Aimed at secondary school and college students, the Elektronika B3-23 microcalculator was designed for convenience when making simple calculations.

Unlike the B3-21, the serially-produced B3-23, kept its 8-digit LED after the pre-production run.

When released in 1979, the Elektronika B3-23 was one of the cheapest microcalculators in the market. By the mid-1980s, by which point calculators had become indispensable for everyday calculations, it was retailing at just 23 RUB. At this time, microcalculators were also gaining in popularity with electronics hobbyists whose inquiring minds were not content with the prescribed uses for miniature “home PCs”. While the chances of people being able to unleash a microcalculator’s full practical potential in their home were quite low, their idle capacity could indeed be easily redirected towards practical uses. Radio Magazine (No. 5) in 1981 ran an article entitled “Stopwatch and Timer from B3-23”, which explained how a microcalculator could be transformed into a more versatile machine. So, the microcalculator took on a key role as a device for measuring and other automated applications (see “New Jobs for Microcalculators”, Radio Magazine (No. 6) in 1985).

The microcalculator can perform additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divisions, as well as, chain operations, and constant and percent calculations. It is also able to store results automatically in case of overflow.

The B3-23 runs on either three AA batteries or a line adapter. Its dimensions are 125×74×31 mm and it weighs 300 g.

Sources:
V. I. Grubov, V. S. Kirdan, S. F. Kozubovsky PC Guide, 1989, p. 281

Radio Magazine, No. 5, 1981, p. 46
http://ratekon.ru/images/radio/1981-5-0048.jpg

Radio Magazine, No. 6, 1985, pp. 70–75

Weight: 300 g
Dimensions: 125×74×31 mm