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Rodon MK-01
The MK-71, a ten-digit solar-powered microcalculator, was produced from 1986 at Zelenograd’s Angstrem and Ukraine’s Rodon. Retailing at RUB 75, it quickly won cult status among users, particularly university students. It was a carbon copy of Casio’s FX-950, with the same key positioning and other elements.
The scale on the monitor: 1:1
This is a scientific calculator that builds upon Elektronika MK-51 by incorporating more functions, giving it a grand total of 47 automatic operations. It has several modes: basic, calculations with a constant, combined function, and statistical calculations. The device uses algebraic logic and supports five-level operation ordering (brackets, parentheses, etc.).
However, there was one fatal flaw — the low-quality keyboard. After six months of active use, the contacts became dislodged and either failed to register inputs or registered several of the same symbols at one time. This was a source of considerable frustration for users. In his article for issue 2 of the Radio magazine (1997), D. Tsybin came to the rescue with a fix for the problem.
In 1987, Sverdlovsk Film Studios ran a commercial for Elektronika calculators, including the MK-71.
There was also a modification of the MK-71 — the Rodon MK-01, which had all the same functions and came packaged with a slide-on cover. Ukraine’s Rodon factory was given exclusive rights to produce this model from 1993.
Dimensions: 130×73×8.8 mm
Weight (without batteries): up to 100 g
Sources: user manual, http://electronika-5.ru/calc/index.php?page=base_item&mid=40, http://www.leningrad.su/museum/show_calc.php?n=170.