HP Forum Archive 16

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

I miss my pi button!! Message #1 Posted by Ken Ratkevich on 7 Sept 2006, 4:54 a.m. I have been an Electronics Technician all my working life and have gotten by with a standard TI scientific calculator. I recently decide to upgrade to an AAS degree in Electronic Engineering Technology. So, I figure I should upgrade my calculator also. I decided to go for a top of the line calculator so naturally I picked HP. I went to HPs' website and they recommended the hp33s as the calculator best suited for engineering applications so I went online and bought one. So now I'm happy as a clam with my fancy hp33s. But, yesterday I went to solve for the reactance of an inductor using XL=2*pi*f*L and - wait - THERE'S NO pi BUTTON!!!!! Jeez!! I know I can just enter in 3.14 but it's just not the same as hittng the trusty pi button, especially if you're a stickler for accuracy and detail like I am. Is the pi button missing on other HP calculators? Ken

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #2 Posted by Frank B. (Germany) on 7 Sept 2006, 5:00 a.m., in response to message #1 by Ken Ratkevich Is it? Left-Shift Cos? Frank.

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #3 Posted by Antonio Maschio (Italy) on 7 Sept 2006, 5:12 a.m., in response to message #2 by Frank B. (Germany) Well, I'm surprised you couldn't find it. Press the violet shift (right shift!) and COS, and voilà! -- Antonio

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #4 Posted by Ken Ratkevich on 7 Sept 2006, 5:35 a.m., in response to message #2 by Frank B. (Germany) OK!! I looked right now and found it immediately! I'm so embarrassed! Forget I even posted this everyone! That's what I get for doing homework at 2am. Ken

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #5 Posted by Hal on 7 Sept 2006, 10:22 a.m., in response to message #4 by Ken Ratkevich That's quite all right, Ken. It's a common complaint on this forum that the keyboard layout and colors of the HP33 make it difficult to find things on. In the past, I've spent upwards of 45 seconds trying to find a seldom used keyboard function on my 33S. I will bet however, that you'll never have to search for the PI key again:) Best regards, Hal

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #6 Posted by GE on 7 Sept 2006, 10:48 a.m., in response to message #5 by Hal And a related question : what are the HP calculators which have a primary (no shifted) PI key ? The clock is ticking...

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #7 Posted by Ron Ross on 7 Sept 2006, 11:00 a.m., in response to message #6 by GE Well if you get to use softkeys, I will give you one NOT expected. The Hp17B (any flavor), under math menue.

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #8 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 7 Sept 2006, 12:35 p.m., in response to message #6 by GE Quote: what are the HP calculators which have a primary (no shifted) PI key ? From memory, the HP-35.

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #9 Posted by Katie Wasserman on 7 Sept 2006, 1:43 p.m., in response to message #8 by Gerson W. Barbosa ... and the horrible 30S. Just those two, from a quick look through at my collection. But I don't have some of the more recent ones like the 9G.

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #10 Posted by Gene Wright on 7 Sept 2006, 3:35 p.m., in response to message #9 by Katie Wasserman Well, my prototype HP-63S has a primary key PI function.

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #11 Posted by Walter B on 7 Sept 2006, 4:10 p.m., in response to message #10 by Gene Wright so does my draft 44S :)

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #12 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 7 Sept 2006, 9:33 p.m., in response to message #9 by Katie Wasserman Looking in the museum I've found the desktop calculators 9100A and B and the 9810 series. Like the 35 the first doesn't have a shift key anyway. And the latter appears to have both shifted and non-shifted pi keys (?!).

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #13 Posted by Katie Wasserman on 8 Sept 2006, 1:13 a.m., in response to message #12 by Gerson W. Barbosa Yes indeed (I forgot to look at the big machines) the 9100 does have a un-shifted PI key as does the 9810. The shifted PI key (CHS) is not a function, it indicates that with the Alpha Printer ROM installed the key will print the PI character when used with the FMT FMT special instruction. The un-shifted PI key prints a "P".

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #14 Posted by Steve S on 8 Sept 2006, 9:47 a.m., in response to message #1 by Ken Ratkevich ...Ya know, maybe it's just me, but aren't there some things that a person should just know...??? Pi: 3.1415926535.... (I could go on...) Should a person really have to have a key for that...???

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #15 Posted by bill platt on 8 Sept 2006, 11:23 a.m., in response to message #14 by Steve S For most applications, 3.1 is close enough, which is only one press more than shift pi :-)

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #16 Posted by Garth Wilson on 8 Sept 2006, 3:13 p.m., in response to message #1 by Ken Ratkevich Quote: I went to solve for the reactance of an inductor using XL=2*pi*f*L and - wait - THERE'S NO pi BUTTON!!!!! Jeez!! I know I can just enter in 3.14 but it's just not the same as hittng the trusty pi button, especially if you're a stickler for accuracy and detail like I am. Ummm, where did you find a source for inductors that are always accurate to more than three digits?

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #17 Posted by Ken Ratkevich on 9 Sept 2006, 12:27 a.m., in response to message #16 by Garth Wilson OK. Boy, I really took a beating on this post. This is a tough crowd. You guys have make a good point. Simple entering 3.14 for pi or 6.28 for 2*pi is more than sufficient in terms of accuracy. But I'm so used to having the pi button staring me in the face, I got a little disturbed when I couldn't immediately find it on my brand spankin' new HP calculator. Thanks for all your input. Ken

Re: I miss my pi button!! Message #18 Posted by bill platt on 9 Sept 2006, 12:05 p.m., in response to message #17 by Ken Ratkevich Hey Ken, Welcome to the tough crowd. It's all in good fun :-)

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

Go back to the main exhibit hall