Ah those were the days, my friend.

[Matt Agajanian]

Hi all.

If you're like me. in the 70s to mid 80s, my highlight of the week was the Saturday Sports section. I'd look forward to the ads from Olympic Sales, Freeway Stores, Tams, and Computique. In addition, Saturday was my field day where I'd ask my dad to take me to one of those shops.

Fond memories include getting my SR-56 from my local Freeway Store in Pasadena and being trained how to program it. Another fun memory was seeing an HP-41 in action, printing a calendar at Computique.

[Dave Frederickson]

(04-17-2017 07:42 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Hi all.

If you've like me. in the 70s to mid 80s, my highlight of the week was the Saturday Sports section. I'd look forward to the ads from Olympic Sales, Freeway Stores, Tams, and Computique. In addition, Saturday was my field day where I'd ask my dad to take me to one of those shops.

Fond memories include getting my SR-56 from my local Freeway Store in Pasadena and being trained how to program it. Another fun memory was seeing an HP-41 in action, printing a calendar at Computique.

Tams Stationers offered a PPC discount.

Memory Test: How much was it?

[Matt Agajanian]

(04-17-2017 07:54 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  

(04-17-2017 07:42 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Hi all.

If you've like me. in the 70s to mid 80s, my highlight of the week was the Saturday Sports section. I'd look forward to the ads from Olympic Sales, Freeway Stores, Tams, and Computique. In addition, Saturday was my field day where I'd ask my dad to take me to one of those shops.

Fond memories include getting my SR-56 from my local Freeway Store in Pasadena and being trained how to program it. Another fun memory was seeing an HP-41 in action, printing a calendar at Computique.

Tams Stationers offered a PPC discount.

Memory Test: How much was it?

At the time, I think it was $350.

[Dave Frederickson]

(04-17-2017 08:06 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  

(04-17-2017 07:54 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  Tams Stationers offered a PPC discount.

Memory Test: How much was it?

At the time, I think it was $350.

Well, you would be correct depending on how much you bought. The discount was a percentage off the list price of HP calculator products. Your answer must be expressed as a percentage to get credit.

[Matt Agajanian]

Yes. I kinda goofed. Even here on this site, the 41C is listed at $325.

[rprosperi]

A random guess: 3.14%

[Dave Frederickson]

(04-19-2017 12:28 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  A random guess: 3.14%

I think it was more like 40%.

Bob, you were in SoCal in the Good Ol' Days so I was hoping you'd remember.

[rprosperi]

(04-19-2017 03:15 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  

(04-19-2017 12:28 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  A random guess: 3.14%

I think it was more like 40%.

Bob, you were in SoCal in the Good Ol' Days so I was hoping you'd remember.

I lived there 80-84, but I never even heard of Tams. Maybe the had no stores in the San Bernardino/Redlands area where I lived.

Believe me, if I knew of a place that had 40% off on HP stuff, I'd have been a frequent flyer.

Was the owner a PPC member? 40% is an enormous discount, likely as much as their margin on much of the stuff. What was their angle?

[Dave Frederickson]

Tams Stationers had 23 stores in the SoCal area, two that I can remember here in San Diego. The discount was off the list price, not the store price. I heard about the discount through PPC. You went to the meetings in Santa Ana, if I recall, so I'm surprised it never came up. On the other hand, I bought my 71 from the HP sales office where the PPC meetings were held and not Tams.

I don't know if the owner was a PPC member, but their corporate offices were in Costa Mesa, so if he was he would have gone to the Santa Ana meetings.

Dave

[rprosperi]

(04-20-2017 02:34 AM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  Tams Stationers had 23 stores in the SoCal area, two that I can remember here in San Diego. The discount was off the list price, not the store price. I heard about the discount through PPC. You went to the meetings in Santa Ana, if I recall, so I'm surprised it never came up. On the other hand, I bought my 71 from the HP sales office where the PPC meetings were held and not Tams.

I don't know if the owner was a PPC member, but their corporate offices were in Costa Mesa, so if he was he would have gone to the Santa Ana meetings.

Dave

Most of my buying in SoCal was from Educalc, Olympic and a specialty stationary store in Santa Barbara (seemed to cater to Surveyors). Folks at the PPC meetings did mention a local place, perhaps it was Tams, but most of meeting time was spent either on stuffing issues or the new geek discovery of the week.

Do you recall the owner's name? It could ring a bell?

[Matt Agajanian]

EduCalc was fantastic. I was so excited when I'd get a catalogue in the mail. It was a whole week's worth of fun to read because every major calculator vendors' calcs were sold through them. Several of my books came from there as well as a few calcs.

[Garth Wilson]

I spent a lot of money at EduCalc too, when I didn't have much to spend. I was always saving for the next accessory. It sure was exciting. I can't believe we spent hundreds of dollars for the intelligent digital microcassette drive plus $10 for each tape that only held 128KB. I'm still holding out hope that Diego or someone will bring us an HP-41 module with a slot for microSD card for files. I also spent hundreds of dollars for my 96KB CMT card-reader-port RAM module for my 71. They had up to 160KB, but I set a budget and 96 was all I could get. I still use my 41 every day, and there's still some excitement from people like Angel who keeps introducing new module ROM images.

[Matt Agajanian]

I musta bought it at Computique about the time I got my 32E but, I've got the TK Enterprises branded 'Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About RPN (But Were Afraid to Ask).' How it ended up that I bought it from Computique is a mystery to me. Although typos abound (even on the cover), it's still one of my most cherished and oft used resources.

[rprosperi]

(04-21-2017 01:06 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  I musta bought it at Computique about the time I got my 32E but, I've got the TK Enterprises branded 'Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About RPN (But Were Afraid to Ask).' How it ended up that I bought it from Computique is a mystery to me. Although typos abound (even on the cover), it's still one of my most cherished and oft used resources.

Is that a book, or HP pamphlet, or something else? It doesn't ring a bell, but it seems like it should...

[Matt Agajanian]

It's a spiral-bound extended owner's manual for the Corvus 500, APF Mark 55, and others with the Mostek function set. But, here's a PDF of the whole book:

Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About RPN...

[rprosperi]

(04-21-2017 01:30 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  ...here's a PDF of the whole book:

Thanks for sharing, looks like a good read, though real books/manuals are far more satisfying for stuff like this. Glancing through it briefly, it appears these machines use a flavor of RPN almost the same as HP's, though they oddly call the "T" register "W"; could be confusing when learning this flavor of RPN, since typically "W" comes just before "X-Y-Z" and not after.

Does it follow the same subtle rules regarding stack-lift disable after Enter, etc.?

Many thanks Matt!

[Matt Agajanian]

You're welcome, Bob. Actually, Katie Wasserman (I think that's her name), has a whole calc and literature library. So, thanks to Katie first.

Yes, when I originally read the book (and even today), I still find naming the top-of-stack register W quite peculiar.

Clarification though--Mostek was the chipset, not a function set. Also, if you are fortunate to own the Privileg SR54-NC, this too has the same exact chipset and function roster as the calcs named on the book's cover.

[rprosperi]

(04-21-2017 01:56 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  ...So, thanks to Katie first.

1 +

Thanks Katie, once again!

I thought I had scoured your shared library, but apparently I wasn't very thorough. Weekend task!

[Dave Frederickson]

Ever hear of Portatek in Los Angeles?

  Portatek Aug 86 .pdf (Size: 977.63 KB / Downloads: 24)

[pier4r]

(04-21-2017 01:56 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Katie Wasserman (I think that's her name), has a whole calc and literature library.

Where!? :drooling: