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 Previous: The K7RA Solar Update |  Next: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler |
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
March 19, 2004
Before desktops, laptops, PDAs, and calculators, slide rules ruled. This week, we visit a Web site where slide rules still rule.
After last week's Surfin' that discussed Texas Instruments and other electronic calculators, Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD, wrote, "Great article on calculators. Now let's have one for us old fogies (I'm 45) on slide rules."
Jeff suggested visiting The Slide Rule Universe for starters. I visited the site and found that it had all kinds of information about slide rules, including lessons, maker's archives, links, an on-line marketplace and auction.
Walter Shawlee, the man who is the brains behind The Slide Rule Universe operation, said, "We have some very useful slide rules for electronics on our circular slide rule page, especially the 200EE and 700EE models. Also, there are lots of RF experimenter parts on our RF Transistors and Integrated Circuits Web page and our RF Crystals, Oscillators, Filters, Shields, and Capacitors Web page."
 The Slide Rule Universe is the top site on the Internet for slide rule resources. |
James Sackey, N9ESM, e-mailed, "According to the author profile, you 'wore out three slide rules before you ever heard of a calculator.' So where can I find a slide rule and an instruction sheet on how to use it?" It turns out that The Slide Rule Universe has a large selection of slide rules and instructions. Also, try The Stupid Store, which has a number of interesting and weird items for geeks and folks longing to be geeks.
Joe Wonoski, N1NKB, wrote, "You're dating yourself by admitting your early slide rule use. Me too, I'm afraid. When I went to technical school back in the '60s, the slide rule was king. We had a giant classroom demonstration model slide rule that would hang on hooks over the blackboard. That sucker must have been at least six feet long. It worked though."
Joe added, "Used to be that you could get some little plastic 6-inch models that sold for $1 or so. They were handy to keep in the car to figure gas mileage, etc. If I could find one of those, I would put it in with my ham gear. Probably never will find one, though."
Well, Joe, there are pocket slide rules for sale on The Slide Rule Universe, but the least expensive model costs $18.
Are you ready for an on-line slide rule? JavaSlide claims to be "the WWW's very first Java slide rule." Andrew Davie created JavaSlide and I assure you, it really works. (You must have a Java-enabled Web browser and patience because the graphics may take some time to download.)
Sliding back to the calculators featured in last week's column, Chris Howard, KC0ATC, e-mailed, "I wanted to point out an excellent Web site, The Museum of HP Calculators, for people who have older HP calculators that use the RPN notation. The site has a good forum for asking questions about the history of these machines and how to repair and maintain them. There also is available a CD/DVD that has many of the original manuals and other literature."
I took Chris's advice and checked out the museum. I found that in addition to covering calculators, it also has a page containing "Basic Slide Rule Instructions."
Ronald Hughes, KB5UVC, e-mailed, "I have two programs that I run in my TI-89 calculator for electronics calculations, EE200 and EEPro. Both are available for download at the Texas Instruments Web site. The documentation for these is available in downloadable pdf files. (You have to register on the site to access the download area.)"
Until next time, keep on surfin'
Editor's note: Stan
Horzepa, WA1LOU, is so old that he used an abacus before he ever heard of a
slide rule. To discuss abaci, slide rules, radios and any other matters that
matter, send e-mails to Stan at wa1lou@arrl.net.
| Previous: The K7RA Solar Update | Next: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler |
