MTK 446 electronic timer: Palm Pilot

MTK supply a Palm program that maintains and creates SETUP and FLIGHT programs and loads them into the timer. It is based on the standard Memo Pad mode for the Palm, so the MTK timer SETUP and FLIGHT programs are stored as separate memos in the MKTimerMemoDB.PDB memo database. A guide to the program follows. Most of the detailed documentation is contained in its built-in Help file.

This program should run on any Palm Pilot more recent than the Palm m100 or any PalmOS-based PDA running PalmOS 3.5 or later. The only other requirement is that the PDA must have a serial port, which may rule out the latest USB-only models. Load the MTKmemo program into your Palm via the Desktop Install option.

Getting help

To view the help information:

• From the list of memos:
  • tap Timer Memo at the top of the screen.
  • Tap Options.
  • Tap Help on the drop-down menu. This shows help on manipulating the program list.
• From the program content display:
  • tap Memo n of m.
  • Tap Options.
  • Tap Help on the drop-down menu. This shows help on editing, checking and sending the program to the timer.

The list of programs

This screen lists all the MTK timer programs stored in the Palm Pilot. Selecting one starts the Editor to display the selected program. The program can then be changed, checked for validity, or downloaded into the timer. MTK timer programs are stored as Palm memos, so they can be assigned to categories just like any other memo. The top right corner of the screen allows categories of program to be selected for display and new categories to be created. These can be useful: it could be a good idea to create a category for each model and use them to identify the programs for each model. Tapping Timer memo shows the menu bar, which gives access to the options menu and the communications menu. Note that if the stylus skips or bounces you'll end up in the options menu.

Buttons at the bottom of the screen:

• New starts the FLIGHT program editor, displaying a blank program.
• Delete All is used to delete all programs in a particular category.
• Individual FLIGHT programs can be deleted by dragging them into the Trash icon.
• The right hand button displays the Palm's battery voltage.

Options

Preferences controls the order in which FLIGHT and SETUP programs are listed Help contains help for this screen. About program contains program version information.

Communications

Receive Memo and Send All Memos allow programs to be transferred between a CASIO digital diary and PalmOS PDA. Beam Category transfers programs between Palm PDAs using the Infra-Red link. Read Last Cmd, Read All Cmd and Erase Cmd are used to receive the altimeter readings from the timer and to clear stored readings. Serial Parameters sets the parameters for communication via the dialogue box shown below.

Serial Parameters

To communicate with the MTK 446 timer the serial parameters should be set as shown:

The Editor

All operations on an individual program are carried out from the program editing screen. It is used to enter a new program, change or display an existing program, carry out syntax checks and download the program into the MTK 446 timer.

		Use the drop-down category list in the top right corner to assign a category to a program. The Palm battery voltage is displayed below the category list. Programs are displayed in read-only mode. To make changes, tap the Edit box. Overwrite switches the editor between inserting between existing text and overwriting it. The typeface selection tool [A|A|A] selects the typeface used to display a program.
Blank editor screen	Displaying a FLIGHT program

Buttons at the bottom of the screen:

• Done saves the program and returns to the list of programs.
• Send downloads the program to the timer.
• Details... allows the category and privacy flags to be set. It also allows the current program to be deleted.
• Syntax checks a program for correctness before saving or downloading it.

Tap Memo n of m at the top left corner of the screen to display the Editor's menu bar. The functions that may be accessed from it are shown below:

Done saves the program and returns to the list of programs. Save As New makes a copy of the current program. See Copying a program for more details. New Memo displays an empty screen ready for a new program to be written. Delete Memo deletes the current program. Beam Timer Memo sends the current program to another Palm. Send To Casio and Send To Russian Casio send the current program to a CASIO PDA via a serial cable.

Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo and Select All are standard editing actions. Cut and Copy operate on the highlighted part of the program. Keyboard causes the on-screen keyboard to be displayed. This does not work in version 0.04 of this program running under PalmOS 3.5.1. Graffiti displays a list of Graffiti symbols.

Preferences switches the program download format between Standard Casio Format and Russian Casio Format. Serial Parameters sets up the serial port for communication with the MTK 446 timer via the Serial Parameters dialogue box. Goto top of page and Goto bottom of page scroll to the start and end of the current program. Phone Lookup allows you look up phone numbers within the standard Palm Address List. There is a button to add phone numbers, but this does not work in version 0.04 of this program running under PalmOS 3.5.1. Help provides detailed information about the Editor. About Program provides version details for the MTK Palm application.

Copying a program

Be very careful when making copies of MTK FLIGHT programs. The process is far from intuitive for anybody used to a "normal" desktop GUI such as Windows, Mac or an X-terminal. Keeping the following points in mind may save you some grief:

• If you edit a program you'll permanently change it. There is no "save" and no "undo".
• Tapping Done saves the current program and returns to the list of programs.
• To copy a program:
  • Load the program you want to copy.
  • Tap Memo n of m on the menu bar at the top of the screen. Tap File on the menu bar.
  • Tap Save as new on the drop-down menu. The currently displayed program becomes the copy. Its first (title) line is the same as the old title but now starts with "* " (asterisk space) and everything else is unchanged. If you tap Done at this point you will see your copy has been added to the list with this default title.
  • Edit the title line to show the name you want for the copy. If you tap Done now you'll see the copy in the list with its new name and can safely load the new copy and edit it without fear of damaging any other programs.
  • Make the other changes you need to the new program. The changes become permanent as you make them.

• Before you go mad and save loads of programs with different d/t settings you should remember that a vertical trim or bunt timing change will require the same changes to be made to all the programs for that model.
• If you tap Save new on a program whose name starts with "* " you'll create a further copy whose name starts with "** " and so on.

Deleting a program

There are three ways of deleting an unwanted program.:

• From the list of programs, drag the program you want to delete into the trash can.
• Display the program you want to delete. Tap Memo n of m on the menu bar at the top of the screen. Tap File on the menu bar. Tap Delete Memo on the drop-down menu.
• Display the program you want to delete. Tap the Details... button at the bottom of the screen. Tap the Delete button in the Details dialogue box.

There is no way to retrieve a program that has been deleted.

Programming the timer

Before sending a new program to the timer you have to connect the Palm and the timer by special cable and then set the timer to WAITING or FAILSAFE mode.

Initially the timer is in SLEEP OFF mode with the tow hook open and in the rearward position (LS is OFF, HS is OFF). Closing the latch with the hook back (LS is ON, HS is OFF) wakes the timer up and sets it to WAITING mode. If the hook comes forward while it is being set the timer will start in FAILSAFE mode.

Make sure the program you want to send is displayed on the Palm and tap the Send button. The program checks the program syntax before sending it to the timer and will inform you if an error occurs during transmission. During transmission the timer will buzz continuously and the red LED will be on. When download is complete the timer returns to WAITING mode and the Palm will display a caption box showing that the program has been loaded successfully.

Changing batteries in a Palm m100

The Palm m100 has a large capacitor connected across its batteries to keep it running while the batteries are changed. Unfortunately this is pretty fragile and is easily damaged or may self-destruct. If this happens the Palm will have its memory wiped when you change the batteries. It is easily recovered if you're near the PC you Hotsync it to, but if you're on the flying field you'll be stuck with the last program you loaded into your model(s) until you can recover the Palm Pilot. To avoid this problem, change the batteries when the battery symbol on the Home menu shows half full. This point is reached when the battery is much more than half empty. Its probably a good idea to change batteries before setting off to an important contest whether you think they need changing or not.

Here's the procedure to use when you're changing batteries in your Palm m100 and you know the capacitor is broken or you're just being careful:

1. Hotsync your Palm so you know the files on the PC are up to date.
2. Swap the batteries and switch on. If the Palm comes up as usual, you're done.
3. If it cold starts instead, do the minimum initial setup by calibrating the screen and setting the time and date.
4. Hotsync it. The PC side will ask you to select the user and then proceed to load everything back onto the Palm. When this has finished a dialogue box will appear on the Palm asking you to reset it.
5. Tap "reset". After a pause the Palm will come up as usual.
6. You might want to Hotsync the Palm again though this is not really necessary.