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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-1890 Converter Kit
This
interesting machine based on a TI-35 is really a converter. Giving the
US citizens a
chance to work with the International SI units, it converts easily between
old-fashioned yards, inches, gallons and ounces to the modern meters, centimeters,
liters or grams. The TI Converter has 194 built-in conversions and was delivered
together with the "Calculator and Converter handbook" that guides
step-by-step through common household and work related projects.
Success in the United States? I don't think so, I used this
machine to give you the above data in inches and ounces.
Comment from the editor:
"I lived in Germany till June 24, 2006"
Interested in converting calculators? Have a look on the Cessna Sky/Comp.
Within the Datamath Museum the TI Converter is placed due to
the housing and calculator chip in the "Scientific Calculators" album,
nevertheless the number TI-1890 is the name of a BASIC calculator. Four years later the converter functions were
really adopted to basic
calculators, view the TI-1889.
The first calculator performing metric conversions was
introduced already in 1974 with the Canon FC-80.
Recently fellow collector Stefan Klaes discovered an early
TI-1890 Converter with a date code of ATA3781
(manufactured in Abilene, TX during week 37 of the year 1981). Dismantling this
calculator reveals with the CD4509 single-chip calculator circuit the
"buggy" version of the later CD4559 found in the pictured model on the
left. Read more about the TP0455 and TP0456 C-MOS calculator chips here.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, January 3, 2002. No reprints without written permission.