Here's the device loading the program and printing the image. Sorry it's very blurry, I'm too excited to share it ASAP :D
If you're wondering why I needed a printer for this computer: well, first, it's cool, and second, the computer can record the programs to a tape without this device, but can't load them. I tried to build my own version of the cassette tape interface for it from scraps a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't work for some reason. Probably the signal was too quiet.
If you ever find yourself owning this little computer, here are some very useful resources:
Basic->WAV converter (comes with source codes):
https://www.peil-partner.de/ifhe.de/sharp/
DIY tape interface (you can't just load tapes from the device without it, only save): https://ht-deko.com/pokecom/bbce124.html
Printer emulator using Arduino: http://www.cavefischer.at/spc/html/CE-126P_Emulator.html#PC-1250A
Now that I have this wonder of portable personal computing in its final form, I need to think: what kind of computing I can do on a 4-bit BASIC computer (read: slow) with a super bad keyboard (read: worse than ZX81) and a screen of 16 characters (e.g. most output goes to a printer right away)? And the IO is limited to a tape and a printer.
There's enough RAM to run a simple text editor, but the keyboard is a pain, so I'd rather not. Simple spreadsheet app is feasible, but I might as well just use BASIC. A database app would require some clever sharding. It could work as an organiser for 100 notes/contacts, but this is better done by a sheet of paper hidden in the back cover of the computer.
What do I even do with you, o little computer?
It's obviously very useful for little programs like "enter your mortgage details and we'll print the payment schedule, taking compound interest into account" or "type in the colours of the stripes on your resistor and it'll print out the resistance". But what else?
I guess very few people bought such pocket computers / BASIC calculators to play video games, but I think it's going to be pretty good for all sorts of little games. I'm sure even a decent game of chess is very well achievable with 8K of RAM for BASIC.
Sadly, the device can't play music, and its serial port is a bit wonky, so even controlling MIDI through it might be a bit too much 🤔
Accessing BBSes is also out of the question; the screen is too tiny, and the serial port can't be used with the printer connected. Maybe it is possible to use a phone line to transmit programs/data over it as if its a tape recorder, but I doubt it'll work.
I found a reasonable application for this pocket computer. Imagine you're doing a book club with a small number of visitors every time (5-10 people). You want to collect everyone's feedback about the club. Printing 500 copies of the form for the next year is annoying, and you'd have to write down the name of the book you're reading, the current date and the next date for every event. You also might realise, after using 50 forms, that the form is missing an important question or something.
This little computer is almost perfect for those small-scale print jobs. You type the form one, and you can get as many copies as you need (well, up to 100 copies from four batteries, unless you have a wall plug).
Sorry for messing up the string variables :D
I used something similar at a structural engineering firm back in the 90s, albeit a Casio. One of the partners wrote a beam design program on it. They had a bunch of them for the engineers but they were starting to fail. One of my jobs when I joined was rewriting it for a PC with Visual Basic to preserve the program. It would have been easy except there was a mistake in the maths but the partner wouldn't accept it and kept demanding why the new program gave different numbers 🙄
@nina_kali_nina Hmm, would need an amplifier then.
One question is whether it's OK to use additional hardware to get another interface established. Because if that would be an option, a microcontroller that translates anything into whatever is required would be an option, too.
An amp would probably be below that threshold because it's not designed or programmed for the purpose of getting this device an additional way of communicating.
@nina_kali_nina That makes sense.
Well. if it's meant to be used in combination with another computer, the other one might as well be an Arduino. LöL
Nina Kalinina
David S
Alexander Bochmann
steeph 
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