I think that even without changing any board, it shouldn't be that difficult to make a RPN version with scientific notation. Replacing some key caps, replacing one of the nixie sockets with a horizontal neon and changing the firmware should do the trick. I probably will give it a try next year.
Mac Doktor schrieb am Freitag, 27. Dezember 2024 um 23:08:44 UTC+1: > Some random thoughts... > > > On Dec 27, 2024, at 3:20 PM, newxito <[email protected]> wrote: > > - What happens if I enter 12.999? Is that even possible? > > > - For subsequent calculations, does it use the displayed value or the > entered/calculated value with all decimal places? > > > In fixed mode my RPN calculator displays everything you enter and then > truncates that to two decimal places on both the display and internally. > It's commonly used for financial calculations so I would assume it's > rounded up. > > > - How is a result like 1234567890.65 displayed? 34567890.65 and overflow? > 1234567890 with no decimals? Something else? > > > Normally you'd use scientific notation for floating point operations with > lots of decimal places: > > 123.456 = 1.23456E2 > > The snag here is that you don't have "E" or a minus sign for numbers < 0 > without alphanumeric tubes. Problematic. > > I suppose you could at least use neon lamps and optic fibers to create > decimal points. Commas would be cute. > > > What would really interest me is an RPN calculator. My beloved HP is out > of production and used ones are going for $125 on eBay. I programmed in > FORTH back in the day (Apple ][+; I still have it) and became very > comfortable doing stack-based math. Once you get used to RPN you never go > back. > > With alphanumeric tubes you can also do hexadecimal, the other thing that > I'd like to be able to never go back from. I hope that last sentence makes > sense. RPN, hex, I'm there. > > > Terry Bowman, KA4HJH > "The Mac Doctor" > > https://www.astarcloseup.com > > "Would you like to see the relevant data?"—343 Guilty Spark, *Halo 2* > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/79eadd5d-276d-4a40-8c56-2550d0761ca8n%40googlegroups.com.
