Precomputer Power Pad Plus TM User’s manual
Dear Parent: At VTech® we know that children have the ability to do great things. That’s why all of our electronic learning products are uniquely designed to develop a child’s mind and allow them to learn to the best of their ability. Whether it’s learning about letters, numbers, geography or algebra, all VTech® learning products incorporate advanced technologies and extensive curriculum to encourage children of all ages to reach their potential.
CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................ 1 CHAPTER 2 GETTING STARTED ........................ 2 MAIN BATTERY INSTALLATION ............................... 2 BACKUP BATTERY INSTALLATION ........................... 2 AC ADAPTOR CONNECTION ................................... 3 PRINTER CONNECTION ..........................................4 MOUSE CONNECTION ............................................4 GENERAL OPERATION ..........................................4 CHAPTER 3 THE KEYBOARD ......
RAM CART MANAGER.......................................... 28 POWER LINK .......................................................29 CHAPTER 7 BASIC.......................................... 30 INTRODUCTION ................................................... 30 GETTING STARTED .............................................. 32 BASIC COMPUTER TUTORIAL................................ 34 REFERENCE SECTION ........................................... 47 ARITHMETIC FUNCTIONS ......................................
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Thank you for buying the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS learning toy by VTECH®. We at VTECH® are committed to providing the best possible products to develop a child’s mind. Should you have any questions or concerns, please call our Consumer Services Department at 1-800-521-2010 in the U.S. or 1-800-267-7377 in Canada.
CHAPTER 2: GETTING STARTED The PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS learning unit operates on 4 “AA” (UM-3/LR6) size batteries for the main compartment or a 9V AC adaptor. 2 “AA” (UM-3/LR6) batteries are required to backup the unit. MAIN BATTERY INSTALLATION 1. Make sure the unit is OFF. 2. Locate the main battery cover on the back of the unit and open it. 3. Insert 4 “AA” (UM-3/LR6) size batteries as illustrated. DO NOT USE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES in this unit.
3. Insert 2 “AA” (UM-3/LR6) size batteries as illustrated. DO NOT USE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES in this unit. (The use of Rayovac Renewable/Rechargeable Alkaline batteries is encouraged.) 4. Replace the battery cover. 5. Turn the unit ON. NOTE: While replacing the backup batteries, the 4 “AA” size batteries must be kept in the unit or the unit must be connected to the 9V adaptor while the adaptor is plugged in.
PRINTER CONNECTION The PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS learning unit can support 12 different kinds of printers. For details, please refer to Chapter 6. MOUSE CONNECTION Use our standard mouse, included with the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS. 1. Make sure the unit is OFF. 2. Locate the mouse jack at the back of the unit. 3. Slide open the mouse port door and insert the mouse connector into the unit. 4. Turn the unit ON. 5. The mouse will work best if it is kept on the mouse pad.
Automatic Shut Off If there is no input into the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS unit for about 20 minutes, the unit will automatically shut off to save power. To turn the unit back on after an automatic shut off, press the ON button again. We recommend turning the unit OFF when not in use. If the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS unit is not in use for a long period of time, remove the main compartment batteries or unplug the adaptor.
CHAPTER 3: THE KEYBOARD The computer keyboard on PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS combines the operation of a standard computer keyboard with several other functions described below. SPECIAL KEYS Enter Key: Press this key after typing or choosing an answer to input your selection. Shift Key: Press this key to type capital letters or the symbols shown on top of the number keys. Esc Key: Press this key to exit an activity. to the main menu.
Caps Lock Key: Press this key to make all letters appear in upper case. Press this key again to return to normal typing mode. When the Caps Lock function is activated, the Caps Lock light will turn on. Answer Key: Press this key to see the correct answer to any question. Right Player/Left Player Keys: Press these keys with activities featuring a 2-player mode. The first person to hit his or her appropriate left or right player button will get the opportunity to answer the question first.
Hint Key: Press the Shift key and this key simultaneously when inputting text in Trivia activities when you need a hint. You will be given three multiple choice answers to choose from. In Rocket Fuel, you may replay the current stage. Break Key: Press the Shift and Break keys simultaneously when you want to interrupt a program in the BASIC activity while it is running. Alt Key: Press this key and the letter ‘P’ to activate the printing function in the activities.
Backspace Key: Press this key when you want to delete the character before the cursor position. 3, #, and £: Press this key to type the number “3”. Press Shift and this key simultaneously when you want to type the symbol “£”. Press Alt and this key simultaneously when you want to type the symbol “#”. ACTIVITY SELECTOR There are 38 activities in the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS unit and they are divided into 5 categories. This includes Word Games, Mathematics, Computer Skills, Games and Trivia.
Player Key: Press this key to change from 1-player mode to 2-player mode and vice versa for activities with 2-player mode. If you want to change the player mode, press this key first and then select a player mode by typing the number 1 or 2. If you select the 2-player mode, you will be prompted to enter the names of the first player and second player. Level Key: The unit provides 4 levels of challenge in most of the activities.
CHAPTER 4: ACTIVITIES AND FUNCTIONS HOW TO PLAY SELECTING/CHOOSING/HIGHLIGHTING During the course of entering the activities and during game play, you will be asked to either select, choose or highlight an object, a number, a letter or a word. This can be done in two different ways: Mouse You can move the cursor arrow with the mouse. When the cursor arrow is on the item you want to choose, press the left mouse button, or the Enter key. You may also move the cursor to highlight text.
There are 5 large icons on top of the Main Menu. You can choose from the following: Word Games . , Mathematics , Computer Skills , Games , and Trivia Use 1 of the following 2 ways to enter into one of the five categories: 1. Press any one of the five activity buttons from the Membrane Activity Selector. 2. Choose an activity icon on the screen. After choosing the category (Word Games, Mathematics, etc.), you may select an activity: Choose an activity on the screen.
NOTE: The • • • • • • • • • • • following activities do not feature the two-player mode: Word Puzzles Spy Trap Rocket Fuel Keyboard Skills Typing Challenge Word Processor BASIC Tutor BASIC Design A Card Spell Checker Calculator GENERAL DISPLAY In most of the activities, you will see a display with status information, useful icons and a working area. The status information will include the players’ scores, the number of chances remaining to answer a question, the current level, and the time indicator.
TENSES Two tenses of a verb will appear on the screen. Type in the missing tense (present, past or past participle) of that verb and press the Enter key to confirm your answer. WORD PUZZLES This is a crossword puzzle game with 10 missing words in each puzzle. Use the cursor keys or mouse to select one of the missing words. Press the Enter key to receive a clue for the chosen word. Type in the word for that clue and press the Enter key to confirm your answer.
WORD MAKER The unit will display a prefix or a suffix of a word at the bottom of the screen. Several suffixes/prefixes scroll across the screen above the word. When the correct suffix/prefix is above the word, press the Enter key to input your answer. SENTENCE SCRAMBLER A group of words will appear on the screen. You must rearrange the words to form a correct sentence.
FRACTIONS A fraction will display on the screen. 3 multiple choice options will be given. Decide which option is the correct answer and press its corresponding number or click on the answer with your mouse. FLIP FLOP FRACTIONS An equation which involves turning a fraction into a decimal/percentage will appear on the screen. Type in the answer using the number keys on the keyboard and press the Enter key to confirm your answer.
to type each letter. Each correct letter equals 1 point. After typing 100 letters (50 for the left hand, 50 for the right hand), the score and the rewarding screen will be shown. Expert Course In the expect course, follow the screen and type the given text. After you have completely typed the text, your typing speed and accuracy will appear on the screen. TYPING CHALLENGE This activity helps to improve your keyboarding skills through this exciting typing game.
To create and print a Folded Card : Select Folded Card. Choose a picture to be used in the folded card. Type in your text message. You are allowed up to eight lines of text. Press the Enter key several times. The unit will ask you if you have finished entering your text. Select yes or no. Select Print. SPELL CHECKER Spell Checker is an electronic word list that contains approximately 75,000 words and is used to check the correct spelling of words.
the rules of the game: 1. Press the number key or use your mouse to select the numbers. You may select any number. If all nine of the squares fill up, you will lose a turn. 2. Try to select the numbers so that 2 to 3 continuous numbers that you choose, add up to the number in the middle of the screen. 3. A spy appears in one of the blank squares. Press the Space bar or click on the spy immediately to put the spy in jail. If you don’t catch a spy within 5 seconds, he will disappear. 4.
TRIVIA This challenging trivia game has 1000 questions in 4 different topics: Science, English, Geography and General. All topics are available with a 2-player mode and 4 levels. Once you have selected a topic, a question will appear on the screen. If you know the answer to the question type in your answer and the press the Enter key to input your answer. If you don’t know the answer, you may select 3 multiple choice options by pressing the Hints key.
J=L means the current line is justified left. NB means the current word is not bolded. B means the current word is bolded. CH means which character the cursor is on in a particular line. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE VT-25 THERMAL PRINTER PRINTS 25 CHARACTERS PER LINE ON A STANDARD ROLL OF THERMAL PAPER. YOUR PREPARED TEXT WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE ADJUSTED TO FIT THIS FORMAT WHEN YOU SELECT THE VT25 THERMAL PRINTER IN PRINTER SETUP.
Delete When you no longer need a file, erasing it from the optional RAM cartridge is a good idea because it will free up more space for other files. Select Delete from the File Options and it will prompt you with a list of files in the optional RAM cartridge. Select the file to delete and press the Enter key. A message will appear on the screen asking you to confirm your selection. Be careful when deleting a file because whatever you delete will be gone permanently.
Paste Block After you have used the Block Cut or Block Copy option, move the cursor to the position where you want the block of text to be pasted. Select Paste Block from the EDIT menu and the block of text you defined will be pasted to the new location. Clear Block To erase a block of text, first define the block of text and select Clear Block from the EDIT menu to clear the block. The defined block will be permanently cleared from the document. FORMAT OPTIONS There are four options in the FORMAT menu.
TOOLS OPTIONS The TOOLS menu provides two functions: Check Spelling and Symbols. Check Spelling Spell checker checks a word to see if it is in the unit's dictionary. To check the spelling of a word, highlight a word using your mouse. Then choose Tools Options and select Check Spelling. Press the Enter key. If the word does not exist in the unit’s dictionary, it will give you a list of possible words for reference. Also, you may spell check an entire document. Select Check Spelling from the TOOLS menu.
Printer Setup Printer Setup allows you to select a printer. This can also be done through System Setup. Please see Chapter 6 for details. Print In order to use the print feature, you must connect it to one of the printers compatible to the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS. Please see the list of printers listed in Chapter 6 under Printer Setup. When this option is selected, the unit will ask you whether to print the text in Single or Double Line Spacing. Select one as you like.
CHAPTER 6: SYSTEM SETUP To enter System Setup, click on the System Setup icon located at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. The System Setup menu will appear with the following options: Printer Setup, Tips of Today, Screen Saver, Clear Last Score, Icon Box, Quick Menu Setup, Customize Setup, Demo Mode, Ram Cart. Manager and Power Link. PRINTER SETUP Due to the extensive varieties of printers, not all compatible printers are listed.
SCREEN SAVER The unit features a screen saver option. The screen saver will appear after two minutes with no input. You can turn this feature ON or OFF by pressing the Enter key or selecting it with your mouse. CLEAR LAST SCORE The PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS learning unit will store all players’ last scores in memory. This will allow you to check future scores to measure your progress. Select the Clear Last Score option. Last scores cleared will appear on the screen.
Customize Screen The Customized Screen is the screen shown after the opening animation. You may personalize the screen by entering your name and your message. This information will be displayed each time you turn on the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS learning unit. Also, we have provided three different default messages for you to choose from. To customize your screen, select Customize Screen and press the Enter key. A Customize Screen menu will appear.
List Files When this function is selected, the files stored in the RAM cartridge are listed on the screen. Save File When this function is selected, you will be asked to choose whether to save a BASIC program or a Word Processor file. After you have made your selection, provide a filename for your file. This process allows the BASIC program or Word Processor file to be saved into the RAM cartridge. Load File When this function is selected, the files stored in the RAM cartridge are listed on the screen.
CHAPTER 7: BASIC INTRODUCTION WHAT IS BASIC? BASIC is a computer language. The name BASIC stands for Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. It was developed by professors at Dartmouth College in the mid-1960s. It was designed for students who had no previous experience in programming computers.
THE KEYBOARD 1. The numeric (top row) keys are used for entering numbers. The letter keys are used for entering letters. 2. The cursor is the blinking symbol “_” on the display that indicates where the next character that is pressed on the keyboard will be entered in the computer. 3. The SHIFT key is used with another key to enter a character into the computer. For example to enter the “+” character, you must press SHIFT and the key marked “+ =”.
THE LCD SCREEN The PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS learning unit uses a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen. Each line will display 20 characters at a time. The Left Arrow key and Right Arrow key are used to scroll the 20 character display window left or right, respectively. In BASIC, pressing the ENTER key allows you to see the next printed statement that your program is displaying. You need to do this so the output doesn’t scroll off the end of the line.
RUN This command instructs PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS to begin executing each BASIC statement with a line number that was typed into memory. The computer will start with the lowest line number and proceed up to the highest numbered statement. EDIT Use the EDIT command when you want to change a statement that has been typed into memory without re-typing the entire line. Type EDIT and the line number and press the ENTER key. The statement will appear on the display.
BASIC COMPUTER TUTORIAL EXAMPLE OF A BASIC PROGRAM You and Teresa went to the local video store to rent some movies. Teresa brought back 12 but 4 were too scary for you so you returned them. On that trip you came home with 7 new movies. How many are you going to watch this afternoon? You could work this out yourself, but here is a BASIC program that can do the arithmetic for you. Type in: 10 PRINT 12-4+7 press ENTER 20 END press ENTER Now type RUN and press ENTER.
LET’S DO SOME ARITHMETIC In the previous section you learned to program the sum of three numbers using the BASIC program. Numbers like 1, 3, 27, 14.3, etc., are called CONSTANTS, numbers that do not change value. The program added and subtracted the constants 12, 4 and 7. The order that you do addition is unimportant: 6+10 is the same as 10+6. In subtraction, the order is important: 10-6 is not the same as 6-10. So the order that you write numbers and do arithmetic operations is very important.
Type this: 10 PRINT 3+11/7 press ENTER RUN Is it really evaluated from left to right? Yes, but was it the answer you were expecting? If the answer came out to 4.57143, the computer first divided 11 by 7 getting 1.57143 and then it added 3 to the result giving 4.57143. You probably were expecting the answer to be 2 because 3+11 is 14, then divided by 7 is 2. You can see that expressions are not simply evaluated from left to right. It is necessary to have an exact set of rules to follow.
The computer creates a box in memory and calls it “A”. It puts the number 8 in this box. Now type: 20 LET B=10 press ENTER The computer creates a box called “B” and places 10 into it. Type: 30 LET B=15 press ENTER Since there is a box called “B” already with a value of 10 in it, it doesn’t make another box called “B” with a value of 15 in it. The number 10 is just replaced with the number 15. Now type: 40 LET C=A+B press ENTER This statement is a bit more complicated. Here’s how it works.
You will see the following on the screen: FIRST NUMBER 8 press ENTER SECOND NUMBER 15 press ENTER THE SUM IS 23 Let’s take a look at the print statements on lines 50 through 70. The words in quotes are called a STRING or a LITERAL. Whatever you put between a set of quotation marks will appear on the screen exactly the way you typed it. Remember that quotation marks come in pairs! Next, the semicolon tells the print statement to print what is immediately to the right of the end of the string.
VARIABLE NAMES CONTENTS A 675 B 2.3434 C$ CURTIS A$ ALPHABET SOUP Here’s an example of storing a string variable: 10 LET A$=“ALPHABET SOUP NO 123” You can have a numeric variable called A and a string variable called A$. The $ lets BASIC know how to tell them apart. NOTE: For both numeric and string variables, only the first 2 characters of the variable names are valid. Also, they cannot resemble the name of any command.
50 PRINT “THE ANSWER IS”; N press ENTER RUN The statement at line 10 stores the numeric constant zero into N, a numeric variable. In statement 20 the variable will have a numeric constant,1, added to itself and then the sum of that operation will be stored in place of the value previously stored there. The program in the above example contains a programming construction called a loop. A loop is one or more BASIC statements, usually called a set, that can be executed as many times as you want.
You can use as many input statements as you need to get all the values into your program. Try this: NEW 10 INPUT “GIVE ME A NUMBER”; N1 press ENTER 20 INPUT “AND ANOTHER”; N2 press ENTER 30 PRINT “I WILL ADD THEM” press ENTER 40 C=N1+N2 press ENTER 50 PRINT “THE ANSWER IS”; C press ENTER Type RUN and press ENTER to see what happens. MAKING DECISIONS The IF statement tells the computer that it has to make a decision.
The A > 90 is a condition. The print “YOU ARE SMART” is the command given for the true condition. In the above example, let’s give A the value 80. Would the message be printed? No, it would not be printed because the condition is false (80 is less than 90). Let’s try a program to compute the area of a rectangle.
50 PRINT “ARITHMETIC OPERATION YOU WANT” 60 PRINT “ME TO DO FOR YOU” 70 INPUT R$ 100 IF R$=“A” THEN C=A+B : GOTO 200 110 IF R$=“S” THEN C=A-B : GOTO 200 120 IF R$=“M” THEN C=A*B : GOTO 200 130 IF R$=“D” THEN C=A/B : GOTO 200 140 PRINT “YOU MADE A MISTAKE” 150 PRINT “TRY AGAIN” 160 GOTO 30 200 PRINT “THE ANSWER IS ”;C 300 END This is a long program but it has a lot of new information that is worthwhile to know. Line 70 contains an INPUT statement without the prompt string.
LOOPING A loop is a set of one or more instructions. These instructions can be repeated as many times as you want. You can create a loop with a GOTO statement. A program like the following will run continually: 10 INPUT “GIVE ME A NUMBER”;N 20 PRINT “YOUR NUMBER IS”;N 30 GOTO 10 RUN You can modify the program to get out of a loop by using an IF statement to control the loop like the program that calculates the area of a rectangle.
We could always rewrite the program like this: 10 N=1 20 PRINT “N IS”;N 30 N=N+1 40 IF N > 10 THEN END 50 GOTO 20 We can also count by 2’s. Let’s bring back the previous program and change line 10. The entire program looks like this: NEW 10 FOR N=1 TO 10 STEP 2 press ENTER 20 PRINT “N IS”;N press ENTER 30 NEXT N press ENTER The STEP 2 part changes the meaning hidden in the NEXT N statement to be N = N + 2 or any other number that gets put in the STEP part. We can even count backwards.
MORE ABOUT GROUPS - GOSUB ... RETURN How much is 10 degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit? What is 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Celsius? Here’s a program that gives you the answers. It uses the GOSUB and RETURN statements to create a group of instructions that can be executed from various parts of the program. Remember when you use a GOSUB, the program branches to the line number that you specify in the statements that will be executed sequentially until a RETURN statement is encountered.
REFERENCE SECTION The REFERENCE SECTION contains a brief explanation of all the commands and statements you will use in this chapter. Refer to this when you need help. CLEAR The CLEAR statement is used to assign more memory space for the string variables. Example: 10 Clear 100 This command will assign 100 bytes of memory for strings. If the CLEAR command is not used, the computer will assume the number of bytes of memory for strings to be 50.
EDIT Use the EDIT command when you want to change a statement that has been typed into memory without re-typing the entire line. Just type EDIT and the line number and press the ENTER key. The statement will appear on the display. Use the LEFT-ARROW and RIGHT-ARROW keys to move the cursor. Use the DEL key to remove an unwanted character, or simply type in new characters. Example: 10 INPUT B press ENTER EDIT 10 10 press ENTER INPUT B_ Then use Left-Arrow key to move the cursor back under“B”.
PSET This command is used for drawing a specified point on the screen. PSET X, Y (X, Y) is a coordinate of the specified point to be shown. X represents a value of a horizontal position. Y represents a value of a vertical position. Example: 10 CLS 20 PSET 100, 8 RUN The result: a screen pixel at coordinate (100, 8) will be turned on. PRESET This command turns off a specified point on the screen. PRESET X, Y (X, Y) is the coordinate of the specified point to be cleared.
SOUND This is a command to generate a sound note. SOUND consists of two functions: frequency and duration frequency The frequency of the sound in hertz; a value in the range 0 < frequency parameter < 256 duration The number of the system clock ticks so the sound lasts; a value in the range 0 < duration parameter < 256 FOR ... Line# TO ... STEP ... NEXT FOR variable = initial value TO final value STEP stepsize (optional) Line# Line# Line# Line# NEXT variable The FOR ...
Type PRINT SQR (9). (press ENTER) The answer is 3. Example: Y=9 : X=SQR(Y) : PRINT X press ENTER The answer is 3. In these two examples, 9 is the argument, SQR is the function and 3 is the result. A LIST OF NUMERIC FUNCTIONS Function What it does ABS Returns the absolute (positive) Value of X (X) SGN (X) Returns the sign of the argument X negative returns - 1 X positive returns + 1 X zero returns 0 SQR (X) Returns the square root of X. X cannot be negative.
ARITHMETIC FUNCTIONS ABS (X) This gives the absolute (positive) value of the argument. So ABS (-7)=7. Example: PRINT ABS (7-2*4) press ENTER 1 SGN (X) This function will give the value of +1 if X is positive, 0 if X is zero, and -1 if X is negative. So SGN(4.3)=1; SGN(0)=0; SGN(-276)=-1 Example: A=6 press ENTER PRINT SGN (A); SGN (A-A) press ENTER 1 0 INT (X) This converts numbers which are not whole into the largest whole number below the argument. So INT (5.9)=5; also INT (-5.9)=-6.
Example: PRINT RND (19) press ENTER You will get a number between 1 and 19. RND (0) will give you a number between 0 and 1. Note: X cannot be negative. Important Note: From now on, the ENTER key sign will be deleted for simplicity. Remember to press the ENTER key after each line of entry. STRING FUNCTIONS We can also use functions to act on strings. Take a look at the following: LEN This function computes the length of the string argument, which must be in brackets.
VAL VAL works like STR$ but in reverse. It changes a string argument into a number. Look at the following short program. Example: 10 A$=“33” 20 B$=“20” 30 C=VAL(A$+B$) 40 D= VAL (A$) + VAL (B$) 50 PRINT C;D RUN 3320 53 GRAPHICS FUNCTION PGET function Returns the color attribute of a specified pixel.
Example: 10 A$=“ABCDE” 20 B$=LEFT$ (A$+“FGH”,6) 30 PRINT B$ RUN ABCDEF RIGHT$ (A$,N) This will return a substring but starting from the Nth character from the end and running to the last one - the right-most character in the string A$. Example: 10 A$=“WHY” 20 B$=RIGHT$(A$+“ME”,4) 30 PRINT B$ RUN HYME MID$ (A$,M,N) This function returns a substring of the string A$ starting from the Mth character with a length of N characters.
ASC(A$) The ASC statement will return the ASCII code, a code for representing alphanumeric information, for the FIRST character of the specified string. Brackets must enclose the string specified. Refer to the appendix of THE ASCII CODE TABLE (Page 72). For example, the ASCII decimal value of “X” is 88. If A$=“XAB”, then ASC (A$)=88. Example: 10 X=ASC(“ROY”) 20 PRINT X RUN 82 CHR$ (N) This statement works the opposite way as the ASC statement.
Example: 30 GOSUB 120 . . other program lines . . 120 PRINT “WELCOME TO THE” 130 PRINT “PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD PLUS” 140 RETURN GOTO Line # GOTO line number The GOTO statement is used to change the normal flow of the program (which is from the lowest statement number to the highest). A GOTO command transfers control to the specified line. Examples: 10 GOTO 130 200 GOTO 65 IF...THEN...ELSE In general terms, the IF...THEN... statement is used for CONDITIONAL BRANCHING.
Relations or comparisons used in the IF...THEN statement are the following: = Equal to < = Less than or equal to < > Not equal to > = Greater than or equal to < Less than > Greater than Examples IF....THEN IF....THEN IF....THEN IF....THEN of how you can use conditions: A=B GOTO GOSUB PRINT IF....THEN INPUT Example: 30 IF X >25 THEN 60 If the condition X>25 is true, the computer is told to go to line 60 (Note: the GOTO is optional after THEN).
Example: 40 IF P=6 THEN PRINT “TRUE” ELSE PRINT “FALSE” In this example, if P=6 the computer will print TRUE. Any other value will print FALSE. In either case the computer will carry onto the next line. It is possible for more than one statement to follow the THEN or ELSE command. A colon separates the statements. Example: 50 IF A =5 THEN PRINT “TRUE”: S=S-3: GOTO 90 ELSE PRINT “FALSE”: K=K+8 So if A equals 5 the computer will print TRUE, subtract 3 from the variable S and go to line 90.
TRUTH TABLES The following tables are called TRUTH TABLES. They illustrate the results of the previous logical operations with both A and B given for every possible combination of values.
Note that T = TRUE and F = FALSE. Example: 10 INPUT A,B,C 20 IF A=B AND B=C THEN PRINT “A=B=C” 30 IF (NOT A=B) OR (NOT B=C) THEN 50 40 END 50 PRINT “A=B=C IS FALSE” 60 END RUN ? 10 (pick a number) ?? 5 (pick a number) ?? 7 (pick a number) A=B=C IS FALSE Moreover AND, OR, and NOT can be used to manipulate numerical values. These operations are based on binary numbers with 1 and 0 representing TRUE and FALSE respectively.
Examples: 35 INPUT AMOUNT 140 INPUT “WHAT IS YOUR NAME”;NAME$ LET Line # LET variable = variable expression The variable expression is calculated and the result is stored under the variable. The word LET is optional. Examples: 40 LET SUM=A+B+C 25 LET AMOUNT=PRICE-DISCOUNT LIST LIST (optional line number) LIST is used to display the active program. If the optional line number is omitted, the program will be displayed from the first line-on.
NEW NEW erases all program lines from the active program area. PRINT Line # PRINT expression and/or character string The PRINT statement is used to produce output on the display panel. The PRINT command will print one or several items - either expressions or strings. Each item in the list should be separated by a comma or a semicolon.
RESTORE If you want to use the same data later on in the program, you can do so by using the RESTORE statement. Example: 10 DATA 1,3,8,9 20 READ A,B,D 30 RESTORE 40 READ X,Y 50 PRINT A;B;D 60 PRINT X;Y 70 END RUN 1 3 8 1 3 The RESTORE command makes subsequent READ statements get their values from the start of the first DATA statement. Example: 10 REM FIND AVERAGE 20 DATA 0.125,3,0.6,7 30 DATA 23,9.3,25.
REM Line # REM text REM is used to add comments in your program which are ignored when the program is RUN. Example: 10 REM**GUESSING GAME** 20 REM TEST OF SORTING RUN RUN tells the computer to begin to perform your program beginning with the lowest statement number. STOP ... Line # CONT STOP CONT The STOP command halts the RUNNING of a program at that line. This is helpful for debugging. To CONTINUE at the next line after the STOP command, type CONT directly without a line number.
ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS 10 PRINT “Rock, Paper, Scissors” 20 PRINT “Type in P, R, S” 30 INPUT “and see if you win.
LIFE 10 PRINT “If an average life” 20 PRINT “span is 70 years” 30 PRINT “Then how many” 40 PRINT “generations would have” 50 PRINT “lived in 2000 years?” 60 INPUT “Enter a guess.”;GUESS 70 AMOUNT = INT (2000/70) 80 DIFF = ABS (AMOUNT-GUESS) 90 PRINT “The answer was ” ;AMOUNT 100 PRINT “You were ”; DIFF 110 PRINT “generations off.
THE FORTUNE TELLER 10 DIM N$(5) 20 PRINT “The Fortune Teller” 30 INPUT “Are you a boy or a girl” ;S$ 40 INPUT “Pick a number between 2-5”; NUMBER 50 FOR COUNT = 1 TO NUMBER 60 IF S$ = “boy” OR S$=“BOY” THEN 70 ELSE 90 70 INPUT “Enter a girl’s name”; N$ (COUNT) 80 NEXT 85 GOTO 110 90 INPUT “Enter a boy’s name”; N$ (COUNT) 100 NEXT COUNT 110 Y= INT (RND (NUMBER)) 120 TG$ = N$ (Y) 130 PRINT “The person of your” 140 PRINT “dreams is ” ; TG$ RUN 68
LEARN SCHEDULE 10 DIM WEEK$(6) 20 DIM EVENT$(6) 30 DATA “SUNDAY”,“PLAY TIME” 40 DATA “MONDAY”,“LEARN ECOLOGY” 50 DATA “TUESDAY”,“LEARN ENGLISH” 60 DATA “WEDNESDAY”,“LEARN MUSIC” 70 DATA “THURSDAY”,“LEARN HISTORY” 80 DATA “FRIDAY”,“LEARN GEOGRAPHY” 90 DATA “SATURDAY”,“PLAY FOOTBALL” 100 REM(*)LIST(*) 110 FOR W=0 TO 6 120 READ WEEK$(W) 130 READ EVENT$(W) 140 PRINT WEEK$(W),EVENT$(W) 150 NEXT W 999 END RUN 69
MAD LIB’S 10 REM * MAD LIB’S * 20 PRINT “Mad Lib’s” 30 INPUT “Adjective”; A1$ 40 INPUT “Verb”; V$ 50 INPUT “Adverb”; A2$ 60 PRINT “Once upon a time” 70 PRINT “there was a ”; A1$ 80 PRINT “dog that decided to” 90 PRINT V$; “ ”; A2$;“ down the” 100 PRINT “hill to fetch its” 110 PRINT “bone.” 120 END SECRET NUMBER 0 REM **Secret Number** 10 NO = RND(100) 20 PRINT “Hi! I’ve got a secret number” 30 PRINT “between 1 and 100.
80 GOTO 40 100 PRINT "No! The secret number is smaller." 110 GOTO 40 200 PRINT "Yes! The number is "; NO;".
TWINLKE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR 10 REM Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 20 DATA 62,62,19,19,10,10,19,30,30,36,36 30 DATA 50,50,62,19,19,30,30,36,36,50 40 DATA 19,19,30,30,36,36,50,62,62,19,19 50 DATA 10,10,19,30,30,36,36,50,50,62 60 FOR I=1 TO 42 70 READ F 80 SOUND F,20 90 NEXT I 100 END RUN THE MUSIC NOTE VALUE TABLE High Octave Low Octave Do Re Mi Fa So La Te Do 62 50 36 30 19 10 03 0 126 114 100 94 83 74 67 64 190 178 164 158 147 138 131 128 254 242 232 22
THE ASCII CODE TABLE Decimal Value Printable Character Decimal Value Printable Character Decimal Value Printable Character 32 (Space) 64 @ 96 ‘ (Accent) 33 ! 65 A 97 a 34 “ 66 B 98 b 35 # 67 C 99 c 36 $ 68 D 100 d 37 % 69 E 101 e 38 & 70 F 102 f 39 ‘ (Apostrophe) 71 G 103 g 40 ( 72 H 104 h 41 ) 73 I 105 i 42 * 74 J 106 j 43 + 75 K 107 k 44 , 76 L 108 l 45 - 77 M 109 m 46 .
THE ERROR MESSAGES CANNOT CONTINUE An attempt is made to continue a program that: 1. Has halted due to an error. 2. Has been modified during a break in execution, or 3. Does not exist. DIVISION BY ZERO A division by zero is encountered in an expression, or the operation of involution results in zero being raised to a negative power. EXTRA IGNORED More than one parameter is entered to ‘INPUT’ command. ILLEGAL DIRECT A statement that is illegal in direct mode command.
OUT OF STRING SPACE String variables have caused BASIC to exceed the amount of free memory remaining. OVERFLOW The result of a calculation is too large to be represented in the number format. If underflow occurs, the result is zero and execution continues without an error. REDIMENSIONED ARRAY Two DIM statements are given for the same array, or a DIM statement is given for an array after the default dimension of 10 has been established for that array.
CHAPTER 8: CALCULATOR The Calculator function turns the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS unit into a calculator with a 14-digit memory. The number keys and the 19 specially marked keys in the second and third rows of the keyboard are used in the Calculator activity. To clear the screen, use the key at the top right of the keyboard.
Input Display 34 - 78 M=146 34-78 =-44 M=102 34-78_ = M=102 _ 23 - 6 + 9 M=102 23-6+9 =26 M=76 23-6+9_ = ADVANCED FUNCTIONS The Calculator has special function keys located on the second and third rows of the keyboard. Always press the function key first when using it in a problem and then enter the numbers it is to operate on. Aim Operation Square root of a number 9 Display sqrt 9 = 3 Square of a number 3 sqr 3 = 9 The constant e to the power of the entered number. 2 exp 2 = 7.
TRIGONOMETRY FUNCTIONS All the trigonometric functions can take two forms of input-radians and degrees. If you just type in a number, the Calculator assumes the number is in radians. To enter a number in degrees, press the degree sign Function SINE after inputting the number. Operation Display 60 sin 60 = -0.30481 SINE 60 sin 60° = 0.866025 COSINE 60 cos 60 = -0.952413 COSINE 60 cos 60° = 0.5 TANGENT 60 tan 60 = 0.32004 TANGENT 60 tan 60° = 1.73205 ARC TANGENT 60 atn 60 = 1.
CHAPTER 9: TIME LIMITS Categories Activities Timing Code Word Games All Word Games (except Word Puzzles) Word Puzzles 1 2 Mathematics All Math Games 1 Trivia All Trivia Games 1 Games Spy Trap Rocket Fuel 3 None Computer Skills All Computer Skills None TIMING CODE 1. In the one player mode, the answer must be input within 60 seconds. In two player mode, the player has 10 seconds to press their player button to answer first. When it is your turn, you have only 30 seconds to answer. 2.
SCORING CODE POINTS 1. One Player Mode 5 Questions per round Correct answer on 1st try 20 Correct answer on 2nd try 15 Correct answer on 3rd try 10 Two Players Mode 10 Questions per round Starting Score 100 Correct answer 10 Wrong answer -10 2. Missing words per puzzle 10 Correct answer on 1st try 20 Correct answer on 2nd try 15 Correct answer on 3rd try 10 3. A spy is caught 1 Every four spies caught 4 Every spy who gets away -2 4.
CHAPTER 11: POWER LINK If you have purchased our VTECH POWER LINK™, you can connect the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS unit to an IBM 386 or higher compatible personal computer. This feature allows you to save and load files to your personal computer. The VTECH POWER LINK™ is sold separately at your local retailer or you may order it directly from our Consumer Services Department at 1-800-521-2010 in the U.S. or 1-800-267-7377 in Canada.
Save File After selecting this option, you can choose to save a Word Processor file or save a BASIC program. The unit will ask you to save a TXT file or BASIC program, then press the Enter key to select option. Next, you will be prompted to input the filename. Do not use spaces as characters, and please remember you have up to 8 characters. The data will now be saved on your personal computer. Load File After selecting this option, you can view a list of files in the personal computer on the PC monitor.
CHAPTER 12: HOW TO USE AN EXPANSION CARTRIDGE There is an entire library of optional expansion cartridges available for the PRECOMPUTER POWER PAD™ PLUS unit. To use a cartridge, follow these steps: 1. Make sure the unit is OFF. 2. Insert a cartridge into the slot located on the left-hand side of the unit. 3. Turn the unit ON. 4. Press key on the Membrane Activity Selector and the cartridge activity will be accessed.
CHAPTER 13: CARE AND MAINTENANCE 1. Keep the unit clean by wiping it with a slightly damp cloth. 2. Keep the unit out of direct sunlight and away from heat. 3. Remove the batteries when the unit is not in use for extended periods of time. 4. Do not drop the unit on hard surfaces or try to dismantle the unit. 5. Unplug the AC adaptor when the unit is not in use. 6. Do not expose the unit to moisture or water. 7.
