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Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment.

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Old 9th May 2017, 5:57 am   #1
BulgingCap
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Default Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

My friend arrived yesterday with a couple of items that he had found at the local tip. He said that "they looked like the sort of thing that I liked to repair".
One was a large case 210 x 260 x 500mm that had at some time been gutted and fitted with a big transformer made in Perth Western Aus rated at 24V 1000VA, with a number of large electrolytics. The front panel has been refitted with a mains toggle and a volt and an ammeter.
The badge is Casio E-501; the rear data plate says 'made in Japan'.
I can find no info or reference to the type number of the original unit. I assume that it was some type of PSU or UPS.
Purely out of interest before I return it to the dump does anyone know any details of what it originally was?
BC
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Old 9th May 2017, 8:26 am   #2
cmjones01
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

Interesting. I know Casio made relay-based calculators before their well-known dominance of the LCD calculator and watch market, but I can't find any reference to a Sigma 501. The earliest I've seen and used is an AL-1000 from the late 1960s, which is transistorised (core memory and all) and thus fits in a desktop case. I imagine that earlier models needed bigger housings, perhaps separated from keyboard and display.

Chris
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Old 9th May 2017, 1:44 pm   #3
Maarten
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

You should probably not return it to the dump immediately as it is likely to be a (now rare) piece of computing history. Are there any stamps (on the inside of the case) that look like date codes (possibly with numbers that do not immediately resemble a Western calender date)?
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Old 9th May 2017, 1:59 pm   #4
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

I think I know what this is! It's a teleprinter power supply. I have seen one with the attached ASR33 type unit thing back in the distant past while "industrial estate skip diving" in the early 1990s (think it was Pitney Bowes in Harlow ). I can't find a single reference to them anywhere though on the Internet.
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Old 9th May 2017, 3:01 pm   #5
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

An important point here is that the original Casio box has been gutted and re-used as a power supply. Those meters and toggle switch aren't original, I think, and the back panel looks like it's been hacked about somewhat.

There may be no relationship between the original Casio Sigma-501 and its current role as a power supply.

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Old 9th May 2017, 4:05 pm   #6
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

Aware of that. The original was a 28v supply I think. The blanked off panel on the back was where the cord was to the main unit. There was a fan where the other one was. The front had no controls on it AFAIK. It was in a bad state in a skip when I saw it and I had absolutely no interest in it at the time other than getting it off the top of something else interesting. It was actually attached to the unit.
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Old 10th May 2017, 3:58 am   #7
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

Thanks all, and excellent memory Mr Bungle !
I have removed the 1kVA transformer, caps and meters and the box is on its way back whence it came. Had the front panel been in better condition I may have saved the chassis for something but it was all too far gone. Sad really, but my experience is that in this part of the world nothing gets looked after, whatever its value. The land of the biggest sheds in the universe and everything gets left outside to rot in the sea air - bicycles, outboards, mowers etc.
Regards, BC
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Old 10th May 2017, 7:00 am   #8
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

I only remember that day well because I got caught by the police
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Old 10th May 2017, 12:00 pm   #9
BulgingCap
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

Hah ! Best skip find ever was a Gottlieb Funland pintable in working order, apart from an hour with a diamond contact file. Strangely enough I later found a smashed one down a ravine in La Riocha whilst watching the sun go down one evening when working in Logronia in the 90s so was able to bring home some spares.

Casio:
I removed the front panel whilst removing the big transformer and found a paper label stating:
14v 1A
24v 3A
140v 0.5A
Anyway, it has gone now but it was nice to know what it once had been.
Thanks, BC
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Old 10th May 2017, 12:10 pm   #10
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Default Re: Casio E (Sigma) 501 mystery

Excellent - at least that clears the mystery up for certain
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