IME 86 S Desktop Programmable Calculator

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IME (Industria Macchine Elettroniche) was an Italian company based in Rome. They produced a line of early electronic calculators that were quite competitive in the calculator marketplace, especially in Europe in the late part of the mid-1960s. Their initial machine, the IME-84, which is recognised as one of the first all-transistor desktop calculators, was quite sophisticated, and the 86, a follow-on design, continued IME's tradition of excellence.

The IME-86 was designed to be more expandable than the IME-84, and was easier to use. It had greater numeric capacity, and an optional single-key square root function was now available. This example in our collection is the IME-86-S which was capable of interfacing with a large range of peripherals. This allowed the calculator to be centrepiece of a multi-component system that could contend with small computer systems of the time. A fairly wide range of options were available for the machine, including remote keyboard/display units (Model KB-6) which could connect to the main calculator through a "hub" that allows up to sixteen remote keyboard/display units to be connected, although only one unit at a time can access the calculator (unlike the Wang 300-series "SE"-model calculators, which could serve four simultaneous users). Also available were external printers, keyboard-only units, external core memory expansion units (MS-306), and programmer units, including the Model DG-308 and DG-408 "Digicorder" devices that transform the IME 86 into a learn-mode programmable calculator.

The IME 86 is an all-transistor (mostly Germanium PNP) machine, with a 16-digit Nixie tube display. Magnetic core memory provides working memory register storage. The machine carries out the basic four math functions along with automatic square root (which uses memory register four as a scratch register during the calculation). Four accumulator-style memory registers are provided, making the machine particularly useful for more complex operations involving multiple intermediate results. With its 16-digit display, the machine provides plenty of capacity for financial or scientific calculating. The 86 is a fixed-decimal point machine, with two keys ".->" and "<-." which are used to set the decimal point position at any position.
 
With thanks to http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/c-ime86.html for the above information

Manufacturer: IME
Date: 1967

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH5475. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

 

IME 86 S Desktop Programmable Calculator


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