Least expensive means of loading module ROMs into a 41?

[Dave Britten]

I currently have a 41CV, along with Math/Stat, Advantage, and X-Func. What's the cheapest option for a casual 41 user to experiment with different module ROM images? Is there anything currently available in the sub-$100 range that would allow loading a few ROM images (even 4 would probably be enough), and maybe provide X-Mem? The 41CL is really cool, but far beyond my needs (and budget justification).

Or should I just buy i41CX+ for my iPhone?

[Leviset]

I bought a Clonix-D Module + Pic controller from Diego a couple of years ago which is brilliant. It allows you to write a number (up to 12 I think?) .MOD files to a single plastic module which takes up just one port on my HP-41CX. You can erase and put different modules on later if you want to change them.
PM me for further contact details if you want to.
P.S. I think the i41CX+ App is the best thing since ‘sliced bread’ as we say in the UK!
Full functionality plus every module ever made.
I have an ‘old’ iPhone 5S (my son, who followed me into the freelance IT Contracting World, changes his iPhone every 18 months so I gratefully get the hand me downs - currently the 6S+ as he’s just got an 8S+) on which I just have the i41CX+ and the Free42 apps. I was lucky to pick up my real HP-41CX 3 years ago for just £45 but I’ve never seen (or bought) an HP-42S for under £200 and/or an HP-97 (the one I started my IT Career on ) for less than £800. I’m not prepared to pay these sort of dealer inflated prices from guys with no interest in the incredible history of these machines, just an interest in what profit they can make!
Dennis

[Sylvain Cote]

(03-26-2019 01:09 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  I currently have a 41CV, along with Math/Stat, Advantage, and X-Func. What's the cheapest option for a casual 41 user to experiment with different module ROM images? Is there anything currently available in the sub-$100 range that would allow loading a few ROM images (even 4 would probably be enough), and maybe provide X-Mem? The 41CL is really cool, but far beyond my needs (and budget justification).

Or should I just buy i41CX+ for my iPhone?

The cheapest one is for sure the i41CX+ from Antonio Lagana.

It will allow you do to your experimentations, the only draw back is the flat keyboard of your phone.
I have been using it for year and it has allow me to do the same things I do with my MLDL2K Card reader unit, Clonix/NovRAM modules or 41CL boards.

Next on the list is the Clonix/NovRAM modules from Diego Diaz.

The Clonix modules allow you to store ROM images in them and the NovRAM modules extend the Clonix design by adding RAM allowing you to use HePaX modules.
More costly than software only solution but it can be used on all HP-41C/CV/CX calculators.

Top of the line is the 41CL from Monte Dalrymple.

Replace the original motherboard and can only be installed in HP-41 full-nut calculators.
Has all the ROMs built-in, plenty of RAM, is upgradable, can run at 50x speed, follow the web link to get the details.
The most costly of all the solutions but also the most powerfull.

Sylvain

[burkhard]

If you merely want to quickly try out the varied modules, i41CX+ has got to be the cheapest and easiest option.

Once you figure out what you like, though, you really should flash a Clonix of some sort (see Diego's website, http://www.clonix41.org) to put them in a real calculator. Reflashing the Clonix module is pretty easy, but it's not as fast as the screen taps on a phone with i41CX+, so that makes a good sandbox to play around in a little on the train or in a doctor's waiting room.

{Edit: Sylvain's answer came through while I was writing. His writing is better but mirrors my thoughts exactly}

[Didier Lachieze]

Well the least expensive means of testing different ROM images would be to use a free emulator such as V41 or Emu41.

[burkhard]

(03-26-2019 02:33 PM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  Well the least expensive means of testing different ROM images would be to use a free emulator such as V41 or Emu41.

Ahhh, quite right. I always forget about PC-based alternatives!
That is the cheapest!

[Dave Britten]

(03-26-2019 02:33 PM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  Well the least expensive means of testing different ROM images would be to use a free emulator such as V41 or Emu41.

Yeah, but that's even worse than poking at a smartphone screen!

Where are the Clonix41 modules sold, and what's the typical price? I really wish Swiss Micros had put a little bit more storage in the DM41 so you could have room to flash a couple ROMs.

[Sylvain Cote]

(03-26-2019 03:59 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Where are the Clonix41 modules sold, and what's the typical price?

That information can be found in my HP Calculator Parts & Services [2019-01-17] article under Coconut :41C:41CV:41CX: section.

[ijabbott]

(03-26-2019 02:01 PM)Leviset Wrote:  I was lucky to pick up my real HP-41CX 3 years ago for just £45 but I’ve never seen (or bought) an HP-42S for under £200 and/or an HP-97 (the one I started my IT Career on ) for less than £800. I’m not prepared to pay these sort of dealer inflated prices from guys with no interest in the incredible history of these machines, just an interest in what profit they can make!
Dennis

Well done on getting a HP-41CX at such a low price! Both my HP-42S's were purchased for under £200 in the last year - a slightly beat-up one for $130 and another one in great condition with the manual for £154. (I don't really have any plans to get into the whole HP-41 eco-system just yet.)

[David Hayden]

(03-26-2019 01:09 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  The 41CL is really cool, but far beyond my needs (and budget justification).

All you really need is some good justification.

In the great scheme of hobbies, calculators are pretty cheap. I have friends who race or restore cars or play golf or sail or show dogs. All of these hobbies are much more expensive than playing around with calculators.

Get a 41CL, it's worth every penny.

[rprosperi]

(03-28-2019 05:23 PM)David Hayden Wrote:  I have friends who race or restore cars or play golf or sail or show dogs. All of these hobbies are much more expensive than playing around with calculators.

Well, that's because your friends don't want every car, play every golf course, or show every dog... including the ones that came with different bezels, battery bays, color scheme, etc. Some hobbyists just aren't discerning enough...

(03-28-2019 05:23 PM)David Hayden Wrote:  Get a 41CL, it's worth every penny.

But on this, there can be no disagreement!! If you like to dabble with a 41C, even just a little, a CL is must-have, and worth every penny. By including almost 600 different ROMs it provides almost literally endless amounts of material to explore. And if there is a ROM available in the community that is not included, wait a few weeks and it almost certainly will be.

[Dave Britten]

Maybe I'll pick up a 41CL one of these days, when I've run out of other frivolous things to spend money on.

I would be quite wary of damaging the 30+-year-old calculator while swapping the guts, though.

[burkhard]

(04-02-2019 02:12 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Maybe I'll pick up a 41CL one of these days, when I've run out of other frivolous things to spend money on.

I would be quite wary of damaging the 30+-year-old calculator while swapping the guts, though.

It's a pretty easy & low-risk conversion. But if you are still leery, at least keep your eye out for a nice/cheap 41C (rather than a CV or CX). There is no advantage to using a CV or CX for the 41CL conversion and C is a *much* cheaper and easier-to-find machine. As a bonus, the conversion requires the fullnut architecture and all the Cs are fullnut [later edit: I qualify this "all" in a post below]. CVs are a mix of fullnut and halfnut and CX (coming later in 41 production) are mostly halfnut. So it's easier to find a good C candidate and (if it qualms you), you aren't fiddling with something especially sought-after in its original unaltered form.

If you do have an inkling to do this, I wouldn't wait until the boards are out of production. Sooner or later some of the required sourced components will end their production life and become "unobtanium". :-(

[Sylvain Cote]

(04-02-2019 08:57 PM)burkhard Wrote:  ... and all the Cs are fullnut.

mmm ... are you sure ? ... see here and here

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(04-03-2019 12:15 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  

(04-02-2019 08:57 PM)burkhard Wrote:  ... and all the Cs are fullnut.

mmm ... are you sure ? ... see here and here ;)

;)

The fabled unicorn!

WANT.

[burkhard]

(04-03-2019 05:44 AM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  

(04-03-2019 12:15 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  mmm ... are you sure ? ... see here and here

The fabled unicorn!

WANT.

Yeah, I knew somebody was going to come up with a picture of a dubious-provenance half-nut 41C to disprove my assertion. :-)
It's possible that a few of these actually came out of HP, but I suspect most are creations of Dr. Moreau wannabes.

Nonetheless, I shall amend my statement:
"... and the VAST MAJORITY of Cs are fullnut. If you actually find a true halfnut C, it is worth getting as a collector's item (assuming it is not an obvious frankensteinculator)"

[rprosperi]

(04-03-2019 02:34 PM)burkhard Wrote:  Yeah, I knew somebody was going to come up with a picture of a dubious-provenance half-nut 41C to disprove my assertion. :-)
It's possible that a few of these actually came out of HP, but I suspect most are creations of Dr. Moreau wannabes.

Nonetheless, I shall amend my statement:
"... and the VAST MAJORITY of Cs are fullnut. If you actually find a true halfnut C, it is worth getting as a collector's item (assuming it is not an obvious frankensteinculator)"

Some halfnut 41Cs were 'created' by HP when a fullnut 41C was sent in for service late in 41C market life, and HP chose to replace the front with halfnut faces they had in service inventory.

Whether or not these should be considered 'genuine HP' or Frankencalcs, is a matter of split opinion, as subsequent comments will surely show...

[Sylvain Cote]

(04-03-2019 02:34 PM)burkhard Wrote:  Yeah, I knew somebody was going to come up with a picture of a dubious-provenance half-nut 41C to disprove my assertion. :-)
It's possible that a few of these actually came out of HP, but I suspect most are creations of Dr. Moreau wannabes.

Nonetheless, I shall amend my statement:
"... and the VAST MAJORITY of Cs are fullnut. If you actually find a true halfnut C, it is worth getting as a collector's item (assuming it is not an obvious frankensteinculator)"

I was just teasing you a bit, you are right of course about 41C halfnut being a rare item.
I am not the original owner, so I do not know if the unit was sold new or coming from HP repair division.

On the frankensteinculator subject, it will be very hard to do a 41C-HN because all the electronics are soldered on the back of the keyboard.

Sylvain