A Modern Electronic Package for the Wang 300 Series Calculator #VintageComputing
Great blog write up on updating this old and unique calculator. This tip was sent in by Bob:
I brought a Wang 360 calculator console back to life with a modern “Electronic Package”. Not only does it emulate the original Wang calculator’s behavior, but it can operate as a nixie clock or as a Reverse Polish Notation calculator.
The Wang 300 series calculators consisted of an Electronic Package (as Wang called it), where calculations were executed using discrete diode-transistor logic, and up to four keyboard/display consoles. The consoles were basically dumb terminals: they were connected to the Electronic Package (EP) via a 30-conductor cable. The EP scanned the keyboard for key presses and displayed digits on the multiplexed nixie tubes.
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Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
