On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 22:29:40 -0700, Richard Clark
wrote:


HP16C (software oriented - lots of bits resolution). The Rockwell

At a time when my occupation was a System Programmer on IBM Large
Systems, and I spend too much of my life reading / analysing dumps
(mostly I must admit COBOL app programmers causing S0C7), I rang the
local HP calculator supplier for a price on a HP16C.

The chap greeted me immediately with "Well, you are a person of
distinction buying a HP16C, can I tell you about it?". I told him that
wasn't necessary, I have been using one for a while, and I wanted one
for working at home, to which he replied "Well, as the owner of two
HP16Cs, you will be a person of considerable distinction".

I always wondered how many calculators some people might have bought
from him, and what the subsequent steps were in the series
"distinction", "considerable distinction"... .

But seriously, and at the risk of offending others, the HP16C still
stands IMHO as the ultimately flexible programmers calculator.
(Programmer to mean someone who programmes the metal.)

In fact the whole series HP11 .. HP17 were good, and such a break from
needing to carry a charger every where.

I used my HP16C just last week developing a PIC based stateful
controller for DowKey pulse latching coax relays (a seriously ham
radio task). Ah, we are not off-topic, that is antenna related!

Owen
--