DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-1050
Date of introduction: | June 1977 | Display technology: | Fluorescent |
New price: | $12.95, £9.95 | Display size: | 8 |
Size: | 5.4" x 2.8" x
1.3" 138 x 72 x 32 mm3 |
||
Weight: | 3.5 ounces, 98 grams | Serial No: | |
Batteries: | 9V | Date of manufacture: | wk 40 year 1977 |
AC-Adapter: | AC9180 | Origin of manufacture: | USA (MTA) |
Precision: | 8 | Integrated circuits: | TMC0921 |
Memories: | 1 | ||
Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
Introduced
together with the TI-1000 this one uses a fluorescent display and some enhanced
features. In a direct comparison with the TI-1025 you'll
notice the unusual [M], [MR] and [REV]-keys. At first glance you would expect
only limited memory functions and an exchange functions between the memory and
display known from the TI-2550-III but
Colin Douglas Howell located the US Patent
Application #4112495.
This patent includes a complete ROM listing of the code in the
TMC0921 single-chip calculator circuit used by TI-1050. Unfortunately, the
listing is rather poorly printed, but there are a couple other patents, #4100606
and #4287559, which include clearer printouts of the same code. The code, once
deciphered, is rather interesting, and it serves as a useful guide to the
details of both the TI-1050 and the TI-1025, which used the closely related
TMC0923.
This code reveals that the TI-1050's [M] key is a prefix key that allows it to perform various memory operations, including the following:
[M] [CE/C] | Clear Memory |
[M] [=] | Store Display in Memory |
[M] [+] | Add Display to Memory |
[M] [-] | Subtract Display from Memory |
[M] [x] | Multiply Memory by Display |
[M] [:] | Divide Memory by Display |
[M] [REV | Exchange Memory with Display |
The approach of a memory prefix key was continued with the TI-1680, its twin TMS-2550-IV and the later TI-1070.
The TI-1050 calculators were manufactured either in El Salvador, Hong Kong, Italy or USA.
Calculators with different keyplates were sold from Western Auto as Citation and Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth as TI-1050.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, December 5, 2001. No reprints without written permission.