Finally the rare (unobtainable) manual for Sharp EL-506P

[giubin]

I'm so happy to share the manual for Sharp EL-506P.
I hope it will be useful.

Grayscale scan in pdf.

[Mjim]

Thank you for the work you did in scanning this in.

I was thinking about scanning the Sharp EL-506A manuals in, so started using a flatbed scanner but I wasn't very happy with the results, so am thinking about using a Camera instead.

How were you able to get such a consistent clean result with your scans?

[giubin]

(08-19-2021 01:27 AM)Mjim Wrote:  Thank you for the work you did in scanning this in.

I was thinking about scanning the Sharp EL-506A manuals in, so started using a flatbed scanner but I wasn't very happy with the results, so am thinking about using a Camera instead.

How were you able to get such a consistent clean result with your scans?

Thanks very much. I'm so happy to help this community. For this tiny manual, I scan it one by one page, with half of the manual out of the scanner, to be sure to press the pages better on the glass, without closing the lid of the scanner, for press with fingers the pages. I tried to scan two pages at a time, but there was too many shadows and text off focus near the spine of the manual.

(Probably my scan is better than my english?)

[Mjim]

I think my scanner just isn't the right one for the job, as I ended up getting blurring on the text closest to the spine even while pressing down fairly hard on the manual and I was only up to Page 13.

I can understand mostly what you mean, so your english isn't too bad (besides I'm in no position to judge being mono-lingual, and my english isn't that great even as a native speaker).

Here is my Sharp EL-506P:

It's the first gen version which I think is from 1984 ( arcsin(arccos(arctan(tan(cos(sin(9)))))) = 9.000011968). It's has silver buttons, instead of the grey ones on my EL-506A and EL-546 which I kind of like.

I actually only got this within the last year or so and it was a bit beaten up, but as I learned to use it I came to really like it but I had to figure out how to use it mostly on my own (The Sharp EL-501X is similar functionality wise so you can use that as a manual, but it isn't as detailed as the one you scanned in).

[giubin]

(08-19-2021 05:18 AM)Mjim Wrote:  I think my scanner just isn't the right one for the job, as I ended up getting blurring on the text closest to the spine even while pressing down fairly hard on the manual and I was only up to Page 13.

With my first attempt, i got the same result. Then i tried to scan as I wrote. Try to use my metod, with the scanner lid open.



btw I got the same result with (arcsin(arccos(arctan(tan(cos(sin(9)))))) = 9.000011968) on both my EL-506p calculators.

[Mjim]

Thanks for showing how you did it; unfortunately, I pretty much did the same thing (removing the scanner lid and pressing on the manual similar to what you are doing). I think either the scanner has a pretty small depth of field so things become blurry faster when the paper it isn't perfectly flat on the surface, or perhaps the text on the EL-506A manual is closer to the spine.

You have two EL-506P both version 1's?, that is pretty awesome

Nothing wrong with version 2, but I think that was the chip that was mass produced and cloned (even Sharp gave up and reintroduced the clone as the EL-501X ).

version 1: http://www.arithmomuseum.com/album.php?l...t=c&id=361
version 2: http://www.arithmomuseum.com/album.php?l...t=c&id=362

Story about the clones: http://www.arithmomuseum.com/szamologep....26&lang=en

EDIT: Looks like both version 1 & 2 were cloned, so my mistake. I happen to have a clone of the EL-506P version 2 with a clamshell type design, but both version 1 & 2 seem to have been copied.

[Eddie W. Shore]

(08-17-2021 06:00 PM)giubin Wrote:  I'm so happy to share the manual for Sharp EL-506P.
I hope it will be useful.

Grayscale scan in pdf.

Thank you for sharing!

[giubin]

(08-19-2021 01:40 PM)Eddie W. Shore Wrote:  

(08-17-2021 06:00 PM)giubin Wrote:  I'm so happy to share the manual for Sharp EL-506P.
I hope it will be useful.

Grayscale scan in pdf.

Thank you for sharing!

My pleasure to help the community

[giubin]

(08-19-2021 09:40 AM)Mjim Wrote:  Thanks for showing how you did it; unfortunately, I pretty much did the same thing (removing the scanner lid and pressing on the manual similar to what you are doing). I think either the scanner has a pretty small depth of field so things become blurry faster when the paper it isn't perfectly flat on the surface, or perhaps the text on the EL-506A manual is closer to the spine.

You have two EL-506P both version 1's?, that is pretty awesome

Nothing wrong with version 2, but I think that was the chip that was mass produced and cloned (even Sharp gave up and reintroduced the clone as the EL-501X ).

version 1: http://www.arithmomuseum.com/album.php?l...t=c&id=361
version 2: http://www.arithmomuseum.com/album.php?l...t=c&id=362

Story about the clones: http://www.arithmomuseum.com/szamologep....26&lang=en

EDIT: Looks like both version 1 & 2 were cloned, so my mistake. I happen to have a clone of the EL-506P version 2 with a clamshell type design, but both version 1 & 2 seem to have been copied.

I didn't know the history about this calc. This is very interesting, like the enhanced version, the EL-506A with boolean logic algebric operators, which are missing from the EL-506P.

[Didier Lachieze]

Thanks for manual of the 506P, there has been many members in the 506 family, the top of the line seems to be the 506SLR, known also as the 546:

[giubin]

(08-19-2021 01:27 AM)Mjim Wrote:  Thank you for the work you did in scanning this in.

I was thinking about scanning the Sharp EL-506A manuals in, so started using a flatbed scanner but I wasn't very happy with the results, so am thinking about using a Camera instead.

How were you able to get such a consistent clean result with your scans?

News... I just bought the Sharp EL-506A from ebay... From USA: i need to wait a little bit; i'm in Italy.

The A version is nice for the boolean logic operators (I know, I have a lot of calcs to do that including the new beauty from swissmicros DM16L).

[giubin]

(08-19-2021 07:45 PM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  Thanks for manual of the 506P, there has been many members in the 506 family, the top of the line seems to be the 506SLR, known also as the 546:

Very nice calculator!

[Mjim]

I recently got both the EL-506A & EL-546. One thing that I've noticed is that the EL-546 seems to use a reddish solar cell while the EL-506SLR uses a brownish one; not sure if that makes any difference though (this calculator works well even under indoor lighting). Maybe the EL-506SLR is a newer version? The EL-546 seems to be stuck with 1973 CODATA values for the constants (not the 1986 ones unfortunately despite being a 1987 calculator).

My Sharp EL-546 (BTW is there any way to create thumbnails or spoiler tags so my images don't take up so much space?).

The EL-506A and EL-546 seem to be pretty much the same (except the constants and the solar panel). One difference I noticed was that my EL-506A can't solve 2-variable linear equations (only 3-variable), giving an error while the EL-546 has no problem with either 2 or 3 variable linear equations.

@Didier Lachieze You don't happen to have the manual for the EL-506SLR do you?

EDIT: giubin, will the EL-506A you will be recieving come with a manual? If it doesn't it might help me motivate myself to scan in the EL-506A manuals if someone else is after it (I doubt it will be anywhere near as good as your one, but it might be usable at least).

[giubin]

(08-20-2021 12:42 AM)Mjim Wrote:  I recently got both the EL-506A & EL-546. One thing that I've noticed is that the EL-546 seems to use a reddish solar cell while the EL-506SLR uses a brownish one; not sure if that makes any difference though (this calculator works well even under indoor lighting). Maybe the EL-506SLR is a newer version? The EL-546 seems to be stuck with 1973 CODATA values for the constants (not the 1986 ones unfortunately despite being a 1987 calculator).

My Sharp EL-546 (BTW is there any way to create thumbnails or spoiler tags so my images don't take up so much space?).

The EL-506A and EL-546 seem to be pretty much the same (except the constants and the solar panel). One difference I noticed was that my EL-506A can't solve 2-variable linear equations (only 3-variable), giving an error while the EL-546 has no problem with either 2 or 3 variable linear equations.

@Didier Lachieze You don't happen to have the manual for the EL-506SLR do you?

EDIT: giubin, will the EL-506A you will be recieving come with a manual? If it doesn't it might help me motivate myself to scan in the EL-506A manuals if someone else is after it (I doubt it will be anywhere near as good as your one, but it might be usable at least).

Yes, unfortunately the EL-506A don't have constants, but you know, i like the charme of this calculators. I wanna remember the EL506P while can use some boolean logic operators with the EL-506A (for hardware debugging for me are important... for that i love the DM16L). I have the EL-5020 too, but i really like my 506. So you got error trying to solve 2-variable linear equations? I don't know, without manual (can't find online this neither), I can't figure it. You have some explanation? It simply can't?

You are so kind for the manual, btw the EL-506A that i bought, is in box with manuals

I'll scan for you too and share with you all

Many thanks.

EDIT: Your Sharp EL-546 is so fascinating too. I like it.

[Mjim]

(08-20-2021 01:28 AM)giubin Wrote:  Yes, unfortunately the EL-506A don't have constants, but you know, i like the charme of this calculators.

The built-in constants is a bit of a gimmick though it can help with calculation speed, but I would be just as happy if they printed the constants on the wallet instead of the constant key reference.

(08-20-2021 01:28 AM)giubin Wrote:  So you got error trying to solve 2-variable linear equations? I don't know, without manual (can't find online this neither), I can't figure it. You have some explanation? It simply can't?

The manual doesn't say it can or can't from what I can see, but the EL-506A couldn't solve the following while the EL-546 can:

3x + y = 15
x + 2y = 10

EL-506A: Error
EL-546: x=4, y=3 Det=5

The way the 3-VLE mode works is you enter the coefficients in sequence:
A1 -> B1 -> C1 -> D1
A2 -> B2 -> C2 -> D2
A3 -> B3 -> C3 -> D3
x -> y -> z -> Determinant

For the 2-variable linear equation I left C1, C2, A3, B3, C3, D3 all set to zero:
3 -> 1 -> 0 -> 15
1 -> 2 -> 0 -> 10
0 -> 0 -> 0 -> 0
4 -> 3 -> S -> 5 (S = Skipped, the EL-546 skips this since it's a 2 Variable equation)

In addition according to the manual for the EL-506A it shouldn't work for equations where D1, D2, and D3 are equal to zero:

x - 2y - 3z = 0
3x + 2y - z = 0
3y + z = 0

EL-506A: x=0, y=0, z=0, Det=-16
EL-546: x=0, y=0, z=-0.5, Det=-16 (WRONG)

But the EL-506A gives the correct answer anyway, though the EL-546 give a wrong answer back.

(08-20-2021 01:28 AM)giubin Wrote:  You are so kind for the manual, btw the EL-506A that i bought, is in box with manuals

I'll scan for you too and share with you all

Many thanks.

That is very kind of you to do so; does the EL-506A come with the Sharp "Conquering the Sciences" mini-textbook? That one looks to be a real pain to scan (132 pages with text printed close to the middle).

(08-20-2021 01:28 AM)giubin Wrote:  EDIT: Your Sharp EL-546 is so fascinating too. I like it.

Yeah I'm fond of it too , hopefully you will come across a good deal on it online (they seem to sell for cheaper than the EL-506SLR from what I've seen).

In saying that the EL-506A is noticeably faster than the EL-546 and a little bit faster than the EL-506P (maybe they clocked the chip down on the EL-546 so that it could work better off the solar cell?)

[Didier Lachieze]

(08-20-2021 12:42 AM)Mjim Wrote:  My Sharp EL-546 (BTW is there any way to create thumbnails or spoiler tags so my images don't take up so much space?).

Yes there is, see this post for the details:

(08-20-2021 12:42 AM)Mjim Wrote:  @Didier Lachieze You don't happen to have the manual for the EL-506SLR do you?

I should have it somewhere, I need to find it and then it will take time to scan it as I have a lot of other tasks that are pending.

I have tested the equations above on my 506SLR and I get the exact same results as for your 546.

[Pekis]

Hello,

I like this one (EL-512):

EL-512 Image

[ijabbott]

(08-20-2021 03:59 AM)Mjim Wrote:  The manual doesn't say it can or can't from what I can see, but the EL-506A couldn't solve the following while the EL-546 can:

3x + y = 15
x + 2y = 10

EL-506A: Error
EL-546: x=4, y=3 Det=5

The way the 3-VLE mode works is you enter the coefficients in sequence:
A1 -> B1 -> C1 -> D1
A2 -> B2 -> C2 -> D2
A3 -> B3 -> C3 -> D3
x -> y -> z -> Determinant

For the 2-variable linear equation I left C1, C2, A3, B3, C3, D3 all set to zero:
3 -> 1 -> 0 -> 15
1 -> 2 -> 0 -> 10
0 -> 0 -> 0 -> 0
4 -> 3 -> S -> 5 (S = Skipped, the EL-546 skips this since it's a 2 Variable equation)

Could you solve it by setting C1=0, C2=0, A3=0, B3=0, C3=1, D3=1 ?

[Mjim]

(08-20-2021 11:47 AM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  Yes there is, see this post for the details:

Thank you! let me just test this:

(08-20-2021 11:47 AM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  I should have it somewhere, I need to find it and then it will take time to scan it as I have a lot of other tasks that are pending.

That was a bit cheeky of me considering how difficult and time consuming it is to do so, so ignore that request!

One thing though I'm quite curious about if you do have the manual somewhere is the power specifications of the calculator. I think I saw 50 lux in my internet travels (and it really does well under low light, nearly as well as the TI-34 so that seems about right), but it would be nice to know the actual power consumption like the EL-506A is 0.0002W for example.

I'm also wondering about the differences in panels between the models. Perhaps the EL-506SLR has a more efficient panel (Monocrystalline?), and could potentially run faster than the EL-546 which is why it had to be clocked down a little from the EL-506A to meet the same light requirements....it's all just speculation as I would need to see both side by side to test.

(08-20-2021 11:47 AM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  I have tested the equations above on my 506SLR and I get the exact same results as for your 546.

Hmmm, what about the constants, for example elementary charge ([CNST][9]):
1973: 1.6021892(46) x 10^-19
1986: 1.60217733(49) x 10^-19
EL-546: 1.6021892 x 10^-19 (1973 value)

@Pekis
Eddie (same person that posted in this thread I think) did a write up on this on his blog http://edspi31415.blogspot.com/2020/09/r...tific.html
It looks like those silver buttons as well!, now I'm wondering whether Eddie's version that he reviewed were grey buttons (hard to tell from the angle) or silver like the one you posted.

@ijabbott
Yep, nice work around! (create a 3rd variable set to 1), thanks!

[Didier Lachieze]

(08-21-2021 12:26 AM)Mjim Wrote:  Hmmm, what about the constants, for example elementary charge ([CNST][9]):
1973: 1.6021892(46) x 10^-19
1986: 1.60217733(49) x 10^-19
EL-546: 1.6021892 x 10^-19 (1973 value)

EL-506SLR: 1.6021892 x 10^-19 (1973 value)

I think that the 506SLR was a rebadged 546 for the US market and that both calculators are identical. I will confirm the power numbers once I'll find the manual.