umapd51@cc.ic.ac.uk (04/10/90)
Information exchange via comp.sys.handhelds
has many advantages, but it does entirely
replace actually talking to another user
or reading a printed magazine. So, here is
my list of clubs that support HP handheld
computers/calculators. The bigger clubs
publish journals and have regular meetings,
smaller clubs usually exchange a printed
newsshet and hold occasional meetings. It is
likely that the introduction of the HP 48SX
will lead to an increase in club activity.
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CLUB LIST
EIGHTH EDITION, APRIL 1990
List of clubs for users of HP handheld
calculators and computers, compiled on the
basis of information provided at the HP
handheld calculator and computer users'
conferences held in Copenhagen, Denmark,
8-9 August 1987 and in Corvallis, Oregon, USA,
4-6 August 1988. The list was originally
published in the journal of the international
club HPX (see below under USA); I update it as
and when I get new information. More information
is welcome and I shall include it in future updates.
AUSTRALIA
Melbourne club:
PPPM Inc.,
P.O. Box 512,
Ringwood, Vic. 3134,
Australia
Sydney club:
CHHU Syydney,
C/- K.Besley,
Charley Bus. Services,
22 Elsie Street,
Burwood, N.S.W. 2134,
Australia
The above two clubs jointly published a
very neat journal called Technical Notes.
Only one issue appeared in 1989; they
have offered to provide DATAFILE
(see UK club) to their members for 1990.
Perth and Brisbane clubs apparently
no longer active.
AUSTRIA
CCA - HP Club Austria,
Michael Pocksteiner,
P.O. Box 50,
A-1111 Wien,
Austria
No representatives in Copenhagen or Corvallis,
the above is the address they gave before the
Copenhagen conference.
BELGIUM
Flemish-speaking club
PCX,
Postbus 205,
B-8000 Brugge 1,
Belgium
Active - publish a journal - PCX
A French-speaking club exists too but no
representatives came and it seems to be
less active.
CANADA
No independent clubs, but I understand
that local chapters of US clubs do exist.
DENMARK
PPC-Denmark,
c/o Henrik Helnaes,
Gersonvej 14,
DK-2900 Hellerup,
Denmark
Active, publish USER - two issues for 1989.
Have excellent relations with HP, for example
HP put cards mentioning this club in the boxes
of calculators sold in Denmark. Despite a
statement by HP representatives at the
Copenhagen conference that such cards could
be put in boxes throughout Europe, this has
not happened generally.
(Hence the need for this list.)
ENGLAND
see United Kingdom
FINLAND
STAK,
c/o Tapani Tarvainen,
Yliopistonkatu 10 B 21,
SF-40100 Jyvaskyla,
Finland
Active, publish STAK. Two issues in 1989.
FRANCE
PPC-Paris,
BP 604,
75028 Paris Cedex 01,
France
Active, especially in the HP-71B field.
Journal, JPC, published every two months.
Have produced an excellent general-purpose
HP-71 module - the JPCROM. HP-41 and HP-28
strongly supported too.
PPC-Toulouse,
France
Closed end of 1987 because they could
not find anyone to do the work when the
founder did not have the time. Contact
the Paris club.
GERMANY (West Germany)
CCD e.V.,
P.O. Box 110411,
Schwalbacherstr. 50 Hhs.,
D-6000 Frankfurt 1,
West Germany
Active - the largest club in the world for
users of HP handhelds since the US clubs
began to have their troubles. They began as
an HP-41 users' club, but as their members
bought PCs they set up new sections for
different ranges of PCs. They now have an
HP handheld section, an MS-DOS section,
a CP/M section and an Atari section. Their
journal PRISMA (very professionally produced)
continues to deal largely with HP equipment,
it is published every 2 months.
A PPC chapter existed in West Germany
for a time, but no longer appears to
be active. I think it was in Dortmund.
GULF STATES
Letters to PPC in the early 80s suggested there
were some HP clubs in this region, but nothing
has come from there recently and it seems most
likely that these were temporary groups of HP
users working for a time in the Gulf.
HOLLAND (The Netherlands)
HP Club Amsterdam,
Quellijnstraat 47-3,
1072 XP Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.
Active - publish the journal PROMPT.
Four issues published in 1989, 1/2, 3, 4, 5/6.
Four issues planned for 1990.
They have no support at all from HP-Holland
because HP now refer customer's questions
to a third party commercial company.
HP28GG,
P/a: Eric Toonen
Djept-Zuid 6
5502 RP Veldhoven
The Netherlands
This club was formed for HP-28 users in 1989.
Since the arrival of the HP 48SX it supports
the HP-28C, HP-28S and HP 48SX, in fact it is
an "RPL-club". Two issues so far of their
journal. Eric Toonen is one of the most active
sources of HP-28 information, but the club
publishes only in Dutch and has no plans to
accept non-Dutch speaking members.
The book and calculator shop:
TH Boekhandel Prins,
Binnenwatersloot 30,
2611 BK Delft,
The Netherlands
used to publish a journal HP-USER NIEUWS
and to act as a centre for club activity,
but they gave up after 10 issues of the journal.
ITALY
CHHU-IT,
c/o Stefano Tendon,
Cantone delle Asse 5,
29100 Piacenza,
Italy
Published one issue of a journal but had little
response and currently they act mainly as a
contact group. They do produce very good software
some of which is included in JPCROM for the
HP-71B (see France).
IRAN
Letters to the PPC Journal in the
early 80s suggested at least one
club existed in Iran, but it seems
probable that it was like the clubs
in the Gulf States mentioned above.
MEXICO
A club existed in Mexico City
and was visited by Richard Nelson,
(founder of the original club for
users of HP handhelds) but there
have been no signs of recent activity.
THE NETHERLANDS (see HOLLAND)
NORWAY
PPC-Norway,
c/o IB Jorgensen
Do not publish their own journal but work
closely with PPC-Denmark and share their
journal. Owing to the limited number of
issues of the Danish club journal in 1989,
they have asked to take DATAFILE from the
UK club in 1990. Other clubs existed for
a time but seem to have been student groups
which broke up.
SOUTH AFRICA
As with the Gulf States and Iran there
were some signs of club activity a few
years ago but nothing has been heard recently.
SPAIN
An active club existed for a while and some
HP-41 related books were translated into Spanish,
but no club activity has been heard of recently.
Valentin Albillo was reported to have re-established
contact with the Australians, so he might provide
further details, but has not done so yet.
SWEDEN
PPC-CG
c/o Odinsgatan 6,
40120 GOTEBORG,
Sweden
A NEW club has just started in Orebro, they
plan to build up a program library from
which members can buy programs for
10 sw.crowns (about US$1.50).
They are getting some help from
Lars Reimius at HP Sweden.
Membership: 100 sw.cr. (=10 UK pounds,
about US$15) to "post-giro" 480 53 17-7. A
newsletter is planned 4-6 times a year.
_ _
Svenska HP-raknarforeningen
c/o Erik Bryntse
Byalagsgatan 4 d
_
S-703 60 Orebro
SWEDEN
Phone: ..... 19 13 29 46
The Finnish club also publishes
submissions in Swedish.
SWITZERLAND
PPC-Lausanne,
Luzius Auer,
Case Postale,
1049 Assens/VD,
Switzerland
Publish a journal, but were not
represented in Copenhagen or Corvallis.
HP-Club,
Franco dal Molin,
Plattenstr. 44,
8152 Glattbrugg,
Switzerland
UNITED KINGDOM
(England, Scotland, Wales & N.Ireland,
members from other countries welcome)
Enquiries to:
HPCC,
Geggs Lodge,
Hempton Road,
Deddington,
Oxon OX5 4QG,
England
Active, publish a journal DATAFILE -
8 issues published in 1989, 8 planned
for 1990. Also arrange a conference
every year.
To other clubs: the UK club offers its
journal at bulk rates to clubs, details
from the above address.
USA/International
Three large clubs in the USA have acted
as centres of information exchange not
just in the USA but also worldwide.
CHHU
Unfortunately no longer active though
some local branches still meet. Members
were given some indication of impending
problems before the club stopped its
activities, but not much.
PPC
THE original club, founded by Richard Nelson.
Active for 14 years till 1987. Board of
Directors took direct control from
Richard Nelson in 1985. Put up their
subscription charge in June 1987, then shut
down all activities with no explanation
to members. I estimate that up to 3000
members may have renewed at about $35
each in June 1987, so someone at PPC
presumably has collected about $100,000.
HPX
P.O. Box 4160,
Des Plaines, IL 60016,
USA
Have taken over US and international
activities since the other two US clubs
became inactive. Publish the journal
HPX Exchange. The organiser has been
very busy and has been promising the first
issue of 1989 "within a month" for the past
14 months. An issue actually is ready to go
to press but members are still waiting for it
to be printed and posted. I intend to change
this club's status to "inactive" in the next
issue of this list unless something comes
before then.
Several local club branches (or "chapters")
exist in the United States. Some are local
sections of one of the above clubs, others
are much more autonomous and some publish
local newsletters. They cover areas of about
the same size as a European country, so if HPX
remains inactive then I propose to put the
addresses of these clubs in the next issue
of this list and to describe the UK club as
"international" as it is the only one that
publishes regularly and in English. I know
of local US chapters in Chicago, Twin Cities,
Philadelphia, Puget Sound (i.e. Seattle area),
Orange County and San Francisco, but not their
addresses. Further details for the next
issue of this list wil be very welcome.
European clubs have an agreed policy of printing
a summary in English of the contents of each issue
of every journal. These summaries, together with
program comments, are usually sufficient to let
readers copy and use programs even if they do not
understand the language of the journal. The new
clubs in Sweden and the Netherlands do not follow
this policy though.
In addition to the above clubs, the HP Users' Library,
(now transferred to an independent company,
"Solve and Integrate", get address from HP),
HP offices in some countries, third party producers,
and shops can also provide help to HP users, but I
have not included them in this list as they are not clubs.
Inactive clubs: to save space, I intend to move all
"inactive" clubs to a separate list at the end, in the
next issue of this list. If you know of a club which is
active but is not described as such in this list, or
is not mentioned at all, please let me know.
Disclaimer:
I have done my best to provide accurate and up to date
information, but a lot of it was passed to me by other
sources, so I cannot guarantee it is all correct.
As you can see, some clubs have stopped giving value for
money (or indeed anything for money). It is advisable to
write to clubs giving a return address on your envelope,
so as to check if the club is no longer active or has
changed its address, before sending them any money.
Give them some time to reply (they are run part-time by
members who have jobs too), and if you get no reply within
a couple of months, try a different club.
Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz, 10 April 1990.
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BITNET address: MIER @ SPVA.PH.IC.AC.UK