SEPTANIX Display from JRC

On the popular auctions site I spotted a never seen before(*) calculator that caught my attention. 

(*) most calculators stay on the site forever and nobody is interested in them (or they are proposed at a stellar price), so they fill up my saved searches and I skip all of them.

Even if a bit blurry, a picture of the display showed a think dense grid on top of the usual 7 segment + decimal point layout. With a bit of searching I could confirm it was a rebranded Unitrex 1202M, which came with a multi-digit gas-filled display but not a Burroughs panaplex.

Within a week I could get the calculator on my desk and reach the display:

SEPTANIX Display with visible anode grid.

That is a (probably uncommon) SEPTANIX display made in Japan by JRC. It is a multi-digit version of other Japanese 7-segment neon tubes, with a visible anode grid as opposed to the more discreet arrangement in Panaplex display. Also vertical segments in the SEPTANIX have the same length, while in Panaplex lower ones are a bit taller.

The calculator itself is using negative voltages for the logic, so a conversion into a clock would require some extra efforts. Nevertheless I have one more display in my collection.

Breadboard socket for valve

B9A on breadboard.

To me, playing with vacuum tubes means a lot of trial and error to get where I would like to. Everything is laid on the desk and after a few weeks of fiddling I didn't want anymore to mix the hot soldering iron with the other equipment, cables and so on.

The solution would have been to make a socket so that the tube could be mounted on the solderless breadboard. Nothing easier!

I picked a B9A socket for PCB mount (from the lot that I bought) and soldered terminals that fit the solderless board. I used leftovers from through-hole component leads: they are long and flexible enough to reach the nearest hole.

Filament connection is left out.

Since the filament requires a good amount of current I lifted pins 4&5 and soldered a short length of thick cable. This also allows to have three pins on one side of the breadboard and four on the other side, without overlaps.

Memory upgrade to HP laptop (15-g005nl)

When the lockdown started one year ago I was fortunate to have enough computers at home to allow simultaneous distance learning and remote working. All home laptops run Ubuntu Linux, that makes them breath with just 4 GB RAM and 5400 rpm spinning hard-disks (that's slow in 2021 terms), plus all updates are under my sole control.

Those computers are about 10 years old and serve 8+ hours a day without a glicth. Almost.

After one year of extensive use the HP laptop needed an upgrade (or a reinstall). The HP 15-g005nl can be upgraded to 8 GB RAM. Linux lshw command shows that there are two slots, BIOS is not so detailed. Still in doubt: do I need a second 4 GB SODIMM, or a single 8 GB module?

I looked online for a teardown video of this model or alike and it confirmed my suspicion: there is only one RAM slot! The video is a lifesaver because, amongst other things, it tells you of 2+1 hidden screws (2 become visible when the DVD reader is removed, the third is under a rubber pad).

Before buying the memory bank I worked my way down to the memory slot, just to confirm that this laptop was NOT made with servicing in mind. Even replacing the HDD requires removing the keyboard and the hand-rest frame.

The picture below shows the main board lifted from the back shell, as if looking at the laptop from the front/normal use position. You need to remove at least 6 cables and lots of screws to get here.

I was so dedicated to the RAM upgrade that I did not notice the backup battery until I reviewed the picture. Hopefully it is a rechargeable and I will not have to deep dive again in the HP anytime soon.

The SODIMM was finally replaced and thrashing (swapping fast memory to the slow hard disk back and forth) has stopped.