Sharp electronic organizers with the IC card slot (Wizard OZ/IQ/PA/PI series)

[Dave Britten]

(03-27-2023 10:18 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(03-27-2023 07:41 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  ...does anybody have any experience with card battery life? I'm wondering how long I can expect the batteries in my BASIC or spreadsheet cards to hold up without needing a change. So far my cards are all doing okay after 2-3 years. My Time Expense Manager card's battery is still reading 2.930 Volts with no load.

It depends on how much it's used (of course) but the battery in my BASIC Card lasted over 20 years, though most of which time it was just sitting in a storage box. Also, I believe the card battery is only actually 'used' when the main batteries are low/dead; while they are fresh, I think there is effectively no load on the card battery.

If you're actually using these cards daily, obviously the life will be affected, but you are certainly safe changing it ~ every 2 years.

Please read the manuals to be 100% sure, but IIRC, unlike the HP-48, you should change the card battery while the card is installed in the organizer, but with the device turned OFF (in a 48, the cards are only powered by the device when the device is turned-on).

Get ready for a fairly deep rabit hole with Box Jockey, and YES they are all solvable.

Yeah, I consulted the BASIC manual to make sure I was correctly removing the battery. As long as the card is in the Wizard and the switch is set to lock, the card is powered by the main system batteries. So yes, make sure it's inserted and the Wizard is turned off, then you can safely test or swap the battery.

I've played a fair amount of Boxxle on Gameboy (both that and Box Jockey are ports of Sokoban), so I do know what a time sink it can be.