Almetare

This project consists out of a set of C++ classes for Linux and Windows with wich you can implement virtual pocket calculators in a relative easy way. This is true especially for my own old calculators, therefore the name: Almetare means "Alle meine Taschenrechner" - the German phrase for "all my pocket calculators" (Almypoca wouldn't sound so bad as well). It is my goal to rebuild all my calculators for use on the PC in the future. (After eight years meanwhile the hope to reach this objective seems to be not so big I fear.)

Three calculators are finished till now. They imitate the originals in nearly all details. Even the key click or automatic power off if there is no input for some minutes (you may disable these features in a configuration dialog of course).

Picture 1: Almetare calculators on KDE desktop

But, the algorithms of the calculators are not copied; in this point I rely completely on the compiler's mathematical library (I don't call the calculators "emulators" therefore). That means especially that the virtual calculators compute with better accuracy (about 15 digits) than the originals (8 to 12 digits). But, the user should not notice that.

The sources are published under the GNU GPL. You can get the sources and the binaries from the download page.

Texas Instruments TI-30 The TI-30 was the calculator in German schools in the end of the seventies of the last century. You could not read its red LED display quite well (must look in the exact angle through the little magnifier lenses in front of the tiny digits) and it needed much battery power. One could really watch it doing its calculations: Thinking on "sophisticated" tasks, as sine or cosine, could take about a second, and the calculator enjoyed its impatient owner with interesting blinking effects in this time (to imitate this spectacle has cost quite a lot effort). Getting older the keys became bouncing; besides that the calculator managed its tasks because of its clear arrangement very good. The calculator cost about 30,- DM if ordered collective, as far as I can remember, and was worth its money.	Download
Casio fx-3600P Although not very much younger (bought in 1982 for 89,- DM) the fx-3600P belonged to a complete other generation of calculators compared to the TI-30: 10-digit LC display (plus two digits for the exponent), seven independent (non volatile) memories, a lot of more functions (statistical, regressional, integral calculations), keyboard a little spongy but quite usable (and first of all absolutely free of bouncing) outpaced the TI. And the most important thing: the calculator has been programmable! Though the program memory could hold only 38 "program steps" you could do more with it than you might imagine. To me this has been the first step into the world of programming. The only thing I had missed was the conversion of numbers in different number systems. Especially to mention is its unbelievable low power consumption. I have really the first battery in it! The Almetare calculator can store an arbitrary number of program steps and save the programs to a file. Additionally there is a simple program editor and an editor for entering values in statistical calculations.	Download
Casio fx-85v This calculator was bought in 1992 and is in my possession as a loan. Its functionality and operating is like the fx-3600P, but it is not programmable, there are no integral calculations and the keyboard is a rubber pad. It is solar powered, to save the constant memories and for operation in faint light there is also a battery. Besides the TI-30 this is the second Almetare calculator.	Download

Texas Instruments TI-30

Casio fx-3600P

Casio fx-85v

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