DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments BA-II (Taiwan)
Date of introduction: | 1984 | Display technology: | LCD |
New price: | Display size: | 8 (5 + 2) | |
Size: | 5.3" x 2.8" x 0.45" 135 x 70 x 11 mm3 |
||
Weight: | 2.3 ounces, 64 grams | Serial No: | 1509991 |
Batteries: | 2*LR44 | Date of manufacture: | mth 03 year 1985 |
AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | Taiwan (I) | |
Precision: | 11 | Integrated circuits: | TP0322 |
Memories: | 1 | ||
Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
This BA-II Executive Business Analyst introduced in 1984 reuses the calculator chip of the original Business Analyst II introduced already 6 years earlier with a completely new design of the housing and manufacturing technology.
A deeper exploration of the BA-II reveals two different designs. One with manufacturing starting in 1984 in Taiwan together with the BA-35, TI-30 III and TI-35 II and one - like its family members BA-35, TI-30 III and TI-35 II - starting in 1985 with production both in the United States and Italy.
Please don't miss the rare prototype BA-III from 1983 - and don't be confused with the BA-III introduced in 1986.
Main difference between these calculator pairs is their origin and internal construction:
Model | Origin | Introduction | PCB construction |
TI-30 III | Taiwan | year 1984 | rigid PCB |
TI-35 II | Taiwan | year 1984 | rigid PCB |
BA-II | Taiwan | year 1984 | rigid PCB |
BA-35 | Taiwan | year 1984 | rigid PCB |
TI-30 III | USA, Italy | year 1985 | flexible PCB |
TI-35 II | USA, Italy | year 1985 | flexible PCB |
BA-II | USA, Italy | year 1985 | flexible PCB |
BA-35 | USA, Italy | year 1985 | flexible PCB |
Dismantling this BA-II manufactured in
March 1985 by
Inventec Corporation in
Taiwan reveals no surprises, the rigid printed circuit board (PCB) is more or
less identical with the BA-35, TI-30 III, and TI-35 II.
The
TP0322 single-chip calculator circuit is encapsulated in a traditional
Dual-Inline Plastic package and soldered with bended pins on the PCB.
Inspecting
the PCB of this BA-II calculator manufactured in March 1985 by
Inventec Corporation in
Taiwan brought our attention to a small mark reading BAIII-01F, we noticed similar marks already with other calculators manufactured by
Inventec Corporation and started compiling a list of the
PCB-Marks on calculators manufactured by OEMs for Texas Instruments.
About two years later the solar powered BA-SOLAR
was introduced, this calculator uses a brain from Toshiba instead the TI
calculator chip.
The BA-II was later replaced with the BA II PLUS. Sandwiched between these two calculators you'll find the rare BA-III.
Compare this traditional calculator with the advanced Business Edge or the powerful Financial Investment Analyst FIA-10.
A very similar calculator was sold from Radio Shack as EC-5100.
New Specialties, Inc. based in Vidalia, Georgia introduced in
1987 with the APOTHECALC
computer an interesting product using the flexibility of the BA-II calculator
design proven already with the
Jeppesen Sanderson Avstar
flight computer.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, May 13, 2003. No reprints without written permission.