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Only a few were domestic designs. Most of them were copied almost 1:1 from HP and Casio calculators, and adjusted for the inferior production capability. B3-38

Only a few were domestic designs. Most of them were copied almost 1:1 from HP and Casio calculators, and adjusted for the inferior production capability. B3-38 in particular, MK-51 etc. Die shots almost match each other, and even the microcode was 99% copied with some fixes. [1] That likely was the reason they never updated the firmware. The "Eggog" message was likely copied too, although I can't think of a good way to display an error in Cyrillic in 7 segments. Home computers is another story, in particular the 1801 series which was a domestic PDP-11 compatible design underpinning most of the Soviet personal computing boom of the late 1980s. (it was slow though, holy hell) [1] https://habr.com/ru/news/765316/ https://habr.com/ru/news/765316/

pvg 2y ago
Have you come across something similar about the programmable ones? The fact the basic models involved more copying seems more or less as-expected to me (the B3-38 kind of reminds me of the Ну Погоди! Nintendo Game & Watch clones, just by appearance) but the programmable ones look tweaked far beyond just changing the names of things.
- opencl 2y ago
  No die shots but the Wikipedia articles of all things on the MK61 and MK52 are surprisingly thorough including photos of the PCBs, schematics, and the External Links sections contain most of the interesting articles I'm aware of about these. They're quite interesting and quirky machines, definitely HP-inspired but unique in a lot of ways. Especially the MK52 with the built in EEPROM (though other than the EEPROM and connector for an external ROM it is functionally identical to the MK61). They're also still readily available and cheap on eBay if you want to play with one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-61 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-61 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-52 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-52
  - pvg 2y ago
    Thanks, the one in your first Wikipedia link http://www.alfredklomp.com/technology/mk-61/ http://www.alfredklomp.com/technology/mk-61/ apparently also had a brief HN thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12632803 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12632803 It seems odd there isn't more first-hand/primary-source-ish information about these - people who worked on ICBMs or nerve agents or whatnot have written about their experiences, you'd think calculator designers would pop up as well. Like, where is something like this for Soviet calculators https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39962737 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39962737
hulitu 2y ago
> Most of them were copied almost 1:1 from HP and Casio calculators, and adjusted for the inferior production capability Of course. /s But some of them were better.
NikkiA 2y ago
The B3 series appear to mostly be copies of Sharp designs. Hell, the whole -= += ×÷ nonsense was something Sharp introduced in 1970. edit: interestingly enough, the Sharp QT-8 also had the funky 8-segment display.
astromaniak 2y ago
> I can't think of a good way to display an error in Cyrillic in 7 segments. "*опа" should fit. Even non-experts can understand. But.. yes, requires creative thinking.
- pvg 2y ago
  requires creative thinking. I would guess it's very close to the first thing that pops into the head of many a Russian speaker. А? Что? - Ничего. Желтые ботинки! Not to mention the frequent use in the classical literature, for the more high-minded. https://vk.com/topic-16292643_23535328 https://vk.com/topic-16292643_23535328
- egorfine 2y ago
  Fun fact: IBM 16xx computers from the early sixties did output "Ж" in place of an invalid character. One can conclude that while technology comes and goes at an ever-increasing rate, Жопа is here to stay. PS: "Жопа" in russian is "bums" or "ass" but means "shit happens".

pvg 2y ago

Have you come across something similar about the programmable ones? The fact the basic models involved more copying seems more or less as-expected to me (the B3-38 kind of reminds me of the Ну Погоди! Nintendo Game & Watch clones, just by appearance) but the programmable ones look tweaked far beyond just changing the names of things.

opencl 2y ago
No die shots but the Wikipedia articles of all things on the MK61 and MK52 are surprisingly thorough including photos of the PCBs, schematics, and the External Links sections contain most of the interesting articles I'm aware of about these. They're quite interesting and quirky machines, definitely HP-inspired but unique in a lot of ways. Especially the MK52 with the built in EEPROM (though other than the EEPROM and connector for an external ROM it is functionally identical to the MK61). They're also still readily available and cheap on eBay if you want to play with one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-61 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-61 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-52 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-52
- pvg 2y ago
  Thanks, the one in your first Wikipedia link http://www.alfredklomp.com/technology/mk-61/ http://www.alfredklomp.com/technology/mk-61/ apparently also had a brief HN thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12632803 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12632803 It seems odd there isn't more first-hand/primary-source-ish information about these - people who worked on ICBMs or nerve agents or whatnot have written about their experiences, you'd think calculator designers would pop up as well. Like, where is something like this for Soviet calculators https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39962737 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39962737

hulitu 2y ago

> Most of them were copied almost 1:1 from HP and Casio calculators, and adjusted for the inferior production capability Of course. /s But some of them were better.

NikkiA 2y ago

The B3 series appear to mostly be copies of Sharp designs. Hell, the whole -= += ×÷ nonsense was something Sharp introduced in 1970. edit: interestingly enough, the Sharp QT-8 also had the funky 8-segment display.

astromaniak 2y ago

> I can't think of a good way to display an error in Cyrillic in 7 segments. "*опа" should fit. Even non-experts can understand. But.. yes, requires creative thinking.

pvg 2y ago
requires creative thinking. I would guess it's very close to the first thing that pops into the head of many a Russian speaker. А? Что? - Ничего. Желтые ботинки! Not to mention the frequent use in the classical literature, for the more high-minded. https://vk.com/topic-16292643_23535328 https://vk.com/topic-16292643_23535328
egorfine 2y ago
Fun fact: IBM 16xx computers from the early sixties did output "Ж" in place of an invalid character. One can conclude that while technology comes and goes at an ever-increasing rate, Жопа is here to stay. PS: "Жопа" in russian is "bums" or "ass" but means "shit happens".