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Commodore US*8 (Version I) Desktop Calculator
Updated 6/5/2024
There were two versions of the Commondore US*8 marketed, with the Version I calculator exhibited here. The museum recently acquired a Version II US*8, and an exhibit is in the process of being created. The two versions of the US*8 are quite different, and it isn't entirely clear why Commodore created two different versions of the same model, each of which operated differently than the other. If anyone out there has any idea why (e.g., worked at Commodore back in the day, or was a distributor or retailer of Commodore calculators) there were different versions of the US*8, please get in touch with us by clicking the EMail button in the menu bar above. We would love to hear from you!
This old calculator was found at a Goodwill Industries thrift store in Portland, Oregon in 1992, for $2.00. Other than cleaning some grime off the cabinet and keyboard, and blowing the dust out of the inside of the calculator, it looks good and works great, which is somewhat surprising for a buget-minded lower-end personal desktop calculator made toward the end of the golden-age of electronic calculators.
Based on the date code on the single Large-Scle Integration(LSI) device inside, was likely manufactured in the early part of 1973. It is a desk-top style calculator, using AC line power. It utilizes a single Texas Instruments chip for its calculating logic, the TMS0103NC, which is one of TI's first-generation of single-chip calculator IC's. Along with the TI chip, an assortment of plastic-packaged transistors and various discrete components are used for power supply and display driving functions. The US*8 is one of the earlier electronic calculators to be actually manufactured by Commodore, with Commodore's earlier calculators made by other companies (such as Casio in Japan) and sold under the Commodore brand through OEM contracts with the manufacturers. Commodore cranked out these calculators by the thousands, distributing them to department and discount stores such as JC Penney, KMart, White Front, Sears & Roebuck, Korvettes, and Fred Meyer among many others.
The Commodore US*8 minus its cabinet
Note the unusual diagonal mounting of the Texas Instruments LSI chip
The display is a Burroughs Panaplex-style planar gas-discharge display, with standard seven-segment digit arrangement. The display panel has 9 digits, but the left-most digit is used only for sign (-) and error/overflow(E) indication.
The planar gas-discharge display in operation
The US*8 is very typical in its operation, with adding-machine style [+=] and [-=] keys for calculating sums and differences, along with [X] and [÷] keys, with the [+=] key used for completing calculation of products or quotients. A slide switch on the keyboard panel selects several fixed decimal point locations, or automatic floating decimal mode.
The Hugle International Hugle-8 Calculator
There is another calculator that could easily be mistaken as a copy of the Commodore US*8. The Hugle-8, produced by Hugle International of Mountain View, California, looks virtually identical to the Commodore US*8, with the only notable visual difference being that the Hugle-8 is missing the decimal point selection slide switch above the math function keys. The reason the switch is missing is that the Hugle-8 always operates in automatic floating decimal mode. The Hugle-8 uses a completely different main circuit board and LSI calculator-on-a-chip, the Nortec 4204, designed by the relatively short-lived large-scale integrated circuit design house, Nortec Electronics(1966-1972). Nortec designed the logic and layout of the 4204 IC, and had it fabricated by American Micro-systems, Inc. (AMI), although the chip has only the Nortec name on it. Nortec was founded by Large-Scale Integrated Circuit design pioneer Robert Norman[3/24/1927-1/21/2017] in October of 1966, and had its roots in General Micro-electronics (GMe). GMe made its place in history by developing the first Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) Large Scale Integration calculator chipset used in the remarkable Victor 3900 electronic calculator introduced in 1965. It isn't clear if there was a relationship was between Commodore and Hugle International, though it seems likely that there was some sort of arrangement between the companies. A large Hugle International logo appears in the location where the decimal point selection slide switch would be on the US*8 cabinet. It seems plausible that the cabinet and keyboard assembly was purchased by Hugle International from Commodore, and Hugle placed the logo block-off plate over the hole for the decimal point switch on the US*8 cabinet, applied their own badging, and used their own power supply and calculator electronics inside the cabinet. If you happen to have a Hugle International Hugle-8 calculator, please contact the museum by clicking the EMail button at the top of this page. The museum would be interested in acquiring one of these calculators, preferably in working condition, but if you have one that isn't working, we'd still love to hear from you.
Commodore was a significant player in the mass-market electronic calculator realm, being one of the first to market low-cost calculators for use in homes as well business. Commodore initially got into the electronic calculator marketplace around 1967, when it forged an agreement with Casio in Japan to import Casio-made electronic calculators into Canada, and market, distribute, and support them in North America under the Commodore brand name. An example of a calculator made by Casio and sold under the Commodore brand is the Commodore 500E, which is identical to Casio's 101E, the export version of Casio's third electronic calculator, the Casio 101.