Author Topic: Any vintage calculator collectors here?  (Read 27975 times)
TheUniversalDave1
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery


Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #15 on: October 15, 2014, 11:57:19 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
We're not really using calculators at all right now. I'm in "geometry". It's not really geometry, it's just a bunch of algebra garb mixed in with shapes, so now it just looks more daunting than before.

High skool sucks. I hate every aspect of it. My dad said that college is completely different in that you're there because you want to be. I'm counting the days until graduation so I can move out of stupid ally-bammyville to Wisconsin. (Sorry, I had to vent.)
Logged
themaritimegirl
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Female
View Posts
View Gallery

Florence


themaritimegirl themaritimegirl themaritimegirl
WWW
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #16 on: October 16, 2014, 02:06:58 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
I liked high school overall. I was a straight A student, so I generally didn't have much stress. College is indeed a completely different world in terms of how you live, work, and play, but it also introduces a much heavier workload. At least, Engineering does. Last year I had a hard time, and I ended up failing two courses, so I'm retaking them this year, and I can't take any of the third-year courses, so I'm going to be taking an extra year. I'm doing better so far this year, though.

Speaking of which, I just got out of a quiz in which I used the TI-1025. That thing has been by and large my most valuable vintage calculator. I'd like to get a TI-1050 someday.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 02:14:28 PM by TheMaritimeMan » Logged

Electrical Engineering Graduate
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

TheUniversalDave1
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery


Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #17 on: October 20, 2014, 11:05:01 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
I put a new battery in my TI-1025 today, and found that it now makes a very annoying high frequency noise similar to a malfunctioning HF ballast. Perhaps I ruined the transformer running it on such a low voltage?
Logged
themaritimegirl
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Female
View Posts
View Gallery

Florence


themaritimegirl themaritimegirl themaritimegirl
WWW
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #18 on: October 20, 2014, 11:16:00 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
Oh no, that's absolutely normal. Mine makes the same noise sometimes. It's just the cathode of the display vibrating due to it being driven with AC current of relatively low frequency. It's driven at just the right frequency that sometimes it will physically resonate.
Logged

Electrical Engineering Graduate
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

themaritimegirl
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Female
View Posts
View Gallery

Florence


themaritimegirl themaritimegirl themaritimegirl
WWW
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #19 on: November 09, 2014, 11:23:52 AM » Author: themaritimegirl
I just won a good condition, tested working HP-33E on eBay. I'm really excited. It's got the usual minor corrosion in the battery compartment, and one battery terminal is broken off (common on this series because people would try to shove AA batteries in them, which are slightly too long), but otherwise it looks really good, and as far as the seller could tell, it works fine. Somehow I was only the second bidder and got it for $41. Doesn't come with a battery, but I see that as a good thing more than bad. Doesn't come with a charger either, probably also a good thing since plugging the charger into an HP calculator without a good battery in it will destroy the electronics. What I'll probably do is get a 2x AAA battery holder from ebay, which should fit into the battery compartment, and solder the wires onto what's left of the battery terminals, and that should work perfect. But I suppose I'll wait for the calculator to actually arrive and make sure it works first, before planning all that. :P

Take a look.
Logged

Electrical Engineering Graduate
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

merc
Member
****
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery

Adam


GoL
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #20 on: November 09, 2014, 02:05:08 PM » Author: merc
A beautiful calculator you won! 8)
In early 1980s my dad had a similar Texas Instruments calculator with red digits at his work. It was taking ages until it calculated a square root. ;D I don't know if its wooden box was original or DIY.

At home, we had our local Tesla MR 4130 (see here - click 2nd row on the right). It was pretty cool at this time as it was a calculator + stopwatch + alarm clock in one.
Logged
themaritimegirl
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Female
View Posts
View Gallery

Florence


themaritimegirl themaritimegirl themaritimegirl
WWW
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #21 on: November 09, 2014, 10:15:01 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
It would've been DIY - TI never made a calculator in a wooden case.

Cool! That Tesla calculator is similar to the Casio CQ-1.
Logged

Electrical Engineering Graduate
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

TheUniversalDave1
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery


Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #22 on: November 10, 2014, 08:37:48 AM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
Cool calculator! Hope you get it working good.
Logged
merc
Member
****
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery

Adam


GoL
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #23 on: November 11, 2014, 03:30:14 PM » Author: merc
And what about this? ;D
It's older than all those vintage calculators, comes form the East Germany. I'd need to re-read the manual in order to start using it. ;)

(Picture uploaded, log-in and click it for details.)
Logged
themaritimegirl
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Female
View Posts
View Gallery

Florence


themaritimegirl themaritimegirl themaritimegirl
WWW
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #24 on: November 11, 2014, 04:09:52 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
Cool! Like RPN before, I have no clue how slide rules work, so I've never had in an interest in them. That would probably change if I got a hold of one and was ambitious enough to learn how to use it. :P
Logged

Electrical Engineering Graduate
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

themaritimegirl
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Female
View Posts
View Gallery

Florence


themaritimegirl themaritimegirl themaritimegirl
WWW
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #25 on: November 14, 2014, 01:04:29 AM » Author: themaritimegirl
Calculator arrived at the post office today. Mom's gotta pick it up for me, and it should be in my hands some time next week.  ;D
Logged

Electrical Engineering Graduate
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

themaritimegirl
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Female
View Posts
View Gallery

Florence


themaritimegirl themaritimegirl themaritimegirl
WWW
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #26 on: November 14, 2014, 11:51:59 AM » Author: themaritimegirl
So I go into a midterm exam today, and my TI-1025 decides to just commit suicide. Wouldn't turn on at all. Battery was fine. I would have been doomed, but thank god my friend beside me elected to share his calculator with me.

Never before have my feelings been hurt by an inanimate object.  :P I have no idea what could have happened. It worked when I tested it last night to make sure it was ready for today. I don't hear the display oscillator buzzing when it hit the On key, so it seems to not be turning on at all. Guess I'll get a calculator at Walmart to hold me down for now, and attempt to diagnose this thing later.
Logged

Electrical Engineering Graduate
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

themaritimegirl
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Female
View Posts
View Gallery

Florence


themaritimegirl themaritimegirl themaritimegirl
WWW
Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #27 on: November 15, 2014, 10:51:52 PM » Author: themaritimegirl
I managed to get the TI-1025 apart (not an easy task since it's held together with clips instead of screws), and power is getting everywhere it should be. The calculator draws some 30 µA of current (presumably normal when turned off since the chip is still powered when the calculator is turned off), and that doesn't change regardless of the keys that are pressed. The calculator sat in my jacket pocket between when I tested it the night before the midterm, and when I took it out for the midterm and discovered it was dead. My jacket likes to build up a ton of static when it's being worn and then shock you continuously when you take it off. I took my jacket off before retrieving the calculator for the midterm. I think static discharge got to the calculator and destroyed the chip.

I'm quite bummed since this was a mint condition calculator which cost me $12. I'm going to put it back together and shelve it for now, and some day I'll buy the cheapest working TI-1025 I can find, and assuming it's in a worse condition case than this one, I'll move the electronics into this case.

In the meantime, I'm going to take the opportunity to buy yet another vintage calculator. I'll get either a TI-1265 (predecessor to the TI-1025 - exact same calculator, but has a hardware power switch) or a Casio or Canon. Stay tuned.
Logged

Electrical Engineering Graduate
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

TheUniversalDave1
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery


Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #28 on: November 15, 2014, 11:19:10 PM » Author: TheUniversalDave1
Wow. I'm sorry that happened to your mint TI-1025. :( And it couldn't have happened at a worse time! I hope you can get it fixed. (Knowing you, you probably can.)

On the other hand, can you really blame it? It was made for one purpose--->   M A T H  That's reason enough to commit suicide, IMHO...
« Last Edit: November 15, 2014, 11:21:56 PM by TheUniversalDave1 » Logged
Medved
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery

Re: Any vintage calculator collectors here? « Reply #29 on: November 16, 2014, 03:33:11 AM » Author: Medved
I don't think it was the static. With such damage I would expect rather high current even when OFF.
Here I would expect more of a broken wire to the key pad, or the oxidation of the keypad contacts alone - so the "ON" button does not work anymore...
Logged

No more selfballasted c***

Print 
© 2005-2024 Lighting-Gallery.net | SMF 2.0.19 | SMF © 2021, Simple Machines | Terms and Policies