Sharp Model EL-8 Electronic Calculator
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Object Details
- Sharp Corporation
- Description
- This compact Japanese electronic calculator straddles the border between desktop and pocket calculators. It is too large to fit in the pocket but considerably more compact than Sharp’s QT-8B. It also does not require a cradle to recharge batteries.
- The calculator has an array of nine digit keys, with larger 0 and decimal point keys below. Right of these are a clear key, a key for indicating that multiplication (rather than addition) should be carried out, a key for indication that division (rather than subtraction) should be carried out, and a key for multiplication or division. The machine has an eight-digit capacity for all operations. In back of the keyboard is an eight-digit display. Above these are alarm and error indicators. A switch on the side shifts between AC operation, off, and DC operation.
- A mark on the front reads: SHARP. A tag on the back reads in part: SHARP MODEL EL-8. It also reads: NO. 1098161 (/) SHARP ELECTRONICS CORPORATION (/) 10 KEYSTONE PLACE, PARAMUS, N. J. 07652 (/) MADE IN JAPAN. This example lacks its AC adapter.
- Inside the instrument are six nickel-cadmium batteries in a case, a calculator circuit board, a display circuit board, and eight tubes for the display. The four integrated circuits on the calculator board were made by North American Rockwell. A stamp below the calculator circuit board reads: 1098161.
- The battery cover is marked in part: SHARP MODEL EL-84 (/) NICKEL-CADMIUM (/) RECHARGEABLE BATTERY. It also is marked: SHARP CORPORATION OSAKA, JAPAN. Hayakawa Electric adopted the name Sharp Corporation in January of 1970.
- The SHARP EL-8 was widely advertised in the United States from early 1971 and sold for $345. This example was given to the Smithsonian by calculator collector Guy D. Ball.
- Compare a slightly earlier Sharp machine, the model QT-8B (2006.0132.22). Also compare three versions of the EL-8 (1982.0656.01, 1981.0922.05, and 1991.0154.01).
- References:
- Examples of the Sharp EL-8 are discussed online at the Vintage Calculators Web Museum, The Old Calculators Web Museum, John Wolff’s Web Museum and the Datamath Calculator Museum.
- Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, Calif..: Wilson/Barnett Publishing, 1997, pp. 136–137.
- J. R. Free, "Microelectronics Shrinks the Calculator," Popular Science, 198 #6, June 1971, pp. 74–76.
- “How to Cut a Pocket Calculator in Half,” Electronics, 44. February 1, 1971, no page. An ad for the EL-8 (called the ELSI-8) appeared on pp. 12–13 of this issue.
- Accession file.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Guy D. Ball
- ca 1971
- ID Number
- 1991.0154.01
- catalog number
- 1991.0154.01
- accession number
- 1991.0154
- Object Name
- electronic calculator
- Physical Description
- plastic (case, keys, circuit boards material)
- glass (tubes material)
- metal (wiring material)
- Measurements
- average spatial: 70 cm x 10.2 cm x 15.8 cm; 27 9/16 in x 4 1/32 in x 6 7/32 in
- place made
- Japan: Ōsaka, Ōsaka
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Computers
- Computers & Business Machines
- Desktop Electronic Calculators
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Business
- Record ID
- nmah_1079014
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-1b07-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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