Monday, October 27, 2014

HP 12C: Games, Black Scholes, It's History and Solver

At the request of Gene and Thomas Klemm,  here are some more articles and goodies regarding the classic HP 12C calculator:

Article:  "The HP-12C, 30 Years and Counting"  - Richard Nelson and Gene Wright.  

Published in the HP Solve web-letter, October 2011.  This article explains why Hewlett Packard's HP 12C has been a mainstream in the financial calculator market for more than 30 years.  The HP 12C was originally released in 1981. 

Some of the praises of the HP 12C include its long battery life, unclutter keyboard, programming ability,  and a good financial function set.  In 2003, Hewlett Packard released the Platinum Edition of the HP 12C. 

Link:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10022608/_HP-12C%2030%20Yrs%20%26%20Counting%20V6.pdf

Solving Polynomial Equations

In this article, Valentin Albillo shows how the cash flow feature of the HP 12C can be used to solve polynomial equations.  (Datafile V21 N2 - March/April 2002)

Link:

http://www.hpcc.org/datafile/V21N2/V21N2P35.pdf

Games on the HP 12C

Want some games on the HP 12C?  Check out eight programs programmed by Tony Hutchins:
(Datafile V25 N4 - July/August 2006)

Games include:

Craps:  Start by assigning a random seven digit decimal and storing it in [i] and your initial bankroll in [FV].  Each bet is placed in the display before pressing [R/S].  Each dice roll will show tt.xxxx: where tt = total of the dice, xxxx represents the two individual dice.  Example:  7.52:  you rolled a 7 and the dice showed a 5 and a 2.

Dealer/Lotto Routine:  This works with sample without replacement. 

Jive Turkey: Or for you The Price is Right fans, the Clock Game, minus the clock.  The score is indicated by the number of guess you needed to get the right number.  The secret number is between 0 and 99. 

Super Bagels:  Another guess the number game.

Sum of Digits: A number guess game that uses the sum of the digits.

Pontoon/Blackjack:  Simulate the drawing and strategy of each player.  Start by giving a seven-digit seed and storing it in [i].  Press [R/S] to draw new cards.  A negative score indicates a bust. 

Fruit Machine:  Slot machine simulator. 

Lunar Lander:  Land a rocket on the Moon - if you can.  It is a classic calculator game of the 1970s.

Link:  http://www.hpcc.org/datafile/hp12/12c_EightGames.pdf

Full Accuracy of Trigonometry Functions

Not to long ago, I posted two short programs that you can get rough approximations of sine and cosine. This article by Valentin Albillo presents a 99 step program where you can calculate trigonometric functions to full calculator accuracy:

http://web.archive.org/web/20121216113919/http://membres.multimania.fr/albillo/calc/pdf/DatafileVA003.pdf

(DataFile VA003)

Thanks to Jeff Kearns for this suggestion.

Black-Scholes

If you are looking to input an algorithm for Black-Scholes, this article may be what you need.  The article is presented by Tony Hutchins, featuring programs by Dr. Peter Carr (UCLA).

Link:  http://www.hpcc.org/datafile/V23N3/V23N3P25.pdf

(DataFile V23 N3 - May/June 2004)


Amazing what can be done with a financial programming calculator.   Here's to at least another 30+ years of the amazing HP 12C. 

This blog is property of Edward Shore - 2014