In late 1972, the Computer Design Corporation of Los Angeles, California, also known as Compucorp, began the introduction of a series of highly functional, portable, electronic, scientific calculators that were small enough to be carried around and were battery-operated. At least ten different models were made, with different types of functions but using the same basic technology and components.

The Model 326 Scientist calculator is an improvement over the earlier Compucorp programmable calculators. In a news report from 1974 it was described as "the world's smallest computer...it represents a milestone in the technological development of computing power available to an individual".

The Compucorp 326 had 100 pre-programmed micro-routines for logarithms, trigonometry and conversions. It allowed easy program editing, where the user could move back and forth in memory, executing, inserting, deleting or modifying any number of program steps. Jumping, branching, six levels of subroutines and seven conditional statements for testing were all standard features. It could also perform metric/imperial conversions for units of distance, mass, weight, volume, area, temperature, density, pressure, velocity, acceleration, and others.

The calculator has a 16-digit Panaflex II display. It could be powered with either rechargeable batteries or AC power supply. 

In addition, the Model 326 added the capability to store programs on an external cassette tape drive, which could store data or 100,000 program instructions on a single cassette. The memory registers in the calculator could also be stored on cassette tape for later recall. Software for the 326 which covered the complete range of applications was available on tape and in print.

There was also a desktop version of the calculator available, the Compucorp 325.

Our model together with the power supply unit and cassette recorder were marketed by Sumlock. They were very kindly donated by Andy Mulley.

Manufacturer: Compucorp
Date: 1974

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH16678. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

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