DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM
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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Radio Shack EC-2008 (65-964)
| Date of introduction: | 1986 | Display technology: | LCD |
| New price: | $12.95 (SRP 1987) | Display size: | 8 |
| Size: | 4.7" x 4.1" x
1.0" 120 x 106 x 25 mm3 |
||
| Weight: | 3.0 ounces, 86 grams | Serial No: | |
| Batteries: | n.a. | Date of manufacture: | year 1987 |
| AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | Taiwan | |
| Precision: | 10 | Integrated circuits: | Toshiba |
| Memories: | 1 | ||
| Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
Does this
Radio Shack EC-2008 calculator look familiar to you?
Dismantling
the featured EC-2008 manufactured in 1987 by
Cal-Comp Electronics, an
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) in Taiwan, reveals a clean design
centered around an unknown Toshiba single-chip calculator circuit soldered on a
double-sided printed circuit board (PCB) and powered by solar cells.
Inspecting the PCB of this Radio Shack EC-2008 calculator brought our attention to a small mark reading
SD10-10, most likely a reference to Type Small Desktop 10 and Revision 1.0
of the design (schematics and layout). We spotted a similar PCB-Mark SD9-14 already with the
EC-2006A and its near identical offspring
TI-1795 and started compiling a list
of the PCB-Marks on calculators
manufactured by OEMs for Texas Instruments.
The EC-2008 with 10-digits capacity was introduced shortly after the EC-2006A dropping the [+/-] key and introducing an [AC] key
while switching from a Sharp brain to a Toshiba chip. Interesting to notice that
Texas Instruments kept the SD9 design for about 15 years and
used for the TI-1796 with 10-digits
capacity a larger housing and different OEM before in 1996 switching with the
TI-1795+ and
TI-1796+ duo back to Radio Shack's
approach.
IIf you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, March 15, 2020. No reprints without written permission.