Making the faulty HP-50g alarm function predictable and useful

[Johnny Shek]

UPDATE:

One thing suddenly strikes my mind. In the summary I made in the last reply, I forgot to mention how an alarm could be set for less than an hour from the current time. This is exactly the idea of using a control alarm to carry a desired alarm to make sure that it comes due with 1 minute delay if it is set for less than or equal to 59 minutes from its creation time. Suppose I want to set an alarm for 12:26 at 12:01 now. According to the ‘59 minute rule’, set the alarm as usual and it will come due at 12:27. The above reply has been updated accordingly.

I am working on boundary tests. In my first attempt to stretch the ’59 minute rule’ to its limit by extending it from 59 minutes 1 second to 59 minutes 59 seconds, I encountered various kinds of unacceptable behaviour. It is better for me to leave the discussion to the next reply.

29 entries were created from scratch based on the alarm data of the first 29 entries of the above 30 entries. After performing a factory reset, the test was conducted. 3 cycles were run without any problem! 29 entries might be the maximum number of entries allowed by the calculator. No more stress tests will be conducted.

Stay tuned!