Electronics > Beginners

EE Pros: Is RPN still relevant?

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MrAl:

--- Quote from: rstofer on March 06, 2017, 07:54:53 pm ---
--- Quote from: MrAl on March 06, 2017, 06:50:10 pm ---

Back in the old days when i first discovered the TI high end calc's i loved them, and they did all kinds of stuff.  Then i met the advanced HP that did Fourier and Laplace Transforms, then i went back to the TI when it came with even more advanced functions.  They are all on the sidelines now, now that i have software for the PC that i wrote myself and also some that i downloaded, and none of those advanced calculators, even all taken together, can even come close to what i have on the computer these days.

--- End quote ---

For the last month, I have been playing with wxMaxima on a PC and it is terrific!  No calculator will ever compare to this CAS (Computer Algebra System) with a 27" screen.  About this, I am an evangelist!  I believe!

Not all that many people actually need a CAS in their everyday lives.  Those who work in tech probably do but they are probably already using such a thing.  Everybody in a college STEM program needs something.  I just use the calculators for grunt number crunching.

Maple and Octave are also highly regarded as CAS programs.  Maple tends to cost money and, although I have downloaded Octave, I haven't started using it.  I'm still learning about wxMaxima.  Matlab needs to be on the list as well.  Mathworks has libraries for everything!

--- End quote ---

Hi,

I second that.  I used Maxima too now and then and it allows me to create formulas that would take hours without it or something like that.  Before that i used my own software written to perform symbolic algebra, and i still have to use that sometimes because there are problems and limitations to Maxima.

I agree that no calculator i have ever seen can come close to what is available for the PC.  I have an advanced TI that does differential equations and has CAS, but it still doesnt come close and also TI made a big mistake when they went to "lower case only" variables.  That's the dumbest thing i ever saw.  My previous TI had upper and lower case which is almost mandatory.  Resistors with variable names like "r1", "r2", just dont cut it for me, they should be "R1" and "R2", etc.  If a calculator wont let me do that then i wont use it very much.  Last time i used that one was just to replace the batteries :-)


eugenenine:

--- Quote from: aargee on March 07, 2017, 11:19:17 am ---I'd like N size rechargeables as well, the last ones I ever saw were Radio Shack branded Enercell NiCD cells.

Still use my HP-11 and HP41 regularly. Really kicked that I passed up on a bargain 'class set' (30 or so calculators as a class set, used in high school) of HP 11 calculators many years back.

--- End quote ---

I really had to bite my tongue in radio shack as their salesdroid  was explaining why their $5 per cell 1200mAH AA NIMH were better than anyone elses.  I was buying $2 per cell Sanyo's at the time (pre-eneloop).

free_electron:

--- Quote from: rstofer on March 03, 2017, 08:22:54 pm ---Absolutely!  The calculator I prefer to use, an HP48GX, uses ONLY RPN.  Some calculators use a mish-mashed RPN and some use either algebraic or text-book entry.

My grandson is taking Calc I and when we do the homework, we both use HP48GXs.  It is his preferred calculator after using HP Prime, TI Nspire and a couple of others.

It takes about 5 minutes to learn RPN, it just isn't a big deal.  Try (3+4)(5+6)/(4+5)*(7+8)
3 Enter
4 Plus
5 Enter
6 Plus
*
4 Enter
5 Plus
7 Enter
8 Plus
*
/

Now try it with something else!

I'm not an evangelist.  I use RPN and have for over 40 years.  Use it if you think it helps, skip it if you don't.

--- End quote ---

problem with rpn is that you have to remember where you are in the 'stack'. and you need to respect the order of operations.
me ? gimme brackets. type it in exactly as it is written. no wiggle room.

bitseeker:

--- Quote from: eugenenine on March 07, 2017, 11:53:47 am ---I see the first amazon link goes to one that is out of stock

--- End quote ---

Interesting. Amazon's search didn't even give me an out of stock one. The first several pages of results were pushing Alkalines at me despite trying "NiMH" and "rechargeable" in the search query.


--- Quote ---second link was https://www.batterybob.com/products/5580-n-size-rechargeable-2-pack-n-360nm/ looks to be in stock though I don't know who battery bob is :)

--- End quote ---

Me either. But I did find that one via regular web search. It was the only US source I could locate and quite pricey at that.


--- Quote ---Interstate has retail stores in some places now.

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/Products/RT/PID-ASC1055%28Other+Products%29.aspx

--- End quote ---

Thanks for the links. I hadn't seen Interstate in my web search. Reasonable price and sold in single units. The 28S uses 3 cells instead of the usual 2 or 4.

eugenenine:
Not sure what city your near but we have multiple interstate battery stores around so you can actually drive to them and buy some.  Handy when you need UPS batteries, they are heavy to ship.

I just did a plain old google search, were you trying to use something useless like bing?

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