transistor junction? Very progressive response to uncovering that key's hole. If that makes sense? VERY impressive sophistication. Imo. Keeping humidity to at least 30% does the trick.

Fabulous old songs. Much ragtime. NO way I'd keep up with its playing. Lol.
I used a fine paper 125 weighed 240. Wait to replace some of the rolls it just plays perfectly.
 

idssteve

Active member
One of the oldest technologies I played with and repaired was a player Piano. Fantastic technology sounded wonderful, simple and it just works
I get a kick out of its 5 bellows vacuum motor. Also list of patents. Never found a spelled name on the thing. A tag where it was tuned in 1907 has fallen off. Ug. Lol

Perhaps it qualifies as "Turing Complete"? Lol
 

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idssteve

Active member
BTW, any fellow RPN Phreeks around?

"=" keys just scramble my synapses. Heehee... Still hunting an Android RPN emulation that works with PKB. Any ideas? ??
 

idssteve

Active member
Hmmmmm I did see one a few years ago……great now I will be up all night
Lol... no BIG rush. My 41 still works. Grew fond of an HP emulation for Bold. By Lygea? If I recall. No 41 but very handy on pkb Bold.

Plenty touch options. Just no touch trust for critical calc. Imo.

A couple Android HP emulators sorta worked with K series PKB. No sorta nuff, tho. Imo. Slim could make a nice PKB RPN, imo.
 
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Ph1llip

Active member
And here I was thinking I was old using an HP12c :LOL: . Kids look at you funny these days when you use RPN mode.
 

idssteve

Active member
Don't get me started on this latest generation of "engineers". Assisting interviews has become torturously depressing. Ug

They really look phunny when an ancient old codger derives the solution to a two page equation while they are still counting parentheses. Lol. The POWER of RPN! Lol
 
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