HP Eky Notes
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Futuring, this is-: Three New Modules .....................2 Corvallis Library Corner .................. 3 Custom Keyboards Announced ........... 6 IntheKeyofHP .........................6 Corvallis UL Now Accepting "SP" ......... 7 The Issue on Beck Issues ................ 9 Cube-Puzzlers Rescuedl .................9 re on yhW)-I ........................... 10 HP-67/97 Routines and Tips ............ 10 Routines, Techniques, Tips, Etc. ......... 11 Even More About Batteries .............. 14 Stock Plotting on the HP-41 .............16 HEWLETT J.nrury.F- 1W2 Vd. 6NO* 1 PACKARD ISW 07m2037 HP Eky Notes . Published Quarterly By Subscription: $5/yr. HP-I L Introduction THE CASSETTE DRIVE THE PRINTER On December 21, 1981, the Hewlett- The new HP82161A Digital Cassette. The new HP82162A Thermal Printer/ Packard Interface Loop concept became a Drive is an HP-IL mass-storage device. Plotter is an HP-IL compatible device that reality. This date marked the beginning of Each of the digital mini-cassettes driven by is similar in appearance and function to the a new era in low-cost systems for electronic this device can store up to 131,072 bytes of HP 82143A Thermal Printer/Plotter. In data transfer and electronic control. data, programs, status information, and addition to all of the convenient features of Now, your HP-41 hand-held computer directory in files that you name. Just think: the HP 82143A Thermal Printer/Plotter can easily communicate with, and control, 131,000 bytes is over 50 times the full RAM such as double- and single-wide printing, any Hewlett-Packard Interface Loop capacity of the HP-41CV!In fact, we have right and left justifying, 128 standard (HP-IL) peripheral. Present HP-IL periph- stored on just 3/4 of one mini-cassette, all of characters, and special character building, erals include a printer, a digital cassette the programs in every HP-41 "Solu- the new HP-IL printer has a FORMAT drive, a converter, and a digital multi- tions" book! This is why we call it mass statement that allows you to automatically meter.* But that's not all. A video interface storage. Also, the HP82161A Digital center words on the page and to easily has been announced but will not be Cassette Drive is fast, with an average file right- and left-justify two columns. Plus, available until later this year. Also, with access time of 13 seconds, and a 30-second the new HP82162A Thermal Printer/ the new HP 82938A Series 80 HP-IL maximum rewind time. Yet, accessing a Plotter has a 101-element buffer, and a Interface Card, your HP Series 80 Personal program file is easy. With the Digital STANDBY position of the on-off switch Computer can interact with your HP-41 Cassette Drive in the loop, simply place the helps conserve battery power. through HP-IL, and it can act as a name of the file in the ALPHA register, key controller of the HP-IL loop. And, with the in lXEQl "READP", and the program is addition of the new HP 82182A Time available in the RAM of your HP-41 within Module, your HP-41 becomes a care-free, seconds. Other files are accessed (and time-based controller. Ah, but this recorded) just as easily by executing is jumping ahead; let's discuss the different HP-IL commands. fundamentals. The HP-IL concept revolves around a two-wire cable that can connect as many as 30 HP-IL devices in a closed series loop. HP-IL is a "master-slave" interface, mean- ing that one active controller regulates the information flow between all of the devices in the loop. Data and commands move around the loop in one direction.. The reason we use such terms as "the controller" and "a device" is because HP-IL is a general-purpose interface. The elements of the system that you choose to use will be tailored specifically to your application. This is the flexibility of the HP-IL concept. At the core of this new concept is the new HP 82160A HP-IL Module. This module fits into any of the four HP-41 ports, and it expands the HP41 with a powerful set of functions for interaction with the devices in the loop. Now, printers, mass-storage de vices, and a variety of instruments can be controlled by the HP-41 through one port! * Thrs drgrtal multrrneter rs not auarlable through HP Calculator Dealers. Contact your local HP Saks Offzce for more inforrnafwnandpnces. ANprrces tn thts newsletter arc suggsstedrsfa~lpriceeexclud~ng appl~cbblg state andloch taxesl~men* THE MULTIMETER HP-IL allows you to program the HP-41 to SEE YOUR HP DEALER... AND THE CONVERTER power-up devices in the loop, take readings At this point, you have read the intro- With HP-IL, your HP-41 can control, and from instruments, make data listings, read duction to an entirely new concept in take data readings from, the new HP 3468A subprograms from masd storage devices, electronic communication and control that Digital Multimeter. Or, if you have a and interact with other devices in the loop represents a major technological break- considerable knowledge of electronics and as prescribed by the programs. The exten- through. This is a good point to sit back, interfacing techniques, you can use the new sive programming capabilities of the HP-41 relax, and think about the implications of HP 82166A HP-IL Converter to connect allow it to make critical decisions based on the HP-IL concept. Just think: now, with your own 8 or 16 bit-parallel device into the the data received from the instruments in the HP products that were announced on HP-IL system. the loop and interact with other devices in December 1, 1981, thousands of electronic A general application of such an HP-IL the loop, acc~rdingly.Then, with its job control applications can be tackled by system would use the new HP82182 Time complete, the HP-41 can power-down the portable, affordable,devices. devices in the loop, including itself. When Module, which is discussed in the following And, this is only the beginning. Hewlett- article, to "wake-up" the HP-41 in the you arrive at work in the morning, after a good night's rest, a printer listing awaits Packard is committed to continuing its middle of the night, while you are at home quality support of HP-IL. The devices that sleeping. Automatically, then, the HP-41 you, documenting the events of the night as monitored by the HP-41! are compatible with the HP-41 as a main- would begin to execute a control program. frame controller will be compatible with future hand-held computers ,and personal computers with input/output capabilities. TIME MODULE The new HP82182A Time Module gives you the ability to incorporate precise time and date into your calculations. With this module, your HP-41 can be a clock, a calendar, a stopwatch, an alarm, and there's much more. You can set up to 253 separate alarms in the HP-41 (depending on the amount of memory available), and any alarm can be set to repeat itself again and again after a desired time-interval. An alarm will acti- vate whether or not the calculator is on. And, when you set an alarm, you can choose to make it either a tone alarm, a message alarm, or a control alarm. When a control alarm activates, the HP-41 "wakes up" and immediately begins execution of a specified program. This feature makes the Time Module a valuable component of any HP-41 controlled HP-IL system. The Time Module uses a quartz crystal for dependable accuracy. And, with the module's "built-in" programmable accu- racy factor, your HP-41 can "fine tune" your Time Module, thus giving it a time- keeping ability that will amaze even the most scrutinizing of accuracy buffs. There is no other hand-held computer like the HP-41. And now the HP 82182A Time Module takes the HP-41 one more step forward. Page 2 KEY NOTES V6N1 Feb 1982 EXTENDED FUNCTIONS/ phone. (Call 800-547-3400, except from MEMORY MODULE Corvallis Library Corner Alaska and Hawaii; in Oregon call 503-758-1010.) The new HP82180A Extended Func- The greatest advantage of Library member- tions/Memory Module expands your HP-41 The Users' Library 'is a service to ship is being able to choose from a large with 47 new functions and 889 bytes of HP-67/97/41 programmable calculator "extended" memory. owners. As a member of the Users' Library, collection of software that is immediately ready to serve you in your application. The Such new functions as "programmable one of your major benefits is that you are in savings in time and effort are worth much size" and "programmable assign" allow communication with HP calculator users more than the small membership fee. you to change the memory configurations all around the world. Programs that are the You also should look into the possibility and keyboard-function assignments under result of many hours of brain-work by of the Library fee being income tax program control. Plus, there is a "SIZE?" fellow HP calculator users are yours at an deductible. You might even be able to function that returns the present number of almost insignificant price. And, although deduct the cost of some purchased Library allocated data registers to the X-register. anyone may order programs from the We know, from the number of "SIZE?" Users' Library, there are countless advan- programs. routines that you have contributed to KEY tages to becoming a member. Read on ... NOTES, that this is a popular function.