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This fess reminded me that I'd been worried how my fridge was struggling to reach 10°C so I tried sticking the thermometer on the outside. Suffice it to say it's not 30°C in my kitchen and it explains why my can of beans froze solid at "8°C". Guess I need a new thermometer!

Photo of a fridge thermometer reading 30°C, about 10°C higher than it should be reading.

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Reposted by Ben Ryves

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Happy Kicked In The Head By A Horse Day, to all who celebrate. It's the 7th anniversary of this absolute banger.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 22/09/2026

I do grumble about wrapping cables tightly around devices (especially controllers) due to the risk of "cable burn", and this post on Reddit provides an excellent example image of a particularly severe example! www.reddit.com/r/psx/commen...

reddit.com

From the psx community on Reddit: Found an old treasure

Explore this post and more from the psx community

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/09/2026

I'd still like to figure out the calc-to-calc protocol and I haven't seen what happens if the tape image is over 8KB (how much RAM is in the printer - I'll likely need to split into multiple blocks) but it's been a fun diversion. I do rather like the EL-9300, even if its programming is inelegant!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/09/2026

Finally, I could take a phase of moon calendar program (benryves.com/journal/3763...) and adapt it to the EL-9300 (benryves.com/bin/sharp-el...) then convert into a .tap file that could be loaded via the virtual CE-50P. A bit of a roundabout way to do things, but sure beats typing it in by hand.

benryves.com

Calculating the approximate phase of the moon on a range of devices • Journal • benryves.com

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/09/2026

Once I'd figured out how all the programs were stored, I needed to work out the individual tokens. Another tool created a bunch of programs that contained every possible token so I could transcribe them into a table. Fortunately there are only single-byte tokens here, unlike Sharp's later models!

Photo of a Sharp EL-9300 calculator listing tokens 80 to 85.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/09/2026

This all allows me to build a simple virtual CE-50P that emulates the printer and cassette interface in a C# program. I can then use this to write some programs on the calculator, then save to a virtual tape so I can pick through the data structures. Easier than decoding tape audio files, at least!

Screenshot of the virtual CE-50P printer and cassette interface running in Visual Studio.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/09/2026

Hooking the printer up to a logic analyser and performing some test prints and cassette saves allowed me to reverse engineer the communications. A CE-136T "level converter" then lets me plug the calculator into my PC, though the protocol still has to be bit-banged in software.

Photo of an EL-9300 calculator connected to a CE-136T level converter, which is in turn connected to a PC's serial port.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/09/2026

It does have a 4-pin "PA bus" option port on the bottom, though, same as Sharp's electronic organisers from this period. I don't have another EL-9300, so can't sniff the bus to reverse engineer the calc-to-calc transfers. I do have a CE-50P printer and cassette interface, though!

Photo of a Sharp EL-9300 calculator connected to a CE-50P printer and cassette interface.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/09/2026

Bit of a side-quest with my Sharp calculator link software plans this weekend. I was planning to support the EL-9400, 9450, 9600, 9900 and 9950, but what of the older EL-9300? This works in a fundamentally different way, with different file formats and no 2.5mm I/O port.

Photo of a Sharp EL-9300 graphing scientific calculator, showing the rests of a program that calculates a moon phase calendar.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 18/09/2026

Similar confusion from those third-party PlayStation memory cards with "1 Mega" printed on them. Fortunately if you stick one in a PS2 it'll show the capacity in (decimal) kilobytes to confirm that it is indeed one megabit, not megabyte.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/09/2026

I still need to clean up the battery terminals and replace the wires between the two halves of the calculator, but no hurry as I want to keep an eye on the LCD repairs before sealing everything back up. When done I'll print a label out as a reminder of when I did the repair, and... oh, bugger!

Photo of a Casio KL-2000 "EZ-Label Printer" with a missing column on its LCD.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/09/2026

Using the guide from benryves.com/journal/3763... I chased down all of the missing rows and columns then pressed the affected part of the flex cable back on the board with a soldering iron set to 220°C.

Photo of the EL-9900 screen with most of the rows and columns still working, but a couple of rows and a few columns are still missing.

Photo of the EL-9900 screen with all rows working, but some columns still missing.

Photo of the EL-9900 screen with columns only missing in three separate areas.

Photo of the EL-9900 with all rows and columns working.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/09/2026

The battery compartment is connected to the main PCB with extremely thin wires that usually snap at the solder joint, which I assumed was the cause of the fault before buying the calculator. Signs of corrosion and the wires fell off the board when I took the back off, but that's an easy fix.

Photo of the EL-9900's battery compartment, showing a corroded positive battery terminal in the top right.

Photo of the wires between the battery compartment and main PCB. The black "Main GND" wire has become disconnected and both it and the "Backup GND" wire show blue-green discolouration from a battery leak. One of the solder tabs on the backup battery shows the same blue-green discolouration.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/09/2026

"Dropped once and now it doesn't switch on." A bit grubby but the LCD looked to be in OK shape (no scratches or bruises). Popped in some batteries and it did switch on, but that PCB to LCD flex cable has clearly had enough.

Photo of a grubby EL-9900 calculator's hard case, with two missing feet that have been coloured in with a pen.

Photo of the side of the EL-9900 calculator, showing more ink stains and dirt.

Photo of the EL-9900's screen, showing many missing rows and columns of pixels.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/09/2026

Very nice. :-) I picked up an old webcam a few years back along with a starter kit of 1980s "Isle of Man" stamps. I assume someone found sets of unfranked stamps for less than the face value at the same car boot they found the webcam to help run their eBay shop?

Photo of a parcel covered in old stamps from the Isle of Man dating back to the 1980s.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 14/09/2026

The black link code was mostly robust but would fail during long transfers (e.g. backups) after 20KB or so due to missing level transitions. Stuck SetPriorityClass(GetCurrentProcess(), REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS) in the code and it now works almost every time. Will still need to design a proper cable!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 14/09/2026

The intention is to support the EL-9400, 9450, 9600, 9900 and 9950. The first three use a proprietary link protocol and special cable, but I've managed to make it mostly work with TI's "black link" serial cable. The last two are different but a straight-through serial cable seems to work.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 14/09/2026

Sharp's graphing calculator PC software and link cables are hard to find these days so I thought I'd have a go at writing my own. I've had to do a lot of reverse engineering and there's still a long way to go but it feels like I'm on the right track.

Screenshot of a work-in-progress "SHARP Graph Link" software showing various editor windows open to work with Sharp's graphing calculator variable files.

Screenshot of the "Receive Files" dialog showing a variable listing from a connected calculator.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 12/09/2026

It cost six tokens but it's so worth it. Like drinking chocolate syrup.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 12/09/2026

Did make it to the Caterham beer festival mostly on time, fortunately. Cheers! 🍻

Photo of two half pints of beer with a beer token card.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 12/09/2026

Nearly missed my bus earlier after meeting a friendly new cat in the area. Have to make sure I pass the inspection!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 11/09/2026

I recently dug out a microscope to try to work out how a badge I picked up from the Science Museum in the 90s worked after seeing someone asking about them - youtu.be/BIZtK5UVRVE Grand Illusions posted this video today with a much larger version - youtu.be/nqam7ek4pII The magic of Moiré!

Photo of a badge seen under a microscope, revealing an array of tiny lenses in a hexagonal grid formation.

Straight-on photo of the grid of lenses, showing a clearer view of the pattern this produces.

Much higher magnification view of the lenses, clearly showing the hexagonal grid pattern.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 10/09/2026

I don't have any good photos but this was my first attempt from around 2008. It ran BBC BASIC from ROM. I had to order most of the parts online, as by that point my local Maplin were only really useful for component kits.

Photo of a home-brew Z80 computer assembled on two pieces of stripboard running BBC BASIC.

Photo of the CPU and memory board for the computer, consisting of a Z80 CPU, some RAM and ROM, and some glue logic.

Photo of the I/O board for the computer, consisting of some latch chips, PS/2 ports, a pin header for the LCD connection and some glue logic.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 03/09/2026

Apparently it did the opposite, "PC Retail reports that UK consumer buzz around Apple has fallen from +8 to +4 since the ads were screened." I remember the casting being criticised at the time for the Peep Show association, e.g. by Charlie Brooker in www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 02/09/2026

I think I got the "lower rows" numbers backwards, but can't check for certain as none of my calculators have missing rows on the bottom half of the LCD. Either way, now written up at benryves.com/journal/3763... for anyone else with a faulty EL-9900!

benryves.com

Targeted repairs for missing rows and columns on the Sharp EL-9900's LCD • Journal • benryves.com

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 31/08/2026

After missing their acoustic set last weekend it's grand to see Magic Brother opening the Carshalton Eco-Fair with a (solar-powered) electric set.

Photo of a band playing on a stage in a grassy area of a park.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 31/08/2026

Director's cut, I hope? Such a daft idea to tack a spoiler onto the start of the film for the theatrical release!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 27/08/2026

Trying a more scientific approach to re-stick EL-9900 LCD flex cables via printable templates. Two rulers help measure the missing column/row numbers, and a guide then shows where the corresponding areas of the flex cable are for heating. Will it hold? Only time will tell.

Photo of a Sharp EL-9900 calculator with a horizontal ruler on the screen to identify the missing columns.

Photo of a Sharp EL-9900 calculator with a vertical ruler on the screen to identify the missing rows.

Photo of a template to show where the corresponding rows and columns are on the flex cable inside the calculator, so they can be heated to re-stick them.

Photo of the EL-9900 calculator with the "repaired" screen - at least all rows and columns are driven.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 25/08/2026

Oh, I know it's not required and never used one in my own circuits which is why I asked how they were justifying it. archive.org/details/the-... describes the extra resistor and points out that single-package Darlingtons usually include it, so it's not a complete hallucination at least!

archive.org

The Art Of Electronics 3rd Ed [ 2015]

TBD

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 25/08/2026

I dug out my copy of The Art of Electronics and that said it's to take care of the slow switching off of Q2 and prevent leakage current through Q1 from biasing Q2 into conduction. No mention of this resistor in my A Level textbook and most examples seem to omit it, but looks like there is a reason.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 24/08/2026

Could well be engagement bait... Did they suggest a reason for the 100Ω resistor?

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 23/08/2026

Good quantity of black pudding on this breakfast. Out for a bike ride so this will help refuelling...

Photo of a cooked breakfast with three slices of black pudding and three tinned tomatoes.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 22/08/2026

Would you count Econet as a medium? When I was at school we were allowed to *I AM GAMES on Sunday to access a library of games, and I think Fire Track was the first game I experienced that way on one of the computer room's Master 128s.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 22/08/2026

Enjoying some live music at The Oval for its "Busker's Barbecue" and good to catch up with Ollie the pub cat.

Photo of a band playing outside. The man playing the harmonica is wearing a belt containing a frankly unreasonable quantity of harmonicas.

Photo of a man playing the guitar and singing.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/08/2026

Finally some good weather and I can enjoy a pub garden pint at long last. Cheers!

Photo of a mug of beer outside with a rain-sodden backdrop.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 13/08/2026

Happy birthday! Hope you're having a good 'un!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 12/08/2026

High-fiving the eclipse.

Photo of a projection of a partial solar eclipse on a hand.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 12/08/2026

Casio IC cards for their organisers seem much harder to find than Sharp IC cards. Both had a version of Lucid 3-D spreadsheet, though, and that can turn the organisers into useful calculating machines. I'd still love to find an equivalent to Sharp's BASIC cards for the Casio.

Photo of a Casio SF-9000 "Digital Diary" with the Casio Power Spreadsheet IC card.

Photo of a Casio SF-9000 and a Sharp IQ-8000 both running their respective spreadsheet IC cards based on Lucid 3-D by PCSG Inc.

A collection of the Casio IC cards I've found in the wild (1) versus the Sharp IC cards I've found (8 software applications, 3 different sizes of RAM card).

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 10/08/2026

I'm typing this response on my trusty Dell SK-8135 with the media controls. Very solid bit of kit, having a chunky piece of sheet metal inside helps. I have worn quite a few of the key legends off, though!

Photo of a Dell SK-8135 multimedia keyboard.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 10/08/2026

How long had it been charging/discharging before measuring? ML2430 is rechargeable, so I'd expect running the computer for a while should charge it back up - though of course old cells might not have much capacity left.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 08/08/2026

Good to catch up with Stanley and Winston at the Dark Horse in Selhurst. A great pub with great pub cats!

Photo of Stanley, a black and white pub cat

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 08/08/2026

One sylus (missing its soft tip) between the two calculators I bought. Both have very responsive keyboards, the one with the broken stylus has a scratched screen and the other has a fair bit of battery leak crust inside to clean up but for the price can't complain.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 07/08/2026

I don't endorse jamming components into PCBs operating at mains voltage, especially in a wet room... I only installed this fan a year ago and it lasted around six months before developing this fault. Guess that's my Friday night repair scheduled!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 06/08/2026

The North Atlantic Current keeps things warm! It's not normally so yellow and dead here by this point but it's been weeks (months?) since we had any rain. Hope you enjoy your trip!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 04/08/2026

The back of the calculator is clipped on and *very* tightly. The LCD is also clipped in, so to lift the PCB out to clean the contacts you'd need to remove that without accidentally tearing the flex cable. After shredding my fingers getting the back off I didn't fancy my chances with the LCD.

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