stopwatch features on calculators

[Csaba Tizedes]

TI-65 has a stopwatch with 1 sec resolution and capable as I can remember to store timing values and can count down also. BTW TI-65 has very nice features (like 4 type time/degrees display), unfortunately really slow machine. On my TI-65 the bottom keys has some problem and not responding now.

Csaba

[pascal_meheut]

(09-10-2018 11:10 AM)Robert VM Wrote:  WP34s !!

Because of the HP-55 by the way.

[Steve Simpkin]

Here is a clock (or timer) program for the HP-25. It has a resolution of approximately 1 second and can be made fairly accurate by modifying the value stored in register 0. It could probably be adapted to work on any HP programmable model that has a PAUSE function (that lasts approximately 1 second).

Clock Program (HP-25):
01 RCL 0
02 STO+1
03 RCL 1
04 -->H.MS
05 PAUSE
06 GTO 01


Setup:
FIX 4

0.0001 (adjust this number up or down to provide an average of 1 second accuracy)
-->H
STO 0

(for a clock, enter the current time as HH.MMSS, or enter 0 for a timer)
-->H
STO 1

GTO 00
R/S to start or stop

[xerxes]

I'm still using the FX-8100 since 1980 as stopwatch, timer and alarm clock. A very nice calculator with fast operation and responsive keys.
The range of stopwatch and timer is up to 10 hours with a resolution of 1/100 sec. The stopwatch is circular with one lap and the timer
can be set to once or recurrent mode. The power consumption is around 5µA even while the running stopwatch or timer.
http://mycalcdb.free.fr/main.php?l=0&id=5456

[pier4r]

I have to say that after having (re)discovered multistopwatch and dived in to it a bit more (DavidM quality! impressive), one of my hp50g has little rest since a couple of weeks weeks. I am using it to get a trend how much time I use for some routine tasks, to try to plan better the day/week.

Yes I know I could be efficient, start the timer, then quit the program, then enter the program and stop the timer, but that's overhead that sometimes is not in my mind so the 50g mostly runs adding fractions of a seconds without pauses.

[DavidM]

(09-29-2018 07:46 PM)pier4r Wrote:  Yes I know I could be efficient, start the timer, then quit the program, then enter the program and stop the timer, but that's overhead that sometimes is not in my mind so the 50g mostly runs adding fractions of a seconds without pauses.

Leaving the timer console running should be OK so long as you've got the 50g connected to external power. I've never tried that scenario just using battery power, but it should deplete the batteries at the same rate as any other continuously-running application.

You could also consider creating some simple RPL programs to start/stop/split given timers, as all of the stopwatch functions are programmable.

[pier4r]

Yes the 50g is fixed to the USB in any case. I use the batteries only for switching calculators.

I saw also the commands, I didn't use them yet, as the UI of the stopwatch is great (maybe I will have to automate the export procedure). I used multitimer on android massively, but for a couple of weeks I am just using multistopwatch. Pretty neat.

It could be a project to make a similar thing on other popular calculators / OSes (newRPL) .

[DaveBr]

(09-11-2018 07:35 AM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  Here is a clock (or timer) program for the HP-25. It has a resolution of approximately 1 second and can be made fairly accurate by modifying the value stored in register 0. It could probably be adapted to work on any HP programmable model that has a PAUSE function (that lasts approximately 1 second).

Clock Program (HP-25):
01 RCL 0
02 STO+1
03 RCL 1
04 -->H.MS
05 PAUSE
06 GTO 01


Setup:
FIX 4

0.0001 (adjust this number up or down to provide an average of 1 second accuracy)
-->H
STO 0

(for a clock, enter the current time as HH.MMSS, or enter 0 for a timer)
-->H
STO 1

GTO 00
R/S to start or stop

My HP25 was +1 second per minute with the default delay (0.0001). A bit of tweaking and This "clock" was +1 sec per hour. Big fun. Thanks for sharing.

Dave

[dbbotkin]

Here's what SwissMicro has in the DM42 manual:

"RefLCD"
The purpose of programs can vary significantly. There are programs like a stopwatch or games, where quick refreshing of the LCD is required. On the other end of the spectrum are pure computational programs, where no LCD output is required throughout program execution and where it is more beneficial to utilize all the CPU time for computation rather than wasting it on unnecessary LCD updates. The "RefLCD" virtual variable was introduced specifically to address those different requirements. It is possible to disable LCD refreshing altogether or to enable the periodic refresh of individual portions of the LCD.

So why would they make provisions for timing-based programs in the management of the LCD if they were not at least considering adding timing capabilities to the DM42 OS?

Anyone know?

[Thomas Okken]

(01-11-2019 11:38 PM)dbbotkin Wrote:  So why would they make provisions for timing-based programs in the management of the LCD if they were not at least considering adding timing capabilities to the DM42 OS?

Anyone know?

That's a good question. Another good question would be: why does the DM42 continuously refresh the display, instead of idling and only refreshing it when the simulator core writes to the display?

This isn't the right forum for these questions, unfortunately, since the only people who could answer them are SwissMicros' Michael and David, and as far as I know, they don't follow this forum. They do follow their own forum.

[dbbotkin]

Thanks for the link--and a big THANKS for your work building Free42. I registered on the SwissMicro forum, we'll see how long it takes to get approved to post.

I've been using (and programming) HP calculators since 1972, starting with the HP 70 business model. Pretty much the whole line as a user--not collector--including the HP Prime. I used the 67 and its card reader extensively in a "time before PC's" to do international investment evaluation. Now I'm relearning on the HP42S simulators based on Free42. I'll just call them 42's for simplicity.

What I am missing more than a timekeeper is the ability to load data into my calculator like I could with the 67. The Prime is so tied into the educational testing business that I/O must be gated through a central computer. What I would like to do is load data for analysis into my 42 in the same way as loading programs. Either the iPhone way or DM42. In any case the data would be stores as matrixes.

On the iPhone 42 there is an option for a dynamic stack, so in theory I could wrap the data in a program and run a routine on the stack to put it in a matrix, but there has to be a better way.

Cheers,
Donal

[Thomas Okken]

(01-12-2019 01:27 AM)dbbotkin Wrote:  What I am missing more than a timekeeper is the ability to load data into my calculator like I could with the 67. The Prime is so tied into the educational testing business that I/O must be gated through a central computer. What I would like to do is load data for analysis into my 42 in the same way as loading programs. Either the iPhone way or DM42. In any case the data would be stores as matrixes.

Since version 2.0, Free42 can copy and paste matrices. The data format it uses on the clipboard for this is tab-delimited text, which is compatible with all the popular spreadsheets.

The DM42 doesn't have a clipboard, so no copy and paste. I assume they are planning to support data exchange somehow, but it's not there yet and I don't know if they've discussed plans in this area.

[dbbotkin]

Ah, data entry . . . The DM42 uses a FAT file and a USB connection. A setting makes the FAT accessible like a thumb drive. Several folders appear including 'PROGRAMS' for .raw files. Byron Foster's iPhone app works through WiFi and gets an IP address with DHCP. Then your path is to access the IP in your browser to upload or download .raw files, nothing else is shown.

Oh, I see: Free42 has a double-tap for features . . .. Got to try that out now

[dbbotkin]

WOW!
On my iPhone, in Free42, I ran a program (uploaded) that creates a random number 100x100 matrix and inverts it in the X-reg. Tap on the screen opens the 'copy and paste' and I did copy the matrix. Shifting to my Mac (using the 'magic' make copy available feature) I pasted the matrix into a LibreOffice spreadsheet. All 10,000 cells of it.

That is awesome.

Uhh, so how does one go the other way?

OMG!
I cannot believe it is as simple as that: just select some cells from a spreadsheet copy and paste into the screen!

Problem solved!

BTW, the DM42 will not handle the random matrix program bigger than about 30x30.

[Thomas Okken]

(01-12-2019 04:10 AM)dbbotkin Wrote:  Ah, data entry . . . The DM42 uses a FAT file and a USB connection. A setting makes the FAT accessible like a thumb drive. Several folders appear including 'PROGRAMS' for .raw files. Byron Foster's iPhone app works through WiFi and gets an IP address with DHCP. Then your path is to access the IP in your browser to upload or download .raw files, nothing else is shown.

Oh, I see: Free42 has a double-tap for features . . .. Got to try that out now

Single-tap, actually, in the top part of the screen, below the status bar. But yes, that is what I meant. The Copy and Paste items in the main menu will work with matrices, which you can copy and paste from, say, Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. I like using Google Sheets because it makes it really easy to transfer data between the phone and a computer, but you can achieve the same thing with iCloud or OneDrive. Copying and pasting spreadsheet cells in emails does not work so well because some (many? most?) email clients have the annoying habit of turning tabs into spaces, and that messes up tab-delimited data.

N.B. You can also use Copy and Paste on programs, which I find more convenient than using the HTTP server. Transferring programs, in text format, via email, works great, tab expansion does not cause problems there.

[pier4r]

Coming back to the topic of stopwatch features. (after the free42 neat features, that still may go in one free42 topic)

Using the multistopwatch program on the 50g is, as written before, awesome. Nonetheless at times I'd like to have timers. In the best case they elapse and they wait for input once elapsed.

I don't remember coming across any good timer program for the 50g so I am trying to develop a personal solution. If someone knows anything for the 50g (and other calculators) similar to the multistopwatch but for timers going down, please let us know!

[Dreato]

I want to mention that the HP45 has a stopwatch feature that was never commercialized. I modified my HP 45 to implement this feature, and replaced the calculator timing circuit with a MEMS oscillator. This machine now has timer accuracy of a few seconds in 24 hours, stores up to 9 split times etc. Complete info is on my website, http://www.davidreaton.com/hp-45. I recall there's lots of other info on these forums, too.

Regards,

Dave

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(02-05-2019 04:27 PM)Dreato Wrote:  Complete info is on my website, http://www.davidreaton.com/hp-45. I recall there's lots of other info on these forums, too.

Yes, like this.

[Dreato]

@Massimo

Were any members able to actually find the 784 kHz crystal? Over 20 years of searching, I never could! That's why I went with MEMS when they became cheap and available.

I think I read the post you mentioned years ago. It helped me a lot! Plenty of handy info and helpful users in the MoHPC forums.

Best Regards,

Dave

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(02-06-2019 05:44 PM)Dreato Wrote:  @Massimo

Were any members able to actually find the 784 kHz crystal? Over 20 years of searching, I never could! That's why I went with MEMS when they became cheap and available.

Dunno, but since this is not the first time I see this question asked, I think they didn't.
Maybe someone tried with different frequencies...

(02-06-2019 05:44 PM)Dreato Wrote:  I think I read the post you mentioned years ago. It helped me a lot! Plenty of handy info and helpful users in the MoHPC forums.

That's true, for sure!
Welcome aboard.