RPN Calculators

[Saint-Just]

You NEED hard copies.

[Steve White]

My grandfather (born in Sweden in 1889) was a railroad man in Wisconsin and a near-genius. He devised algorithyms and log tables to calculate the braking force needed by a train of "x" weight to stop in "y" distance. Then he physically designed and built about ten highly-crafted wooden slide rules that simplified his calculations, which he went on to patent. When I was in high school and college, slide rules were at the top of the personal technology heap (until I bought my Canon Palmtronic LE-10 a few years later!).

**PHOTO ADDED**

My god! they don't make railroad men like your grandfather any more , well, not in the UK anyway.

That reminds me actually. When returning from a wedding reception one night (not my wedding) we were waiting on the Platform at Chesterfield station and the Intercity 125 from London rolls in a good 30 plus minutes late.

I lean out towards the platform edge and holding my wristwatch up and jabbing the glass with my index finger whilst looking at the approaching driver with a 'what kept you me-lad?' look on my face.

He sails past giving me the finger whilst looking resolutely dead ahead.

Now that is why I love this country : ) He did the right and proper thing and I laughed my head off all the way home.

[pacifichrono]

You NEED hard copies.

...else it's in the ether.

[in_denial]

You NEED hardback copies.

Fixed that for you ;-) Actually I only have Starting Forth in hardback. I bought my first HP (a HP16C programmer's calculator) in 1987, although I had been using them since 1981, and swiftly added an HP48SX with its funky forth-like language. In San Francisco's Chinatown in '93 I found a few NOS HPs at ridiculously low prices, so I must have nearly as many HP calculators as watches.

My grail must be an HP71B with the Forth ROM in it, but I guess I should start flipping some of my cheaper ones before I can get it!

[Saint-Just]

My grandfather (born in Sweden in 1889) was a railroad man in Wisconsin and a near-genius. He devised algorithyms and log tables to calculate the braking force needed by a train of "x" weight to stop in "y" distance. Then he physically designed and built about ten highly-crafted wooden slide rules that simplified his calculations, which he went on to patent. When I was in high school and college, slide rules were at the top of the personal technology heap (until I bought my Canon Palmtronic LE-10 a few years later!).

**PHOTO ADDED**

That is quite an amazing engineering feat.

*tips hat*

[Mr Curta]

That slide rule is both extremely impressive and an object of beauty.

Of course, for real number crunching you can't beat the meshing of gears

[Mr Curta]

Rick Furr's VCALC.net is a superb resource on HP calculators. His poster is marvellous.

http://www.vcalc.net/hp.htm

[pacifichrono]

That slide rule is both extremely impressive and an object of beauty.

Of course, for real number crunching you can't beat the meshing of gears

Beautiful!

That reminds me of the MANUAL mechanical calculator I used at the start of my career in accounting and finance. I was placed at a desk in a huge bay of workers at International Milling Company, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota in March of 1969. We each had a manual calculator similar to this one:




...and yes, I am still among the living!

[pacifichrono]

My god! they don't make railroad men like your grandfather any more , well, not in the UK anyway.

That reminds me actually. When returning from a wedding reception one night (not my wedding) we were waiting on the Platform at Chesterfield station and the Intercity 125 from London rolls in a good 30 plus minutes late.

I lean out towards the platform edge and holding my wristwatch up and jabbing the glass with my index finger whilst looking at the approaching driver with a 'what kept you me-lad?' look on my face.

He sails past giving me the finger whilst looking resolutely dead ahead.

Now that is why I love this country : ) He did the right and proper thing and I laughed my head off all the way home.

My grandfather would have FIRED any engineer who did that! My dad would have, too (also a railroad man).

[Steve White]

My grandfather would have FIRED any engineer who did that! My dad would have, too (also a railroad man).

And they would have been quite right to do so.

I just loved the real emotional response in the moment rather than some corporate standard apology (which can end up being more insulting, to the intelligence at least).

He had probably had a hard day and if I had had a hard day too it could have ended in a punch up. I was in a mellow place however and enjoyed it, but yes with my adult head on it is pretty poor behaviour customer relations wise.

The slide rule work your Grandfather did was outstanding. I love that design and construct mentality to problem solving. The execution and craftsmanhip jumps it up another notch or ten. Not many people have that range of skill sets.

[alfat33]

My grandfather (born in Sweden in 1889) was a railroad man in Wisconsin and a near-genius. He devised algorithyms and log tables to calculate the braking force needed by a train of "x" weight to stop in "y" distance. Then he physically designed and built about ten highly-crafted wooden slide rules that simplified his calculations, which he went on to patent.

Wouldn't that make a great complication on a Railmaster style watch - a slide rule bezel that calculated train braking distances and forces.

I remember programming HP and TI calculators, I think I preferred TI but for the life of me can't remember why now. And yes. RPN all the way.

[Andy H]

Here´s an old German model, very reliable.



Contained within an upmarket wallet

[Mr Curta]

I have a few Addiator style calculators, dating from the 1920s to 1960s. Some are for performing swift calculations in pre-decimal currency. They all still work perfectly due to the reliable mechanism.




Apologies for the thread creep, however most mechanical calculators do employ a kind of reverse notation. On a pinwheel machine such as a Curta, Alpina or this ADM-Schubert, the operands are keyed into the setting register before performing the operator by turning the crank handle.

[frogspawn]

Missy uses a curta pinwheel on navigational rallies and for calculations at home...she is a bit behind the times...but very quick.

[pacifichrono]

I have a few Addiator style calculators, dating from the 1920s to 1960s. Some are for performing swift calculations in pre-decimal currency. They all still work perfectly due to the reliable mechanism.



Apologies for the thread creep, however most mechanical calculators do employ a kind of reverse notation. On a pinwheel machine such as a Curta, Alpina or this ADM-Schubert, the operands are keyed into the setting register before performing the operator by turning the crank handle.

Wonderful...they all look mint!

[Mr Curta]

Missy uses a curta pinwheel on navigational rallies and for calculations at home...she is a bit behind the times...but very quick.

I'd love to know which version, I use a late Type I regularly. They have always been popular on rallies as they withstand bumps and jolts that caused some early electronic calculators to lose the running total.

[Saint-Just]

Would have loved to have a play with these Curtas but they are completely out of my reach.