More power (literally) for the HP-41, follow-up.

[Diego Diaz]

Hi all,

And thanks again for your overwhelming enthusiasm about this new project.

It is still in its very early stages and I cannot set a definitive date for the first production run or the final price. I will try to keep it as close to the €100 as possible with a top limit in the 150.

Next steps in my timeline are (after receiving the pending parts and PCBs):

Build 10 prototypes/pre-production units that will go to the 8 first users that have already shown their interest. One each, I'll keep one remaining unit to rum my own functional tests and the last one will run some (quite likely destructive) endurance testing. This will hopefully be by end July.

These units are basically intended for beta-testing to detect any design/building flaw(s), check real world behaviour, charge/discharge cycles, not foreseen safety issues, etc.

Gathering the reports and apply improvements/changes as necessary. Along Aug.

Order the parts for the first production run and setting the final price. Early Sep.

First production units ready to ship by end Sep. or Oct.

A number of circumstances may alter (delay) this estimation but I'll keep posting the relevant milestones as the project advances.

Notes on other comments of yours:
@Sylvain, Please, please, please, keep your house!! I couldn't forgive myself if you lose it because of my projects. :-D

@Matthias/Sylvain, I'm not really sure what "New module" are you referring to.

Sylvain, IICR (my memory is far from perfect :-), by mid 2021 I sent you a preliminary "Functional description" of a new design (codename MORPH) which never goes beyond the drawing board and was conceptually very similar to the MAXX module presented by Monte a few months ago: all ROM images already installed and selectable configurations on the fly.

Apart from this, I have not been working in other new module eversince.

@Dave, the battery terminals are still in my "concerns" list. The ones I've used in the prototype are IMHO too stiff, posing about 800gr force on the I/O block and hence in the plastic screw post which are renowned to be quite brittle.

The original alkalines holder springs pushed just some 350gr. So I'm trying to find some smoother contacts to keep this figure as close as possible to the original.

Again thanks for your comments and interest.

All the best.

Diego.