HP-25C Eumulator

[Marcus von Cube]

(01-18-2015 06:59 PM)jebem Wrote:  NP-25 User Guide

Great work!

[rprosperi]

(01-18-2015 06:59 PM)jebem Wrote:  I hope you are alright when I post a summary of your excellent information about this project as a "NP-25 User Guide".

Awesome job Jose, thanks very much for pulling this together!

I have been copying various posts into a Word file to have it all in one place, but nothing ambitious like this. Very helpful and much appreciated

[Didier Lachieze]

Many thanks Jose for this comprehensive NP 25 document !

Just a few comments:

• page 3, in the setup section, you can add the link to the video showing the various start-up modes
• page 4, the note at the bottom of the page talks about the HP 33 and 25 ROM selection but it applies also to the 21 ROM,
• page 6, for the V3 kit parts listing, the 74hc164 and the on/off switch are missing, there should be only one 100nF capacitor and the CR2032 battery holder comes mounted on the PCB,
• page 21, the battery holder section is not relevant for the NP 25 kit as Chris provides the battery holder already installed on the PCB.
  

[Chris Chung]

(01-18-2015 06:59 PM)jebem Wrote:  NP-25 User Guide


Hi, Chris,
I hope you are alright when I post a summary of your excellent information about this project as a "NP-25 User Guide".
If this is an issue for you or others involved in this project, I apologize and I will remove it right away.

Thank your for your time to summarize things. It is a tremendous help for whoever who want to discover the unit. I want to add that the hardware is also open source and everyone is welcome to make their own version (or different PCB layout). I will find time to create a better / proper schematic. I did not publish my PCB layout on github to avoid direct copy of it from unknown sources. If anyone in the forum like to have the PCB design files I can provide via PM requests.

I also enjoy very much all your teardown works and thanks for sharing those.

(01-18-2015 08:21 PM)walter b Wrote:  Muito obrigado, Jose! Very good photographs as well.

Little nitpicky remarks for the next edition:

• It's called Nonpareil, not Nonpariel (please change all).
• What's sometimes called E+ is in fact Σ+. You can copy it from here. Just saw it's on the pcb, too, which doesn't make it any better - pcb print may have featured only a very limited set of letters though.
  

I have difficult w/ the PCB design s/w (Fritzing) in that I can't change the font to one that contains Greek characters. I hope this will change in the future (when Fritzing supports it). I never learn to use Eagle or some other professional layout s/w.

(01-19-2015 12:11 AM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  Many thanks Jose for this comprehensive NP 25 document !

Just a few comments:

• page 3, in the setup section, you can add the link to the video showing the various start-up modes
• page 4, the note at the bottom of the page talks about the HP 33 and 25 ROM selection but it applies also to the 21 ROM,
• page 6, for the V3 kit parts listing, the 74hc164 and the on/off switch are missing, there should be only one 100nF capacitor and the CR2032 battery holder comes mounted on the PCB,
• page 21, the battery holder section is not relevant for the NP 25 kit as Chris provides the battery holder already installed on the PCB.
  

I pre-solder the battery holder for the kits as it can be tricky if you don't have a temperature control iron.

(01-18-2015 09:38 AM)Marcus von Cube Wrote:  If Walter agrees you can send mine and his in a single packet. We live only a few km apart. If you send it to me I would have an assembled reference for my kit.

Yes, we could do that. Just remind me again when we are ready to ship.

V3 3rd batch list expect shipping late January
rposperi x3, Marcus (k), Geoff, jebem (k), walter, Den, RMollov, Herman (k), algorhythm x2 (k) (12 units)

V3 4th batch list expect shipping mid February
pcfu44, Bernd, Graig, c_d, DMaier, olr, MeindertKuipers (k), Leonid x2 (9 units)

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(01-19-2015 01:11 PM)Chris Chung Wrote:  

(01-18-2015 08:21 PM)walter b Wrote:  Muito obrigado, Jose! Very good photographs as well.

Little nitpicky remarks for the next edition:

• It's called Nonpareil, not Nonpariel (please change all).
• What's sometimes called E+ is in fact Σ+. You can copy it from here. Just saw it's on the pcb, too, which doesn't make it any better - pcb print may have featured only a very limited set of letters though.
  

I have difficult w/ the PCB design s/w (Fritzing) in that I can't change the font to one that contains Greek characters. I hope this will change in the future (when Fritzing supports it). I never learn to use Eagle or some other professional layout s/w.

Wouldn't a 90° CCW "M" do the trick? :)

[jebem]

(01-18-2015 06:59 PM)jebem Wrote:  NP-25 User Guide

Draft Version 0.1 have just come out now, incorporating the suggested corrections by some of the MoHPC members.
Thank you all for the help and encouragement commentaries!

(01-18-2015 08:21 PM)walter b Wrote:  Little nitpicky remarks for the next edition:

• It's called Nonpareil, not Nonpariel.
• What's sometimes called E+ is in fact Σ+.
  

Done as requested!

(01-19-2015 12:11 AM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  Just a few comments:

• page 3, in the setup section, you can add the link to the video showing the various start-up modes
• page 4, the note at the bottom of the page talks about the HP 33 and 25 ROM selection but it applies also to the 21 ROM,
• page 6, for the V3 kit parts listing, the 74hc164 and the on/off switch are missing, there should be only one 100nF capacitor and the CR2032 battery holder comes mounted on the PCB,
• page 21, the battery holder section is not relevant for the NP 25 kit as Chris provides the battery holder already installed on the PCB.
  

Done as requested!

(01-19-2015 01:11 PM)Chris Chung Wrote:  Thank your for your time to summarize things.
I also enjoy very much all your teardown works and thanks for sharing those.

Well, it was your work and posts after all. I just took some hours from my Sunday afternoon to compile the posts in a document.
Thanks for your work!

[Didier Lachieze]

Thanks for the updated version

[jjohnson873]

Great design Chris. I'd like to order an HP-25c kit, if they are available.

[Chris Chung]

(01-21-2015 07:30 PM)jjohnson873 Wrote:  Great design Chris. I'd like to order an HP-25c kit, if they are available.

V3 3rd batch list expect shipping late January
rposperi x3, Marcus (k), Geoff, jebem (k), walter, Den, RMollov, Herman (k), algorhythm x2 (k) (12 units)

V3 4th batch list expect shipping mid February
pcfu44, Bernd, Graig, c_d, DMaier, olr, MeindertKuipers (k), Leonid x2, jjohnson873 (10 units)

[Chris Chung]

Message for V3 Batch 3 orders (also sent via PM)
Hello all,

I had received our batch 3 boards today and build one unit successfully.
I will be preparing your kits and building your units in the next few days.
I will try to ship out the 1st units / kits on Wednesday.

The price for this batch:
US$30 for kits, US$40 for assembled units. Shipping is $3 for Canada, $5 for US and $8 for elsewhere.

Please pay by pay-pal, my pay-pal account is associated w/ <email>, please send fund to <email>. You can enter a small message via pay-pal and please enter the following information.

1. Title "Payment for NP25 V3B3".
2. Number of kits / assembled units.
3. A mailing name + address formatted in multiple lines as you would write on an envelope.

If for any reason you can't enter the above information via pay-pal message (I am trying this the 1st time, not sure if there is a limitation on message size or not), please send the above information to <email>. Please include "NP-25 V3B3" as part of the subject.

Using my email account for communication is easier for me as my forum mail box is almost full and it's easier for me to organize this.


I will confirm payment once I received them.
End message for batch 3 orders

Batch 3 PCBs arrived later than usual. I will be ordering PCB for the 4th batch Monday. There will be a delay for batch 4 and I think they will be shipped end of February.

[Chris Chung]

I had made the 1st shipment for 3rd batch. Please prepare your own CR2032 batteries. It usually takes 7-10 days to reach destinations.

V3 3rd batch list allocated / shipped units
rposperi x3, Marcus (k), Geoff, jebem (k), walter, Den, RMollov, Herman (k), algorhythm x2 (k) (12 units)

V3 4th batch list expect shipping late February
pcfu44, Bernd, Graig, c_d, DMaier, olr, MeindertKuipers (k), Leonid x2, jjohnson873, Namir x2 (12 units)

[walter b]

Received my NP-25 just now. Very properly assembled. Thanks Chris!

d:-)

[Chris Chung]

Announcement on kits
Let me thank you 1st for all your interests and kind words on my little project where most of the work is done by Eric and others.

I enjoy every much to create and assembly the little units as electronics is my hobby. But lately / now I have to step aside from all my hobbies as I need to attend to something more important than my hobby.

I will be visiting the forum less and will contribute less to the discussion. So apologies if I didn't reply your PMs quick. And I still enjoy learning from this community.

I am not sure when I can be active in the projects (and my hobbies) again so I have to stop taking new orders for NP-25. The 4th batch is still on and I expect early March for delivery.

I will add the PCB layout file to my github project so that whoever wants to make them can do so.

I also encourage whoever is interested to take over and organize group-buy batches. We might even have new PCB layouts, different colors, etc.

Please continue to PM or post questions on the project, I will still join the discussion except that it will be less frequent.

I will notify all again for the V3 4th batch when it's ready.

V3 3rd batch list allocated / shipped units
rposperi x3, Marcus (k), Geoff, jebem (k), walter, Den, RMollov, Herman (k), algorhythm x2 (k) (12 units)

V3 4th batch list expect shipping late February (or early March)
pcfu44, Bernd, Graig, c_d, DMaier, olr, MeindertKuipers (k), Leonid x2, jjohnson873, Namir x2 (12 units)

[Didier Lachieze]

Chris,
Many thanks for designing and sharing with us the NP-25 , and for the time spent building and shipping units and kits all over the world!
I wish you all the best for your other activities,

[rprosperi]

(02-13-2015 08:36 PM)Chris Chung Wrote:  Announcement on kits
Let me thank you 1st for all your interests and kind words on my little project where most of the work is done by Eric and others.

I enjoy every much to create and assembly the little units as electronics is my hobby. But lately / now I have to step aside from all my hobbies as I need to attend to something more important than my hobby.

Chris - many thanks for building and offering such an interesting little tool for us HP gearheads. I received mine yesterday and played with it for far longer than I would have guessed. Sanjeev had the great idea of encasing the board in a clear box to make it easier to handle, and I expect to enter more programs to play with once I've assembled mine. The 21 was my first HP and the 25C was my first programmable calculator and it's fun to re-learn that still familiar territory on this new platform. Also, the extra touches like personalized greeting adds a nice touch of class.

Don't be away for long, we'll miss you. Thanks again!

[EdS2]

Indeed, many thanks Chris!

[Marcus von Cube]

(02-14-2015 10:48 PM)EdS2 Wrote:  Indeed, many thanks Chris!

I happily join the choir of appraisal.

[matthiaspaul]

(01-19-2015 01:11 PM)Chris Chung Wrote:  I have difficult w/ the PCB design s/w (Fritzing) in that I can't change the font to one that contains Greek characters. I hope this will change in the future (when Fritzing supports it). I never learn to use Eagle or some other professional layout s/w.

Actually, only 7-bit ASCII is supported across platforms. Anything beyond this requires the local environment to reliably support this when doing the CAM processing yourself, and/or special arrangements between the design house and the PCB manufacturer (when the CAM processing is done by them). Since most small design houses just send their board file(s) to the manufacturer rather than creating the Gerber / Excellon etc. files for them, the manufacturer needs to know which character set and font was used in the design, and he needs to be able to exactly replicate it on his system (which is often not possible for various reasons).

This is a common cause for problems, with script either being reproduced in a different font, size or ratio, or in a different character set with swapped or garbled characters. While this just not looks nice most of the time, it can even ruin a layout if it creates undesired connections in the copper layers. So, unless you can do all the CAM processing yourself (after negotiating with the manufacturer the specific parameters required for their individual manufacturing process), it is a very good idea to stick to 7-bit ASCII for any copper text or silk screen, even if your CAD software would offer you to use other character sets as well. Anything else may work by chance, but often does not as there are too many difficult to control variables involved. The usage of non-ASCII characters or non-vector fonts in designs are therefore often regarded as potential errors and "corrected" before manufacturing.

If Fritzing (which appears to be an entry-level system) does not even offer to enter characters outside the ASCII range, they might just keep their users from running into problems they might have difficulties to understand and solve, as this would require some insights into the manufacturing process as well - and users new to this typically view the manufacturing as a "black box", only.

Greetings,

Matthias

[Chris Chung]

Thanks everyone for your words / encouragements via post and PM. I really appreciate them. My health is good. It is a sibling that is not doing well and I need to spend time with. I guess like most in this forum, we are no spring chickens and there are always different challenges along our way.

I had added the PCB layout to my github repository. https://github.com/simpleavr/NP25. The file is called ti30sv7s2.fzz, you will need to install Fritzing to use it. It is called ti30s as I was trying to do a TI-30 project initially. I found the HP-25 has less buttons so I switched mid-course. Anyway, just so to tell you how accidental things can come about.

Again there are so many H/W talents in this group and I think it is very possible that the project can be branched, and group-buys on different design be offered.

I will still be interested in browsing the forum though there will be less post from me for a while.

[RMollov]

Received mine today.
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!
Can't stop playing with this little cutie!
Great job Chris, much appreciated!