hp 16c Functions !!??

[damaltor]

(05-02-2018 12:43 PM)zx_spectrum Wrote:  hp 16c users please help.
i am thinking about getting hp-16c from eBay
according to hp 16c photos, among the normal functions the calculator has 1/x and square root bottoms.
i know this is not supposed to be a scientific calculator but rather a programmers machine, but i was wondering whether it has the base-2-logarithm and 2^x (or better Y^x) functions as i usually use these two functions a lot when i am working with binary numbers or any other-base computations.
it seems that the hp 16c doesn't contain these two functions but that doesn't make sense to me.

anyone with experience on hp 16c ??

To actually answer your question: No, it does not have these functions. You might be able to emulate them by using the shifting functions.

other than that:
note that working with floating point numbers on the 16c is awkward as it is a dedicated mode, and the integer/floating conversion is made automatically when switching between integer and floating point mode, but in a hp-16c special way and not in an ieee compatible way (this idea is so bad that it is even mentioned in the manual). also, this resets the word size to 56 bit which screws up the memory registers: the designers of the 16c had the (honestly great) idea of making the storage registers follow the main wordsize. therefore you could store two 4-bit numbers in two adjacent storage registers, and after changing the word size to 8 bits, you could recall them as a single 8 bit number. that is nice, but that means that after switching the word size all storage register numbers have to be shifted accordingly. if you stored 3 8-bit numbers in R1, R2, R3, switched then to floating point and stored a (56 bit) floating point number in R1, you would overwrite R2 and R3 in integer mode. this and other quirks make the calculator inferiour in anything which has to do with floating point math.
Still, it is a GREAT calculator for integer math, the flags make sense, the possible operations are mostly useful, and it is the only voyager that has an F key (and an F label) for a sixth program. it does not have a user mode though like the 11c for example does have.

i use the 16c on a daily basis, alongside a 41c for floating point stuff. i really love it and do not want to miss it. you might want to think about a different, second device though. the 11c or the 15c might be a good addon.