abatron 803

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Calculators: Handheld: abatron 803

		Size (approx):	75mm x 148mm x19mm (w x h x d) Weight 132g not including batteries.
		Power:	3.0v DC using 2 x AA size batteries. Can accept an adaptor/charger (undefined but 0.4W - I found that 3V +ve worked fine) through a socket on the top side to the far left. Ni-Cd batteries are quoted as having a 4 to 5 hour operation life. Ordinary zinc-carbon and Alkaline are quoted as 3 to 4 hours. The adapter charges when the calculator is off, bypassing the batteries when on.
		Case:	Two piece smooth plastic case in buff plastic. Two recessed panels contain brushed aluminium plates with printed company and model name. Flat and flush red plastic filter gives a bright display and is angled at the bottom to follow the line of the case. The straight LEDs have a very wide angle of view and are lovely. The on/off switch is on the left side about 30mm from the top. The battery compartment is (unusually) accessed through a small cover on the left hand side – a more common practice today. Uniquely, the oversized typewriter keys are recessed so they actually sit below the line of the calculator. They are hollow and springy sounding but work very well. There is therefore no keyboard surround panel.
		Display:	8 digit flat face red LED with no ninth digit. Display is from the left except number inputting which is from the right with no leading zero suppression.
		Features:	Four functions with selectable constant
		Age:	c1974
		Manufacturer:	Business Electronics Ltd, England. No stated country of manufacture. Serial No. 54060019.
		Comments:	Marvellous! A unique design around what looks to be a Sinclair Oxford 100 inside. Solid feeling calculator that was built to last. The original cover is a box-like wallet with a cut out hole for the on/off switch, inner PVC sleeve for notes (the manual does not fit) and carry strap. It has a flip over lid that closes with two side poppers. However, there is no cut-out hole for the adaptor socket. The logic, whilst a little quirky, is quite good for it's age.

Components:
Boards:
Construction:	Case probably opens by pushing in the rear side lugs - but I dare not damage this rare example of an abatron.

Logic comments:	The (C ) key is used to clear the last entry whilst a second press clears the whole calculator.
	However, the clear entry function must be followed by an operator, not another number.
	Input overflow is suppressed, typing in a ninth digit is ignored
	There is selectable constant on all four functions.
	Negative numbers are indicated by a “-“ in the far left (eighth) digit. Eight digit (and above) negative numbers are allowed, you just don’t see the “-“ sign
	Overflow eventually results in “0.” And is not recoverable. However, it takes a while to get there as you can have numbers up to 9.9999999 x 10 ⁷⁹but it just shows the eight most significant numbers. When you are over eight digits, there is no decimal point.
	Divide by zero results in an unrecoverable error with a cycling number!
	Leading zeros are not suppressed until you select a function
	You can use the constant function as a reciprocal function: 1/9 is keyed as (9)(/)(K)(1)(=)

	The box measures 107mm x 185mm and is 32mm deep. It has fully removable full-depth lid and is printed with a full four-colour process image. It is not much bigger than the calculator in its cover, so not much else was put in. There are no origination marks.		The manual measures 110mm x 80mm and is printed in two colours for the cover and one colour black throughout. It has 16 total printed pages all in English with many good examples of calculations. I love the strap line: “Specially Thin”. No country of origin.