Sharp PC-1500

The Sharp PC-1500 was a pocket computer produced by Sharp in 1982. A clone was sold as the TRS-80 PC-2. The whole computer was designed around an 8-bit CPU similar to the Zilog Z80, but all laid-out in power-saving CMOS circuits. The programming language was BASIC. Later German engineers cracked the system and also provided an assembler for the machine. Later even a C compiler followed.An external memory module (8kB), the CE-155 was available later. A cost-reduced redesign with more memory, the PC-1500A, was also produced and also the PC-1501 at a later stage.

Technical specifications

*156x7 pixel LCD
*Integrated speaker
*Integrated RTC (Real Time Clock)
*Memory/cartridge slot
*Expansion port for printer and tape drives
*Battery slot (4x AA)
*Connector for external power supply (6V)

Accessories

*CE-150 Colour Printer/Plotter and Cassette Interface in Travel Case
*CE-155 (8kB) Memory Module
*CE-158 Serial (RS-232C) and Parallel Interface with (4 rechargeable, shrink-wrapped, permanently built-in) NiCd battery (AA) as additional power supply for the computer.

Other related Sharp Pocket Computers

*Sharp PC-1210
*Sharp PC-1211
*Sharp PC-1251
*Sharp PC-1500
*Sharp PC-1500A with more memory
*Sharp PC-1501
*Sharp PC-1600 with more memory and larger multi-line LCD display and more graphics capabilities

BASIC Compatibility with early PC-1500 models

Some earlier model PC-1500's will show a value 1 less in the FOR...NEXT counter on exiting the loop compared to later PC-1500's and the PC-1600 [Sharp PC-1600 Operation Manual, 1986, p.355.] .

For example:

10 FOR K=1 TO 10
20 NEXT K
30 PRINT K


K will be set to 11 on later model PC-1500's and PC-1600's, but will be 10 on early PC-1500's.

Consider this example:

10 S=0
20 FOR K=1 TO 10 STEP 4
30 S=S+1
40 NEXT K
50 PRINT S


S will be set to 3 on later model PC-1500's and PC-1600's, but will be 4 on early PC-1500's.

Early model PC-1500's evaluate IF...THEN statements differently. The behaviour can be summarised thus:

An early model PC-1500 can be detected by using the command: PEEK&C5C0.

If the value returned is 6, it is an early model.

Example of a simple program in BASIC

1 ARUN 10 5 REM "PC1500 VAT Program:" 10 INPUT "Price: ";P 20 PRINT P;" ";V*R;" ";P*V*M 30 GOTO 10 40 END

The PC-1500 allows special abbreviations, and the syntax can also look as follows: 20 PRINT P;" ";PV;" ";PVM

Usage of variables:

P = Purchase Price
V = VAT (%/100) - To be input by hand before calculation begins, e.g.: V=1.14 ("Enter")
M = Markup (%/100) - To be input by hand before calculation begins, e.g.: M=1.15 ("Enter")

Display of the answers are as follows:

Answer1; Answer2; Answer3
Purchase Price; VAT Price; Sales Price
Value: P; Value: P*V; Value: P*V*M

Programme description:

Line 1 The ARUN command executes everytime the computer is switched on and jumps to line 10.
Line 5 This is the REMARK statement (used to include remarks into the source code).
Line 10 The INPUT command asks for input from the user and stores the values in the variable "P".
Line 20 The PRINT command shows the calculated result as follows: 100 114 142.5. The abbreviated form is a special for the PC-1500, as it can only make use of single letter variables and matrixes. This also saves valuable storage space!
Line 30 The GOTO command lets the programme jump back to line 10, to continue the program over
Line 40 The END statement is to be placed on the last line of the code to terminate execution, however in this cas it can be omitted, as it is not really necessary.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.rskey.org/sharp.asp Sharp Programmables]
* [http://www.rskey.org/detail.asp?manufacturer=Sharp&model=PC-1500 PC-1500 Data Sheet]
* [http://pocket.free.fr/html/sharp/pc-1500_e.html PC-1500]