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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
by 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 agoNo 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 agoThanks, 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