PockEmul 2.8.0 New Release

Dear PockEmul’s fans, we are pleased to announce the new PockEmul release. It will be available in the next few days.

This new version brings three new models and some new features:

• New Panasonic HHC package.
• New Casio FX-9000P package.
• The HP-35 is now available for free.
• New share feature.
• A lot of technical updates and bug fixes.

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The Panasonic HHC

The Panasonic HHC is one of the first Pocket Computer. It was released at the beginning of 1981 and was mainly oriented for the professional market (insurance and finance).

The whole of its ecosystem is incredible, there is even a video interface.

Its core CPU is a 6502, the same as the Apple 2. It is unbelievable to find an NMOS CPU in an autonomous pocket computer. The M65C02 (CMOS low energy consumption) was not available in 1981.

In fact the CPU is near always off and is wakes up on an interrupt (timer and key pressed). It processes the input and shuts down again.

It is quite easy to find an HHC on the vintage market but there are usually only available with professional ROM program.

The internal ROM does not provide any langage capabilities so without a language module, the computer is completely unusable. You absolutely need the Microsoft BASIC, the Panasonic SNAPBasic or the SNAPForth modules to develop a program.

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These modules are extremely rare.

PockEmul provides them with their corresponding documentation.

You will spend so many hours, days, weeks, even months, so much effort to explore the HHC world in all available languages.

The lack of technical information about this systems made the emulation very difficult. A full reverse engineering investigation was required to understand the communication protocol between the pocket compter itself and all of its peripherals.

PockEmul is, AFAIK, the only emulator for the HHC and its peripherals. The emulation of the computer itself is 100% finished and near perfectly accurate.
There are some rare case where the peripheral device is not perfectly identified. You can try to unplug it and plug it again to make it usable.
Some peripherals need improvement too and will be available later.

We will provide a PockEmul Tour video to explore the whole HHC universe.
As always in PockEmul, use the device as in real life.
Remember to turn the computer on its back and click on the release pin on the rear hatch to access the ROM expansion module slots.

A small click on a free location provides access to the available module library.

The Panasonic HHC package includes:

• The Pocket Computer RL-H1800 (8KB of RAM) with its 3 modules slots on the back.
• The RL-P1004A Thermal Printer. The tape interface is not yet enabled.
• Memory module : 4KB, 8KB, 16Kb, 32KB, 128K.
• The EPROM Expander : A custom peripheral to add 8 EPROM slot module.
• The RL-P6001 I/O Adapter : provides 6 external ports to connect peripherals
• EPROM Modules:
  • Snap Basic
  • Snap Forth
  • Microsoft Basic
  • PortaCalc
  • Scientific Calculator

The following peripherals are not yet emulated:

• The RL-P9003R: a custom extension which simulates a ROM module from a 16ko integrated memory bank. It will then be possible to export the binary and to burn it to a real or a virtual ROM capsule.
• The RL-P2001 TV Adaptor.
• The RL-P1002 Color Plotter.
• The RL-P3001 RS-232C serial interface.
• The RL-P4002 Modem (is there any use case for this peripheral in PockEmul ? ).
• The RL-P1005, a large Printer including an ERPOM expander.

The HP-35 Calculator

The HP-35 was Hewlett-Packard’s first pocket calculator.

It is the world’s first scientific pocket calculator, a calculator with trigonometric and exponential functions.
It was introduced in 1972.

Right after the release of this calculator, a major bug was discovered and HP provided a full ROM upgrade to all early customers.

Of course, The HP-35 in PockEmul provides both the early buggy ROM and the corrected one.

This model is available for free in PockEmul.

Casio FX-9000p

We invite you to read the previous posted history of the Casio FX-9000P in PockEmul.

I know it is not really a pocket computer but it can handle the FP-40 and the FP-10. This machine is extremely rare and there is no other emulator available.
So I decided to include it in PockEmul.

The Z-80A powered FX-9000P is Casio’s first desktop computer. Created for scientific and business users, it is inspired by the HP-85, and sports Casio’s homegrown and function rich CA-Basic.

Like the manufacturer’s pocket calculators, the CA-Basic had 10 program zones, extended scientific, statistical and file handling functions, as well as graphic instructions to drive the 256×128 individual addressable 5.5-inch 16 lines x 32 chars green phosphor display.

In the nascent personal computer industry, the FX-9000P, announced in April 1981, was quite innovative at the time.
It had 4 memory slots that could house 4 or 16 Kb RAM cartridges up to 32 Kb total.

Memory slots are not yet fully emulated in PockEmul.

The package comes with the FP-40 and FP-10 printers.

An interesting feature is that the screen copy function of the FX-9000P supports the FP-40 graphics protocol. It was a surprise when I first connected the existing FP-40 printer in PockEmul to the newly emulated FX-9000p

Share feature

A new “Import / Export” entry in the main menu provides the ability to load a PML file stored on your device and to share the current session PML file.

In the next release we plan to provide a new export option to directly post a session to the Facebook PockEmul fan club.

Technical updates and bug fixes

This new release of PockEmul includes, as always, many bug fixes.
Do not hesitate to let us know any malfunctions you detect or any improvements you would like.
This version also includes many internal app upgrades needed to remain functional on new Android and iOS updates. This is an important aspect which, in our opinion, justifies the subscription business model because if the application was not regularly maintained it would quickly become dysfunctional on new iOS or Android releases.

Perfect emulation is an infinite quest. Please report us any inaccurate behaviour at contact@pockemul.com 

A message for our longstanding users and subscribers :
PockEmul is a 25 years passion project and a labor of love.
We invite you to share the passion and love for vintage computing.
Help us make history like these computers have done in the not-so-distant past.
Help us shape the future of PockEmul. Spread the word!