New Calculator?

Looks like my trusty HP-48GX may be dead.  Had a battery which seems to have leaked?  Anyway bad corrosion which went inside the case itself.

What is the cat's meow today?  While I don't do much surveying calc on the handheld, it's desirable to have something I can whip out a traverse or calc coords fairly quickly if necessary, and with some custom routines the 48 has been pretty good for that.
 

Perhaps a little different line of thinking is in order. My HP48 with SMI card still works fine but it spends months on end untouched. I now use an HP35s for routine math calcs. Nice little unit.

If you are in the field you probably have a dc with software that will calc whatever you want. If you are in the office you have software there. And if you are somewhere in between and still want to do survey calcs - well - you need a life, brother.

There is a "traverse calcs" app for the iphone. I haven't tried it., but it's $3 and the iphones are $100 at Walmart. Another option might be a netbook computer and Procogo or similar software.

I use the HP 35s for little quick calcs and it is really nice. It has the old school HP type buttons with that "41 feel". I programmed (actually paid someone else to do it) the new D'Zign software and it does about everything the 48 would do except data collection.

They are about $50 plus the program

One thing to consider is that HP-48Gx's are still around on ebay. Cost about the same as new did.  This might save some of your investment in cards cables and knowing how it works.

The current equivalent calculator which is enough different that you might have to do some small rewrite some of your routines, would be the HP-50g. 

- jlw

Get a laptop. If worried about taking in field  have been taking them  for years. You can now get a cheapy that would churn out all your surveying calcs .

I don't leave home with out my office....


Currently in outback and have all jobs  with me, As close as aphone or an email for my city clients and government departments.

RADU

I agree with Burk, the 35S is a nice little calculator for the quick stuff.

I wanted an RPN with a quick DMS to DDG function at an affordable price.

At around $50 the 35S fit the bill.

Rick

I just downloaded an HP-41cx application for my iPhone - $7.99!  It has all of the fuctions, look and its programmable.  My 41 died a few years ago after a faithful 25 years and I've been missing it ever since.  I've got the Hp-35s also and it filled the RPN need for sure, great calculator.

Brent...

I just went to the HP website to try and get the HP-41cx software, and to see if they have it available for my Droid X.  However, on their web page:

http://h20331.www2.hp.com/hpsub/us/en/calculators/Calculator_Software.html?jumpid=ex_r2845_buy/calculators

It doesn't even list anything for the 41.  Can you help me get to the right page?

iphone apps are purchased and downloaded directly using a pre-installed app on the iphone. I do not know where droid apps are to be had.

I have the HP-48GX app installed on my Droid.

Maui_Surveyor:
I have the HP-48GX app installed on my Droid.

OK.  Good.  That's cool, but you don't say how you found it, where you found it.

I highly recommend the free package debug4x (windows based,  www.debug4x.com ) to write programs for the 48, 49 and 50 HPs. What's really great is it comes with a free emulator that simulates the calculators at the ROM level. While optimized for SysRPL (an extension of the user progarmming language) you can also write user programs and debug them far faster than on the calculator. When you have it working you can upload to the 48 or just copy to a flash card on the newer units. Comes with a buinch of samples to get you going.

I've got an HP 35 and I love it. Been eyeballing the HP 50 though, like jwahl said, it's the current equivalent to a 48.

Lee,

click on the "market" icon on your phone and do a search for "HP 48GX". Its a free app.