The machine can only address 1k of memory, a limit which the code to support the RPN calculator add-on also built brushes up against, at 992 bytes.
Nothing but 6502 machine language here, entered manually with the toggle switches, or via an externally programmed ROM. Īs for programming, this machine is as low-level as it gets. Even the hand-drawn schematic is a work of art - shades of. The construction method is wire wrapping, in keeping with the old-school look and feel. The interior is no less tidy, with the 6502 microprocessor - date code from 1995 - and associated support chips neatly arranged on perf board. The main chassis of the computer fairly bristles with LEDs and chunky toggle switches for setting the data and address busses. In that regard alone we’d call this a success the die-cast aluminum enclosures used are a little blast from the past and lend a nice retro industrial look to the project. states that one of the goals for this 6502 computer build was to make it strong enough to survive real-world usage. Posted in handhelds hacks Tagged calculator, reverse polish notation, RPN, RPN calculator, Scientific Calculator If RPN interests you, it’s a subject we’ve looked at in greater detail in the past. All the resources can be found in a GitHub repository, so if RPN is your thing there’s nothing to stop you building one for yourself. The key legends are a set of printable stickers, which when printed on self-adhesive laser film prove durable enough to last. It runs from a CR2032 which is more than can be said for some modern styles of calculator, and it gives the user everything you could wish for in a scientific calculator. This glorious specimen is an open hardware RPN calculator with more than a nod to the venerable Hewlett Packard HP42 in its design.Īt its heart is an STM32L476 low-power ARM processor and a Sharp Memory LCD, all on a PCB clad in a 3D-printed case you’d have been proud to own in the 1980s. Since classic models from the 1970s and ’80s are rather pricey, ’s just build his own called the OpenCalc. Unfortunately for RPN enthusiasts, the RPN calculator is a little on the rare side.
Why reach for a bland, commercially available calculator when you be using a model that employs RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) in its calculations and be a custom build all at the same time? The kids may have colour TFTs and graphing functions, but your keyboard has no equals sign, and that means something. Posted in Retrocomputing Tagged calculator, MK-52, programmable, RPN, russia, soviet But you say that the Cyrillic keyboard has you stumped and you need a bilingual version of the MK-52? That’s not a problem. We love the look of this machine and appreciate ’s teardown and analysis. The calculator appears to be very well cared for, and once reassembled looks like it would be up for another ride on a Soyuz, where once it served as a backup for landing calculations. has put together a video of the teardown, detailing the mostly through-hole construction and the interesting use of a daughter-board, which appears to hold the high-voltage section needed to drive the 11-character VFD tube. The programmable calculator was obviously geared toward scientific and engineering users, but relates how later versions of it were also used by the financial community to root out banking fraud and even had built-in cryptographic functions, which made encrypting text easy. has done a careful but thorough teardown of a fine example of this late-80s machine. One particularly interesting artifact from the later part of that era was the lovely Elektronika MK-52 “microcalculator”. Things were perhaps not as streamlined and sleek as their Western equivalents, but then again, just look at the Nixie tube craze to see where collectors and enthusiasts stand on that comparison.
Say what you want about Soviet technology, but you’ve got to admit there was a certain style to Cold War-era electronics.
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