A few days ago i finally created a master list of calculators in my collection, though the list is not yet complete. I have been collecting the things for over twenty years and they have been placed in little bundles all over the house so i may have more to yet discover and add to the list! I do have a new machine to add though, which came today. This Detson 803PM, which works nicely. My list also helps me know that this is the second Detson in the collection.
Another calculator has joined the collection, a Silver-Reed Mini-M ER 8095. This is the second Silver-Reed machine in the collection, the other was the very first calculator in my collection (1250PD) which i got many years ago. Over twenty in fact!
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) calculators from the 1980s and 1990s are not as interesting as the LED and VFD display machines of the previous decade but i do like this simple little Radio Shack EC-458 machine.
It reminds me of the vogue, in my latter school days, for machines with solar panels, it seemed like we were entering the future with free power! The EC-458 is dual power so has a battery as well, and still works fine.
The latest addition to the calculator collection is this rather nice Conic 750. It comes with the original box though no manual, i should be able to work out how to use it though. The calculator works though sometimes can be a bit flakey and lose what you have keyed in. What is shown is via a rather nice red LED display.
The Busicom 1210PD is a decent sized desktop mains powered calculator with a built in printer. This calculator, like the mighty Silver-Reed 1250PD, is intended for heavy duty number work such as working out the wages for the workers on a Friday.
The calculator works well, though required a new ribbon (this has now been fitted). Despite it's age it seems to work electronically pretty well with few if any glitches. Numbers are shown in a nice cyan blue VFD display.
The Canon Palmtronic 8, also known as the LD-84 is a fine little mid-1970s Japanese calculator with a VFD (vacuum fluorescent) display. The calculator has a TI TMS0855NL (7632) microprocessor and supports the four basic arithmetic functions as well as square roots and percentages.
My one still works OK and is in reasonably good condition for something that is now fifty years old, though it is a little scuffed (arn't we all?) Some of the keys are a little stiff and sometimes do not register.
The Decimo Vatman was a Japanese made calculator for the British market, this one probably made in about 1974 or 1975. The name Vatman refers to Value Added Tax which was introduced into Britain in 1973. The introduction of the new tax caused many headaches for businesses it is said, so no doubt the Vatman with it's VAT key helped!
This key is just a percentage function, and the figure needed to be multipled by 8 for the then-VAT rate of 8% (sadly it is a lot higher now!) The calculator has an eight digit green fluorescent display. As well as the basic four functions and percentages (VAT) it also has square root, square and power functions.
Unfortunately, my example no longer seems to work. The battery compartment has some corrosion.
This jolly and retro-tastic piece of beige and black technology from the mid-1970s is a Lloytron Accumatic 320. It seems to work well and has a green VFD display. The calculator is pretty feature rich for it's day with a few extra mathematical functions such as square root and pi to go along with the basic four arithmetric functions.
The calculator is pretty power hungry though, requiring no less than four AA batteries.
The first piece of retro office technology to be procured this month is this rather pleasing, if a bit basic, Canon Palmtronic 8 calculator. Although the calculator shows signs of a long life, plenty of scuff marks and so forth, it does work still though some of the keys are a little hestitant.
A new calculator has joined the collection this week, this rather lovely Decimo Vatman. This Japanese made machine was released in about 1974 not long after Value Added Tax was introduced into Britain. This calculator was named and released with it's VAT key (aka the percentage key) to take advantage of the ruckus caused by the change in the tax system.
Unfortunately, the calculator no longer seems in working order.
A new calculator has joined the collection, this rather nice Lloytron Accumatic 320. The calculator is well equipped with a number of extra mathemetical functions including square roots. It also has a rather nice VFD display. The calculator powers up and seems to work pretty well.
The most important calculator in the calculator, not least because it was the first one i bought in the early 2000s. It is also a joyfully large mains powered heavy duty calculation machine with a printer. The calculator is powered by a Hitachi HD385138 system and has the basic arithmetic functions though [add] has a large key and [subtract] also a larger (though slightly smaller than add) key in red. This is the sort of machine used for a small company's payroll, accounts or someone's expenses. There is also a lozenge marked key for sub-totals.
The calculator also has a memory function and a few other keys marked with letters, the functions of which remain unclear. Maybe a manual is around somewhere. The printer works great, i replaced the ribbon a short while ago.
This addition to the calculator collection was manufactured in about 1976 and has a very pleasing 1970s beige and brown look. The calculator supports the four arithmetic functions only though displays numbers with a lovely red LED display.
The calculator does turn on though operation is pretty flakey. The slightest movement can clear the display. Like many calculators of this vintage the logic of the CPU seems to have suffered bit rot. It can display entered numbers but not really do anything with them.
The Samsung Secal 800N is a mid-1970s model, probably built around 1975 or 1976. The calculator has a dedicated calculation chip. it supports the four main arithmetric functions plus percentages and square roots. It also supports negative numbers.
Despite externally looking in good nick, the calculator did not turn on when batteries were fitted. This is a shame as i'm sure the Vacuum Fluorescent Display would have looked superb.
Boots (yes the pharmacists) released branded typewriters in the 1970s and 1980s, and also this calculator too. The Boots 224 Memory is a nice late 1970s machine with a square root and percentage functions to go along with the basic four arithmetric functions. As the name implies, the calculator has memory too and works fine, numbers displayed using an eight digit VFD display. This is in fact a rebranded Casio Memory B-1.
This is an impressive looking mains powered desk calculation machine from the first half of the 1970s (or perhaps 1976 as there is a sticker underneath it which says "July 1976", maybe when it was purchased?) The calculator has the standard four arithmetric functions plus percentages and a memory. It also has a slider switch to set the number of digital places. What RM and RV do i am unsure but perhaps something to do with the memory. Numbers are shown using a nice looking VFD display.
Although my calculator does switch on (or rather powers on - the switch on the side doesn't do anything) some of the calculations can go wrong indicating some bit rot but considering the age of this machine it works pretty well.
Well i have created videos of me using typewriters, and a dial phone (which has already become my third most popular video on YouTube!) So, here is a video of me using my Busicom 1210PD calculator!
As its my birthday soon i had some money to spend and naturally the best thing to spend the money on is... obsolete office technology! I bought two typewriters including my first Olivetti and a job lot of sixteen old calculators!
Before the typewriter collection, in the early 2000s there was the calculator collection. I built up quite a collection of the little machines, some of which you can see in this series. For a change i decided to buy a new (old) calculator last week, the first for years. That machine is this Litton Imperial 1260 which may date from July 1976 (it has a sticker with this written on it on the base anyway).
The calculator is AC mains powered and to my surprise does power up. It can't perform any calculations though unfortunately, maybe due to some bit rot in the calculator's CPU.
Centrepiece of my calculator collection is my mains electric powered Silver Reed 1250PD. After a good clean it powered up perfectly though the ribbon was completely shot. I received a new ribbon today and for the first time in decades the print out is clean and crisp. Maybe i should do my accounts, the red ink will be handy.
