From: shoppa@trailing-edge.com (Tim Shoppa) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Calculator architecture? Date: 12 Mar 2004 06:46:37 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 13 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 170.121.15.35 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1079102798 5728 127.0.0.1 (12 Mar 2004 14:46:38 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 14:46:38 +0000 (UTC) Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!zen.net.uk!dedekind.zen.co.uk!news.glorb.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167652 Does anyone know of good references for architectures used in 1960's and 1970's desktop and early handheld calculators? Anything from "survey" articles that might have been published in journals to detailed designs would be interesting. I remember playing with Litton, Monroe, japanese, etc., machines from the 70's and pulling off the covers just long enough to see great big boards filled with discrete and maybe a few SSI components, but I'm interested in how they did the job. I'm guessing that some designs were bit-serial and others were digit-serial, and some used recirculating storage (dynamic shift registers?) and others had static storage, but that's just a guess. Tim. ###### From: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: 12 Mar 2004 17:09:24 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 8 Message-ID: References: Reply-To: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) NNTP-Posting-Host: smeagol.ncf.ca X-Trace: freenet9.carleton.ca 1079111364 11701 134.117.136.48 (12 Mar 2004 17:09:24 GMT) X-Complaints-To: complaints@ncf.ca NNTP-Posting-Date: 12 Mar 2004 17:09:24 GMT X-Given-Sender: ab528@smeagol.ncf.ca (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!solnet.ch!solnet.ch!newsfeed.freenet.de!feed.news.tiscali.de!news.netplace.de!news-FFM2.ecrc.net!nntp1.roc.gblx.net!nntp.gblx.net!nntp.gblx.net!xcski.com!freenet-news!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ab528 Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167668 Tim Shoppa (shoppa@trailing-edge.com) writes: > Does anyone know of good references for architectures used in > 1960's and 1970's desktop and early handheld calculators? Anything > from "survey" articles that might have been published in journals to > detailed designs would be interesting. In some packing box, there's a Scientific American of 1980's vintage that covered early handhelds. ###### Message-ID: <4051F4EE.6C20EED2@yahoo.com> From: CBFalconer Reply-To: cbfalconer@worldnet.att.net Organization: Ched Research X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 26 Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 17:38:25 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.76.141.193 X-Complaints-To: abuse@worldnet.att.net X-Trace: bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net 1079113105 12.76.141.193 (Fri, 12 Mar 2004 17:38:25 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 17:38:25 GMT Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!kibo.news.demon.net!demon!newshub1.home.nl!home.nl!feeder.enertel.nl!nntpfeed-01.ops.asmr-01.energis-idc.net!216.196.98.140.MISMATCH!border1.nntp.ash.giganews.com!border2.nntp.ash.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!wn14feed!worldnet.att.net!bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167675 Tim Shoppa wrote: > > Does anyone know of good references for architectures used in > 1960's and 1970's desktop and early handheld calculators? Anything > from "survey" articles that might have been published in journals > to detailed designs would be interesting. > > I remember playing with Litton, Monroe, japanese, etc., machines > from the 70's and pulling off the covers just long enough to see > great big boards filled with discrete and maybe a few SSI > components, but I'm interested in how they did the job. I'm > guessing that some designs were bit-serial and others were > digit-serial, and some used recirculating storage (dynamic shift > registers?) and others had static storage, but that's just a guess. I have mentioned various things here in the past about my 1964 design, which was not exactly hand-held, but could have been by the 70s. It was bit serial with core storage, and programmable. Features included multi-level subroutines, indirect addressing, 9 sig. digit floating point, algebraic syntax. -- Chuck F (cbfalconer@yahoo.com) (cbfalconer@worldnet.att.net) Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems. USE worldnet address! ###### From: "Charlie Gibbs" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: 12 Mar 04 11:12:35 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Lines: 28 Message-ID: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: p-041.newsdawg.com X-Newsreader: THOR 2.5a (Amiga;TCP/IP) Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!pln-e!spln!dex!extra.newsguy.com!newsp.newsguy.com!enews1 Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167702 In article shoppa@trailing-edge.com (Tim Shoppa) writes: >Does anyone know of good references for architectures used in >1960's and 1970's desktop and early handheld calculators? Anything >from "survey" articles that might have been published in journals to >detailed designs would be interesting. > >I remember playing with Litton, Monroe, japanese, etc., machines from >the 70's and pulling off the covers just long enough to see great big >boards filled with discrete and maybe a few SSI components, but I'm >interested in how they did the job. I'm guessing that some designs >were bit-serial and others were digit-serial, and some used >recirculating storage (dynamic shift registers?) and others >had static storage, but that's just a guess. A friend once had one of those early Friden calculators (130?) that drew four rows of 7-segment digits on a small CRT. It was all discrete transistors inside, and there weren't nearly enough to hold the bits that the screen could represent - so he deduced that it had to store things in some sort of recirculating storage. -- /~\ cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs) \ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way. X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855. / \ HTML will DEFINITELY be ignored. Join the ASCII ribbon campaign! ###### From: Chris McDonald Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 19:53:14 +0000 (UTC) Organization: The University of Western Australia Lines: 22 Message-ID: References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> NNTP-Posting-Host: budgie.csse.uwa.edu.au X-Trace: enyo.uwa.edu.au 1079121194 8034 130.95.1.8 (12 Mar 2004 19:53:14 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@enyo.uwa.edu.au NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 19:53:14 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: nn/6.6.3 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news1.optus.net.au!optus!news.uwa.edu.au!chris Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167706 "Charlie Gibbs" writes: >In article >shoppa@trailing-edge.com (Tim Shoppa) writes: >>Does anyone know of good references for architectures used in >>1960's and 1970's desktop and early handheld calculators? Anything >>from "survey" articles that might have been published in journals to >>detailed designs would be interesting. From memory, Hewlett Packard had a publication named "HP Digest" in the 70s, and it used to feature articles on many of its calculators and their internals. I imagine that these Digests trade on eBay for a tidy sum. See: http://www.vcalc.net/hp-jrnl.htm _______________________________________________________________________________ Dr Chris McDonald EMAIL: chris@csse.uwa.edu.au School of Computer Science & Software Engineering The University of Western Australia WWW: http://www.csse.uwa.edu.au/~chris Crawley, Western Australia, 6009 PH: +61 8 6488 2533, FAX: +61 8 6488 1089 ###### From: iddw@hotmail.com (Dave Hansen) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 20:22:21 GMT Lines: 20 Message-ID: <40521a82.180902680@News.individual.net> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: mail.nartron.com (216.65.187.224) X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de 1079122630 68462234 I 216.65.187.224 ([97677]) X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.belwue.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!mail.nartron.COM!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167710 On 12 Mar 2004 06:46:37 -0800, shoppa@trailing-edge.com (Tim Shoppa) wrote: >Does anyone know of good references for architectures used in >1960's and 1970's desktop and early handheld calculators? Anything >from "survey" articles that might have been published in journals to >detailed designs would be interesting. There are articles at hpmuseum.org that cover broader areas than you want, though I'm not sure any of them go as deep as you want. Fun to read, though. For example, the article on the Friden EC-132 (http://www.hpmuseum.org/ec132.htm) talks about acoustic delay lines with magnetostrictive transducers. Regards, -=Dave -- Change is inevitable, progress is not. ###### From: Alan Balmer Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 13:23:35 -0700 Organization: Balmer Consulting Lines: 35 Message-ID: References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> Reply-To: albalmer@spamcop.net NNTP-Posting-Host: wsip-66-210-59-5.ph.ph.cox.net (66.210.59.5) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de 1079123016 67321593 I 66.210.59.5 ([162642]) Cancel-Lock: sha1:pSJ074VhDlsBCf+xI94kxFBtcNY= X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.93/32.576 English (American) X-NFilter: 1.2.0 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!wsip-66-210-59-5.ph.ph.cox.NET!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167712 On 12 Mar 04 11:12:35 -0800, "Charlie Gibbs" wrote: >In article >shoppa@trailing-edge.com (Tim Shoppa) writes: > >>Does anyone know of good references for architectures used in >>1960's and 1970's desktop and early handheld calculators? Anything >>from "survey" articles that might have been published in journals to >>detailed designs would be interesting. >> >>I remember playing with Litton, Monroe, japanese, etc., machines from >>the 70's and pulling off the covers just long enough to see great big >>boards filled with discrete and maybe a few SSI components, but I'm >>interested in how they did the job. I'm guessing that some designs >>were bit-serial and others were digit-serial, and some used >>recirculating storage (dynamic shift registers?) and others >>had static storage, but that's just a guess. > >A friend once had one of those early Friden calculators (130?) >that drew four rows of 7-segment digits on a small CRT. It was >all discrete transistors inside, and there weren't nearly enough >to hold the bits that the screen could represent - so he deduced >that it had to store things in some sort of recirculating storage. That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, not transistors. It was fun to watch it do square roots. -- Al Balmer Balmer Consulting removebalmerconsultingthis@att.net ###### From: "Charlie Gibbs" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: 12 Mar 04 16:14:42 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Lines: 29 Message-ID: <1086.567T2108T9745169@kltpzyxm.invalid> References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> NNTP-Posting-Host: p-412.newsdawg.com X-Newsreader: THOR 2.5a (Amiga;TCP/IP) Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newsfeed.freenet.de!newspeer1.nwr.nac.net!pln-e!spln!dex!extra.newsguy.com!newsp.newsguy.com!enews2 Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167902 In article albalmer@att.net (Alan Balmer) writes: >On 12 Mar 04 11:12:35 -0800, "Charlie Gibbs" >wrote: > >>A friend once had one of those early Friden calculators (130?) >>that drew four rows of 7-segment digits on a small CRT. It was >>all discrete transistors inside, and there weren't nearly enough >>to hold the bits that the screen could represent - so he deduced >>that it had to store things in some sort of recirculating storage. > >That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a >row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, >not transistors. Oh, we played with our share of those, too. >It was fun to watch it do square roots. They actually made one that did that? Wow. And I thought division was fun... -- /~\ cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs) \ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way. X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855. / \ HTML will DEFINITELY be ignored. Join the ASCII ribbon campaign! ###### From: "Gary A. Gorgen" Organization: Tunxis Design Inc. User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 23 Message-ID: <2EI4c.6025$_w.227731@attbi_s53> NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.7.126.247 X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-Trace: attbi_s53 1079203454 24.7.126.247 (Sat, 13 Mar 2004 18:44:14 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 18:44:14 GMT Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 18:44:14 GMT Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!snoopy.risq.qc.ca!cyclone.bc.net!news.alt.net!wn51feed!worldnet.att.net!attbi_s53.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167798 Alan Balmer wrote: > > That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a > row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, > not transistors. > > It was fun to watch it do square roots. > The first time I did a square root on a Friden, I thought I broke it. :-) The are alot of calculator emulators, out there. Someone should do one for the Friden. It would have to be real time, & make the same noise. -- Gary A. Gorgen | "From ideas to PRODUCTS" tunxis@comcast.net | Tunxis Design Inc. | Cupertino, Ca. 95014 ###### Message-ID: <4053CA22.6CB15842@comcast.net> From: Charles Richmond Reply-To: richmond@nospam.plano.net Organization: Canine Computer Center X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <2EI4c.6025$_w.227731@attbi_s53> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 26 NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.1.126.198 X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-Trace: attbi_s03 1079226218 24.1.126.198 (Sun, 14 Mar 2004 01:03:38 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 01:03:38 GMT Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 01:03:38 GMT Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!eusc.inter.net!feed.news.tiscali.de!feed2.news.rcn.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!wn52feed!worldnet.att.net!attbi_s03.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167825 "Gary A. Gorgen" wrote: > > Alan Balmer wrote: > > > > > That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a > > row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, > > not transistors. > > > > It was fun to watch it do square roots. > > > > The first time I did a square root on a Friden, I thought I broke it. :-) > > The are alot of calculator emulators, out there. > Someone should do one for the Friden. > It would have to be real time, & make the same noise. > One could find a collector of the original machines, and record the noises of calculation. Then the emulator could play those at the appropriate times. -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond richmond at plano dot net | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### From: "Gary A. Gorgen" Organization: Tunxis Design Inc. User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <2EI4c.6025$_w.227731@attbi_s53> <4053CA22.6CB15842@comcast.net> In-Reply-To: <4053CA22.6CB15842@comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 40 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.7.126.247 X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-Trace: attbi_s51 1079279126 24.7.126.247 (Sun, 14 Mar 2004 15:45:26 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 15:45:26 GMT Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 15:45:26 GMT Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.ip-plus.net!newsfeed.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!border2.nntp.ash.giganews.com!border1.nntp.ash.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!news.glorb.com!wn51feed!worldnet.att.net!attbi_s51.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167905 Charles Richmond wrote: > "Gary A. Gorgen" wrote: > >>Alan Balmer wrote: >> >> >>>That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a >>>row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, >>>not transistors. >>> >>>It was fun to watch it do square roots. >>> >> >>The first time I did a square root on a Friden, I thought I broke it. :-) >> >>The are alot of calculator emulators, out there. >>Someone should do one for the Friden. >>It would have to be real time, & make the same noise. >> > > One could find a collector of the original machines, and record > the noises of calculation. Then the emulator could play those at > the appropriate times. > http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/fridenstw.html There is an "mpg", but not of square root. :-) Why would anyone want a transparent monitor, when they could have a Friden calculator, with the skins off. :-) http://www.hpmuseum.org/srw.htm Has the square root algorithm. -- Gary A. Gorgen | "From ideas to PRODUCTS" tunxis@comcast.net | Tunxis Design Inc. | Cupertino, Ca. 95014 ###### From: Nick Spalding Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 15:52:53 +0000 Lines: 37 Message-ID: References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> Reply-To: Nick Spalding NNTP-Posting-Host: dialup0393.ts005.bmt.esat.net (212.2.173.137) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de 1079279589 70258303 I 212.2.173.137 ([32922]) X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 2.0/32.646 X-Posting-Agent: Hamster/2.0.0.1 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.ip-plus.net!newsfeed.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!dialup0393.ts005.bmt.esat.NET!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167906 Alan Balmer wrote, in : > On 12 Mar 04 11:12:35 -0800, "Charlie Gibbs" > wrote: > > >In article > >shoppa@trailing-edge.com (Tim Shoppa) writes: > > > >>Does anyone know of good references for architectures used in > >>1960's and 1970's desktop and early handheld calculators? Anything > >>from "survey" articles that might have been published in journals to > >>detailed designs would be interesting. > >> > >>I remember playing with Litton, Monroe, japanese, etc., machines from > >>the 70's and pulling off the covers just long enough to see great big > >>boards filled with discrete and maybe a few SSI components, but I'm > >>interested in how they did the job. I'm guessing that some designs > >>were bit-serial and others were digit-serial, and some used > >>recirculating storage (dynamic shift registers?) and others > >>had static storage, but that's just a guess. > > > >A friend once had one of those early Friden calculators (130?) > >that drew four rows of 7-segment digits on a small CRT. It was > >all discrete transistors inside, and there weren't nearly enough > >to hold the bits that the screen could represent - so he deduced > >that it had to store things in some sort of recirculating storage. > > That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a > row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, > not transistors. > > It was fun to watch it do square roots. It was fun to do square roots on the old hand turned ones which had no such function. -- Nick Spalding ###### From: "Joe \"Nuke Me Xemu\" Foster" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 08:49:27 -0800 Organization: North American Marcab-Teegeeack Love Association Message-ID: <1079282989.890236@news-1.nethere.net> Reply-To: "Joe \"Nuke Me Xemu\" Foster" References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4922.1500 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4925.2800 Cache-Post-Path: news-1.nethere.net!unknown@66.52.162.189 X-Cache: nntpcache 3.0.1 (see http://www.nntpcache.org/) X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Lines: 25 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!enews.sgi.com!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!ucberkeley!sn-xit-02!sn-xit-01!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167913 "Nick Spalding" wrote in message ... > Alan Balmer wrote, in : > > That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a > > row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, > > not transistors. > > > > It was fun to watch it do square roots. > > It was fun to do square roots on the old hand turned ones which had no > such function. Has anyone mentioned the Curta yet? URL:http://hpmuseum.org/ffcurta.htm URL:http://www.vcalc.net/cu.htm -- Joe Foster DC8s in Spaace: WARNING: I cannot be held responsible for the above They're coming to because my cats have apparently learned to type. take me away, ha ha! ###### From: Nick Spalding Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 18:26:34 +0000 Lines: 26 Message-ID: References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <1079282989.890236@news-1.nethere.net> Reply-To: Nick Spalding NNTP-Posting-Host: dialup452.ts527.cwt.esat.net (194.165.161.196) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de 1079288804 70188355 I 194.165.161.196 ([32922]) X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 2.0/32.646 X-Posting-Agent: Hamster/2.0.0.1 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.ip-plus.net!newsfeed.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!dialup452.ts527.cwt.esat.NET!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167928 Joe "Nuke Me Xemu" Foster wrote, in <1079282989.890236@news-1.nethere.net>: > "Nick Spalding" wrote in message ... > > > Alan Balmer wrote, in : > > > > That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a > > > row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, > > > not transistors. > > > > > > It was fun to watch it do square roots. > > > > It was fun to do square roots on the old hand turned ones which had no > > such function. > > Has anyone mentioned the Curta yet? > > URL:http://hpmuseum.org/ffcurta.htm > > URL:http://www.vcalc.net/cu.htm The machine I used to use was a Brunsvega. The name just wouldn't come to me when I posted the last message but it now has. -- Nick Spalding ###### From: Nick Spalding Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 18:34:11 +0000 Lines: 10 Message-ID: References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <1079282989.890236@news-1.nethere.net> Reply-To: Nick Spalding NNTP-Posting-Host: dialup452.ts527.cwt.esat.net (194.165.161.196) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de 1079289260 70476516 I 194.165.161.196 ([32922]) X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 2.0/32.646 X-Posting-Agent: Hamster/2.0.0.1 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.ip-plus.net!newsfeed.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!dialup452.ts527.cwt.esat.NET!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167929 Nick Spalding wrote, in : > The machine I used to use was a Brunsvega. The name just wouldn't come > to me when I posted the last message but it now has. Picture of a similar but slightly newer-looking model. References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 1079292895 16039 158.152.92.150 (14 Mar 2004 19:34:55 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Newsreader: SNews 1.31+mods(jlw030122/386) Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!kibo.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!dsl.co.uk!bhk Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167940 On Sunday, in article spalding@iol.ie "Nick Spalding" wrote: > It was fun to do square roots on the old hand turned ones which had no > such function. Ah yes; I remember doing just that on a Brunsviga. (Thinks: is THAT where my RSI first arose? :-) -- fix (vb.): 1. to paper over, obscure, hide from public view; 2. to work around, in a way that produces unintended consequences that are worse than the original problem. Usage: "Windows ME fixes many of the shortcomings of Windows 98 SE". ###### From: bhk@dsl.co.uk (Brian {Hamilton Kelly}) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 19:14:00 +0000 (GMT) Organization: Dragonhill Systems Lines: 30 Message-ID: <20040314.1914.55796snz@dsl.co.uk> References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 1079292897 16039 158.152.92.150 (14 Mar 2004 19:34:57 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Newsreader: SNews 1.31+mods(jlw030122/386) Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.belwue.de!feed.news.tiscali.de!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!colt.net!kibo.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!dsl.co.uk!bhk Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167941 On Friday, in article albalmer@att.net "Alan Balmer" wrote: > That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a > row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, > not transistors. > > It was fun to watch it do square roots. Back in the 1960s, I used just that model of Friden for calculating "fall of shot" by the Method of Least Squares. (Used to use an excellent series of seven-figure tables[1] by Comrie [sp?] for the trig too.) In the early 1970s, an HP salesman spent a day 350mi from his base trying to demonstrate that their new 9100B could manage the feat more elegantly. Everything was fine, until some data produced entirely the wrong result; it turned out that the program needed cos of something, and, having got cos-squared already in a register, merely performed a sqrt; we all learnt something that day! [1] Excellent in the sense that the data were all eminently _readable_; the author had explicitly specified the use of "old-style" digits, which removed ambiguity and reduced transcription errors. -- fix (vb.): 1. to paper over, obscure, hide from public view; 2. to work around, in a way that produces unintended consequences that are worse than the original problem. Usage: "Windows ME fixes many of the shortcomings of Windows 98 SE". ###### From: Nick Spalding Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:50:04 +0000 Lines: 43 Message-ID: <7kg950p5tl561cu890ushtdkfjv4dli28k@4ax.com> References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <20040314.1914.55796snz@dsl.co.uk> Reply-To: Nick Spalding NNTP-Posting-Host: dialup281.ts001.bmt.esat.net (193.203.149.25) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de 1079298005 69317304 I 193.203.149.25 ([32922]) X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 2.0/32.646 X-Posting-Agent: Hamster/2.0.0.1 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.ip-plus.net!newsfeed.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!dialup281.ts001.bmt.esat.NET!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167956 Brian {Hamilton Kelly} wrote, in <20040314.1914.55796snz@dsl.co.uk>: > On Friday, in article > > albalmer@att.net "Alan Balmer" wrote: > > > That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a > > row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, > > not transistors. > > > > It was fun to watch it do square roots. > > Back in the 1960s, I used just that model of Friden for calculating "fall > of shot" by the Method of Least Squares. (Used to use an excellent > series of seven-figure tables[1] by Comrie [sp?] for the trig too.) I have his edition of: Barlow's Tables of SQUARES CUBES SQUARE ROOTS and RECIPROCALS of all integers up to 12,500 Edited by L.S. Comrie, M.A. Ph.D. E. & F. Spon Ltd., 57 Haymarket, S.W.1 1947 The first edition by Peter Barlow dates from 1814 and the second from 1840 is by Augustus de Morgan. Comrie published a third in 1930 and a fourth in 1941 of which mine is a reprint. I have Chambers 7 figure tables for trig. [snip] -- Nick Spalding ###### From: David R Brooks Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 06:33:34 +0800 Message-ID: References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <2EI4c.6025$_w.227731@attbi_s53> <4053CA22.6CB15842@comcast.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.92/32.572 X-No-Archive: yes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 30 NNTP-Posting-Host: 203.59.185.234 X-Trace: 1079303665 freenews.iinet.net.au 22531 203.59.185.234 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!news.linkpendium.com!border1.nntp.sjc.giganews.com!border2.nntp.sjc.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!cyclone-sf.pbi.net!64.42.15.2!HSNX.atgi.net!newsfeed.iinet.net.au!newsfeed.iinet.net.au!freenews.iinet.net.au!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:167967 A friend used to work as a service tech on those old mechanical Fridens. They had a program to calculate pi - it never ended, just ground out more places. They used it for quality control: just listen to the noise: if it still sounded the same after say, 15 minutes running, the unit was OK. Charles Richmond wrote: :"Gary A. Gorgen" wrote: :> :> Alan Balmer wrote: :> :> > :> > That must have been a *late* model Friden :-) The earlier ones had a :> > row of counter wheels for the display, and was stuffed full of gears, :> > not transistors. :> > :> > It was fun to watch it do square roots. :> > :> :> The first time I did a square root on a Friden, I thought I broke it. :-) :> :> The are alot of calculator emulators, out there. :> Someone should do one for the Friden. :> It would have to be real time, & make the same noise. :> :One could find a collector of the original machines, and record :the noises of calculation. Then the emulator could play those at :the appropriate times. ###### From: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: 15 Mar 2004 07:40:57 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 9 Message-ID: References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <2EI4c.6025$_w.227731@attbi_s53> <4053CA22.6CB15842@comcast.net> Reply-To: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) NNTP-Posting-Host: smeagol.ncf.ca X-Trace: freenet9.carleton.ca 1079336457 9753 134.117.136.48 (15 Mar 2004 07:40:57 GMT) X-Complaints-To: complaints@ncf.ca NNTP-Posting-Date: 15 Mar 2004 07:40:57 GMT X-Given-Sender: ab528@smeagol.ncf.ca (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.ip-plus.net!newsfeed.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.space.net!news.m-online.net!news-FFM2.ecrc.net!nntp1.roc.gblx.net!nntp.gblx.net!nntp.gblx.net!xcski.com!freenet-news!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ab528 Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:168008 David R Brooks (davebXXX@iinet.net.au) writes: > A friend used to work as a service tech on those old mechanical > Fridens. They had a program to calculate pi - it never ended, just > ground out more places. They used it for quality control: just listen > to the noise: if it still sounded the same after say, 15 minutes > running, the unit was OK. Using what algorithm, and how many digits in the result? Sounds like an interesting benchmark for more recent number crunchers. ###### From: Joe Morris Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 13:42:18 +0000 (UTC) Organization: The MITRE Organization Lines: 13 Message-ID: References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <2EI4c.6025$_w.227731@attbi_s53> <4053CA22.6CB15842@comcast.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: jmorris-pc.mitre.org X-Trace: newslocal.mitre.org 1079358138 25989 128.29.24.210 (15 Mar 2004 13:42:18 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@mitre.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 13:42:18 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: nn/6.6.4 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!nntp-out.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!logbridge.uoregon.edu!bigboote.WPI.EDU!news.tufts.edu!newstransit.mitre.org!news.mitre.org!jcmorris Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:168023 David R Brooks writes: >A friend used to work as a service tech on those old mechanical >Fridens. They had a program to calculate pi - it never ended, just >ground out more places. They used it for quality control: just listen >to the noise: if it still sounded the same after say, 15 minutes >running, the unit was OK. H'mmm...would you call this an early example of margin testing, which in this case was the manipulation of the bearing temperatures and lubrication? Joe Morris ###### Message-ID: <4055CD16.9824FC97@yahoo.com> From: CBFalconer Reply-To: cbfalconer@worldnet.att.net Organization: Ched Research X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <2EI4c.6025$_w.227731@attbi_s53> <4053CA22.6CB15842@comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 23 Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 15:39:13 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.76.138.137 X-Complaints-To: abuse@worldnet.att.net X-Trace: bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net 1079365153 12.76.138.137 (Mon, 15 Mar 2004 15:39:13 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 15:39:13 GMT Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!nntp-out.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!border1.nntp.ash.giganews.com!border2.nntp.ash.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!wn12feed!worldnet.att.net!bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:168030 Joe Morris wrote: > David R Brooks writes: > > >A friend used to work as a service tech on those old mechanical > >Fridens. They had a program to calculate pi - it never ended, just > >ground out more places. They used it for quality control: just listen > >to the noise: if it still sounded the same after say, 15 minutes > >running, the unit was OK. > > H'mmm...would you call this an early example of margin testing, which > in this case was the manipulation of the bearing temperatures and > lubrication? I suspect the accuracy fell off, although the process could continue, due to finite length of the registers. I fail to see any way to realloc those entities, nor a suitable source of gears etc. from which to do the realloc. -- Chuck F (cbfalconer@yahoo.com) (cbfalconer@worldnet.att.net) Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems. USE worldnet address! ###### Message-ID: <4056389F.6D4E15BB@comcast.net> From: Charles Richmond Reply-To: richmond@nospam.plano.net Organization: Canine Computer Center X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <1079282989.890236@news-1.nethere.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 19 NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.1.126.198 X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-Trace: attbi_s53 1079385576 24.1.126.198 (Mon, 15 Mar 2004 21:19:36 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 21:19:36 GMT Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 21:19:36 GMT Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!zen.net.uk!dedekind.zen.co.uk!news.glorb.com!wn52feed!worldnet.att.net!attbi_s53.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:168079 Nick Spalding wrote: > > Nick Spalding wrote, in : > > > The machine I used to use was a Brunsvega. The name just wouldn't come > > to me when I posted the last message but it now has. > > Picture of a similar but slightly newer-looking model. > > This looks like the calculator used in the "Machine that Changed the World" program on PBS...only the one on PBS was "steel blue" in color... -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond richmond at plano dot net | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### Message-ID: <405639B3.2B1D95E2@comcast.net> From: Charles Richmond Reply-To: richmond@nospam.plano.net Organization: Canine Computer Center X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7C-CCK-MCD {C-UDP; EBM-APPLE} (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: <1372.567T1795T6724976@kltpzyxm.invalid> <20040314.1914.55796snz@dsl.co.uk> <7kg950p5tl561cu890ushtdkfjv4dli28k@4ax.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 37 NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.1.126.198 X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-Trace: attbi_s54 1079385853 24.1.126.198 (Mon, 15 Mar 2004 21:24:13 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 21:24:13 GMT Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 21:24:13 GMT Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!ecngs!feeder2.ecngs.de!216.196.98.140.MISMATCH!border1.nntp.ash.giganews.com!border2.nntp.ash.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!wn51feed!worldnet.att.net!attbi_s54.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:168081 Nick Spalding wrote: > > [snip...] [snip...] [snip...] > > I have his edition of: > > Barlow's Tables > of > SQUARES > CUBES > SQUARE ROOTS > and > RECIPROCALS > of all integers up to > 12,500 > > Edited by > L.S. Comrie, M.A. Ph.D. > > E. & F. Spon Ltd., 57 Haymarket, S.W.1 > 1947 > > The first edition by Peter Barlow dates from 1814 and the second from > 1840 is by Augustus de Morgan. Comrie published a third in 1930 and a > fourth in 1941 of which mine is a reprint. > > I have Chambers 7 figure tables for trig. > Okay, your assignment is to take a scientific calculator and *check* each and every entry in these tables for accuracy... ;-) -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond richmond at plano dot net | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: <20040314.1914.55796snz@dsl.co.uk> <7kg950p5tl561cu890ushtdkfjv4dli28k@4ax.com> <405639B3.2B1D95E2@comcast.net> From: sidd@situ.com () Lines: 37 Message-ID: Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 23:23:28 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.210.233.7 X-Complaints-To: abuse@rr.com X-Trace: fe1.columbus.rr.com 1079825008 204.210.233.7 (Sat, 20 Mar 2004 18:23:28 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 18:23:28 EST Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!nntp-out.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!news-east.rr.com!news.rr.com!news-server.columbus.rr.com!fe1.columbus.rr.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:168559 In article <405639B3.2B1D95E2@comcast.net>, Charles Richmond wrote: > > >Nick Spalding wrote: >> I have his edition of: >> >> Barlow's Tables ... >> I have Chambers 7 figure tables for trig. >> >Okay, your assignment is to take a scientific calculator >and *check* each and every entry in these tables for >accuracy... ;-) > perhaps you mean 'check the scientific calculator for accuracy' ? i have, in my misspent years, actually done obsessive calculations with pencil and paper checking both printed and electronic results i usually discover that my own errors in such pencil and paper calculations are embarassingly large yet sometimes i still indulge my paranoia not often enough, apparently ###### Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? References: <20040314.1914.55796snz@dsl.co.uk> <7kg950p5tl561cu890ushtdkfjv4dli28k@4ax.com> <405639B3.2B1D95E2@comcast.net> From: sidd@situ.com () Lines: 37 Message-ID: Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 23:28:14 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.210.233.7 X-Complaints-To: abuse@rr.com X-Trace: fe3.columbus.rr.com 1079825294 204.210.233.7 (Sat, 20 Mar 2004 18:28:14 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 18:28:14 EST Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.ip-plus.net!newsfeed.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!news.tu-darmstadt.de!newsfeed.freenet.de!newsfeed.wirehub.nl!amsnews01.chello.com!newshub3.home.nl!newshub1.home.nl!home.nl!news.cambrium.nl!news.cambrium.nl!border1.nntp.ash.giganews.com!border2.nntp.ash.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!cyclone1.gnilink.net!gnilink.net!cyclone.rdc-nyc.rr.com!news-west.rr.com!news.rr.com!news-server.columbus.rr.com!fe3.columbus.rr.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:168558 In article <405639B3.2B1D95E2@comcast.net>, Charles Richmond wrote: > > >Nick Spalding wrote: >> I have his edition of: >> >> Barlow's Tables ... >> I have Chambers 7 figure tables for trig. >> >Okay, your assignment is to take a scientific calculator >and *check* each and every entry in these tables for >accuracy... ;-) > perhaps you mean 'check the scientific calculator for accuracy' ? i have, in my misspent years, actually done obsessive calculations with pencil and paper checking both printed and electronic results i usually discover that my own errors in such pencil and paper calculations are embarassingly large yet sometimes i still indulge my paranoia not often enough, apparently ###### From: "Joe \"Nuke Me Xemu\" Foster" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Calculator architecture? Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 16:16:49 -0800 Organization: North American Marcab-Teegeeack Love Association Message-ID: <1079828233.326449@news-1.nethere.net> Reply-To: "Joe \"Nuke Me Xemu\" Foster" References: <20040314.1914.55796snz@dsl.co.uk> <7kg950p5tl561cu890ushtdkfjv4dli28k@4ax.com> <405639B3.2B1D95E2@comcast.net> X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4922.1500 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4925.2800 Cache-Post-Path: news-1.nethere.net!unknown@66.52.162.123 X-Cache: nntpcache 3.0.1 (see http://www.nntpcache.org/) X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Lines: 31 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!snoopy.risq.qc.ca!cyclone.bc.net!sjc70.webusenet.com!news.usenetserver.com!sn-xit-02!sn-xit-03!sn-xit-04!sn-xit-06!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:168561 wrote in message ... > In article <405639B3.2B1D95E2@comcast.net>, > Charles Richmond wrote: > >Okay, your assignment is to take a scientific calculator > >and *check* each and every entry in these tables for > >accuracy... ;-) > perhaps you mean 'check the scientific calculator for accuracy' ? > > i have, in my misspent years, actually done obsessive calculations > with pencil and paper checking both printed and electronic results > > i usually discover that my own errors in such pencil and paper > calculations are embarassingly large > > yet sometimes i still indulge my paranoia > > not often enough, apparently Wouldn't it be enough to compare the results of two (or more) electronic calculations using different algorithms, and iff they differ, then and only then try it with pencil and paper? -- Joe Foster Sign the Check! WARNING: I cannot be held responsible for the above They're coming to because my cats have apparently learned to type. take me away, ha ha!