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+--- Thread: First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? (/thread-10887.html)
First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? - Gene - 06-08-2018 03:22 PM
The HP 35 and HP 45 were the first two pocket calculators with scientific functions (my definition here is sine, cosine, tangent).
Who made and what was the first non-HP scientific pocket calculator?
My estimate of the answer?
Rockwell 202SR. Ad appeared on 12/8/1973 <--- wow <---- for the 202SR at $195.
Followed closely by the Bowmar MX-100 on 1/16/1974.
The first TI SR-50 ad I have found is on 2/2/1974.
So Rockwell was second!
RE: First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? - TomC - 06-09-2018 03:31 PM
My (water based) memory tells me TI was second, but I have not yet found more concrete proof.
Will dig through archives,
TomC
RE: First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? - Gene - 06-09-2018 05:48 PM
I thought TI (the SR-50) was second as well. :-)
But datamath.org lists the SR-50 introduction date as January 15, 1974, and I have found concrete proof (newspaper ads) showing the Rockwell 202SR a month earlier than that. Earliest SR-50 ad is after the introduction date... so that's why I came to the surprising conclusion!
RE: First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? - Didier Lachieze - 06-09-2018 07:36 PM
An interesting article on the first scientific calculators based on the Rockwell chip: Those incredible new scientific calculators.
Note that the Sharp PC-1801 was released in 1973 (year mentioned at the bottom of this datasheet from the Dentaku museum) , so it may be earlier than the 202SR.
RE: First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? - Gene - 06-09-2018 11:25 PM
The Rockwell appeared in late 1973, so it now depends on who came first - Rockwell or the Sharp!
I got this information from newspaper ads and did not have many sharp calculator ads from which to gather info.
I do not think the 2nd place belonged to the TI SR-50 which I did think for a long time.
Now apparently either Rockwell or the Sharp!
ty
RE: First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? - Accutron - 06-10-2018 06:38 AM
The 'Rockwell' 202SR actually began as the Unicom 202SR, and was advertised at least as early as November 1973. Rockwell had recently bought out Unicom, which was the calculator production arm of AMI (the same AMI that second-source manufactured HP calculator chips.) It's reasonably safe to assume that all of the heavy lifting to get trig into a Rockwell QIP was actually done by AMI engineers who had cut their teeth on HP chips. Later Rockwell scientific chips have poor trig performance when compared to the chips used in the 202SR and Sharp PC-1001/1002/1801 models.
The date on the PC-1801 datasheet appears to be December 1973, and may even predate the actual introduction of the calculator by some number of weeks. The earliest mention of the PC-1801 in a US publication is 1974. Given the fact that the PC-1801 is based on a Rockwell chip, proper credit for the first non-HP scientific pocket calculator definitely belongs to Rockwell/Unicom/AMI, regardless of whether the 202SR or PC-1801 came first.
RE: First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? - pier4r - 06-10-2018 12:30 PM
(06-09-2018 07:36 PM)Didier Lachieze Wrote: An interesting article on the first scientific calculators based on the Rockwell chip: Those incredible new scientific calculators.
Note that the Sharp PC-1801 was released in 1973 (year mentioned at the bottom of this datasheet from the Dentaku museum) , so it may be earlier than the 202SR.
nice links.
RE: First non-HP pocket calculator with scientific functions ? - Chasfield - 06-10-2018 03:34 PM
The Rockwell/Unicom chip set popped up in a number of guises.
http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-6303.html
The Anita 841 hardware tooling goes back to 1972 and their model 811.