FranLab: Viewer Mail #1
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- - Music by Fran Blanche -
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My mom taught architectural drafting at the Parsons School of Design in the 1980's and 90's in New York City and she had all of that drafting stuff and more. I kept some of the mechanical pencils (really high qual) after she passed away in 2014 and a few other things, but the rest of the items I donated to a local technical school near where she had retired on Cape Cod, MA. Boy, all of that stuff was so well made and designed! Thanks for sharing the trip down memory lane, Fran (and thanks to the other Fran Fans that sent the boxes to you!).
What a vintage haul! Hard to believe so much rocket design was done with slide rules!
My uncle worked at IBM at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL back in the day, in the 60s throughout the 90s. I had no idea it was NASA-related until many years later
Theres so much that all you need is 3 sig figs and particularly useful is that the slide rule can deal with / illustrate variables ie 'what if' situations. Many ppl are poorer for not using a slide rule.
Fran, is a goddess! I could listen to her... indefinitely! She is wickedly intelligent! Well versed in a multitude of topics!
A sage for the ages is our Ms Fran.
I'm amazed at how learned you are on many of the items in the boxes as well as all of the other videos you share.
Wow ! What a travel back in time when we didn't have electronic calculators . A good and expensive German or Swiss slide rule was our daily calculator for university to our job as professional engineering. I gave my slide rule to a student when I bought my first HP scientific calculator back in the '70s. You should have a museum in your lab ! :)
Aussie Dave has his Crocodile Dundee knife, Philly Fran has her switchblade. Each is location appropriate!
In San Diego we get butter knives... You know, for the tanning butter.
Lol great comment.
how's things going? is a butter knife still enough in 2022?
Rotary tool is actually an eraser, hence the large collette. "modern" ones are battery, smaller, and still hard to find.
Roy Dugger Indeed, something of a staple at many a drafting table along with the stainless steel masking template to control precisely what you were erasing,
I think the "modern" ones are available in Daiso (a dollar store chain), but with those, the user needs to hold down the button.
That calculator-printer! We had one come through at work; I do e-Bay sales for an electronics recycler; the key-lock does not lock out the printer, it locks the calculator to the base! If the lock is unlocked, it won't work, there is an electrical, as well as mechanical component to the switch. The lock I believe to be key-retaining, but I'm not sure, we never had a key, I had to pick it each time. Don't ask how long I spent accidentally trying to pick it the wrong direction. I guess it's supposed to be some kind of security thing, to keep people from pocketing the calculator and fucking off with it, but there is no provision to secure the base station in any way, the power cord's even detachable (one of those there-pin ones for which the only name I know is "Pre-IEC", I think the rounded profile, not the squared one). The base station also powers the calculator, so you don't really have to worry about battery contacts, if I remember correctly...
The keylock locks the calculator to the printer to keep it from "walking away". The TI-59 was a very expensive piece of technology! I worked as a mechanical engineer during the '70's and had a printer and a TI-58. The difference between the TI-58 and TI-59 was onne thing Fran overlooked: a pair of tiny slots in the sides of the calculator. Those slots were to allow a magnetic card strip to pass through a record/playback mechanism inside the calculator. This handy device allows you to record your programs and reload them (since the memory is volatile). The strips also have an area on the side opposite the magnetic strip to allow you to pencil in the program name and function of the programmable keys located at the top of the keyboard.
You are correct about the printer powering the calculator, but it does so through the battery contacts; those are easily replaced with a couple of strips of springy bronze stock.
Seeing you take out the drafting tools totally brought me back to childhood, when I'd watch my dad do architectural and mechanical drawings, and to high school, when I took my own drafting courses using his tools. Wow.
Fran, I have had and used nearly everything you received in those boxes. I still have my rapidographs and the Leroy lettering kit. My career spanned from 1972 to 2010 and that covered a lot of tech changes, from 2 story computers that couldn't do what my cell phone does, to a desk top with 4 terabyte hard drives and 1 terabyte memory. It's fun seeing the old tools. A lot of engineering was done with slide rules. We even had circular slide rules. I did a lot of logarithms on slide rules. They were one of the the first modern calculators. Good score on the boxes. Regards, Solomon
i guess im randomly asking but does anyone know a method to get back into an Instagram account??
I somehow forgot the account password. I appreciate any tricks you can give me
@Finley Eugene instablaster =)
@Colton Ismael Thanks for your reply. I found the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm.
Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Colton Ismael It worked and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thanks so much you really help me out!
@Finley Eugene Glad I could help :)
love your videos there fantastic your such an inspiration, i too have done electronics since i was 12 years old still do it today
I used a Leroy set doing schematics in the 80s. I used Statler Mars pens with Black Magic ink. The flashbacks! Those drawings were in use for a long time, and folks confused my work for CAD. Back in the day...
Goodness. I haven't seen a slide rule in years, and watching this makes me want to grab one. When my grandfather was alive, we'd have at least one in the house. He was joiner by trade for a furniture manufacturer, but was also a draftsman on the side. He's the person who encouraged and inspired me to build/make things.
There were many reasons for me to be seen as a "weirdo" in school, and one of them was for carrying a slide rule with me...but having skills my grandfather taught me would prove to be an advantage once I entered Secondary School, and it came to "Design & Technology" (woodworking, metalwork, electronics, graphic design, textiles, food technology).
That rotary tool is actually for erasing. It has a weighted switch in it as well. Basically, you hung it off your drafting desk. When you needed to erase a line, you would just pick it up, it would auto-turn on and spin the eraser .
Ah - Makes perfect sense, but Super Overkill for erasing! ☺
I suppose if you're at the drafting table all day, every rub of the eraser saved is another line placed, and another cramp averted! ᴖᴗᴖ
You wouldn't think so if you had to erase half a "D" size (24" X 36") drawing to make a revision. Also, the electric eraser was generally much cleaner and more precise than manual. Please see my remarks above about the TI-59; that was ultimate engineering computer in the '70's!
Woaa, I had one of those when I was in school! (SR52 and the PC100 printer). It was way too expansive for me, but I got it as a present from a Math-Professor who got the newer TI59! That was around 1977. I was KING in class. Well … King of the math geeks at least.
The lock was of course to lock the SR52 or TI59 to the printer. They where pocket calcs and *relatively* small, thus easy to snitch. (The SR52 was actually quite thick to fit the magnet card reader)
when i was yount i really admired this glorious pieces of tec... printer with glowing red display. printer and cardreader...
i never was able to afford one... beeing a kid...
Drafting pens and programmable LED calculators. *Drool* As a kid in the early 80s, It would have felt like all my Christmases and birthdays had come at once! I really hope you can get that calculator running. It seems to be in great condition externally and it is a classic machine.
Maybe time for Dave to 'hand on' the Mailbox day to Fran? Dave seems kinda distracted and busy with his meter sales etc these days, and his mailbags just seem like a bit of a grind recently. Looking forward to see what else people send in :)
My grandfather used a similar set to make tecnical drawings as i remember from when i was a little kid.
I love it! I used to have a TI 30 in high school. That calculator was so much fun. I remember getting expelled from school. for fighting somebody who tried to steal it from me.
That calculator represented over 15 lawns I had to mow.
My pet calculator had a denim look belt pack. And the great International math on Keys book. Smap!
I grew up with everything in the second box and Highschool, ('74~78) in drafting class used them all on a regular basis. The rotary tool is an eraser - heavy duty one at that. Memories.
What a haul!
I've been a slide rule and slide rule book collector for a while now. They're fascinating devices! I learned to use one just before calculators made the leap from big 120V desk tools to pocket devices. I did a lot of calculating on a 5" Sterling I bought at the drug store for a couple of bucks!
About 5 years ago I worked for a company that builds large apartment projects. We purchased two twin 5 story office buildings (built around 1976) from Texas Instruments. Their Dallas headquarters. Over 1/2 million square feet of office space on 26 acres of parking lot.
We demolished both buildings to build apartments. I lobbied to revamp the existing buildings into apartments, but since I was just a "Construction Guy", it was ignored. Nice concrete, high commercial quality buildings sent to the landfill.
We closed the transaction very quickly and TI left behind floor after floor of vintage, mid-century office furniture and hundreds of cubicles. I grabbed a few items, but most was sold to an office salvage outfit to move off and re-sell. TI moved to their new campus a few miles away.
Must say it was interesting roaming the halls and offices of those buildings in absolute silence, with a flashlight. Wondering about all the daily workings of this young, but vital industry in north Dallas.
Wow cool stuff.
Used to work next to the draftsmen. We had moved to CAD for most PCB stuff but they still did manual tape board layouts for changes to old stuff. When asked to change the text on a board, they would say, "yeah, Leroy will do it" ;)
I picked up an inking set many years ago. I thought it would be cool to do lines on project cases. It came with one of those erasing masks. I have long forgotten what it was for.
Those TI solar calcs came out when I was in college. Did not work for finals in the auditorium as it was too dark. I had a Casio FX81 but longed for an HP15C. After I graduated, that was the first thing I spent money on. Still was over $100 at the time.
I too love those VFD displays. Just a cool look and so easy to see.
Ok, now I have to fish out my HP-34C and HP-41C and send those in!
awesome whoever sent this to you!
That episode gave me flashbacks to drafting course during apprenticeship! Thanks for sharing, Fran!
The Leroy-tool is nice - I own a pantograph engraving machine, that has a very similar principle. Are you going to do a seperate video on it?
I just came across this video and I had to go straight to the basement to dig out my old stuff. I still have the TI-59 with all the manuals. It is in a box together with a TI SR-50A which I got in 1975 when I attended a technical collage for electrical engineering. It was about 1980 when I upgraded to the TI-59. It has a magnetic card reader and the hand labelled storage cards I found with the calculator reminded me that I had written some programs for the TI-59. A schoolmate even had the PC-100C printer and he allowed me to print the listings. I used the TI-59 though my time at university. In the early 1990s I changed to a Hewlett Packard 48GX that I still use today, either the real thing, or as an app on the smartphone.
Your "rotary tool" is actually an electric eraser, used by drafters in the same era as slide rules. Ooops! I just read a bunch of other comments, so I apologize for restating what so many others have already stated. Regardless, I love your videos, Fran. Keep 'em coming and I'll keep on watching!
You're on the right track in regards to the LCD Fran, it's actually the digitiser that degrades with U.V.
Love my TI 35! Never had to worry about batteries and it still works as long as there is light to see it by. Probably considered a bad design by TI since it did not need replacing in all those years. Thanks for the walk down old calculator lane!
Interesting knife you used.
My parents gave me and my sister TI-30s for Christmas one year - our first calculators! The Math On Keys book was great reading. Our calculators came with faux-denim carrying cases. I am surprised you did not recognize the electric eraser.
Is it Christmas. Man! I like your stuff Fran.
I've still got my excellent condition Texas Instruments Ti-52 calculator and plastic flip case from 1987. Like the vintage electronics of the Casio FX10. I've kept mine always in the case.
Looking forward to videos on the calculators, and those drafting tools. Also would love to see videos on slide rules are used, i never had to use them!
What memories. Anyway - That rotary tool is an electric drafting eraser.
Love your channel and will have to drop you a line sometime on my similar path. 💖👍
Thanks Fran. I have some of these drafting items. Now I know what they are for.
Man the TI-59 and cradle brings back memories ... my dad had one and it was the first real calculator I ever used. It had magnetic memory strips that could hold programs ... a pain to program, certainly by today's standards, but when VisiCalc didn't exist yet, it was pretty awesome.
I had a Ti-58c in college (less memory than the 59, no magnetic cards but kept its memory when turned off) and I loved it, it got stolen and I immediately bought a new one even though I could not really afford it. It eventually developed the bouncing key problems that TI was famous for back then and eventually became unusable. I do regret getting rid of it but I got into HP calculators, first an HP-11C that I gave away and then a HP-42S that I still use every day.
I took a cartography class in college (around 1989), and used that Leroy lettering set. I HATED IT. But you can't argue with the robotic, uniform results. As a matter of fact, the old EC comic books from the early 50's used the Leroy system instead of pure free-hand lettering, giving them a unique look among their competition.
I think you just blew Dave Jones's mailbag out of the water!
Yea, this is an absurd haul!
No HP calculators, but I guess we can forgive that. :P
That "rotary tool" is actually a power eraser for drafting, it takes different eraser material inserts same as a hand held driating eraser..and uses an ac induction motor. it was very expensive when new. I still have the spindle/collet out of one used as a manual one and some eraser inserts...actually I have a small box of drafting tools from back in the day....moved on to AutoCAD and HP plotters and then to inkjet plotters....I used to be a repair tech for such. P.s. My 1st programmable device was a Ti 57...still have the book "Making tracks into programming" and the pad of blank program sheets, sadly lost the calculator...but have a small collection of other calculators/sewing machines and various other vintage obscure electronics.
I took a TI-30 calculator with me when I took my FCC exams for 1st and 2nd class radiotelephone operators license back in 1979, I passed. I made sure to have an extra 9 volt battery with me, those LED displays went through them pretty fast.
Fran great to see your producing UA-cam videos
What a great box of stuff! I love the sliderules and calculators. The TI-30 has a sleep mode. I love that book of Math on Keys. I had one and lost it. Great vid Fran.
I had a Casio FX with the green VFD. Also a vintage TI with the miniature red LED. I guess a lot of people of the time did... all the stuff in that box looked familiar except the monstrous rotary tool.
Everyone's favorite segment.... Viewer Mail :)
Wow, I remember buying that same TI-30 boxed set with the book. That book is actually very useful. I had forgotten all about this.
I’d love to see a slide rule video.
The vintage gold 9vlt Eveready in that calculator is a beauty.
In Germany we used those Rapidograph pens in technical drawing/drafting lessons at school all the time... :)
so jealous of the ti-59 and printer! I've been wanting to add one of those to the collection for a while. that was quite the haul!
Fran,
20:10 - Are you sure that 'rotary tool' is not an 'electric eraser' (also used in drafting)? Although half an amp sounds a bit like overkill for that task.
David Perkins you are correct, that is an electric eraser. I was a draftsman for 6 years and have had a couple of those (still have them in fact). I saw an all metal one at an antique store the other day and considered buying it, but then I remembered it’s been over 20 years since I’ve actually used one. Half an amp sounds good, you had to have some nice torque to quickly erase those lines.
IIRC, they were called 'Erasing Machines'
I figured it was an engraver from the picture on the box, it sure looks like the electric engraving kits that still turn up from time to time in Aldi and Lidl and the like. I presume there's quite a lot of shared technological DNA between a device that engraves metal / plastic / glass and one that erases drafting paper...
It is an erasing machine. Put in a long piece of rubber or vinyl eraser material and you could very neatly erase all of your drawing. Hewlett-Packard also used the motor part as the base for a paper tape winder. The put on a disk with three prongs that you looped the paper tape around, hit the switch, and watched as you 100 foot strip of paper tape was neatly wrapped into a four-inch roll for neatly storing in a 4x4x1-inch box. I did that for years and punched many miles of tape. One of my coworkers called it HP's greatest contribution to the art of computing.
Awesome! I have the TI-PC100C with the dust cover and a TI 59. Didn't get it with a box though! It needs minor repair... One of the battery terminals was deformed and snapped off. An easy fix. I freakin' _LOVE_ old calculators! I have an SCM Cogito 240SR, a Friden EC132, a Sony Sobax ICC600W, a Canon 163, a Wang 360SE, and many others! Even have Anita Mk7 thyratron decade counter + Nixie display boards. Sadly, no complete Anita...
I don't even use the battery with my TI 59. I lust leave it docked to the PC-100C. My power terminal broke off too, but I have less corrosion, so it'll be a far easier fix. I know mine works, as I've used it before.
The key locks the calculator to the printer. Back when it was new, it was a fairly spendy calculator. It was a security feature to keep the easily pocketed calculators from "walking off". Notice the latch slide in and out of place in the calculator interface when you turn the key.
Also, look on the side, near the screen, and you'll see a slot on either side, along the seam. That's for a magnetic program strip reader. You'd feed the trips in from the right, and a motor pulls it through, spitting it out the left side. You could flip the card around to get a second magnetic strip. You then slid the card below the screen, and it could be labeled to correspond to the upper row of keys.
Definitely a very nifty calculator!
I have to admit... I'm so jelly of all the goodies! :D
I couldn't think of a better steward of vintage tech!
Hi Fran, I really enjoyed this video and am looking forward to the videos it will spawn.
WOW!!! What a wonderful collection!!
I've got a calculater collection also. Get them at Goodwill or Thrift Store. Have soe real good programmable ones too. Good statistic ones. Couple real good science and engineer calculator.
re: K&E LeRoy lettering set: I got one at a thrift shop, as well as the Rapidograph version. Very retro but not as much fun as I had anticipated :-(
re: slide rules
They are JUST SO KEWL! I scored a 4" SunHemi recently. There are amazing web sites about slide rules and the very custom ones for electrical engineers! Sadly, me dad does not remember how to use use his log-log-decitrig (the most common engineer's slide rule).
re: the new in box erasing machine: it spins an eraser to rub off the surface off "erasable blueprints'. I used one around 1982 when blueprint companies were just about everywhere.
Awesome mailbag! Wish I still had my Ti-30. Somehow I still have the "Math on Keys" book. Great vid!
When I was in Coast Guard ET school in 1980, a TI-30 was $250 in Manhattan. Three of us went in on it and shared it through our basic electronics courses. I do not remember what happened to it.
I had a TI-30.... one of my first REAL calculator! I wore out the keyboard after many many years of use!
Push the Pi button! Push the Pi button! I always get a kick out being able to see Pi just pushing a button.
I had that TI 30 back in my college days around 1980.
When I was in school, we had TI-83s graphing calculators. That, would've been the mid to late 90s.
Thanks for the video Fran. I've always wanted to understand how slide rules work. I bought one at a jumble sale years ago and never got round to it. You've inspired me to look again! :)
That was amazing a ti 59 and printer my first computer I got, magnetic card memory, today there is even a android and PC emulator now with all the modules, TMS9900 as I remember. Cool system for all kinds of Calculations. A SLIDE RULE i used in school for My TECH school in Electronics, We had on our belts dangling down, from class to class. All Classic.
Excellent Fran.
Do this every Friday and call it Franmail Friday!
I second this,I think you'd get a good haul of goodies too.I know a lot of folks dont send stuff from the States to Dave because of the astronomical postage costs to Australia.
@@southjerseysound7340 well, it is along walk, then a long swim!
Someone really really really really loves you when they send you that!
Love me some warranty registration cards!
Great unboxing! Love your videos.
That Casio was FX-10 their first scientific calculator and was around 100$ then.My father had one and I still remember the handwritten price tag on the box lol.I was curious and in todays money it'd be around $500.It's hard to believe that a calculator could cost more than a computer these days.
I now know what ancient ti graphing calculators looked like... To think you had to print the graphs on paper in the 70's/80's... What a pain. So much math history...
Nice score. now you need a large packet of K&E graph paper on the velum type sheets. I miss my picket slide rule. I lost it somewhere.
Its so nice to see you this happy. I had a similar Casio calculator and I loved the feel of the buttons.
Hey Fran!
That was alot of cool stuff. Interesting.
Thanks for posting. :)
National Semiconductor Calculators: "They've got Big Green Numbers and Little Rubber Feet"
Cutting away from yourself... excellent! Safety first! And to think I only have a box cutter and live in NJ.... I should have a stiletto.
TI-30... the calculator with a screensaver! :-o
Never could have afforded a TI-30 back in the day? Nah. I got mine back in the Autumn of '77 at KMart for $19.99 plus tax as instructed by my trigonometry teacher (that same nifty kit with the book and the denim look case). It spelled the end of the slide rule for high school students. Mine was the first class that wasn't taught how to use them and that was entirely due to that one product, the TI-30. Texas Instruments still sell a calculator with that model designation because teachers started specifying it 40 years ago and never stopped. "Students must bring TI-30 or equivalent scientific calculator." So you can buy them at Walgreens to this day.
awesome items
I remember buying a TI-30 when I was 15 or 16 years old. It was my very first calculator. I wonder where it is now :-/
You should fill out the warranty card and mail it in just to see what they say.
I would love a new abrasive cup for my lead sharpener- the sandpaper on the inside of mine has peeled away so you can only sharpen in one direction. I still use it a lot!
I have 2 2.5" IDE hard disks, 1 from 2001, the other from about 2006, They have that same Toshiba logo with the weird "T"
I had a ti30 way back when. I was just thinking about it a couple of days ago.
Okay, *NOW* I want to go find the *TI-55* my parents gave me DECADES AGO... 😊
This is a dangerous video. It makes me want to start collecting vintage calculators. I'm partial to HP RPN calculators myself. I wonder if I could find an RPN calculator with a VFD or Nixie tube display.
You should open a museum. #TaxWriteoff
The Army used the TI59 in the 80s to calculate artillery gunnery data.
Fran,
The security cradle & key most likely lock the calculator (>$120 in late '70s dollars) to the printer making it hard to walk off with.
And the "rotary tool" is an electric eraser for (mostly) drafting purposes. I still have one or two!
The TI-59 uses magnetic tape strips on plastic "cards" and has a card reader near the top -- this permits you to save & reload your programs after turning it off.
Someone loves you!
Your knowledge of drafting tools seems pretty in depth. In a previous life were you a draftsman/draughtsman? Really enjoy your videos by the way. Keep them coming
I'd like to know too but I do know she's designed a lot of products over the years.So chances are thats how she picked it up along the way
Xmas eve at the Blanche residence. :-)
Hi Fran!! It's weird the things you remember watching something like this. I was in a mechanical drafting class and we used a curious fine mesh fabric bag filled with eraser dust. You would occasionally pat your drawing with it to release the dust, which would passively keep your drawing clean. It was known as a scummage bag or scum bag for short!! Do you remember those?
Ha, On my, I forgot about those, but reading this, using them came flooding back. wow.
11- out of 10 for Mail box opening . . . EEBlog#1001 only gets 10 out of 10,
The rotatory tool is an electric eraser
......... Tell your neighbours I can hear their canines in Australia !
P.S. The 'Repidograph' set looked like a DNA sequencer.
Some guy just sent you all his slide rules? That means you're married now, right? I think those are the rules.
Also those rapidograph pens, I remember my dad having something like that, with the pens with the coloured bands around them, which we were never allowed to touch, and he did study architecture for a while... never realised any connection between the two before.
I have that exact same knife!!