DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM

Texas Instruments TI-30Xa Solar School Edition (Virgina 1^st edition)

Date of introduction:	2005	Display technology:	LCD
New price:	$11.99	Display size:	10 + 2
Size:	5.9" x 3.0" x 0.50" 150 x 75 x 13 mm³
Weight:	2.9 ounces, 82 grams	Serial No:
Batteries:	n.a.	Date of manufacture:	mth 05 year 2004 (B)
AC-Adapter:		Origin of manufacture:	China (N)
Precision:	12	Integrated circuits:	Toshiba T6M79
Memories:	3
Program steps:		Courtesy of:	Joerg Woerner

At first glance this TI-30Xa Solar School Edition looks like the TI-30Xa Solar introduced already in 1996. If we trace back the "School Edition" calculators we recognize:

• The TI-30Xa SE introduced in 1995 with its tamper proofed molded keys instead
of the rubber keys and an extra window above the display and solar cells.
• The TI-30Xa SE introduced in 1999 and sporting the robust housing of the
TI-32 Explorer Plus with the electronics of the TI-30Xa Solar.

But the story of this TI-30Xa Solar School Edition for Virginia is much more interesting.

Everything started when the Department of Education, Virginia released October 1, 2004 its MEMO NO.201. This memo announced a field test with scientific calculators instead the common four-function calculators starting in 2004-2005 for Grades 6 and 7 mathematics Standards of Learning assessments. Only three scientific calculators were approved:

• Casio fx-260 Solar
• Sharp EL-501V, in the meantime replaced with the EL-501WBBK
• Texas Instruments TI-30Xa Solar School Edition

The Department of Education, Virginia requested Texas Instruments to disable the decimal-to-fraction key. But in January, Dakota Brown, a 12-year-old at Carver Middle School in suburban Richmond’s Chesterfield County, figured out that by pressing two other keys on his state-approved TI-30 Xa SE for Virginia, he could change decimals into fractions anyway.

Knowing the standard TI-30Xa Solar the trick is easy: Texas Instruments disabled only the [a ^b/_c] key but kept the function of the [<-] key. As a result the key sequence [2nd] [<-] still converts between decimals and fractions.

Texas Instruments recalled 160,000 calculators and replaced them with the TI-30Xa Solar School Edition for Virginia 2^nd edition.

Dismantling the calculator is not as exciting as expected. The TI-30Xa Solar School Edition for Virginia (1^st edition) makes use of a printed circuit board (PCB) known already from the TI-30 Xa Solar. We assume that the contacts of the [a ^b/_c] key are removed but we couldn't proof it.

+++ Update January 8, 2022: Fellow collector Geoffrey Wang opened his broken TI-30Xa Solar School Edition for Virginia and confirmed the missing contact on the keyboard mat. Thanks! +++

Funny to know that this TI-30Xa Solar School Edition approved in 2005 still carries an algorithm problem known from the TI-35X introduced in 1991. Read more about the Logarithm Bug and its side effect on the related y^x function present in this calculator.

Don't miss the TI-30 Xa Solar (H.K.E.A.) and the Casio AL-8.

Middle School

In the United States different terms are used for the Grades:

Elementary School	or	Primary School	ages 5 to 10/11	Kindergarden plus Grades 1 to 5 or Kindergarden plus Grades 1 to 6
Junior High School	or	Middle School	ages 11/12 to 13/14	Grades 6 to 8 or Grades 7 to 9
Senior High School	or	High School	ages 14/15 to 18	Grades 9 to 12 or Grades 10 to 12
Secondary schools = Junior High Schools (or Middle Schools) and Senior High Schools

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