Maximize a 41C - Challenge

[Sylvain Cote]

(04-24-2023 06:31 PM)pier4r Wrote:  If that is the case, then the 41C was really designed as a sort of small compact monstrous controller?

The HP-41 was the first HP calculator to be conceived as an open-ended system, much like the desktop computers of the time. (Apple II, HP Series 80, etc)

At the beginning there was one calculator (41C), memory modules (RAM), some application modules (ROM) and three peripherals: the card reader (storage), the optical wand (input) and the thermal printer (output).
Then things got more complicated, Q-ROM boxes, EPROM boxes, MLDL boxes, etc. started to appears on the market.
Then HP released the HP-IL interface, which was a serial version of their HP-IB parallel interface, along with several HP-IL peripherals and several system modules.
→ System Modules: Time, X-Functions/Memory, X-Memory, Extended-I/O, Plotter, HP-IL Development, etc.
→ HP-IL Peripherals: Thermal Printer, Digital Cassette Drive, RS-232C interface, HP-IB interface, GPIO interface, Modem, HP-IL Development Kit, etc.
At the same time, individuals, users groups and companies started creating their own application ROM, system ROM and peripherals. (PPC ROM, CCD ROM, ZenROM, Paname ROM, etc.)

So, what is the HP-41C ?
Personally I see it as a bridge system between the calculator world and the computer world.
On one side, it is a typical RPN calculator that does things like its predecessors and on the other side, it is a capable HP-IL controller able to manage bigger devices that itself.

Sylvain