HP-19C Repair Odysee

[Thomas Okken]

(03-01-2021 10:26 PM)Don Williams Wrote:  I connected the bench power supply going to both calculators BACKWARDS. Smoked them both. The only good thing out of it was at least I did not have try to reassemble them again. That was about a dozen years ago. They still sit in their final resting state. I taped everything down in that final condition and sort of created a small shrine to my stupidity. May they rest in peace. And may I never see a 19C again. Miserable design.

I sympathize, but hearing about dead 19Cs does make me a little sad as well. I used to own one back in the day, brand new, and after the HP-25, using the 19C was a real thrill. 98 steps, 30 registers (more than the 67!!!), indirect addressing, and a printer, all in a machine that you could just toss in a backpack. (Calling it a pocket calculator was a bit of a stretch.) Fond memories. I would like to have one again sometime, but I should probably just spend the extra $ and get one that is fully restored and guaranteed working.