Ever heard of an HP 44A (71B look-alike)

[locore]

Hi,

I'm new to these forums (very nice!) but not the Museum website. I've been collecting since the late 90's, and was a software engineer for HP from 1989-2004. As a result, I've had some interesting opportunities to acquire some unique pieces.

I have one I wanted to ask the community about, as I haven't found any references to it. The unit looks very much like an HP-71B, but is labelled a "44A". The keyboard appears identical to that of a 71B, but with a slightly different color labelling for the "f" functions.

I've attached a picture of the unit with a 71B, along with looks like a prototype serial number on the "44A'.

Any ideas?

--
David Jobusch
hpcalc@comcast.net

[Allen]

Very interesting piece! Does it work? If so, what do you get when you type VER$ and press ENDLINE?

I would not be surprised if this was part of the development for the (I think) AT&T custom HP 75's, perhaps?

[Sylvain Cote]

My take is, HP probably planned to add the unit to the 40 series as an upgrade to the 41C, hence the 44A.
Sylvain

[locore]

(12-26-2015 02:52 AM)Allen Wrote:  Very interesting piece! Does it work? If so, what do you get when you type VER$ and press ENDLINE?

I would not be surprised if this was part of the development for the (I think) AT&T custom HP 75's, perhaps?

Thanks for the response. I'm not very familiar with the 71B. VER$ returns:

HP71:1BBBB FTH41:1A EDT:A

[Paul Berger (Canada)]

(12-26-2015 03:22 AM)locore Wrote:  

(12-26-2015 02:52 AM)Allen Wrote:  Very interesting piece! Does it work? If so, what do you get when you type VER$ and press ENDLINE?

I would not be surprised if this was part of the development for the (I think) AT&T custom HP 75's, perhaps?

Thanks for the response. I'm not very familiar with the 71B. VER$ returns:

HP71:1BBBB FTH41:1A EDT:A

Hmmm interesting Sylvain has the right idea, it does have the 41 translator module, perhaps built in. Are there any modules plugged into the front?

Paul.

[locore]

Three of the four ports have modules. Two are hand-labeled with "4K", and one is labelled with what looks like a dot matrix-printed tag reading "TRANSLATOR 5061-7269".

[Jurgen Keller]

From Gary Friedman's book "Control the world with HP-IL", page 7:
"The HP-71 is a rather deceiving machine. It was originally designed to be a more powerful replacement for the 41 (it was originally called the HP-44), and I guess that during the development process they just got carried away. ..."

So my guess is that this is a prototype of an HP-71. A very nice and interesting find!

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(12-26-2015 02:47 AM)locore Wrote:  Hi,

I'm new to these forums (very nice!) but not the Museum website. I've been collecting since the late 90's, and was a software engineer for HP from 1989-2004. As a result, I've had some interesting opportunities to acquire some unique pieces.

I have one I wanted to ask the community about, as I haven't found any references to it. The unit looks very much like an HP-71B, but is labelled a "44A". The keyboard appears identical to that of a 71B, but with a slightly different color labelling for the "f" functions.

I've attached a picture of the unit with a 71B, along with looks like a prototype serial number on the "44A'.

Any ideas?

--
David Jobusch
hpcalc@comcast.net

From "A Guide to Hp Handheld Calculators and Computers" by Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz 3rd edition 1999 p.80

Quote:The Titan was first given the model number HP-44 and was partly a follow-on to the HP-41 and partly an expanded HP-15C. As the project progressed, the calculator features of the HP-44 were subsumed into a handheld computer with a built-in calculator. Titan became a series 70 model, and was given the model number HP-71B, with the 1 derived from the HP-41. The B stood for "Basic-language computer", to distinguish the HP-71B more clearly from the HP-75C and the HP-75D.

[J-F Garnier]

The HP44 name was commonly used by the PPC community to speak about the HP41 successor new-desired-feature list, and was indeed also used by HP as a early product name. The HP44 name appears for instance in this HP document about HP71 bugs (look at the page headers).

However, I'm surprised by the 1BBBB version (note that the VER$ indicates "HP71" not "HP44"), it would have made more sense to find a HP44 proto with a 0AAAA ROM for instance.
Maybe did someone collect a early proto housing, and used it to build a combo with the electronic from a standard production unit?

I'm also surprised by the A suffix of 44A. It's not in line with the calculator product names of the time.

J-F

Added: See this old post about differences on keyboard on a supposed HP44 proto, that are not found here.

[walter b]

(12-26-2015 11:08 AM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  See this old post about differences on keyboard on a supposed HP44 proto, that are not found here.

Merci pour cette link. But therein, the links to the once embedded pictures are broken. Any chance to get them repaired?

d:-?

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(12-26-2015 12:38 PM)walter b Wrote:  

(12-26-2015 11:08 AM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  See this old post about differences on keyboard on a supposed HP44 proto, that are not found here.

Merci pour cette link. But therein, the links to the once embedded pictures are broken. Any chance to get them repaired?

d:-?

Walter, we may ask Matthias if he still has them.

[walter b]

(12-26-2015 12:58 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  Walter, we may ask Matthias if he still has them.

Certamente, Massimo. Is he the one who became HP-Collection?

d:-?

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(12-26-2015 06:35 PM)walter b Wrote:  

(12-26-2015 12:58 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  Walter, we may ask Matthias if he still has them.

Certamente, Massimo. Is he the one who became HP-Collection?

d:-?

Yes, those old links point there.

[locore]

Thanks all for the references so far!

Turns out the 71B that I have looks to be an internal unit, so I have some more digging to do with it as well!

The "44A" on the case looks production quality, so I'm anxious to learn more about the links between a 41 follow on and the eventual 71B.

[Dave Frederickson]

With regard to the 44A, the logo is stuck on with adhesive and could have been transplanted from another unit. Also, neither of HP-Collection's prototypes:

0AAAA with serial 0001A00001
0AAAA with serial 0001A00035

were reported to have a 44A logo.

Dave

Edit: Removed blunder.

[Sylvain Cote]

(12-27-2015 04:28 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  You mean a prototype? Pics, serial number, and ROM version please.

Dave,
Look at the first and fourth entries of this thread.
Sylvain

[locore]

Regarding the 71B, it fails to power on with batteries or charger. I don't see anything unique on the front, but the back has a handwritten label and the serial number scratched out. Original owner was an HP engineer in Corvallis; no idea if there is anything special about it. Included in the picture is the sole module that was in it; unmarked.

[rprosperi]

(12-28-2015 12:36 AM)locore Wrote:  Regarding the 71B, it fails to power on with batteries or charger. I don't see anything unique on the front, but the back has a handwritten label and the serial number scratched out. Original owner was an HP engineer in Corvallis; no idea if there is anything special about it. Included in the picture is the sole module that was in it; unmarked.

The cap is interesting - possibly added to retain memory when moving the module between machines, which implies it's a RAM module (and so empty now).

But try inserting this module into the other working machine and check VER$, it may shed light on what it is, if it's an EPROM or ROM. Check MEM before and after inserting to see if size changes, which would confirm it's a RAM module. FREE :PORT(n) to separate it from main ram so you can remove it without disturbing what's in main RAM.

Assuming it is a RAM module, try a quick test to verify the purpose of the cap: once you have FREE'd it, copy any file to that port, then remove the module, wait 30 seconds and plug it back in. CAT :PORT(n) will reveal the file if it's still there, otherwise it will have been added to main ram again.

Prior to release and formal name change, HP did indeed share some machines at PPC labeled HP-44, however as I did not actually see them, don't know if there was an "A" in the name. As noted above, very odd suffix for the time, unless it was an internal project thing, though unlikely they'd make one that pretty for internal use. Odd indeed.