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Calculators: Handheld: Decimo Vatman Mini MII (type 1)
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| Size (approx): |
75mm
x 125mm x 19mm (max) (w x h x d) |
| Power: | 3.0V DC using 2 x AA size batteries. It accepts an adaptor (3V DC) through a socket on the top side to the far left. The manual warns of the need to remove “dry cell” batteries if an adaptor is used. |
| Case: | The case is two-piece smooth black plastic and is very gently wedge-shaped. A large brushed aluminium panel sits flush above the display and is printed black with the model name. An even larger panel acts as a keyboard surround, which wraps around the edges of the calculator about a third of the thickness. They keys are soft with their own escutcheons but suffer bounce in my example. A flat blue display filter sits slightly proud and give a clean bright display. |
| Display: | 8 digit blue VFD with a ninth digit for negative, memory and error indicators |
| Features: | Standard four functions with percentage, square root and four-function memory. |
| Age: | c1975 |
| Manufacturer: | Decimo Electronic Calculator but no further manufacturing details. I suspect it was a made by (or a clone of) Detron of Korea. Serial number 79077964 (I wonder if this means it may be 1979?). |
| Comments: | Unusual design for Decimo, which looks very like the model 105 by SVM in France. Also a close match to the Detron 805MD. However, the red keys spoil the blue and silver colour theme. My example comes in a case (which looks original) gold printed “Pye Connectors Ltd”. If this is the original then I think it was a marketing give-away product. The logic is sound with good recovery but let down by negative square roots. |
| Components: | Any information would be useful - or a scrap model |
| Boards: | Any information would be useful - or a scrap model |
| Construction: | Even after removing the screw from the back I still cannot open this calculator. I strongly suspect that there is another screw under the front keyboard surround or under the main rear label - does anyone know? |
| Logic comments: | The (CE) key is used to cancel an entry whilst the (C) key clears the whole calculator |
| Input overflow is suppressed inputting a ninth digit is ignored | |
| Negative numbers are shown with a "-” in the far left (ninth) digit, thereby allowing full eight digit negative numbers | |
| There is automatic constant on all four functions | |
| Divide by zero just shows “C” in the far left (ninth) digit and is recoverable using (CE) | |
| Overflow shows the result and “C” (or “E” if negative) in the far left (ninth) digit and is recoverable using (CE) | |
| Negative square roots are allowed and result in a negative answer | |
| There is indication of memory store by an upper “n” in the far left (ninth) digit | |
| Overflow in memory flags an error and stores the shifted result in memory | |
| No bugs found |
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The manual measures 77mm x 107mm and is 4 pages. Printed in black only it is about as basic (and cheap) as you could make it. It is in English only and obviously made for a generic calculator. There is reference to the model “(M)”, which just means it is the memory version. It even states that the memory indicator could be an “n” or a decimal point (presumably depending on which calculator you have got). |
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The Guarantee measures 108mm x 193mm and is a two sided orange and black leaflet. It does remind you to put batteries in before sending back you “faulty” calculator! |
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My example has a soft plastic black case with "Pye Connectors Ltd" printed on it in silver text - I presume this is a promotional giveaway. |
