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  #11  
Old 02-15-2022, 02:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gus
I remember the day in 1973 I first saw a handheld calculator. One of the kids in my AP Physics class bought one and brought it to class. We spent the whole hour playing with it, and trying to confuse it, LOL. The unit was $300 but he paid an extra $100 to get the model with a Constant key, which would store the last number calculated.

It truly was a miracle right in our hands.

On a similar note, I remember the first kid in my school with a digital watch. It was an Armitron, which I had never heard of. To save battery power, it stayed dark. You pushed a button to light up the tiny segmented red LED's. A year or two later we started seeing some Casios. I don't know which company had them but we started seeing a few with blue-green LED's around the same time.

It was several years later that I finally got a digital. It was an Armitron, but by then it was LCD numbers. It kept terrible time and the numbers completely faded if you got caught out in the rain with it on. I went back to a cheap water resistant Timex analog for many years until I finally got a Timex Ironman digital.
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  #12  
Old 02-15-2022, 03:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
until I finally got a Timex Ironman digital.

The Ironman series was excellent. I liked Casio's Pathfinders, too. These days, I'd just like to find one that would fit my wrist and has numbers big enough to see.

Anyone want a next-to-new Casio AE-1000W (world time, illuminator)? You pay shipping.
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  #13  
Old 02-15-2022, 06:22 PM
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erik442 erik442 is offline
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I received an APF 1920 calculator for Christmas in 1977.
It had an LCD display and an automatic shut off feature to conserve battery life.
At the bottom left corner of the screen there was a large black dot.
The instructions indicated that when the dot fades from black to gray, the battery should be replaced.

I kept an eye on that dot for years.
Thirty-five years, in fact, until it finally went gray.
It still continued to function perfectly for a further three years until the screen went blank for good.
I started using that calculator in fourth grade. I was still using it after college.
When I got back into rocketry around 2010 I was using it to scale dimensions for builds.
I don't know how the battery could have lasted that long, but it did.
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  #14  
Old 02-16-2022, 08:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erik442
I received an APF 1920 calculator for Christmas in 1977.
It had an LCD display and an automatic shut off feature to conserve battery life.
At the bottom left corner of the screen there was a large black dot.
The instructions indicated that when the dot fades from black to gray, the battery should be replaced.

I kept an eye on that dot for years.
Thirty-five years, in fact, until it finally went gray.
It still continued to function perfectly for a further three years until the screen went blank for good.
I started using that calculator in fourth grade. I was still using it after college.
When I got back into rocketry around 2010 I was using it to scale dimensions for builds.
I don't know how the battery could have lasted that long, but it did.


I had one that looked just like that, but wasn't branded APF. I want to think it was Hitachi branded. I can't remember. The buttons, anodizing, and the case look identical. I bet my mom still has it in my old room.
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  #15  
Old 02-16-2022, 09:18 AM
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Great stories.

I had a red led black plastic digital watch also in the 70s where you had to push the button to see the time, probably timex. I also later had an Ironman for years and wore out three watch bands for it.
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  #16  
Old 02-16-2022, 09:58 AM
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My Ironman bands always broke at the adjustment hole. I replaced several for each watch. I went through several watches as well. The two stopwatch buttons on top would wear thin and bust just from wearing it, not from pushing them. I'd end up gouging and scratching the face as well. They were tough, though. I seldom took them off during the day, regardless of what I was doing. I'm wearing a Casio right now, first one I've owned. I liked the canvas style watch band so I gave it a try. It goes through batteries a lot faster than the Ironman watches did.
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  #17  
Old 02-17-2022, 12:21 AM
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Never broke a band or knob on my watch.
Never needs batteries either.
10 year tune-Ups are about $500 though, which is way more than many pay for an entire watch.
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Last edited by ghrocketman : 02-17-2022 at 05:45 AM.
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  #18  
Old 02-17-2022, 07:18 AM
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I physically torture my watch. I never stop to take it off once I leave the house. If it's on and we have a structure fire, it stays on. If we have an extrication, it's on. If we have a water rescue or diving recovery, it's on. Training for any of the above and more, it's on. Feeding the cows, it's usually on because I'm likely coming in from work to do it. I don't bother to put it on around the house, so if I'm just working on the farm I don't normally have it on. For these reasons, even if I was Musk or Bezos stinkin rich, I would never wear an expensive watch.
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  #19  
Old 02-17-2022, 09:17 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
...Hanimex was mostly noted for photography equipment.
.

That's what I was thinking. Hanimex was a name back in the day (art school).
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  #20  
Old 02-17-2022, 09:30 AM
Scott6060842 Scott6060842 is offline
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I remember seeing my first digital calculator in the 8th grade. We were more interested in entering 7734 or 5218008 and turning it upside down that using it to solve math problems.
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