Early Electronic Calculator Desktop Calculator Photo Gallery

Canon 130 1966 Logic Technology: DIS Memory Technology: LSI Display: IDL The first calculator from Canon and one of the first electronic calculators. Constructed from discrete Germanium transistors and diodes.

Canon 161 1966 Logic Technology: DIS Memory Technology: LSI Display: IDL A slightly enhanced version of the Canon 130: 16 digits instead of 13, and an additional accumulating memory.

Casio AL-1000 1968 ? Logic Technology: DIS Memory Technology: LSI Display: NIX The unit shown in the photo is my reconstituted unit. What I received was actually just the card cage and a chopped off keyboard. The case and power supply were missing. A replacement power supply was constructed and some plexiglass and aluminum used to hold it all together. I was not inclined to try to recreate a full case, rather this unit serves as a display of the internals of a discrete-component calculator from the 1960's. This calculator model appears to be very sophisticated for its age, with it's programmability and 4 memories. However, it suffers from a very poorly designed user interface which severely limits it's capabilities.

Sharp Compet 17 1968 Logic Technology: DIS,SSI,MSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: NIX

Canon 163 1969 Logic Technology: SSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: NIX

Commodore DAC-612 1969 Logic Technology: DIS,SSI,MSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: GDI As the 60's ended and headed into the 70's, one branch of popular design headed off into the tacky. With earth tones in glossy plastic and fake-woodgrain mac-tac, this has got to be the ugliest calculator ever produced. Otherwise notable for early use of a 7-segment display, in the form of individual gas-discharge tubes. Note the half-height zero in the display.

Facit 1123 1969 Logic Technology: SSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: NIX

Casio 121-B 1970 Logic Technology: DIS,SSI,MSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: NIX This page is based on information and photos supplied by Mick Metselaar in the Netherlands. Mick did a reverse engineering of the calculator to assist in repairs. Mick also provided some notes about his efforts. There is no decimal point key on this calculator, so only integers can be entered. The decimal point is, however, displayed appropriately for the result of divisions. Eliminating so much decimal point management simplifies the control state machine considerably. This, together with the use of several MSI IC's, contributes to the relatively low component count of the 121-B.

Monroe 925 1970 Logic Technology: SSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: NIX

Sony SOBAX 2500 1970 Logic Technology: SSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: NIX This calculator is based on a small IC family proprietary to Sony. Unfortunately these ICs seem to have a propensity to fail (see the notes about the ICs), making it difficult to keep the calculators functional. Notable technically for the use of a magnetostrictive delay line in compression mode, in contrast to the more usual torsion mode.

Toshiba BC-1212 1970 Logic Technology: DIS,SSI,MSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: NIX

Canon Canola EP151 1971 Logic Technology: SSI,MSI,LSI Memory Technology: LSI Display: PRI An early electronic printing calculator. There is no display besides the printer and it doesn't print keypress digits until the entire number is entered. The printer uses a form of electrographic printing requiring special paper. A rotating stylus scans across the paper delivering high-voltage pulses to burn pixels on the paper. A MOS character generator ROM like those used in CRT computer terminals of the day is used to generate the character pixel patterns.