Texas Instruments SR-10 Handheld Electronic Calculator
date: label: date made
content: 1972
label: Date made
content: 1973
name: label: maker
content: Texas Instruments
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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 <I>Texas Instruments electronic slide rule calculator SR-10</I>, 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: Compare 1986.0988.351, 1986.0988.354, and 1986.0988.356.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, <I>The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators</I>, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 153.
label: Description
content: The online Datamath Museum includes versions of the SR-10 from 1972, 1973, and 1975.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Texas, Dallas
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: Work
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content: Computers & Business Machines
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content: Handheld Electronic Calculators
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of John B. Priser
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0988.354
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0988.354
label: accession number
content: 1986.0988
objectType: label: Object Name
content: electronic calculator
label: Other Terms
content: electronic calculator; Handheld
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (case, keys material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (circuitry, zipper material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (instruction manual, sticker material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 1/2 in x 3 in x 6 1/4 in; 3.81 cm x 7.62 cm x 15.875 cm