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NAME  

Электроника (elektronika) MK-85

MANUFACTURER  

Cristall factory, Minsk, USSR

TYPE  

Pocket computer

ORIGIN  

USSR

YEAR  

1986

END OF PRODUCTION 

200?

BUILT IN LANGUAGE 

BASIC

KEYBOARD  

54 keys, QWERTY calculator type with numeric key-pad

CPU  

K1806VM2 16 bit

SPEED  

455 kHz ceramic resonator used as system clock

RAM  

2 KB

ROM  

16 KB

TEXT MODES 

1 line, 12 digits monochrome LCD, 5x7 dot matrix

SIZE / WEIGHT 

166mm x 73mm x 13mm

I/O PORTS 

12-pin expansion port for printer and cassette interface

BUILT IN MEDIA 

None

POWER SUPPLY 

220 VAC Power adapter or 4 AG13 batteries

PRICE

145 roubles ($230) in 1986

 

 

 

Elektronika MK-85

In 1986 appeared the "Elektronika MK-85," the first Soviet calculator with microcomputer "BASIC" programming language. Elektronika MK-85 was almost exact copy of the Casio FX-700P.

At 145 roubles, it was quite expensive; but despite this, all the store counters selling "Elektronika" in Moscow and Leningrad were sweep away when it appeared. Only by 1988 it was possible to purchase one of this calculators with no rush. It had, not without a purpose, the same BASIC programming language used in true computers!

The MK-85 came in two variants - with one (MK-85) or six (MK-85M) kilobytes of memory. The calculator allowed working with numbers which exponents were as large as +/ - 4096. Although it is also true that finding the sine of a number with a power close to 4096 could not only take quite some time, but also cause the loss of programs entered previously. The programs, by the way, were not erased from the calculator memory after turning the power off - too novelty. In normal mode the calculator worked very, very slowly. For example, the calculation of the sine of 3 required whole 3.5 seconds. It was possible to put the calculator in "accelerated mode" by pressing the "+" key. Then the same calculation took "only" 0.5 seconds, but you could see the batteries literally "decay" in front of your eyes, and very soon you had to replace them. The accelerated mode was only recommended when the calculator was connected to an external power supply. The calculator had a 16-digit display, and one line had capacity for up to 63 symbols. A user was able to input up to 10 programs, and it was possible to debug a program by using a debugging mode. Besides, the calculator had 26 memory registers, which could be increased at the expense of a reduction of the programs memory area.


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