frankw@hpcvra.CV.HP.COM (Frank Wales) (12/15/89)
[Posted on behalf of Wlodek, who doesn't have USENET
access; mail wlodek@zen.co.uk to get to him. --Frank]
Here is my list of clubs that support HP handheld computers/calculators.
The bigger clubs publish journals and have regular meetings, the smaller
clubs usually exchange a printed newsshet and hold occasional meetings.
---------Cut----------here-------------------
CLUB LIST
SEVENTH EDITION, DECEMBER 1989
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. New 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 publish a very neat journal called Technical
Notes. Only one issue has appeared so far in 1989; they plan more but
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Perth and Brisbane clubs apparently no longer active.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 local chapters of US clubs do exist.
DENMARK
PPC-Denmark,
c/o Steen Peterson,
Gl. Landevej 19,
DK-2620 Albertslund,
Denmark
Active, publish USER. First 1989 issue mailed in December; two more are
planned. 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 still
not happened elsewhere. (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. One issue so far in 1989, one more is planned.
FRANCE
PPC-Paris,
BP 604,
75028 Paris Cedex 01,
France
Active, especially in the HP-71B field. Have produced an excellent
general-purpose HP-71 module - the JPCROM. Regularly publish their
journal JPC. HP-41 and HP-28 strongly supported too. (A difference of
opinion has arisen between the current committee and the members who
produced JPCROM over whose property the JPCROM actually is; JPCROM is
still available despite this.)
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 has not been received by the UK club for 6 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. Issues 1/2 and 3 published so far
in 1989. They have no support at all from HP-Holland because HP now
refer customer's questions to a third party commercial company.
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 '71 (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 has apparently re-established contact with
the Australians, so he might be able to provide further details.
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)
Enquiries to:
HPCC,
Geggs Lodge,
Hempton Road,
Deddington,
Oxon OX5 4QG,
England
Active, publish a journal DATAFILE - 8 issues published on schedule in 1989.
Also arrange a conference every year.
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 this year, and has been promising the first issue of
1989 "within a month" for the past 10 months. An issue actually is
ready to go to press but members are still waiting for it to be printed
and posted.
Local club branches (or "chapters") exist throughout the United States.
Some are clearly local sections of one of the above clubs, others are
much more autonomous and some publish local newsletters.
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.
In addition to the above clubs, the HP Users' Library, (recently
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.
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. If you know of a club whose details are incorrect or
which is not mentioned on this list please send me details so they can
be included in a future issue of the list. It is wise to include a
return address on letters sent to clubs, especially those not described
as "active" in the list. That way you have a chance of learning that
the club you wrote to is no longer active or has moved; then you can try
somewhere else instead of waiting.
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, 6 December 1989
--
Frank Wales, Guest of HP Corvallis, [frank@zen.co.uk || frankw@hpcvra.hp.com]
Zengrange Ltd., Greenfield Rd., LEEDS, England, LS9 8DB. (+44) 532 489048 x217