DATAMATH

DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM

Texas Instruments BA-II (Taiwan)

Date of introduction:	1984	Display technology:	LCD
New price:		Display size:	8 (5 + 2)
Size:	5.3" x 2.8" x 0.45" 135 x 70 x 11 mm³
Weight:	2.3 ounces, 64 grams	Serial No:	1509991
Batteries:	2*LR44	Date of manufacture:	mth 03 year 1985
AC-Adapter:		Origin of manufacture:	Taiwan (I)
Precision:	11	Integrated circuits:	TP0322
Memories:	1
Program steps:		Courtesy of:	Joerg Woerner

This BA-II Executive Business Analyst introduced in 1984 reuses the calculator chip of the original Business Analyst II introduced already 6 years earlier with a completely new design of the housing and manufacturing technology.

A deeper exploration of the BA-II reveals two different designs. One with manufacturing starting in 1984 in Taiwan together with the BA-35, TI-30 III and TI-35 II and one - like its family members BA-35, TI-30 III and TI-35 II - starting in 1985 with production both in the United States and Italy.

Please don't miss the rare prototype BA-III from 1983 - and don't be confused with the BA-III introduced in 1986.

Main difference between these calculator pairs is their origin and internal construction:

Model	Origin	Introduction	PCB construction
TI-30 III	Taiwan	year 1984	rigid PCB
TI-35 II	Taiwan	year 1984	rigid PCB
BA-II	Taiwan	year 1984	rigid PCB
BA-35	Taiwan	year 1984	rigid PCB
TI-30 III	USA, Italy	year 1985	flexible PCB
TI-35 II	USA, Italy	year 1985	flexible PCB
BA-II	USA, Italy	year 1985	flexible PCB
BA-35	USA, Italy	year 1985	flexible PCB

Dismantling this BA-II manufactured in March 1985 by Inventec Corporation in Taiwan reveals no surprises, the rigid printed circuit board (PCB) is more or less identical with the BA-35, TI-30 III, and TI-35 II.

The TP0322 single-chip calculator circuit is encapsulated in a traditional Dual-Inline Plastic package and soldered with bended pins on the PCB.

Inspecting the PCB of this BA-II calculator manufactured in March 1985 by Inventec Corporation in Taiwan brought our attention to a small mark reading BAIII-01F, we noticed similar marks already with other calculators manufactured by Inventec Corporation and started compiling a list of the PCB-Marks on calculators manufactured by OEMs for Texas Instruments.

About two years later the solar powered BA-SOLAR was introduced, this calculator uses a brain from Toshiba instead the TI calculator chip.

The BA-II was later replaced with the BA II PLUS. Sandwiched between these two calculators you'll find the rare BA-III.

Compare this traditional calculator with the advanced Business Edge or the powerful Financial Investment Analyst FIA-10.

A very similar calculator was sold from Radio Shack as EC-5100.

New Specialties, Inc. based in Vidalia, Georgia introduced in 1987 with the APOTHECALC computer an interesting product using the flexibility of the BA-II calculator design proven already with the Jeppesen Sanderson Avstar flight computer.

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