ACT available

[PANAMATIK]

(07-30-2015 10:12 PM)Harald Wrote:  

(07-30-2015 06:00 PM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  The cathode driver is a shift register with low active output, which is clocked by Pin 14 STR and reset by Pin 16 RCD. Pin 4 controls the LED current. It should be easy be replaceable by an own circuit.

Bernhard

Thanks for the info Bernhard!
How is the LED current controlled? Is there a current source in the cathode driver? Is that controlled by the resistor divider on pin 4? And what is the resistor on pin 6 for?

Cheers,
Harald

I assume the voltage at pin 4 controls a constant current source for adjusting LED brightness. I don't have more information.

Bernhard

[Harald]

(02-13-2015 06:27 PM)Nigel (UK) Wrote:  I have a question. When installing the new ACT is it worth removing the RAM/ROM chips on a HP-25 if they are faulty or even if they are not, so as to reduce battery drain?

Nigel (UK)

I have just tested this with the RAM chip. Removing this reduces current in standby mode from 85 to 75mA. So the RAM draws 10mA.

[Harald]

(07-31-2015 12:03 AM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  

(07-30-2015 10:12 PM)Harald Wrote:  Thanks for the info Bernhard!
How is the LED current controlled? Is there a current source in the cathode driver? Is that controlled by the resistor divider on pin 4? And what is the resistor on pin 6 for?

Cheers,
Harald

I assume the voltage at pin 4 controls a constant current source for adjusting LED brightness. I don't have more information.

Bernhard

Ok, thanks! I'll try and find the time to find a replacement.

[hugh]

I've just discovered this thread after talking to Geoff Q. He demonstrated the new ACT running on his "suped up" HP25+IR. Impressive stuff!

I'd very much like to supe-up an old 21. I like the Woodstock size and form factor and, of course, the LEDs.

But i don't really want it to be a 21, a 25 or even a 29. This may sound odd, but I'd like to turn it into a totally new calculator.

So, my question is, will there be a "new ACT SDK"? Something where you'd release the source code to drive the screen and keyboard and others (like me) could write totally new code. To be clear, I'm not asking for the emulator or any libraries other than the bare essentials to get going.

I think this could be a cool project. Earlier you mentioned PIC16F, can anyone fill in details of how much ram, flash and CPU speed there is to work with.

thanks for any help, comments and information.

[Dave Frederickson]

Here's an alternative programming cable for the new ACT.

Obtain a Samtec FFMD-05-D-10.00-01 cable assembly or two. Cut the cable in half and remove one row of pins. Wire up to the USB adapter. The Molex PicoBlade connector has a pitch of 1.25mm and the Samtec is 1.27mm. Close enough.

Click to zoom


Dave

[PANAMATIK]

(08-09-2015 01:34 PM)hugh Wrote:  So, my question is, will there be a "new ACT SDK"? Something where you'd release the source code to drive the screen and keyboard and others (like me) could write totally new code. To be clear, I'm not asking for the emulator or any libraries other than the bare essentials to get going.

I understand your vision for having a completely new designed pocket calculator running on an HP-21 hardware. But realizing this idea is not as easy as it might appear. Without the original firmware and the emulator and having only a limited program space of the PIC16F1518, it will be very difficult to have a calculator with all expected functions. Part of the brilliancy of the early calculators was writing code very compact and efficient. If you expect that you simply add a floating point math library, which will help doing all the calculations, I fear it might not fit into the small PIC16F chip, which I choose. Just if you want to rewrite only the HP-21 functions by your own in C, it will consume up all the resources in lightning-speed. If you like to build a modern pocket calculator like the WP-34S you need a different processor.

There are several other reasons why there is no "new ACT SDK". I spent a lot of time in designing the new ACT and I'm still working on the project. I fear, that versions could appear, that are not tested enough and could lead to problems.
For using the source code you have to buy the microchip xc8 compiler and ICD3 programmer, which is at least a 600 Euro investment.

if you like to build your own LED calculator, I would recommend to use Chris Chungs NP-25 project as a starting point. It has a similar small processor and you can try how far it is possible to convert your ideas into a beautiful LED calculator with a small processor.

Bernhard

[PANAMATIK]

HP-67E ACT available

The "new ACT" has gone foreign. For the first time it stepped into an another calculator model. Some weeks before it emulated the HP-67 on a woodstock calculator hardware, now it runs on the real HP-67 calculator!



As already the case in the HP-29C the HP-67 hardware doesn't offer to display the letter "P". The logo therefore is "HC-67E", Hp Calculator - 67 Extended.



It fits easily into the HP-67 main board on its low profile sockets. However the space is so tight, that the original ACT cannot be socketed, unless you remove
1 mm of the plastic strutting of the back case.

But I had some problems, since I tried to run the ACT on the HP-67 some weeks ago, which I still couldn't solve. I don't know exactly why, but the new ACT doesn't communicate with the PIK chip, the big chip above the ACT, which is the interface to the card reader. I had only one calculator to try. I'm sorry, for this reason the card reader will not be active. Also the PRGM/RUN switch is accessed by the PIK and it will not work. You have to switch between the modes with the f g keys.

But do you really need the card reader, when you have "Continuous Memory"? You will have access to 18 programs of 224 steps each available directly from ROM, which should meet your needs. And the calculation speed is four times the original speed. Perhaps you have a HP-67 with defective card reader by the well known gummy wheel problem, then you can use the HP-67E "Continuous Memory" and its set of ROM programs to make it a fully functional HP-67.

The ACT for HC-67E hardware is the same as for the woodstocks, it is not modified, therefore you can flash your ACT with the update kit for having a replacement of the HP-67 ACT.

I'm still working on some minor software problems, but nevertheless I will release the HC-67E in a few days.

Many thanks go to Olivier de Smeet, who gave me valuable hints, how some extended ACT instructions had to be handled.

Bernhard

[hugh]

(08-09-2015 05:06 PM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  There are several other reasons why there is no "new ACT SDK". I spent a lot of time in designing the new ACT and I'm still working on the project.

Ok, i understand your reason. Nevertheless, 28k flash + 1K RAm is more than enough for a scientific calculator.

[PANAMATIK]

(08-09-2015 11:34 PM)hugh Wrote:  

(08-09-2015 05:06 PM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  There are several other reasons why there is no "new ACT SDK". I spent a lot of time in designing the new ACT and I'm still working on the project.

Ok, i understand your reason. Nevertheless, 28k flash + 1K RAm is more than enough for a scientific calculator.

OK, i understand you are willing to program a new calculator with the new ACT. And I will encourage you: You can download the ACT Software Development Kit from my website.

http://www.panamatik.de/ACTSDK.ZIP

It contains source code for driving the Woodstock display, keyboard scanning and IR printing with PIC16F1518 as a complete xc8 compiler project. You can download the xc8 compiler for free as 60 day trial version from microchip.com. You need an ICD3 programmer for programming and a programming cable.

If you programmed the demo project and switch on the calculator you will see the actual keycode on the left and the slider switch state displayed on the right. If you are in RUN mode, the display will be printed to IR printer at every key press.

This should be a good start for your project.

If you order an ACT for the purpose of using the SDK you will get a programming cable, which fits directly into the ICD3 programmer. Or you can easily build your own cable like suggested by Dave.

Please note: The SDK demo source code doesn't contain the bootloader, you will not be able to load ACT update files.

Have fun! I really would like to see another calculator on the woodstock platform some time.

Bernhard

[hugh]

Awesome!

Thanks for the SDK and the getting started project. The project builds in mplabx, but is this a mplab8 project? I've heard x is too new. Perhaps i should use mplab8 too?

Do i need the ICD3? I have a pickit3 around here somewhere. will that work? also would the cable be different. 5 pins i remember. have they changed?

If i get something going, I'll put all the code up on github.

.. now to stalk eBay for dead woodstocks. :-)

[PANAMATIK]

(08-10-2015 09:49 PM)hugh Wrote:  Awesome!

Thanks for the SDK and the getting started project. The project builds in mplabx, but is this a mplab8 project? I've heard x is too new. Perhaps i should use mplab8 too?

Do i need the ICD3? I have a pickit3 around here somewhere. will that work? also would the cable be different. 5 pins i remember. have they changed?

If i get something going, I'll put all the code up on github.

.. now to stalk eBay for dead woodstocks. :-)

I use mplab8 because I'm accustomed to it, but you can use mplabx as well. pickit3 can be used instead of ICD3 for programming the F1518. The ACT schematic shows the signals for connecting the 5-pins to your programmer in right order.

Good luck for getting your woodstock calculator soon.

Bernhard

[PANAMATIK]

(08-09-2015 09:09 PM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  ... I will release the HC-67E in a few days.

HP67E V1.00 and HC67E V1.00 released!

HP67E is running on any woodstock calculator and emulating the HP-67 firmware
HC67E is running on the original HP-67 hardware.

There is a new Quick Guide for HP-67E/HC67E available.

http://www.panamatik.de/ACTQuickInfoHP67.pdf

Have fun with the first real HP-67 ACT replacement. It was a lot of work and I tried my best but couldn't achieve everything, which I wanted. There is still the limitation as described earlier: you have 21 ROM programs instead of the card reader. But you have the powerful HP-67 firmware now to your service. And maybe there could be a repair possible, which couldn't be done before.

The HP-67E Ir printing version will be available soon, but it lacks the stopwatch and Hex/Decimal conversion feature, there is no program space left for both.

I'm rather sure the HP-67E will become my personal every day calculator now and replaces my HP-25E, which will get a place of honor in my collection.

Bernhard

[Geoff Quickfall]

Wow,

How is the overlay project going?

Your 29E ir went over well at the HPCC meeting in London! As you can tell from Hugh's postings.

:-)

[PANAMATIK]

(08-11-2015 04:38 PM)Geoff Quickfall Wrote:  How is the overlay project going?

I'm sorry, nothing happened!

But I will have a meeting next week for overlay design in Frankfurt! And I'm more sure now which functions for the HP-67E will be printed on it.

Thanks for presenting the HP-29E Ir in London.

Bernhard

[PANAMATIK]

(08-11-2015 04:14 PM)PANAMATIK Wrote:  The HP-67E Ir printing version will be available soon, but it lacks the stopwatch and Hex/Decimal conversion feature, there is no program space left for both.

HP-67E Ir printing version

The HP-67E Ir printing version is released and ready for download!

Other than expected, the stopwatch feature is also included. Only the Hex/decimal feature could not find enough space. For users, who prefer the Hex/decimal conversion, the non printing version is still available.

HP-34E Ir printing version

The HP-34E Ir printing version is released and ready for download!

For the first time there is an HP-34E Ir printing version running on Woodstock calculators with the "new ACT" Ir version. Because the HP-34C has an even bigger firmware than the HP-67, the printing version doesn't have stopwatch and Hex/decimal conversion. But there is included the complete program printing and trace mode.

It is the first calculator of the 30s series ever with printing capability.

Bernhard

[Geoff Quickfall]

67 IR

YAHOO,

[Oulan]

And what about a 97E act ???

My card reader is now rather non functional (this is the coupling between the axe and the wheel, I don't have any good solution to repair that)

The service manual of the 97 is somewhere on internet and the coupling between the PIK and the PRT and the ACT is somewhat well known now (see source of the rom of the 97 at HP67/97 windows emulator, the zip file at the end contain the rom listing)

[PANAMATIK]

(08-22-2015 09:00 AM)Oulan Wrote:  And what about a 97E act ???

My card reader is now rather non functional (this is the coupling between the axe and the wheel, I don't have any good solution to repair that)

The service manual of the 97 is somewhere on internet and the coupling between the PIK and the PRT and the ACT is somewhat well known now (see source of the rom of the 97 at HP67/97 windows emulator, the zip file at the end contain the rom listing)

This card reader repair demonstration should also work well for the HP-97 card reader.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe4jJRJDQbc

The HP-97 ACT is on my list, but still a long way to go. Let's see what time will reveal. Nevertheless your HP-97 ROM listing is a valuable source to understand how everything works. Thank you.

Bernhard

[Harald]

Hi Bernard,

is it possible there is a bug in the HP34E with the low battery indication?
Regardless of how flag 2 is set I don't get an indication. I am pretty sure the low battery signal from the cathode driver is present.

Cheers,
Harald

[PANAMATIK]

(09-04-2015 03:45 PM)Harald Wrote:  Hi Bernard,

is it possible there is a bug in the HP34E with the low battery indication?
Regardless of how flag 2 is set I don't get an indication. I am pretty sure the low battery signal from the cathode driver is present.

Cheers,
Harald

Hi Harald,

Thanks for pointing to that. You are right, there is no battery low indicator.

The low battery indicator of the 30 series, including the HP-34C, is a raised decimal at the far left digit. This decimal is not driven by software, but directly by hardware.

The HP-25 hardware, where your HP-34E firmware is running on, neither has a raised decimal at the far left digit, nor, as we are emulating the original firmware, there is a software indicator for low battery, i'm sorry.

The only possibility for a low battery indication within the HP-34E emulation, would be manipulating the original HP-34C firmware and displaying inverted decimals like the HP-25 firmware does or a blinking decimal at the far left.

This should be no problem. Perhaps I can implement that in the next version.

P.S. : The HP-34E Overlay stickers are nearer to production.

Bernhard