The white "ghosting mark" /IS/ a problem. It should be nice and shiny, not white. The display lost some of it's vacuum and the getter material that was deposited onto the glass was used up when the air started entering. The round thingy is a transformer. It's not faulty, you have the Negative 35-ish volts you need and the AC filament drive.
You made me go look up the part number for the display, and it is looking like that may be the problem based on the white mark being black on NOS parts: www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-FUTABA-13-BT-94Z-8H-VACUUM-FLUORESCENT-DISPLAY-NOS/264066687238?hash=item3d7b99e106:g:AZkAAOSwnfRcAXwY:rk:1:pf:0 I was basing this off an experience with a Casio CQ-1 I was sent. It uses a VFD that was sealed with a white glue substances that looked just like this does. I got a bunch of comments telling me the VFD was bad in that when it wasn't because I repaired it by replacing a blown transistor and the display is brilliant on that device now. So from that I learned a white mark may not be a bad VFD which is now a lesson I unlearn with this one. Unfortunately, that VFD is still about the same price as the caps and therefore the NIB example for me. So I will still not be repairing this one.
David Richmond You're right, it's a gassy vfd, the shading towards one of the ends is more evident in dc filament vfd tubes, the emissivity decreases as it gets farther from filament ground.
@@johnbonham7515 In this case i think the shading is a coincidence, other than DC filament. The small round TDK transformer offers proper AC drive which is what's used here. The shading might be a mix of a gassy VFD + bad multiplex timing.
About the back filming surface, after a test video I decided to record a complete video using the underside of my ESD mat. Here is the test video: ua-cam.com/video/1XoyG6w6FJo/v-deo.html The blue reflects a lot of light onto the subject and into the camera during macro shots. A darker mat would give a noticeably better image quality. But the black is too dark. It didn't work well for this video. I will be going back to the blue side until I get something else that works better.
@@guycrew728 My intention is to now find a very deep dark blue. It should really be an ESD mat so I can work with out worrying about damaging parts(and snide comments). A medium grey would work as well. Most ESD mats are too lightly colored though so it's a challenge.
A general rule of thumb for cap replacements with me is if it's blown/bulged, I'm replacing it with a higher voltage rating. If they're old, I will replace with like or higher voltage depending on what I have. 50volt ratings aren't unusual actually, even with caps down to 1uF. Whenever I get from Mouser, I usually do a variety order with a max of 20 bucks including shipping. I'll get what I need, plus a general variety of other value components to throw in my parts bin. If I need 10uf caps, I'll get them plus a few extra, and I'll throw in 100uF, a couple 1000uF etc. It helps to build a small stock if you find yourself repairing things like that often.
Its funny how i aways see these prestine looking capacitors all failed and broken in other's people hardware, in videos, etc. But my old pcchips board with literally 90% of the caps badly deformed rusted and even leaking sometimes, still actually decently working (after you clean the ram slots with alcohol because capacitor fluid might be getting in there sometimes). I gave this board 3 years ago to a friend who supposedly would (eventually) recap it, but from what i know he didnt recap it yet, lol
I think the problem is the crooked front panel labeling. I'm having a hard time not seeing it now... (please tell me it's really skewed and that my brain is signal processing correctly!)
It is, and it's another one of those things that just really shows how cheap this was. Most of my Unisonic calculators feel kinda cheap but they were really early. Some time I should look into the company's history and see what their deal is. They may have been trying to make very affordable devices when the market was still new and trying to cut costs anyway they could.
Slow start and very faint display almost always mean dry capacitors. Replace them, especially the one in the logic power circuit. PS, 5 dollars for 5 capacitors? Their actual price is at least a hundred times less...
If you want to use the exact values when you can put higher values ones (which was what I did when I had to recap my PC display), yes. Those off value ones are not manufactured that often.
It's indeed the display that's gone. The getter-spot has turned white, that means that air got into it. This way it can't work properly and it will even worsen as more air gets into it. Also the heated cathode will burn out rather soon in the presence of air.
From the sources on calculator.org, this calculator was introduced in 1975. The full name of it is: Unisonic 21 Jimmy the Greek. Just some facts. Will leave the link to the page where i found this. www.calculator.org/calculators/Unisonic_21_Jimmy_the_Greek.html
I like to fix my own stuff , it’s kind of a hobby .There’s a huge scrap yard near my shop that has tons of electric boards laying around , whenever any of my appliances or tech gadgets break i go there and always find whatever i want . I’ve found dozens of capacitors , resistors , diodes and even mosfets for my welding machines . I became friends with the owner ,I pick up whatever i want and the he even invites me to sit down for a cup of coffee and doesn’t charge me anything , when u said 10$ for capacitors i felt pretty lucky .
CrimSun i checked on Google , scrap yards all over the US buy electronics . The most expensive pricing is for CPUs , more than 35$ per pound , hard drives are 4$/lb. They also buy all kind of mother boards and PCBs .
As others have said, the VFD has gone gassy or has a very slow leak to air. Chances are the dimming will worsen over time as more out gassing or air leaks in.
Nice work with the zoom/approach effect (can't remember the technical name!) in the opening shot! Do you have a slider now, or just some good post prod stabilization?
I made a slider out of a server rail. That is a real slide with fixed focus on the camera leading to the calculator. At some point soon-ish I'm going to be doing a filming setup video covering my new camera and the new microphone I got that I used for the first time in this video(a Marantz MPM-3000). And it's called a Dolly Zoom, so you were close!
@@TechTangents Oh wow, nice idea for the DIY slider! I'll have to keep an eye out for some stable rails for my own video projects haha Looking forward to the new gear vid :) Oh, and thanks for the correct name too haha
After having made it, I don't recommend making a slider out of a server rail. It rotates way too much because it's really only designed to be strong in one axis. I had to add a flywheel and pulley system to make it even close to stable and it still isn't great. I'll cover why it's not ideal in that gear video.
Very likely, but one in NIB condition would be a much better starting point if I wanted to repair one of these. When I picked it up for $5 I didn't know I could get it NIB for $16 or I probably would have passed on it.
I looked at calculator.org and these came out in the mid-seventies, I got my first Radio Shack calculator in 1977 and it had the just introduced memory function. So, the dumbing down of the calculator started just about the time they were becoming affordable.I also looked up the pric of the Bowmar 9018 (the Boiwmar Brain) which was considered one of the first mainstream pocket calculators. The price for that in 1971 money was $240.
The brightness gradient is caused purely by the amount of time each digit has been illuminated over the years. The rightmost digit would be displaying '0' for much longer than the other digits would be used.
When making a list of components to order in the future, make sure you also write down what they're for. Otherwise after a year, when you remember you had seven order lists in five different locations on your hard drive, you're like "what the hell were these for?" I also tend to lose my repair notes so sometimes I write a post-it note of the symptoms and possible defects and fixes I've discovered, as well as a mention if I've connected mains to the logic chips, and leave the note inside the case for future me. Or maybe even someone else who wants to fix it when I've lost my marbles and I'm being treated someplace soft.
13:18 The getter in the VFD looks rather milky, which could be the VFD is gassy, and that would certainly cause it not to work correctly, like lose brightness. The getter should be much darker and shiny in appearance if a good vacuum was still maintained.
I've seen some of the old COLECO table top arcades VFD displays go from non working to working simply by taking the cabinet apart, doing nothing, putting it back together.....? BAM, fixed and fully working for "reasons"
I see on amazon capacitor assorted kits of electrolytics, some of which include 0.47uF 50V. Eg see dp/B015IR1DAU (didn't want to send a full link in case it went directly to spam) May not be useful for this project, but it might be something to getfor future cases.
just like shango066, always looking up service manuals on his phone ^^ The build quality of this calculator seems horrible, especially for its age, was it made in china?
@@jussapitka6041 Exactly. Desolder the capacitor, put it into one of those expensive ESR-meters? Nope! It's the genius cheapass way to acceive the same result.
related: www.halfbakedmaker.org/blog/a4821-reveng-1 Calculator is 8 digits? I wonder if they just transplanted/used the same calculator device/logic from their other 8-digit calculators, and put that next to the BlackJack logic. The display shimmering could be from the calculator logic/output colliding with the blackjack output until the clear/reset causes the BJ to disable that. While some websites list the earlier handheld "Unisonic 21" as having 12 digits of precision, I've only found pictures showing the calculator using 8. I wonder if they later updated the logic after introducing calculators models that actually do have the needed precision.
Have u reviewed a most recent ti 84 plus texas instruments calculator cause it has IO PORT AND USB PORT also caps is only way make it stop changing words
Come on - pull the trigger and just complete the repair! Between the time spent troubleshooting this device and filming and editing, you're already invested way beyond the value of this gadget (30x?). Just order the caps and solder them in - that's the fast part left to do. Maybe slot that part order in alongside others next time you're putting an order in with DigiKey or Mouser or whoever, so that the shipping gets subsidized by that new order - we can wait for the video. Also, I wouldn't trust the ancient new in box one as necessarily being any more reliable than this one, unless the seller is showing pics of a fabulously working screen, etc. Best wishes.
Probably tho the vfd is also shot. And tbh he could like wire in paralel a bunch of caps to met the old bizarre ones (probably), but that doesnt seem the way he would do it.
Lol I was screaming capacitors from the beginning... I also have a Unisonic calculator model 1048R and also had a ton of problems (bad capacitors, bad switch contacts, bad power switch) and I still didn't properly fix the key switches because when you press some of them they repeat themselves lol.
Had 2 of these in the house when growing up. One had this blue keyboard, and the other had a red/orange keyboard. No idea what happened to them, probably died at some point.
arrow electronics probably sells the things you need and they always have free (very fast) shipping. I use them for small orders when I just need a couple caps. Might be the thing you're looking for if you're trying dodge the classic "I only want a 2 cent resistor I don't want to pay 5 dollars for shipping"
Change the VFD and it will work perfectly fine. You can see that it is defective because the dot at the right side is white normally its metallic shiny. This is a getter spot that makes the vacuum stable and in this case its gone.
The patent that looks like it's probably related to this calculator is 4,339,134 (Noticed the IC is from Rockwell). Gives a nice overview of the functionality of the unit. Link to USPTO patent listing: patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=4339134.PN.&OS=PN/4339134&RS=PN/4339134
0:41 Cheap garbage?! Are you kidding me?! This thing is amazing looking. It's had an expensive plastic mold made for it. It has quality buttons that haven't yellowed over time. Look at those LEDs and how accurately they are mounted. Everything here has great lines and form. This is very much what the future look like in 70s. This is a quality product!
My comment was auto deleted when I added links to the images for the unisonic 21 and adaptor so I am reposting my previous comment. According to the labels on the unisonic 21 game calculator model d-3, it’s electrical rating is 6V DC 140mA and it can run on an optional A/C adaptor available from unisonic dealers model no. SY1200 or model no. 620 A/C adaptor. The label on the unisonic model no. 620 A/C adaptor reads as follows. Input: 117V 60Hz 3W Output: 6V DC 100mA Center Negative There are examples of both the unisonic 21 same version as yours and 620 adaptor with the labels on eBay.
Where do you live that you have to pay 2$ for a cap and can't be sure they have 50V caps? My local electronics shop carries caps up to 400V and they're about 50c worth in my local currency (for a 22u/400V as an example).
His issue is most likely wanting the exact value and rating caps, when you'd be just fine using higher value ones, since these are not high precision devices that depend on exact spec caps. When I had to replace the caps on my display, the guy didn't have 650v ones ( I needed one 900v and one 650v), he just handled me two 900v ones and the display works just fine.
I find a flaw in your logic, the caps went bad due to age, a NIB example could have the exact same flaw. Buy yourself a capacitor assortment and have them stocked for future projects too.
oh by the way the model you have is a 80s revision b the rev a from 77 actually had wood grain more switches and was heavier. i have the 77 model and the 80s model and the 80's model is even built different internally.
Why not just buy a few cap sets on ebay? You can get a set of many different values for a a few $. They may not be the best quality, but they are totally good for replacing a bad cap here and there in a pinch.
Wow expanding to a massive 16GB backing store that fills a room and costs thousands and thousands of dollars, now much larger is in the palm of my hand.
Hello. I've just spent about 30 minutes of my life watching an old cheap calculator-with-a-game repair video. The device was disassembled, the restorer hopped from one potential cause to the other until he finally fired his ESR-meter after 23 minutes, so that could have been another recap video. Then he decided 5 caps were 1 dollar too expensive et reassembled the poor thing with its old caps. In the meantime, either with usage or because of the iron solder heat, the caps restored themselves just enough for a faint display. 30 minutes of fiddling and no actual repair... Only good thing was a shango reference in the comments. Please tell me what's wrong with me ! 🤣
While there's definitely something to be said for repairing the inexpensive and unloved, I agree you certainly do sometimes have to call it quits when the economics hit the red. Interesting little thing none the less though!
Does a repair video that potentially will be watched by 1000's of people, then he is too miserable to pay $10 for capacitors and gives up rather than spending a few measly bucks which seems might have totally resolved the issue and made for a more informative and interesting video.
I told you so: caps. you did not hear me. :) New one in box would have the same senile caps, just fix this already (video watching not finished, no spoilers )
The white "ghosting mark" /IS/ a problem. It should be nice and shiny, not white. The display lost some of it's vacuum and the getter material that was deposited onto the glass was used up when the air started entering. The round thingy is a transformer. It's not faulty, you have the Negative 35-ish volts you need and the AC filament drive.
You made me go look up the part number for the display, and it is looking like that may be the problem based on the white mark being black on NOS parts: www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-FUTABA-13-BT-94Z-8H-VACUUM-FLUORESCENT-DISPLAY-NOS/264066687238?hash=item3d7b99e106:g:AZkAAOSwnfRcAXwY:rk:1:pf:0
I was basing this off an experience with a Casio CQ-1 I was sent. It uses a VFD that was sealed with a white glue substances that looked just like this does. I got a bunch of comments telling me the VFD was bad in that when it wasn't because I repaired it by replacing a blown transistor and the display is brilliant on that device now. So from that I learned a white mark may not be a bad VFD which is now a lesson I unlearn with this one.
Unfortunately, that VFD is still about the same price as the caps and therefore the NIB example for me. So I will still not be repairing this one.
Yep, VFD clearly is gassy, needs to be replaced.
35V looks healthy for a display like that. 8Ohm ESR isnt good but would not cause much trouble yet.
I was about to point out the same thing. Beat me to it, good job!
David Richmond You're right, it's a gassy vfd, the shading towards one of the ends is more evident in dc filament vfd tubes, the emissivity decreases as it gets farther from filament ground.
@@johnbonham7515 In this case i think the shading is a coincidence, other than DC filament. The small round TDK transformer offers proper AC drive which is what's used here. The shading might be a mix of a gassy VFD + bad multiplex timing.
About the back filming surface, after a test video I decided to record a complete video using the underside of my ESD mat. Here is the test video: ua-cam.com/video/1XoyG6w6FJo/v-deo.html The blue reflects a lot of light onto the subject and into the camera during macro shots. A darker mat would give a noticeably better image quality. But the black is too dark. It didn't work well for this video. I will be going back to the blue side until I get something else that works better.
sorry link machine broke
Do you have an idea of a color/material that would work? like a specific shade of gray or something?
@@guycrew728 My intention is to now find a very deep dark blue. It should really be an ESD mat so I can work with out worrying about damaging parts(and snide comments). A medium grey would work as well. Most ESD mats are too lightly colored though so it's a challenge.
A general rule of thumb for cap replacements with me is if it's blown/bulged, I'm replacing it with a higher voltage rating. If they're old, I will replace with like or higher voltage depending on what I have. 50volt ratings aren't unusual actually, even with caps down to 1uF. Whenever I get from Mouser, I usually do a variety order with a max of 20 bucks including shipping. I'll get what I need, plus a general variety of other value components to throw in my parts bin. If I need 10uf caps, I'll get them plus a few extra, and I'll throw in 100uF, a couple 1000uF etc. It helps to build a small stock if you find yourself repairing things like that often.
Its funny how i aways see these prestine looking capacitors all failed and broken in other's people hardware, in videos, etc. But my old pcchips board with literally 90% of the caps badly deformed rusted and even leaking sometimes, still actually decently working (after you clean the ram slots with alcohol because capacitor fluid might be getting in there sometimes).
I gave this board 3 years ago to a friend who supposedly would (eventually) recap it, but from what i know he didnt recap it yet, lol
Buying the "new-in-box" calculator from eBay isn't an option, as the caps on that one will have failed by now, too. :-/
On the topic of calculators , the best kind of costcutting on a calculator is to not include poweron reset requiring manual zeroing before use.
that VFD tube is shot for sure! the Getter is white when its supposed to be a black/silver. its gone to air.
I think the problem is the crooked front panel labeling. I'm having a hard time not seeing it now...
(please tell me it's really skewed and that my brain is signal processing correctly!)
It is, and it's another one of those things that just really shows how cheap this was. Most of my Unisonic calculators feel kinda cheap but they were really early. Some time I should look into the company's history and see what their deal is. They may have been trying to make very affordable devices when the market was still new and trying to cut costs anyway they could.
Yep, it's whopper-jawed :)
I never get tired of your commentary! Very fun stuff.
Slow start and very faint display almost always mean dry capacitors. Replace them, especially the one in the logic power circuit.
PS, 5 dollars for 5 capacitors? Their actual price is at least a hundred times less...
Shipping is a killer
If you want to use the exact values when you can put higher values ones (which was what I did when I had to recap my PC display), yes. Those off value ones are not manufactured that often.
It's indeed the display that's gone. The getter-spot has turned white, that means that air got into it. This way it can't work properly and it will even worsen as more air gets into it. Also the heated cathode will burn out rather soon in the presence of air.
From the sources on calculator.org, this calculator was introduced in 1975. The full name of it is: Unisonic 21 Jimmy the Greek. Just some facts. Will leave the link to the page where i found this. www.calculator.org/calculators/Unisonic_21_Jimmy_the_Greek.html
I like to fix my own stuff , it’s kind of a hobby .There’s a huge scrap yard near my shop that has tons of electric boards laying around , whenever any of my appliances or tech gadgets break i go there and always find whatever i want . I’ve found dozens of capacitors , resistors , diodes and even mosfets for my welding machines . I became friends with the owner ,I pick up whatever i want and the he even invites me to sit down for a cup of coffee and doesn’t charge me anything , when u said 10$ for capacitors i felt pretty lucky .
When you see how expensive is to recycle/trash electronics, you'll understand why the guy is more than willing to give you stuff for free.
CrimSun i’m pretty sure he piles them up and sells them by the ton so contrary to what you said he gets paid to get rid of them .
@@Danny-wv8ec I'm not sure if this applies to where you live, but in other places, you have to pay to have electronics recycled or out of your hands.
CrimSun i checked on Google , scrap yards all over the US buy electronics . The most expensive pricing is for CPUs , more than 35$ per pound , hard drives are 4$/lb. They also buy all kind of mother boards and PCBs .
As others have said, the VFD has gone gassy or has a very slow leak to air. Chances are the dimming will worsen over time as more out gassing or air leaks in.
Nice work with the zoom/approach effect (can't remember the technical name!) in the opening shot! Do you have a slider now, or just some good post prod stabilization?
I made a slider out of a server rail. That is a real slide with fixed focus on the camera leading to the calculator. At some point soon-ish I'm going to be doing a filming setup video covering my new camera and the new microphone I got that I used for the first time in this video(a Marantz MPM-3000).
And it's called a Dolly Zoom, so you were close!
@@TechTangents Oh wow, nice idea for the DIY slider! I'll have to keep an eye out for some stable rails for my own video projects haha
Looking forward to the new gear vid :)
Oh, and thanks for the correct name too haha
After having made it, I don't recommend making a slider out of a server rail. It rotates way too much because it's really only designed to be strong in one axis. I had to add a flywheel and pulley system to make it even close to stable and it still isn't great. I'll cover why it's not ideal in that gear video.
New in the box most likely won't work either. Capacitors age by only sitting dormant too
Very likely, but one in NIB condition would be a much better starting point if I wanted to repair one of these. When I picked it up for $5 I didn't know I could get it NIB for $16 or I probably would have passed on it.
VFD might be good tho.
I looked at calculator.org and these came out in the mid-seventies, I got my first Radio Shack calculator in 1977 and it had the just introduced memory function. So, the dumbing down of the calculator started just about the time they were becoming affordable.I also looked up the pric of the Bowmar 9018 (the Boiwmar Brain) which was considered one of the first mainstream pocket calculators. The price for that in 1971 money was $240.
The brightness gradient is caused purely by the amount of time each digit has been illuminated over the years. The rightmost digit would be displaying '0' for much longer than the other digits would be used.
A battery powered device? No. This unit has very low hours on it.
When making a list of components to order in the future, make sure you also write down what they're for. Otherwise after a year, when you remember you had seven order lists in five different locations on your hard drive, you're like "what the hell were these for?" I also tend to lose my repair notes so sometimes I write a post-it note of the symptoms and possible defects and fixes I've discovered, as well as a mention if I've connected mains to the logic chips, and leave the note inside the case for future me. Or maybe even someone else who wants to fix it when I've lost my marbles and I'm being treated someplace soft.
13:18 The getter in the VFD looks rather milky, which could be the VFD is gassy, and that would certainly cause it not to work correctly, like lose brightness.
The getter should be much darker and shiny in appearance if a good vacuum was still maintained.
23:42 Of course, the new one would probably also need the same capacitors replaced anyway if they are the original caps.
is it possible that the VFD has been worn out by "hours of displaying '0'" on the rightmost digit?
No.
If that was the case, light bulbs would wear out from "hours of glowing bright".
I've seen some of the old COLECO table top arcades VFD displays go from non working to working simply by taking the cabinet apart, doing nothing, putting it back together.....? BAM, fixed and fully working for "reasons"
lol "jimmy the greek" signature on the front.
love the hand drawn single sided PCBs. also lol @ the staggered dip pins.
I see on amazon capacitor assorted kits of electrolytics, some of which include 0.47uF 50V. Eg see dp/B015IR1DAU (didn't want to send a full link in case it went directly to spam)
May not be useful for this project, but it might be something to getfor future cases.
The front panel silk screening looks a bit askew! (03:10)
just like shango066, always looking up service manuals on his phone ^^
The build quality of this calculator seems horrible, especially for its age, was it made in china?
a fellow shango viewer, neat
@@Evan420 I like the way he talks, his disregard for safety, his success rate, his methods... just everything
@@DasMrOSi capacitor tester? Nah, amplifier and a speaker.
@@jussapitka6041 Exactly. Desolder the capacitor, put it into one of those expensive ESR-meters?
Nope!
It's the genius cheapass way to acceive the same result.
@@DasMrOSi and the best this is he has fancy capacitor testers.
Did you check the heater voltage? Also, current. Clean the switch pads just to be sure.
related: www.halfbakedmaker.org/blog/a4821-reveng-1
Calculator is 8 digits? I wonder if they just transplanted/used the same calculator device/logic from their other 8-digit calculators, and put that next to the BlackJack logic. The display shimmering could be from the calculator logic/output colliding with the blackjack output until the clear/reset causes the BJ to disable that.
While some websites list the earlier handheld "Unisonic 21" as having 12 digits of precision, I've only found pictures showing the calculator using 8. I wonder if they later updated the logic after introducing calculators models that actually do have the needed precision.
Have u reviewed a most recent ti 84 plus texas instruments calculator cause it has IO PORT AND USB PORT also caps is only way make it stop changing words
Pill box as a screw holder. I can't believe I didn't I think of that one before.
that weird round thing is a custom transformer to drive the VFD display.
Come on - pull the trigger and just complete the repair! Between the time spent troubleshooting this device and filming and editing, you're already invested way beyond the value of this gadget (30x?). Just order the caps and solder them in - that's the fast part left to do. Maybe slot that part order in alongside others next time you're putting an order in with DigiKey or Mouser or whoever, so that the shipping gets subsidized by that new order - we can wait for the video. Also, I wouldn't trust the ancient new in box one as necessarily being any more reliable than this one, unless the seller is showing pics of a fabulously working screen, etc. Best wishes.
The caps are fine. The VFD is gassy, and that is why it looks so dim.
Probably tho the vfd is also shot. And tbh he could like wire in paralel a bunch of caps to met the old bizarre ones (probably), but that doesnt seem the way he would do it.
I'd really like to see it get fixed now.. Do we need to setup a GoFundMe to raise the $10?
Lol I was screaming capacitors from the beginning... I also have a Unisonic calculator model 1048R and also had a ton of problems (bad capacitors, bad switch contacts, bad power switch) and I still didn't properly fix the key switches because when you press some of them they repeat themselves lol.
This makes those printed LCD blackjack games look amazing, but this is cooler.
I remember when these things were practically ubiquitous. whatever it took to sell a calculator...
Nice vid.
wouldn't the new in box calc have the same issues?
The chip was made by Rockwell, which are quite distinctive with their staggered pins.
Had 2 of these in the house when growing up. One had this blue keyboard, and the other had a red/orange keyboard. No idea what happened to them, probably died at some point.
As other people have said, the VFD is bad. Air got inside and turned the getter white.
You sound like a combination of LGR and Druaga1. This is great
I saw this exact unit at goodwill, but only slightly more functional, with just a barely visible display like this one too
arrow electronics probably sells the things you need and they always have free (very fast) shipping. I use them for small orders when I just need a couple caps. Might be the thing you're looking for if you're trying dodge the classic "I only want a 2 cent resistor I don't want to pay 5 dollars for shipping"
Change the VFD and it will work perfectly fine. You can see that it is defective because the dot at the right side is white normally its metallic shiny. This is a getter spot that makes the vacuum stable and in this case its gone.
The patent that looks like it's probably related to this calculator is 4,339,134 (Noticed the IC is from Rockwell). Gives a nice overview of the functionality of the unit. Link to USPTO patent listing: patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=4339134.PN.&OS=PN/4339134&RS=PN/4339134
0:41 Cheap garbage?! Are you kidding me?! This thing is amazing looking. It's had an expensive plastic mold made for it. It has quality buttons that haven't yellowed over time. Look at those LEDs and how accurately they are mounted. Everything here has great lines and form. This is very much what the future look like in 70s. This is a quality product!
lol
My comment was auto deleted when I added links to the images for the unisonic 21 and adaptor so I am reposting my previous comment.
According to the labels on the unisonic 21 game calculator model d-3, it’s electrical rating is 6V DC 140mA and it can run on an optional A/C adaptor available from unisonic dealers model no. SY1200 or model no. 620 A/C adaptor.
The label on the unisonic model no. 620 A/C adaptor reads as follows. Input: 117V 60Hz 3W Output: 6V DC 100mA Center Negative
There are examples of both the unisonic 21 same version as yours and 620 adaptor with the labels on eBay.
11:07 Your phone is a Pixel 2? I always took you as a Oneplus man for some reason XD
I have an entex poker machine that I think is also a calculator. It works too.
Where do you live that you have to pay 2$ for a cap and can't be sure they have 50V caps?
My local electronics shop carries caps up to 400V and they're about 50c worth in my local currency (for a 22u/400V as an example).
His issue is most likely wanting the exact value and rating caps, when you'd be just fine using higher value ones, since these are not high precision devices that depend on exact spec caps. When I had to replace the caps on my display, the guy didn't have 650v ones ( I needed one 900v and one 650v), he just handled me two 900v ones and the display works just fine.
I find a flaw in your logic, the caps went bad due to age, a NIB example could have the exact same flaw. Buy yourself a capacitor assortment and have them stocked for future projects too.
oh it's the 21 because it has a blackjack game built in. I missed that the first watch.
The symbol on the chip is Rockwell
The weight on the VFD is the getter. The fact it is weight means gas has got in there & killed it
What weight? I think you are talking about the white deposit. That one is the getter.
@@0xbenedikt I know. To bad spelling is impossible but that is the fun of being dislexic
The keypad reminds me of Windows XP.
please get some assortment boxes of capacitors and resisistors. it pays off in the long run.
Has a resistor drifted really high?
7.6 ESR is not THAT bad for a 10uF/50v as they had different standards back then, and caps rarely fail on battery powered devices
And tbh the caps looked fine, i have badly deformed, rusted and leaking ones wich actually still "work" in my 775 motherboard
If Jimmy the Greek was taking odds that you could repair it, I would have taken you on that bet!
Uploaded (or published) on Feb 21, the video of the Unisonic 21... was on purpose?
Nice video though!
It's 'signed' by Jimmy the Greek!
Mine most have good capacitors still because mine has a very bright display and works very well
WHY DIDNT YOU BUY THE NEW ONE
The 'uni-' in 'Unisonic' is something that I've always heard more like 'unit' than 'unique.' I'm sure others will have differing opinions.
The quote from Futurama is slightly different :) nice video though
All the information you want to know about the processor (and more) is here: www.halfbakedmaker.org/blog/a4821-reveng-1
5 Caps for 1 dollar each? Where did you buy your components? BTW: the caps in the "new old" one will be as bad as the one you are working on now.
27:19 When you don't know shit about Blackjack...
Dude, you had Blackjack right there! Stay m8!
Sucks to see that the calculator is broken, and the cost to fix it is way higher than to buy a new one. still a good find though.
oh by the way the model you have is a 80s revision b the rev a from 77 actually had wood grain more switches and was heavier. i have the 77 model and the 80s model and the 80's model is even built different internally.
What the hell is the "capacitor plaque" ? Who told you that?
I would prefer if you turn your mic up. But otherwise great video! I was super into casinos as a kid! Wanted to theme my room after them... I'm weird.
Shelby Jueden and the Capacitors of Unusual Size
The DC jack is rated for 4.5volts DC
We obviously seem to have a very different definition of expensive ;) 10$ is like two coffees or beers.
The $10 or whatever should have nothing to do with it. It should be the sense of accomplishment in fixing it.
I would try Arrow Electronics, they have free overnight shipping.
I wanted to buy one of these, jimmy the Greek edition
My primary school had that one
I have a Unisonic 727 calculator that still works.
When some one dislikes retro tech repair video like tf if u don't like these videos why are u here lol
Why not just buy a few cap sets on ebay? You can get a set of many different values for a a few $. They may not be the best quality, but they are totally good for replacing a bad cap here and there in a pinch.
Looks cool to me (but take that with a grain of salt, I bought a kiddie TI for fun). I'd just want one with pink buttons instead.
Check the old school led display
Wow expanding to a massive 16GB backing store that fills a room and costs thousands and thousands of dollars, now much larger is in the palm of my hand.
Hello. I've just spent about 30 minutes of my life watching an old cheap calculator-with-a-game repair video. The device was disassembled, the restorer hopped from one potential cause to the other until he finally fired his ESR-meter after 23 minutes, so that could have been another recap video. Then he decided 5 caps were 1 dollar too expensive et reassembled the poor thing with its old caps. In the meantime, either with usage or because of the iron solder heat, the caps restored themselves just enough for a faint display. 30 minutes of fiddling and no actual repair... Only good thing was a shango reference in the comments. Please tell me what's wrong with me ! 🤣
buy the flipin caps!!!!!
While there's definitely something to be said for repairing the inexpensive and unloved, I agree you certainly do sometimes have to call it quits when the economics hit the red. Interesting little thing none the less though!
Man peel off that film from the display at 22:00
The misaligned print on the display is making my OCD whack out something crazy.
Does a repair video that potentially will be watched by 1000's of people, then he is too miserable to pay $10 for capacitors and gives up rather than spending a few measly bucks which seems might have totally resolved the issue and made for a more informative and interesting video.
max length of calc display is due to float.
Isn't float way bigger than that usually?
!=?
i fucking love calculators
oh and my 77 model has a blue vfd screen some had green. lol
It's a Jimmy the Greek model.
You should have just bought the caps, Or at least substitute them. I thought it was going to be fixed.
I like how the printing around the screen is wonky. ... yeh, cheap indeed.
When u have cool device and abku ignores u *lol nvm then I don't wana share the device XD WELL GOOD JOB on video btw caps lock turned on
2 bucks per cap
WHAT!?!
I told you so: caps. you did not hear me. :)
New one in box would have the same senile caps, just fix this already (video watching not finished, no spoilers )