How to store and organize HPC code cards

Let's talk about the popular ways to store and organize the HPC code cards. When you purchase your HPC 1200 book machines, they're going to come with a binder. These binders are made to put all your code cards in it and store 20 cards per page.

WAYS TO STORE HPC CODE CARDS

The two most common methods of storing your code cards are using a binder and an index cardholder.

BENEFITS OF A BINDER

• You can store it in other catalogs or books, so you always know where they are.
• Also, when you open it up and go to look at and try to find the right card, it's pretty easy to do because of how they're visually displayed.

If you run out of room or you rip one of these pages, you can purchase additional pages or insert them to put in here.

DOWNSIDE OF A BINDER

• If it were to fall, the card/s might start to come out of it, a little bit of a mess. If you accidentally have one of those 'oops moments' and this thing goes flying, you're going to have a lot of code cards to pick up and reorganize.
• If you use your 1200 Blitz machine a lot, the pages will start to rip and get worn, and you're going to have to buy replacements for it, which is no big deal, but some guys don't like to do that.

The other option for storing code cards is using an index cardholder. Cards fit in it lovely. The benefit of using a box like this are that it's compact, especially in a van situation. A lot of guys will mount it; they'll screw it down to the workbench right next to their machine. That way, it won't go flying. They're going to be exactly where you left them, and it's pretty easy to open it up. 

ORGANIZATION

There are two primary ways to organize code cards: by card number and alphabetically.

BY CARD NUMBER

There's a little card number on the top of every card, like the XF36. You would just put those in order, starting with one and even 200-300. In that way, when you open up your binder or index cardholder, you'll pull up a code and get all the code information.

ALPHABETICALLY

Sorting the code cards by make, for example, Toyota, Ford, and Schlage cards together, whatever it may be, put them alphabetically, and they're going to find what you need right away. The main reason is that if you were going to get ready to hand file a key, and you wanted to brush up, make sure you knew how many depths there were and the spaces.

Those are the two kinds of a train of thought for organizing and storing HPC code cards. I'm interested to know what your thoughts are. Please leave some comments below on how you do it. Maybe it'll help someone. Thanks, and we'll see you next time.