Victor 12PD - Calculator

[HaaTa]

Another find.


A Victor 12PD Calculator.





Nice keys...


Oh wait, they're doubleshots


Cherry like plungers,


And, huh, plate mounted switches?



Unfortunately, the keys have a very weird feel. Similar to a rubber dome or Cherry MY, but not really either. I'd open it up further, but I'll need to unsolder all of the switches to see...and I really don't want to do that.

As a bonus, it works



More pics on picasa.

[WhiteRice]

Would it be too much to ask for a sound clip :3

I always enjoyed the sound of the printing

[HaaTa]

Would it be too much to ask for a sound clip :3

I always enjoyed the sound of the printing

Hmm, don't really have a good microphone. Perhaps tomorrow though.

[a_fluffy_kitten]

Another find.

Show Image

As a bonus, it works :D

But can it run Crysis?

[keyb_gr]

The µPD1224G seems to be a typical chip used in business calculators like these around 1981 (matching the date code on the ICs), it also found use in this TI.

Parts quality looks to be standard Japanese consumer electronics grade for the time. The board looks quite repairable in case the unit should ever decide to act up (dead electrolytics being the most likely failure mode, the regulator pass transistor is a 5 amp type and unlikely to be toasted), though I'd be very careful with that film cable... the technology wasn't that mature yet at the time, and they can be rather fragile.

[HaaTa]

Thanks for the info.

...though I'd be very careful with that film cable... the technology wasn't that mature yet at the time, and they can be rather fragile.

Good to know. Thankfully, I have no desire in dismantling the calculator anymore than it already is.

[ricercar]

I'd be very careful with that film cable... the technology wasn't that mature yet at the time.

A similar ribbon in my 1995 Kinesis Contour just cracked/broke on me. I wsh I had been more careful.

[didjamatic]

Nice score!  I keep hoping I find a nixie display calculator but haven't yet.  I've seen a few of this vintage but not this clean.

[Phaedrus2129]

Betcha half the weight of that calc comes from the step-down transformer for the linear power supply. Low-tech and bulky, but much simpler than an SMPS, where you'd have roughly five times as much circuitry. Instead just a transformer, rectifier, and capacitor. Nice, KISS.

[keyb_gr]

That, and you won't get any starting problems with a linear power supply. No worrying about highly variable loads either (which is why audio amps are only built with SMPS if weight/size is a concern, typically in pro applications - the few SMPS equipped home amps around in the early '80s were quickly found to be less reliable and definitely much more difficult to service).