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Calculator blog


Musings and comments about our common interest

 

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Panamatik.de

 

The other day I posted about Teenix- an Australian company that provides a comprehensive solution for repairing HP "Classic" calculators.

Today I'd like to talk about Panamatik - a German company that does the same, and more, on the Woodstock family of HP calculators. They provide a circuit that emulates all hp2x units - including the powerful hp25, even solving the typical screen cathode issue (which, as far as I know, is not tackled by the Teenix circuit)

What's more, there are additional features on tap, and some interesting additions, like GPS localization. Just imagine: GPS localization on a hp25 calculator!

There is a module for repair the act chip that is also in other classic units - including the hp67 family. This was not covered, as far as I know, by the Teenix solution.

In addition to all this, there are also fantastic emulators for many HP calculators, and also a detailed "debugger" for said units, that allows you to see all the registers and states of the processor.

I'll return to Panamatik when I have installed a module and report on that.

Here USC a link to the Panamatik website:

http://panamatik.de/html/hp_calculator_repair_kit.html

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Restoring your HP65

 

 

Ignacio Sánchez brought to my attention the Australian company Teenix. They provide replacement board for the HP55, HP65 and HP67 calculators. If you have a broken HP67 calculato, your best bet is to call Teenix and get a board for the calculator. It is a direct drop-in change that will revitalize your calculator. Think about, for example, continuous memory!

I will copy from Teenix's website the feautres of the replacement cards:

  • Drop in replacement for the original CPU boards
  • No soldering required 
  • Runs original HP microcode
  • Supports original features of the magnetic card reader*
  • Programmable option to bypass the card write protection*
  • Bluetooth connectivity
  • Companion Windows application
  • Has internal memory storage for up to 810 program cards (HP-55 100 programs)
  • Supports up to 100 user defined messages that can be displayed from a running program*
  • HP-55 has ability to fine tune timer
  • Can store and recall calculator state
  • Supports a memory dump to the CCE33 Emulator
  • CPU board can be reflashed with program updates - Note: Requires an external adaptor

Note: These CPU boards will not fix problems with the display, keyboard or card reader components, however
if the card reader has failed, you can save and recall programs using internal storage memory.

Teenix also maintains and provides diverse software emulators for said classic calculators: MultiCalc.zip

As I have a Mac I (and I am overflown with repairs), I have not yet tested the emulator, but it covers apparently all the classic models. Scroll down in the main page to see what we're talking about: you will stay for a long, long time in the website!

 

 

 

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HP official emulators

hp17bIII guess that you have seen this somewhere else, but in case you haven’t: there is a page with all current HP calculators’ emulators for PC, in HP’s French site. You can find it here:

http://www.calculatrices-hp.com/index.php?page=emulateurs

You have several surprises awaiting there:

  • The unblocked hp15c emulator, for those who bought the hp15c and tried to reinstall the emulator, not being able to unblock it since there was no control site anymore for your code…now you can! (And everyone else that wonders what’s the fuss about the hp15c, here’s your opportunity to find out)
  • The hp17bii+ emulator. I have posted several times my opinion that it is one of the most balanced calculators ever made by HP, and only bettered by the hp19bii for financial duties (although the latter not as resistant as the former in the long term). This is the gem of the lot - the others could be found elsewhere.

Both the hp17bii and the hp42s were built on the same Saturn architecture, and therefore, if you have mastered the emulator architecture, it would be a piece of cake to do the emulator of the hp42s. And why not think about doing another limited edition…?

I have been told by hp officials that the current HP17bii is not a good platform to do that, since it is built from scratch on a completely different architecture, and it is not even compatible with the original HP17bii firmware. But this is a good development thread - the really good thing about these calculators was its wonderful set of features and clever key combinations.

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