Are vintage calculators useable?

[Radio_Dave]

Hi,

I was actually looking for sewing machine needles on ebay, earlier today, when I found and won a (Singer) Friden EC 1118 calculator .

I'd love to clear a (big) space on my desk and use this regularly but is this advisable?

I have no idea about the reliability or life expectancy of the internal components and I guess that finding replacement parts would be impossible?

Any advise please

Thanks
David

[GJR 11L]

I'm not familiar with the type you have, but my Sharp Elsi Mate dates back to 197? and has yet to break down, the fluorescents are as bright as ever and it works just as well.

If yours is a rarity that should be preserved then preserve it by all means, but otherwise use it and worry about it breaking if it happens! (Just as we do with our rare, valuable old radio sets, although the parts for those tend to be easier to replace if necessary).

Some folk may question the relationship between the sewing machine needles and a calculator, but I once went shopping online for socks and somehow bought an Ekco valve portable! It's just so easy to do!

[Radio_Dave]

Originally Posted by GJR 11L

I'm not familiar with the type you have

I've just found some information and pictures here http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden1118.html
.... either those nixies are very small or I'm gonna need a bigger desk

David

[Paul_RK]

Somehow it does at least look quite compact. I have one of these http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/anita_mk_8.html and wouldn't be at all keen to share a desk with it It's somewhere in the same league as a Ferrograph for weight and footprint... but at least the ten ECC81s would be relatively easy to find replacements for if necessary!

Paul

[ALANS ANITAS]

The answer is yes!

I have no experience of the Singer Friden machines, and would not reccomend the Anita Marks eight to twelve. These in good working order are quite slow(clock speed is 3.8KHz), so some calculations take several seconds. The best Anita is the 1011 IC. easy to work on, reliable, and not too bulky Two distinct models were made, but from the outside the only difference is the serial number Mi s a phase one TM is a phase two. The Anita 1000 is the basic machine, the 1010 adds a feature (% and roundoff) and the 1011, one memory.
A 1021 was also made, but are very rare. They added square root.
The later (and much smaller) LSI models are less reliable, and have a number of known weaknesses The same goes for the 1200 models. Probably the least reliable was the 1211LSI.

The above opinion is my own. If any member of the forum would like me to expand on the above, please contact me, but at over 25 years my memory might be a little unreliable.

Regards

ALAN

[Radio_Dave]

Originally Posted by Paul_RK

Somehow it does at least look quite compact. I have one of these http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/anita_mk_8.html

Wow! I've got to get one of them

David

[Station X]

Did any of the early electronic calculators allow for the use of Pounds, shillings, pence, half pence and farthings?

[brunel]

Definitely yes. I obtained mine on Freecycle, and use it often. I would probably use it more if I could understand all of its many functions.

If anyone can inform me of the functions of the none obvious keys, I would be grateful, especially the two equals keys.

Regards

Brunel

[Dave Moll]

Originally Posted by GJR 11L

Some folk may question the relationship between the sewing machine needles and a calculator, but I once went shopping online for socks and somehow bought an Ekco valve portable! It's just so easy to do!

I assume that the connection in this case is the "Singer" name, which is "the" name in sewing machines

[joe]

Originally Posted by Station X

Did any of the early electronic calculators allow for the use of Pounds, shillings, pence, half pence and farthings?

I don't know of any but I'm sure it wouldn't have gone back to farthings which ceased to be legal tender at the end of 1960. The rest of it died out in Feb '72
probably before microprocessors were common enough to be widely used & not worth catering for such a limited market.

Joe

[jjl]

Originally Posted by Station X

Did any of the early electronic calculators allow for the use of Pounds, shillings, pence, half pence and farthings?

There were quite a few mechanical and electronic calculators that allowed for the sterling pounds shillings and pence system. The Vintage Calculators site that is linked in an earlier post on this thread has details on several of these.

BTW the UK changed over to decimal currency on 15th February 1971.

John

[GJR 11L]

Originally Posted by Dave Moll

I assume that the connection in this case is the "Singer" name, which is "the" name in sewing machines

Ah! That, of course, makes perfect sense.

[Rob_Lewis]

For a correlation between sewing/weaving and calculating/computing, look at the Jacquard loom...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_loom

[ALANS ANITAS]

In reply to Graham's question , Sumlock supplied the Bell Punch manufactured Anita Mk10 whch had a comptometer derived keyboard and was derived from the Anita MKs eight and nine,the counting being done by gas filled trigger tubes. However the decimal point board and the sterling conversion boards used transistorsI

To me one of these would be highly desireable.

Just over seven thousand were made.


Regards

ALAN

[joe]

Originally Posted by jjl

BTW the UK changed over to decimal currency on 15th February 1971.

John

I stand corrected. I now remember listening to the reports on the World Service whilst I was living in the Middle East.

Joe