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Grey/Yellow RC 1000 (S501-400A)

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cte

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Grey/Yellow RC 1000 (S501-400A)

Post10 May 2016, 18:09

The Seiko RC 1000 is in my top 5 watches of all time. I have been wearing one for the past 6 months. I recently acquired my 4th RC 1000 and to my surprise, it wasn't the normal black and red version, it was a grey and yellow version. On its own, particularly on camera, it is hard to notice much difference, but side by side its clear to see.

I had no idea there even was a grey version. Do any other colours exist? :scratch: I can only find traces of the black one online. The normal black version has a serial ending: 4000. The grey serial ends with: 400A.

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cybr

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Re: Grey/Yellow RC 1000 (S501-400A)

Post16 May 2016, 23:40

Congratulations,
Your grey with yellow buttons SEIKO RC 1000 must have been a newest (e.g. limited edition - even a prototype) variant of the regular black/red buttons RC 1000( thus the 400A, instead of a 4000 SN) and I am quite sure that is very rare (never seen one with a grey case, not to mention with the yellow buttons :).
Hope that You are aware about the possibility to built Your own interface for some serial interfaces of more modern PCs and to use the shareware "Seiko Tools" software to "play" with the watch...:)
On the other hand and unfortunately, while it was very handy for schedule's programming, it will not allow any use of BASIC language programming nor of the binary uploaded games, as the DATA 2000 (UW01-0020) - UC 2000 (UW01-0010) - MEMO Diary series (e.g. UW02 calibres) etc already allowed in 1983-1984 ...
Best regards,
Every watch should have its own story...consequently, a watch collector has to be a good storyteller :)
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cybr

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Re: Grey/Yellow RC 1000 (S501-400A)

Post17 May 2016, 00:08

And I've seen now the auction...very good price for such a rarity...:)
Congrats again,
Every watch should have its own story...consequently, a watch collector has to be a good storyteller :)
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cte

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Re: Grey/Yellow RC 1000 (S501-400A)

Post17 May 2016, 21:39

Thanks. 8^D Yes, when I saw the watch on eBay, I thought the colour of the pictures were off/incorrect. I messaged the seller and he confirmed that the buttons were definitely yellow. This peaked my interest. :D I didn't realise the watch was grey until it arrived!

I'm very pleased with it. It's a bit sad to see that the paint is quite delicate and chipping (none of the black versions I've got have the slightest signs of chipping), so I can't wear it without worrying about knocking it etc. Maybe if it is a prototype/limited version, the paint job wasn't meant for use in production.

I've never thought about trying to connect the watch up to a PC etc. I remember seeing web articles and a video about it sometime ago. With the "Seiko Tools", is it possible to change how the watch readout displays/looks (eg anything different to the stock format), or is it mainly for standard data entry on modern PC hardware etc?

I had a quick google just now. Is this the Seiko tools, or is there other info somewhere? I'm sure I saw a video demo before but can't see it now.

http://synack.net/~bbraun/rc1000/

Thanks again. :D
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cybr

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Re: Grey/Yellow RC 1000 (S501-400A)

Post18 May 2016, 21:42

The Seiko Tools for RC NNN series (aka Seiko DataGraph software) is presented at the below forum (and it may run even on modern Win 7/8 OS):
http://forum.pocketcalculatorshow.com/t ... 00-rc-4400
The download link for the free shareware version is
http://www.rietveldcomputers.nl/sales/D ... 0Seiko.exe
Included with the installer there is also an English/Dutch user manual which may provide detailed instructions about how to build a proper interface serial cable.
One may see a video of it below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdCf5bZ8O-c
But the seiko.c source code and documentation from Your above presented URL
http://synack.net/~bbraun/rc1000/
is an excellent source of information for the developers who want to write their own software for the watch.
Also, below is a movie of the original SEIKO DOS software for IBM PC and compatible (running from an old 5.25 floppy ).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n40eueB2Gg

Regards,
Every watch should have its own story...consequently, a watch collector has to be a good storyteller :)
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cte

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Re: Grey/Yellow RC 1000 (S501-400A)

Post18 May 2016, 23:44

That is great. Thank you so much for all the info/links! I will go over them all now. :dwf:

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