Object Details
- Texas Instruments
- Description
- This is an example of the first model of a scientific calculator marketed by Texas Instruments. The handheld electronic calculator has a black and ivory-colored plastic case with an array of twenty-three plastic keys. Twenty-one of these are square, the 0 and the total keys are rectangular. In addition to ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, and four arithmetic function keys, the calculator has a reciprocal key, a square key, a square root key, a change sign key, an enter exponent key, a clear key, and a clear display key. Text above the keyboard, just below the display and to the left, reads: SR10. Behind the keyboard is a 12-digit LED display. Numbers larger than eight digits are displayed in scientific notation. A mark behind the display reads: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS. An on/off switch is right and slightly above this.
- The back edge of the calculator has a jack for a recharger/adapter. A sticker on the back gives extensive instructions. It also gives the serial number SR10 275812.
- Unscrewing screws near the top and bottom of the back reveals the workings of the calculator. It has a total of five chips. The largest of these is marked TMS 0120 NC (/) C7333. This is a TMS0120 chip, manufactured in mid-1973. Also in the case is space for three AA nickel-cadmium batteries.
- The leather zippered case has both a loop and a hook for attaching the calculator to a belt. It also holds an instruction pamphlet entitled Texas Instruments electronic slide rule calculator SR-10, copyrighted 1973. A warranty registration on the inside of the back page indicates these instructions were originally sold with an SR-10 calculator with serial number 170334, purchased on September 27, 1973.
- Texas Instruments described the SR-10 as an “electronic slide rule calculator,” hence the “SR” in the name. The first version of the device, introduced in 1972, did not have the mark SR-10 on the keyboard. The second version (introduced 1973) and the third (introduced 1975) did. This is an example of the first version. According to Ball & Flamm, it initially sold for $149.95.
- Compare 1986.0988.351, 1986.0988.354, and 1986.0988.356.
- References:
- Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 153.
- The online Datamath Museum includes versions of the SR-10 from 1972, 1973, and 1975.
- Credit Line
- Gift of John B. Priser
- 1972
- 1973
- ID Number
- 1986.0988.354
- catalog number
- 1986.0988.354
- accession number
- 1986.0988
- Object Name
- electronic calculator
- Other Terms
- electronic calculator; Handheld
- Physical Description
- plastic (case, keys material)
- metal (circuitry, zipper material)
- paper (instruction manual, sticker material)
- Measurements
- overall: 1 1/2 in x 3 in x 6 1/4 in; 3.81 cm x 7.62 cm x 15.875 cm
- place made
- United States: Texas, Dallas
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Computers
- Family & Social Life
- Work
- Computers & Business Machines
- Handheld Electronic Calculators
- Exhibition
- My Computing Device
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_334394
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-a2fe-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
