Electrist for Palm OS
Operators Manual

Download     Purchase

• Interface
• Calculators:
Ohm's Law/Watt's Law - Resistor Value - Series/Parallel R/L/C - Unknown Value - Voltage/Current Dividers - Reactance - Impedance - Resonance - Sine Conversions - Decibels - VSWR - Delta/Wye(Delta/Star) - Time Constant - Conductor Size Selection - Conductor Voltage Drop
• Other:
Circuits - Preferences - Clipboard Options - About/Registration - Download Trial/Purchase

---

Installing Electrist
   The application file for Electrist simply needs to be installed on your Palm OS device. It does not matter if this is by HotSync, beaming, external storage, or any other means.    

    Electrist will run in a trial state for 10 uses, after which it will require you to register. While unregistered some functions are disabled.


User Interface

Silk-Keys & Buttons

• Silk-Keys
• Find: Function selected in Preferences


• Buttons:
• Up Scroll Button: Function selected in Preferences
• Down Scroll Button: Function selected in Preferences
• Hard Keys/Application Buttons: Function selected in Preferences

Menus
   Menu Items common to all calculator forms are:

• Edit
• Copy shortcut C: Copies the full (unscaled) value of the selected field to the Clipboard
• Paste shortcut P: Pastes the Clipboard value to the selected field
• Clipboard Options: Displays a form allowing access to the Clipboard and associated functions
• Invert shortcut I: Inverts the value of the selected field (It becomes its reciprocal)


• Options

• Switch Calc: Opens a form to select a different calculator
• Prev Calc: Returns to the last calculator used
• Circuits: Opens a form to select and manage circuit databases
• Preferences: Opens a form to map calculators and functions to hard keys as well as other app-wide prefs
• Notes: Opens a form to write notes associated with the current circuit database
• Magnetist: Switches to the Magnetist application (if installed on the Palm)
• Motorizer: Switches to the Motorizer application (if installed on the Palm)
• About/Register: Displays version, copyright, and registration information.

Scaling Values
   The Scale Pop-Up Menu is designed to make manipulating very large and very small numbers more manageable. Tapping these menus will display ranges from pico- (p) to Tera- (T).


    As an example: there are two ways you could enter a value of 1500 into a field: one is to simply enter "1500". Another is to enter "1.5", tap the Scale Pop-Up Menu to its right, then tap the "k" (for kilo-).

    Whenever a formula is calculated all the fields on the form are automatically scaled, so even if you entered the value as "1500" it will be displayed as "1.5k" after processing (unless you have locked the scale).

    As another example: To enter the number "1,000,000,000,000" just write "1" into any field and select "T" (for 'Tera-')



Locking Scale
   Most (almost all) scalable fields in Electrist will also include a lock to the right. This is used to force the value into a particular range such as microfarads or millihenries - it will no longer automatically scale.


    To use the scale-lock simply tap the lock icon and select the range (pico- to Tera-) that you would like the field to display in.

    Simply tap the lock icon again to unlock it.

    Be aware that if the value for a locked field varies too high or too low it may become unreadable: In a field locked into the 'Unity' range the value 0.00001 will display "0.0000" (with Preferences set to display 4 decimal places)


Shortcut Conventions
   In addition to the Palm OS standard Clipboard shortcuts for Copy ("C") and Paste ("P") Electrist uses its own set of conventions where-ever possible.

    In a calculator form that allows switching between the display of multiple quantities (such as Inductance and Capacitance) the shortcut to switch the display will be the abbreviation for the target quantity. (Inductance is measured in Henries so the shortcut is "H", Capacitance measured in Farads has the shortcut "F")


Data Input
   Entering values into the fields in Electrist is almost identical to entering data into any other Palm OS application: Tap the field you wish to write to and write the graffiti on the silkscreen pad. However, Electrist has some additional features to help make data entry and manipulation easier.

   Some additional notes on data entry in Electrist:

• To copy the value in a field it is not necessary to highlight it. Tap once in the field and copy. The entire value is copied regardless of how much, if any, is highlighted or if the value is scaled.
  
  In a field displaying "1.6 uW" by using the shortcut 'C' to copy you have placed the value "0.0000016" into the clipboard. It is now available to paste to any field in Electrist, as well as any application on your Palm - such as 'Memo' or your favorite scientific calculator.
   
• Most fields in Electrist are also limited to 6-digit numeric input only
   
• While Electrist will calculate ANY value, user input and Clipboard storage is limited to 1,000,000,000,000 (1 Tera-)
   

Misc
   The last calculator used is always displayed when Electrist is first opened. Use the 'Switch Calc' Menu (or your Palms buttons if you have set this up in Preferences) to open other calculator forms.