Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?

[Garth Wilson]

(03-04-2019 04:44 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  

(03-04-2019 04:02 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  So the 41 has some kind of interface already?

No, not directly. But there is a little box (HP82169A) which is an HP-IL to HP-IB converter. So for the HP-41 (or HP-71B) you need an HP-IL Interface and that box as well.

The HP-lL module was, to me, at the top of the list of what made the 41 so valuable. HP-IL is kind of a serial implementation of HP-IB, or IEEE-488. Using the HP82169A HPIL-to-HPIB interface converter with manual addressing, lab equipment on the HP-IB side appeared like they were on the loop. This interface was the reason I got into the 41 in the mid-1980's—to control equipment on the workbench and take data from it. In my case, this included signal generators, relay boxes, DMMs, etc., in addition to the printer to print out test results and mass storage on HP-IL. I have part of a program I used at work near the top of the page at http://wilsonminesco.com/stacks/appenC.html . It shows how you address, control, and read various pieces of equipment. There might be some functions mixed in there from the Extended I/O module too. I have them merged so they only take one port, and I tend to forget which module each function is in.

I also have the HP82165A HPIL-to-parallel interface converter, and the FSI164A HPIL-to-RS232 which is like the HP82164A except this one came with two RS-232 channels standard and optionally up to eight, and optionally ran on an internal battery. Otherwise it's nearly identical. I also have the HP92198 80-column video interface. These all still work. The only HP equipment I have from decades ago that does not work is my Thinkjet printer. My HP-IL mini printer doesn't do real well but probably just needs a head cleaning. My microcassette tape drives work flawlessly except the NiCd batteries are no good, so I have to power the drives up from an external power supply. The tape drives are like disc drives, intelligent, with a FAT.