How old is your Datamath Version 1?

About 30 years! If you are satisfied with this short answer you could skip this article. If you want a more accurate answer, you'll find enough information to do a good estimation of the production date of your Datamath Version 1.

Do you really own one of the rare Version 1 calculators? Please compare your Datamath with the left picture. Only the Version 1 got a keyboard with the CE/D-key on the upper left position. The later models got either the CE-key or the C-key on that position.

Okay, your Datamath is a Version 1. This gives you a production date between June 1972 - the unofficial introduction in the Neiman-Marcus and Sanger-Harris department stores in Dallas, TX - and January 1973. The formally introduction of the Datamath took place on September 21, 1972, the Version 2 was introduced February 1973.

In a next step you need the manufacturing facility, this could be either Dallas, TX or Italy. Usually you find on the bottom a sticker with the Dallas, Texas information. The Italy sticker is pictured on the right.

If you own a Dallas manufactured Datamath you should read the serial number and compare it with the following table. Take the picture to the right as reference for typical labels.

In the case that your calculator lost the label on the backside you could remove with two screws the battery compartment and use the mold of the housing to determine the production batch: 

If you remove the bottom of the housing with the four remaining screws you trigger the last step in determining the age of your calculator. The large MOS integrated circuit is the famous "calculator-on-a-chip" announced by TI in September 17, 1971. The first line TMS0110 (on the very early calculators) or TMS0119 gives you the designation of the part, the second line the production date. Using the Datecode explanation you get a four digit code to define the week and year of manufacturing.

Example:  7235 reads as 35^th week of the year 1972
During production of the Datamath calculator this integrated circuit was in most cases on the "critical path". The manufacturing date of the calculator should be one or two weeks after the production date of the TMS0119. Just for your reference, the lower printed circuit board was found in the Italian Datamath Version 1.

Dear fellow Datamath Version 1 owner. I like to add a correlation table between the serial number and estimated production date to this page. Please drop me a short line with the serial number, the mold type and datecode of the TMS0110 (empty) TMS0110 (ZA0049)  or TMS0119 (empty, ZA0052 or ZA0072). 
Thanks in advance.  Joerg Woerner

The Longine Symphonette's in the green housing

(*) The Longine Symphonette with the late serial numbers D1000-17665 and higher uses the tan colored housing of the original Texas Instruments Datamath instead the usual olive green housing. We assume that only 18,000 Symphonette's were ordered and they need some extra calculators for repair exchanges.

Sometimes nothing fits! If you discover a date code like the 7418 on the Datamath 2500-104076 search for the "class E" stamp to indicate a reworked product.

Datamath™ is a trademark of Texas Instruments.

If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.

© Joerg Woerner, December 23, 2001. No reprints without written permission. Courtesy of the pictures is Michael Osteroth, Mike Sebastian and Kirk B. Muri. Thanks !