I love old programmables, but this?

[robve]

I'm in awe, but also feel disgust at the yellow wart on top, and the sheer size of this thing!

Saw it on flea bay, a desktop programmable from 1972 (not a picture from the bay):



Bay listing (I have no affiliation with the seller):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/225499918956?ch...1&mkcid=28
Includes a set of magnetic disks and "Special Products - Systems for Business and Science" manuals "Surveying Library", "Statistics", "Subroutines", and one more. Must have cost a small fortune in 1972.

Info on the Sharp Compet 365p on the CalcMuseum with pictures.

Sharp also made an earlier Compet 363p model in 1971 (same as the Burroughs C3660 also made by Sharp apparently). This is the same year the Intel 4004 was released on the market, but I doubt these Sharps use the 4004, very likely custom LSI (i.e. ELSI) made by Rockwell.

These programmable machines had branching instructions and tags (labels) for loops and conditional control flow, which must have been revolutionary, or was it? Someone could program the N-Queens benchmark on one of these.

- Rob

EDIT: fix funny typo

[pier4r]

Well the desktop calculators on the HP side weren't similar in size? Still awesome piece of tech in my view.

This is a neat playlist about HP desktop calculators: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...V_szM74y7M

[robve]

(04-01-2023 06:20 PM)pier4r Wrote:  Well the desktop calculators on the HP side weren't similar in size? Still awesome piece of tech in my view.

Just being slightly facetious about this amazing piece of historical technology that rarely shows up online. The HP-9100 is also an amazing piece of technology.

The form factor of these machines is largely imposed by the constraints of early discrete circuitry in the late 60s/early 70s, e.g. consisting of diode-resistor logic and magnetic cores.

Historical programmable systems like these are amazing. Collecting them requires a lot of space and willingness to maintain and repair them, versus pocket computers and calculators that require little. I wish I had unlimited funds, space, and time

- Rob

[robve]

The oldest (1973) programmable in my collection (at this time) is a Sharp PC-1001, a small desktop programmable is relatively small at 226x140x71mm and weighing 1.1kg, compared to the Sharp Compet 365p at 370x360x250mm and weighing 13.3kg. Alas, the PC-1001 has no branching, so it won't run N-Queens.

   

The PC-1001 among three other vintage Sharps (QT-8D, PC-1001, EL-811, PC-1200) for size comparison:

   

Trivia fact: The Sharp PC-1001 is the first machine to use the Rockwell PPS-4 microprocessing system. PPS-4 was a competitor to the famous Intel 4004 and later the 8008. PPS-4 came on the market one year later than the 4004. The PMOS -17V 42 pin quad in-line package PPS-4 10660 (lubb0) CPU is efficient. It runs at the same speed as the 4004, but at 1/3 of the clock rate.

PC-1001/1002:
https://www.johnwolff.id.au/calculators/...001-02.htm
https://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/sharppc1001.html
http://rskey.org/CMS/index.php/exhibit-hall/115

PPS-4:
https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/rockwell_in...onal/pps-4
https://en.wikichip.org/w/images/3/3a/ro...974%29.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_PPS-4

- Rob

[Didier Lachieze]

Another link for the Sharp PC-1001: Sharp PC-1001 - les détails, including a link to the manual (click on the manual cover).

[Leviset]

I have a complete Sharp PC 1500 with base unit, Micro-cassette and colour printer - I even managed to get 4 new colour pens (from Germany!)

[bbergman]

Curious if anyone has (owns) any of the old Monroe programmable desktop calculators? I loved playing with those when I was in high school, and miss the clack-clack-clack of the printer as it banged out a response to a program...