ACT available

[Steve Simpkin]

(12-20-2015 08:57 PM)Marcus von Cube Wrote:  

(12-20-2015 08:19 PM)markhen57 Wrote:  I now have 3 working ones and no candidate for a 27E!?

Do you have the charger? You could try it without a battery pack et voilà ...

LOL!

[markhen57]

While I appreciate your suggestion I think maybe I'll convert my dead-ACT HP-21 to a 67E instead!!

[Thomas Klemm]

(12-20-2015 08:57 PM)Marcus von Cube Wrote:  You could try it without a battery pack et voilà ...

Cf. HP25C died??

[walter b]

(12-21-2015 11:04 AM)Thomas Klemm Wrote:  

(12-20-2015 08:57 PM)Marcus von Cube Wrote:  You could try it without a battery pack et voilà ...

Cf. HP25C died??

Thanks, that post obviously proves I followed a learning curve. Not everybody can rightfully claim this for himself.

d:-)

[PANAMATIK]

ACT Special Feature implemented!

I had some time this weekend and went on giving the new ACT another special feature. In the two images below you can see the display of an HP-67E, but it could also be HP-25E or any other "woodstock" model with new ACT.

When the key sequence for activating this new feature (g STO XY in HP-25E) is pressed, it will show both calculated values alternating every second.



Guess what the meaning of these numbers could be?

Bernhard

[Steve Simpkin]

This looks like the coordinates for an address in Ratingten Germany.
51 17.5637N, 6 50.8047E

[PANAMATIK]

(02-08-2016 04:03 AM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  This looks like the coordinates for an address in Ratingen Germany.
51 17.5637N, 6 50.8047E

Excellent!

What you see is the first ever LED calculator with GPS navigation.



The image above shows the prototype with external GPS module displaying the UTC time. It interprets incoming NMEA data. The GPS module can be located inside the battery box and the AA batteries must be replaced by LR1 (Lady) accus. I think about designing a suitable 3D printed GPS module/battery holder.
The GPS module I choose adds 80mA to the already 110-180mA. With standard 500mAh LR1 accu it will give you up to 2,5 hours battery life. And of course you will not see the LED display at all in sunlight.

However if a charger is connected, perhaps in a dim lighted cockpit or in your car, you can enjoy to read the actual position, time, speed, and linear distance to destination from your vintage LED calculator all the time.

P.S. I just found and ordered a smaller GPS module, size: 16mm x 16mm x 5mm, which consumes only 20mA at 3.3V. Perhaps this fits into the calculator and saves the space for the 2200mAh batteries.

Bernhard

[Guenter Schink]

(02-08-2016 09:08 AM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  ...

What you see is the first ever LED calculator with GPS navigation.

I just found and ordered a smaller GPS module, size: 16mm x 16mm x 5mm, which consumes only 20mA at 3.3V. Perhaps this fits into the calculator and saves the space for the 2200mAh batteries.

Bernhard

You shouldn't stop at half way though. This would be a nice enhancement, even if it's somewhat bulky and power hungry

Günter

[PANAMATIK]

(02-08-2016 08:58 PM)Guenter Schink Wrote:  You shouldn't stop at half way though. This would be a nice enhancement, even if it's somewhat bulky and power hungry

Günter

Very nice gadget. The power consumption of <2.8 A is negligible for the benefit of accurate timing. Unfortunately it will not fit inside the case. Otherwise I would of course offer a high precision HP-25E calculator if it shall be used in the next generation of GPS satellites.

Bernhard

[BobVA]

(02-08-2016 09:08 AM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  P.S. I just found and ordered a smaller GPS module, size: 16mm x 16mm x 5mm, which consumes only 20mA at 3.3V. Perhaps this fits into the calculator and saves the space for the 2200mAh batteries.

Get the 1 PPS output to blink the decimal point and I'm in :-)

[PANAMATIK]

(02-08-2016 11:46 PM)BobVA Wrote:  Get the 1 PPS output to blink the decimal point and I'm in :-)

It will blink with GPS atomic clock accuracy for you.

Bernhard

[Sanjeev Visvanatha]

(02-08-2016 09:08 AM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  The GPS module can be located inside the battery box and the AA batteries must be replaced by LR1 (Lady) accus. I think about designing a suitable 3D printed GPS module/battery holder.

If you are going down this path, make some consideration for the battery holder also being a drop-in replacement for Woodstocks without the GPS .

[PANAMATIK]

(02-09-2016 01:20 PM)Sanjeev Visvanatha Wrote:  

(02-08-2016 09:08 AM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  The GPS module can be located inside the battery box and the AA batteries must be replaced by LR1 (Lady) accus. I think about designing a suitable 3D printed GPS module/battery holder.

If you are going down this path, make some consideration for the battery holder also being a drop-in replacement for Woodstocks without the GPS .

Thank you for your suggestion for a replacement woodstock battery holder. This is indeed a fairly searched part. But it seems that I found a solution for GPS integration without using the battery box. I apologize for my delayed reply, because I was expecting some components before I could answer. Yesterday I received the parts and you see the much smaller device, which now fits inside the case below the PCB. And I was very happy to see, that I could close the case without problems. See the new GPS module in place and the old one aside, which was much bigger. The new module is powered by a 3.3V LDO regulator, which is located at the bottomside of the new ACT (not visible in the image) and gets 6.4V input. But the 6.4V from HPs SMPS is so weak, that the periodically changing current consumption of the GPS module influences the brightness of the LED display. Therefore I will use a 3.3V stepup converter finally, which can be directly connected to the battery.

The first integrated GPS module in a woodstock calculator.

At the moment the new ACTs NMEA Interface shows GPS position, UTC time, number of satellites, track made good and ground speed. There could be more information displayed in later versions like height above ground, horizontal dilution of precision and more. My next car ride will be accompanied by the HP-25E NMEA. But surely there won't be memory space enough for street map navigation

Bernhard

[Massimo Gnerucci]

Amazing what you are able to do with these woodstocks!

Hats off!

[Geoff Quickfall]

PM sent!

Excellent work.

Best regards, Geoff

[PANAMATIK]

Some news from woodstock GPS version:

The first release of the HP-25E GPS version is becoming available soon.

You will be able to order the set, containing the GPS module and step up converter with modified ACT, which is prepared for interfacing with the module. Instructions for integrating the module inside the woodstock housing will be described in the next manual revision. The first version will be the HP-25E, but HP-29E will follow.

The firmware now reads Latitude, Longitude, UTC, Altitude, Speed, Heading, Horizontal Dilution of Precision and Nr of Satellites from the module and shows them in the LED display.

And... , please sit down first, ... any of these values can be stored to or associated to any of the HP-25 registers for continuous update! You can calculate with the actual GPS data and you have access to them within a running program!

That gives you the unique possibility to read the actual time or position and make calculations with them, like showing remaining distance to any destination, or even waypoints. For the first time in history the HP-25 registers contain real time values.

For anybody who is interested in how it is done, you can have a look inside the source code

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwx8KUf...sp=sharing

I made some tests last week, its working fine while driving and shows actual speed either in knots or km/h. The module is also very sensible. Even inside the building, in the upper floor, I have a GPS fix with 6-8 Satellites.

The firmware will be made ready for download next week and can be programmed with the update kit as usual.

Bernhard

[PANAMATIK]

Nothing special to report this time:

I just received a HP-67, which I bought two weeks ago online. Its exterior is in very good condition It was described as defective and it really was. In no time I just replaced the ACT and inserted the new ACT and it lights up again, which makes me happy. What it makes newsworthy is, that this is my second HP-67 and I could now reinsert the original HP-67 ACT, which I kept in my drawer, into my first one. And now I have two functional HP-67s, one with working card reader.

I remember, that I hesitated rather long and had to fight with myself to remove a working ACT from my only beautiful HP-67 last year, for research purpose. If I had waited to get a defective one there would have been no replacement for the HP-67 ACT ever made, or at least very much later.

Bernhard

[PANAMATIK]

HP-25E GPS ACT now available!

The HP-25E GPS version is ready for download. You can order also the complete GPS ACT kit.

If you want to buy the GPS components by yourself you will have no additional costs. I will give you all information about where to buy the module and a complete instruction for modifying the ACT and integration the GPS module into your new navigation system "HP-25 GPS".

Have fun

Still the manual is not updated. Sorry!

Bernhard

[Jlouis]

(03-10-2016 12:02 PM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  Nothing special to report this time:

I just received a HP-67, which I bought two weeks ago online. Its exterior is in very good condition It was described as defective and it really was. In no time I just replaced the ACT and inserted the new ACT and it lights up again, which makes me happy. What it makes newsworthy is, that this is my second HP-67 and I could now reinsert the original HP-67 ACT, which I kept in my drawer, into my first one. And now I have two functional HP-67s, one with working card reader.

I remember, that I hesitated rather long and had to fight with myself to remove a working ACT from my only beautiful HP-67 last year, for research purpose. If I had waited to get a defective one there would have been no replacement for the HP-67 ACT ever made, or at least very much later.

Bernhard

congratulations Bernhard!

Just for curiosity, the hp 97 act is replaceable with the hp67 one?

My 97 is ok, but just in case.....who knows....knock on wood...

[PANAMATIK]

(03-10-2016 08:42 PM)Jlouis Wrote:  Just for curiosity, the hp 97 act is replaceable with the hp67 one?

My 97 is ok, but just in case.....who knows....knock on wood...

The original HP-67 and original HP-97 ACTs are interchangeable. But the new ACT is only available for HP-67. In the improbable case that your HP-97 doesn't listen to the knock on wood, you can remove the HP-67 ACT for use in your HP-97, and revive the HP-67 with the new ACT.

Bernhard