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From: gerheim on 7 Nov 2006 11:52
Talk about "forgetting" - I still have a 42S on my desk at work. This
one was truly magnificent for some commonplace stuff.

I wrote my first useful satellite tracker on it.


gerheim(a)cox.net wrote:
> As long as we're sharing HP Calc stories...
> About 3 days before my Master's Comps in EE, I discovered that my TI
> SR-51 was giving me bad scoop. It actually came up with the wrong
> answer on the sinh function, only when plugged in. This was enough.
> No telling what was going on in the chips, so...
>
> Luckily, the campus bookstore was open the friday after thanksgiving
> (IIRC), and I got an HP-25 programmable. Legendary machine. Huddled
> with the machine for the rest of the weekend. I broke the curve on the
> Comprehensive exam, and I was asked to please consider the PhD program.
> And that's why they call me Dr. G!
>
> Other machines:
> 29C Continuous memory a big plus
>
> 41 Whole new concept. Plenty of memory, but hard to manage with
> the mag cards, etc...
>
> 48S The symbolic algebra was too slow to be really useful. Finally, a
> screen big enough to _say_something_! Lots of fun with this baby!
>
> 49G+ This is the machine. My only beef with it (and the 50G for that
> matter) is the inability to talk to serial devices. I could do a lot
> with either machine if I could only talk to a GPS receiver and/or a
> Kenwood TH-D7A(G) Data Radio. Please don't tell me about the serial
> port on the 50G!
>
>
>
> matt wrote:
> > Hello.
> > At the age of 38 I have just bought an HP 50g.
> > I always wanted an HP after I heard they could do symbolic calculations
> > - very nice.
> > My TI-85 has served me well over the years but money (and desire) was
> > available so after much googling for research purposes I got one.
> > So whats all this about RPN being 'hard'? After a few minutes of
> > initial discomfort, the advantages become clear, not only for entering
> > calculations, but also for finding your way around the calculator (e.g.
> > units conversion is just plain ugly in ALG).
> > So I'm just amazed as what this little machine can do. Even real-time
> > rotation of 3D-plots (something Mathematica still can't do! But OK they
> > look a lot nicer in hi-res colour).
> > And I want to thank all the people on this newsgroup because I've
> > learnt so much just by reading your posts. Very informative and full of
> > good links to helpful websites.
> > Well I'm just so happy right now with my new 'toy'.
> > Cheerio.
> >
> > Matt

From: matt on 7 Nov 2006 12:43
Thanks for pointing that out. I'm still in the dark ages with version
3.0 and the (very nice) MathGL3D addon.

Matt

Zeno wrote:
> In article <1162772146.980207.134960(a)h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
> matt <matthew-is-who-i-am(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello.
>> At the age of 38 I have just bought an HP 50g.
>> I always wanted an HP after I heard they could do symbolic calculations
>> - very nice.
>> My TI-85 has served me well over the years but money (and desire) was
>> available so after much googling for research purposes I got one.
>> So whats all this about RPN being 'hard'? After a few minutes of
>> initial discomfort, the advantages become clear, not only for entering
>> calculations, but also for finding your way around the calculator (e.g.
>> units conversion is just plain ugly in ALG).
>> So I'm just amazed as what this little machine can do. Even real-time
>> rotation of 3D-plots (something Mathematica still can't do! But OK they
>> look a lot nicer in hi-res colour).
>> And I want to thank all the people on this newsgroup because I've
>> learnt so much just by reading your posts. Very informative and full of
>> good links to helpful websites.
>> Well I'm just so happy right now with my new 'toy'.
>> Cheerio.
>>
>> Matt
>
>
> Mathematica version 4 has a Real Time 3D rotation feature. the command
> to load the package is
>
> << RealTime3D`
>
> It was in version 4 for Windows and Macinstosh but not for Unix
> platforms howeveer.
>
> It was called an "experimental" package in version 4, I am presuming
> its still available in verison 5. I use veriosn 4.2.
From: torbjorn.ekstrom on 7 Nov 2006 14:50
gerheim(a)cox.net wrote:
> Talk about "forgetting" - I still have a 42S on my desk at work. This
> one was truly magnificent for some commonplace stuff.
>
> I wrote my first useful satellite tracker on it.
>
>
> gerheim(a)cox.net wrote:
>


I agree this, but take home HP42S from work for years ago (I not want my
hp42S going stolen or broken...) and replace first with emu42 and later
free42S in Palm and laptop on work. Is not same as real calculator,
but better than hp33s I trying under a period.

Latest small gem i found in HP42s is a curve fitting tools under for me
very rare used statistic meny, and find out this gave exactly same
answer as big machine as hp48G and higher - but hp42S is easier to use
IMHO...

I also find out hp33s have only linear curve fit, not nolinear
(log/exp/pow) as hp42S, hp48Gx and higher.


HP42S unbeatable for 'simple but advanced work' and IMHO. still best
skirt pocket, every day using calculator you can get.
































g

From: Brion on 7 Nov 2006 15:11
Chris,

during my freshman year, I met a student who had returned from Vietnam
who had an HP-65 that I simply drooled over. I think he said he paid
$500 for it. I drove past King of Prussia PA on my may to work and back
and stopped into the local HP office to inquire about what calcs they
were coming out with and found out about the soon-to-arrive HP-67 and
new I had to have one. When they finally became available, I had my
father pay for it on his Amex and I would pay him back when the bill
came in. It never showed up on his bill, so I never actually paid for
it. It was purchased from a very large department store (in
Philadelphia). I always felt somehow guilty about that, but being only
18, I wasn't sure what to do. I figured it would show up on his bill
eventually, but it never did. The HP-67 mysteriously disappeared
during my last move, but I still have my HP-41C.

nospam(a)nospam.com wrote:
> On 5 Nov 2006 20:58:31 -0800, "Brion" <bkeller(a)stny.rr.com> wrote:
> >I bought an HP-67 at the end of summer in 1976 and it took about 1/3 of
> >my summer work savings to pay $450 for it.
> Couldn't resist adding that you must have been looking at the HP-67
> the same time as me though as a recent school leaver in England I was
> earning only about $30 a week, so the HP-67 was but a dream. I also
> lusted after a Leica R3 and that was an equally hopeless proposition.
> I add my thanks to all who contribute to this group as I've been
> reading it for a while and must have learned from it.
> Chris

From: brad.barton on 8 Nov 2006 09:26
Great "first HP" stories. Here's mine:

While a freshman in my mechanical engineer's program, I finally got
sick of buying new TI-55's after wearing out 3 or so. I found a 41CV
for around $250, which was still a fortune to a student, but cheaper
than a new one.

The guy I bought it off of was a cop who was had written a simple
program to bust speeders by entering the time it took them to travel a
measured distance. He said that it looked too much like magic to the
traffic courts of the day (ha ha), and the tickets kept getting thrown
out of court (radar was just becoming available for speed detection).
Since he couldn't use it for that, he didn't have any use for it any
more, and was selling it cheap to a student, so someone could get some
use out of it.

Wow what a great machine! I got fairly good at programming it, and it
(along with a Math I expansion pack) helped me get the rest of the way
through college. I've still got it, and it still sits on my desk,
because it's the best for quick calculations.

I've since had an 11C that I somehow lost track of, and a 48 SX that
goes with me in the field, because it's indestructable, and so very
versatile. My 49G+ (third one), is keeping me interested in RPL
programming, though I keep hoping the keys on this one will break, as
I've been promised a replacment 50G if they do.

Now I find myself checking out garage and estate sales in the hopes of
finding a stray HP to pick up on the cheap (I especially like the 67).
I'm constantly tempted by e-bay, but I guess I'm not a dedicated enough
collector to pay $300 for a replacment 11C.

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