NP-41 Emulator (may be)

[Egan Ford]

Sign me up. Thanks.

[Chris Chung]

Thanks for the orders.

Give me until Monday and I will confirm the list and payment method.

It will be like NP25 in that payments will be made with PayPal and you supply a full mailing address.

I will be able to produce more if there is demand. And it's better to get a first batch initial reviews before proceeding.

[Sukiari]

(12-03-2017 01:36 AM)Chris Chung Wrote:  Thanks for the orders.

Give me until Monday and I will confirm the list and payment method.

It will be like NP25 in that payments will be made with PayPal and you supply a full mailing address.

I will be able to produce more if there is demand. And it's better to get a first batch initial reviews before proceeding.

Please, may I have one as well?

[Paul Dale]

It is too late for this run, but I'd be interested in one from the next batch.

Pauli

[revwillie]

I would like to be on the second wave list should one develop. I'd be OK with a kit or just a pcb.

[Kinma]

I want one too. Put me on the second list (or the first if there is still room ).

[Chris Chung]

Thanks for the orders. I will be sending out the 10 units to the following;

mwthomasjr, Massimo Gnerucci, Guenter Schink, Den Belillo, Didier Lacieze, Sylvain Cote, Mark Hardman, rprosperi, Raffzahn, Egan Ford

Please paypal me w/ the my private email address (I will provide via PM).
Please put this in title / description

NP41V3 x 1 assembled

Cost is US$75, shipping and case included.
Please enter your shipping name and address via paypal (as how it should look on a mail label)

I will acknowledge with a post in this thread instead of replying individual PMs / emails.

2nd batch will be planned after 1st users give their feedback and reviews. Again this is a hobby project so it may not meet up to everyone's expectations. And I will try and correct / improve after these units.

The case is about 134 x 70mm, 7.75mm thick, w/ PCB it is a bit thicker at about 12mm. They are printed and shipped in random colors, mostly green. Just whatever colors I happened to have on the printer when I print. I had added a photo to the shared album show the case w/ a unit.

I still cannot put photos in a post although it shows I still have usage quota. Will try in a test forum.

[Alejandro Paz(Germany)]

Hei Chris,

do you have some of those really nice 14 segment display ? Could I have one or two ? pretty please ?

Thanks !

[Chris Chung]

I had cleared up my mailbox now and whoever tried to PM me should be able to do that now.

mwthomasjr, Massimo Gnerucci, Guenter Schink, Den Belillo, Didier Lachieze, Sylvain Cote, Mark Hardman, rprosperi, Raffzahn, Egan Ford

Payment received for the above crossed. Egan should be able to send his mailing address now as it was not in the paypal message.
Sylvain got the unit as a replacement but I still need the address.

(12-04-2017 03:29 PM)Alejandro Paz(Germany) Wrote:  Hei Chris,

do you have some of those really nice 14 segment display ? Could I have one or two ? pretty please ?

Thanks !

Hello Alejandro,
I can spare a few at US$12/pc w/ US$10 shipping. I had about 250 pcs on hand. Please PM me if interested.

[jwhsu]

Would like to get one as part of the second batch.

[Chris Chung]

I had sent out the following 5 units and the 3 pcs LCD package for Alejandro an hour ago.

mwthomasjr, Massimo Gnerucci, Guenter Schink, Didier Lachieze, rprosperi

Will ship additional units tomorrow when address is ready.

[mwthomasjr]

Thanks for shipping them so quickly.
I look forward to getting mine in hand
and playing with it.

[Alejandro Paz(Germany)]

Thanks a lot !

[Massimo Gnerucci]

Thank you!

waitin'... :-)

[emece67]

I will also be interested in an unit from the 2nd batch. And also in two LCD units.

Regards.

[Guenter Schink]

(12-05-2017 01:30 AM)Chris Chung Wrote:  I had sent out the following 5 units and the 3 pcs LCD package for Alejandro an hour ago.

mwthomasjr, Massimo Gnerucci, Guenter Schink, Didier Lachieze, rprosperi

Will ship additional units tomorrow when address is ready.

Thanks Chris,
Günter

[Didier Lachieze]

Thanks, now waiting for this nice little package !

[rprosperi]

Looking forward to checking it out, thanks Chris.

Is there any means to get a program in or out, other than keying?

[Chris Chung]

mwthomasjr, Massimo Gnerucci, Guenter Schink, Den Belillo, Didier Lacieze, Sylvain Cote, Mark Hardman, rprosperi, Raffzahn, Egan Ford

payment received for the above, will try and ship out 4 units later today.

(12-05-2017 01:57 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Looking forward to checking it out, thanks Chris.

Is there any means to get a program in or out, other than keying?

You will need to get a usb-serial cable, 4 female-female jumper wires, and a 4 pin 0.1" pin header. And you need a terminal program that can do binary transfer. I use RealTerm under windows successfully, also tried TeraTerm recently, also works greate.

I had added a photo showing the hookup and the usb-serial device.

The following is the instructions included in your box. Please see the "serial menu" section.

Code:

    Chris Chung 2016-2017
    based on work from Eric Smith

    Operation:

    upon new battery, displays shows "NP41__=????" where ???? is the battery volatage
        pressing any key will show the internal key code, this is meant to check the soldering
        pressing "ON" then "<-" will start calculator and resets calculator memory
        pressing "ON" then "ON" will start calculator w/o resets calculator memory
            * if you lost the last value display pressing "ALPHA" a few times will force it out
        calculator will auto-shutoff in about 2 minutes of inactivity

    upon wake up from sleep, via the "ON" key, special function when press-n-hold another key
        hold "<- " while pressing "ON" key resets calculator memory
        hold "SST" while pressing "ON" key reboot calculator
            before showing "NP41  =????", display will show "V??? 201?-??" firmware version and release date briefly
            press and hold "USER" key at this point will allow calculator to enter bootloader mode
            this allows you to flash new firmware via attaching a usb-serial dongle
        hold "TAN" while pressing "ON" key clears ROM images
            this clears all four ROM slots, sometimes needed when calculator locks-up due to ROMs

    bootloader only, when main program corrupted / bricked
        remove battery, connects usb-serial dongle, then insert battery while holding "USER" key
        there will be no display shown, start Realterm on PC
        under Realterm, press "Enter" once, you should see a '?' prompt
        to flash calculator program binary, press "@" key, pressing any other key will not work
        terminal will show a '>', meaning it's ready to accept file
        select the 'Send' tab from Realterm, select bin file (i.e. NP41.bin) and send
        NP41 display will show the keytest screen when bin file flash is successful
        there will be no indication from the terminal when finish

    serial menu
        attach usb-serial dongle to calculator and PC
        enter test mode either by initial power up or via "SST" + "ON" key combination
        starts Realterm and press 'Enter' twice, the following menu will be displayed

                                         NP41 Monitor V001 2017-03
                                         (A,B,C,D) clear rom at page 1,2,3,4
                                         (1,2,3,4)  load rom at page 1,2,3,4
                                         (X) reboot
                                         (F) load focal 46 .END.

        pressing appropriate keys for corresponding action.
        for loading roms, select Realterm 'send' tab, then select and send desire rom files
        (F) to local focal program is experimental, i.e. I have not finished it

I might do a video instruction later on to show how it's done. I only tried a couple of ROMs though, Math-1C.bin and PHYSICS.bin. Focal program is non-functional.

/EDIT serial cable required, added 4 pin 0.1" pin header

[rprosperi]

(12-05-2017 07:52 PM)Chris Chung Wrote:  You will need to get a usb-serial cable, 4 female-female jumper wires. And you need a terminal program that can do binary transfer. I use RealTerm under windows successfully.

I had added a photo showing the hookup and the usb-serial device.

Thanks, this is surprising good news!

It would be helpful if you could post a link to the proper (or at least equivalent) USB-serial cable - there are MANY different brands, configurations, chipsets, etc. and it would be nice to not waste time creating a list of the ones that don't work.

I've not read the full doc yet, but I'm sure it's straightforward, terminal programs are all about the same (what they do, not how).

Thanks again Chris!