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Devices

Overview

DM15

The original size DM15L and the credit card sized DM-15CC/DM-15 are HP-15C clones offered by SwissMicros. They have a miniUSB/RS232 or, on newer models, a USB-C/RS232 command line interface for reading and writing data. This interface allows the HP-15C Simulator to exchange data with these devices.

This documentation does not distinguish between the DM-15CC, the DM-15 and the DM15L. They are collectively referred to as the DM15.

HP 15C Collector's Edition

The HP 15C Collector's Edition ('HP 15C CE' for short) is the second reincarnation of the original HP-15C from HEWLETT-PACKARD, now HP Inc. after the HP 15C Limited Edition released in 2011.

The HP 15C CE has a POGO pin connector on the back that can be used with the optional HP Programming Cable. This allows it to update the firmware and back up and restore memory dumps with your computer.

Backup and restore operations are performed using the VoyagerSave application, which saves the HP 15C CE's memory to a file or reads a file and sends it back to the device.

HP-15C Simulator

To enable the support for the calculators in the Simulator, open the Preferences dialogue box. On the "Devices" tab enable the "DM15 Support" or the "HP 15C CE Support". You can also enable both. When the DM15 or HP15CE support is enabled, additional menu items are available: The additional menus have the following entries for the "DM15" and the "HP15CE:
Menu item Shortcut Description
Read DM15 Ctrl Read data from the DM15 to the Simulator.
Write DM15 Ctrl Write data from the Simulator to the DM15.
System Info DM15 CtrlI Read the system information from the DM15.
Read HP 15C CE CtrlShift Read data from the HP15CE to the Simulator.
Write HP 15C CE CtrlShift Write data from the Simulator to the HP15CE.
HP 15C CE Output Mode - This submenu allows it to choose between the two memory modes, 96 or 192 registers, of the HP 15C CE.
When the DM15 support or the HP 15C CE support is disabled, the respective submenus and the menu items are hidden.

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DM15

The full description of the DM15 USB connection, the serial console and the driver installation can be found in the SwissMicros Voyager Series User Manual.

USB To Serial Driver Installation

To support the DM15 interface, a "CP2102 USB to UART bridge driver" must be available on your computer.

Serial Port Configuration

Start the DM15 with CON (press and hold C, then press and release ON). The display will show "SERIAL CONSOLE". Connect the DM15 to your computer and determine the number of the "Serial Interface Port" to which the USB connection is mapped: Open the Preferences dialogue box on the Simulator. On the "DM15" tab select the port number from the "Serial Interface Port" pull-down menu. This is not necessary for the macOS Silicon Labs driver.

Verifying The Setup

To check the connection start the DM15 into the serial console and connect it to your computer. On the Simulator open the ON popup menu and select "DM15 ▶ Read" or use the shortcut Ctrl. A dialogue box entitled "DM15 read" will open. Ensure that at least one of the options is ticked and click "OK". You should see the message "Data read successfully". If you see a different message, refer to the Messages section below.

Firmwares

There are three types of the DM15 firmware available. Each provides a different number of registers:

Start the DM15 by holding down E and then pressing ON. The firmware information will be displayed as long as the ON key is held down. On the Simulator set the "Number of registers" to the number provided by the firmware of your DM15.

It is recommended that the HP-15C Simulator and the DM15 have the same number of registers. If the number of registers is different, it is likely that not all data can be exchanged between the two devices. Data transfer also depends on the memory allocation. For more details on memory allocation see "Appendix C Memory Allocation" in the HP-15C LE Owner's Handbook.

Note: You must install firmware version 9 or higher on your DM15. Earlier versions have problems with the command line interface and will not work.

System Information

The menu item "System Info DM15" opens a new window with the following information about the DM15:

Data Exchange

The following section assumes that you have successfully set up DM15 support in the HP-15C Simulator. The "Ask for each operation" option should be enabled.

First load a program into the Simulator, e.g. one of the examples available for download from the Simulator homepage. Connect the DM15 to your computer and start the DM15 into the serial port console. Select "DM15 ▶ Write" from the ON popup menu or use the shortcut Ctrl. The "DM15 write" dialogue box appears. Check "Program", uncheck the other options and click "OK". You should see the message "Data successfully written.".

Disconnect the DM15 from the computer and restart it or wait until the serial port console times out. Switch the DM15 to PRGM mode and press SST several times to check that the program has been successfully transferred to the DM15.

To read a program from the DM15 into the HP-15C Simulator, start the DM15 into the serial port console and connect it to your computer. Select "DM15 ▶ Read" from the ON popup menu. In the "DM15 read" dialogue box check "Program", uncheck the other options and click "OK". You should see the message "Data read successfully.".

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HP 15C CE

Modes

The HP 15C CE firmware supports a standard mode with 96 registers and an (unofficial) mode with 192 registers. To switch between the two modes, follow these steps:
  1. Turn off the calculator
  2. Press and hold the g key and the ENTER key
  3. Turn on the calculator
  4. The display sbows  1.L 2.C 3.H . Press 4 [sic]
  5. The display shows  15 15.2  16. Press ex for mode 15 with 92 registers and yx for mode 15.2 with 196 registers

Memory Files

The Simulator cannot communicate directly with the HP 15C CE, but it can read and write files in the VoyagerSave format. Files updated or created with the Simulator, can then be loaded into the HP 15C CE using the VoyagerSave program. VoyagerSave files should have the file extension ".15CE" or ".HP15CE".

When reading a file, the simulator automatically detects the mode in which it was written.

So that the Simulator can write a file without first reading a memory dump from the HP 15C CE, it has two built-in memory dumps. One for the 96 register mode and one for the 192 register mode. Both reflect the memory state in the respective mode after a reset, i.e. when the display shows   PR ERROR .

When writing a file, the output mode, i.e. the total number of registers, must be specified. The output mode is selected from the 'HP 15C CE Output Mode' menu item in the ON popup menu and the 'Device' submenu in the main menu bar.

The following output file settings are made automatically:

VoyagerSave

You can downlaod the complete VoyagerSave Instructions from the hpcalcs home page. The most important commands are:

◀ HP 15C CE ▲ Top

HP-15C Simulator

Memory Configuration

The HP-15C Simulator and the calculators are all configured completely independently of each other. This applies to the total number of registers, the memory allocation and all states such as complex mode, trigonometric modes etc.

The total number of registers of the simulator can only ever be set according to one DM15 firmware or one HP 15C CE mode. In other words, only one of the five possible values, i.e. 64, 96, 128, 192 and 229, is active at any one time.

The memory allocation on the target device is not changed automatically, even if not all data can be transferred.
There are exceptions to this rule when writing the memory dumps for the HP 15C CE. On the one hand, the total number of registers is determined by the selection of the memory dump with 96 or 192 registers. Secondly, the number of storage registers is set to the same value as in the simulator.

Differing Configurations

This section describes the results of different memory configurations on the source and target devices in detail.

Reading and Writing Data

In the dialogue box that opens when you select Read or Write, you can select what data is to be exchanged between a calculator and the Simulator. Any combination of program memory, data storage registers, matrices, stack or flags can be selected. An area not selected for exchange will remain unchanged on the target device.

The settings are saved as defaults. If you do not want to be prompted for each and every read or write operation, uncheck the "Ask for each operation" option in the preferences.

◀ HP-15C Simulator ▲ Top

Messages

All devices

DM15L

HP 15C CE

◀ Messages ▲ Top

Preferences ▶