MANUAL

Table of contents

The BridgeScorer System (flow chart) .......................30

Scoring with BridgeScorers.........................................31

Overview ................................................................31

Starting a normal pair game ....................................32

Without movement ..................................................32

Player names............................................................32

Multi Session Events ...............................................33

Swiss Pairs...............................................................33

Running a session ....................................................33

Changing the movement..........................................34

BridgeScorer Control (monitoring software) ..............37

Help/Support............................................................37

Game Settings..........................................................37

BSC Main Interface .................................................40

The File Menue........................................................42

The Players’ Screens....................................................44

The TD’s Screens in the Scorer...............................44

How to avoid and solve problems...............................47

PC shut down...........................................................47

No Communication..................................................47

Scorer does not upload results.................................47

“Table already taken” ..............................................48

Scorer has blocked...................................................48

Accidental start of new game in Scorer ..................49

Long games..............................................................49

Everything messed up..............................................49

Running Scorers with ACBL-score.............................50

Base Station Extension ................................................54

Networking ..................................................................55

BridgeScorer firmware upgrade ..................................57

1. THE BRIDGESCORER SYSTEM

Dealing

If you have a Duplimate (dealing machine) you should first of all duplicate the boards.

Hand records

Web results etc.

1. Wireless scoring requires a scoring program. You should start the scoring program from BOS (Bridge Organization Software), if at all possible. This is so because the BOS will then link data between all associated programs automatically.

B

Bridge

Organization

Software

(BOS)

1

Scoring program

2

Score database

3

BSC software

4

Base station

5

2. The scoring program creates a database.

3. The scoring program starts the

BridgeScorer Control (“BSC”).

4. BridgeScorer Control activates a Base station that establishes the radio link with the tabletop units, the Scorers.

5. The results will be uploaded from the

Scorers and the feedback downloaded

(unless feedback is disabled by the TD in the

BSC Game Settings).

6. Adjustment because of fouled boards, rulings etc. can be done anytime in the scoring program.

Scorer Scorer Scorer Scorer Scorer Scorer Scorer Scorer Scorer Scorer

Technical note

The following links are established when you run the

BridgeScorer System.

Scoring program <—> database (file name)

Database <—> BSC (file name)

BSC <—> Scorer (hardware no. and table no.)

Scorers <—> Player (ID no. and PIN code)

Note that the Scorers are NOT like wireless keyboards, but more like modern printers that indepently complete their tasks. This is, generally speaking, an advantage but there are also certain dangers, cf. the headline

Avoiding problems

.

Upgrade/info

The latest versions of soft- and firmware can be found via www.bridge-scorer.com’ s tab

Download.

You can alternatively subscribe on new, complete, setup packages by sending a request to [email protected]

.

30

2. SCORING WITH BRIDGESCORERS

Overview

We recommend that you use BOS to control that deals and scores are matched correctly. If you follow our advice, i.e. if you have the deals that you are about to play in the BOS, you should start your preferred scoring software from BOS.

The director starts by selecting a suitable movement in the scoring program at the start of the session (e.g. a 9 table Skip Mitchell with one pair missing). When

Bridge Scorer

is launched by the scoring program, the movement data (i.e.

the boards, pair numbers, tables etc) is passed on to another program (BSC), which in turn forwards the data to the Scorers.

So, bear in mind that you have

two

separate programs running on the PC when you use

BridgeScorers: i. A Scoring program (

SP

) that sends movement data to, and receives names and results data from, the Scorers via the BSC software. We will show how the BridgeScorers are run off the

PairsScorer SP. The same principles apply with other scoring programs.

ii. A

Bridge Scorer Control

software (

BSC

) that transfers data to/from the Scorers.

The SP and the BSC exchange data via a database (with the extension

BWS

). The database holds the session’s basic data, specifically:

• the movement

• the player IDs

• the results

The SP extracts the results from the database and calculates the scores. In summary: The Scorers (the tabletop units) replace guide cards and score cards (travellers); and the tedious task for the TD to enter the results via the keyboard on the PC afterwards.

31

Starting a normal pair game

i. If you start the SP without the BOS you have to make sure that you select the right event in the SP. Our advice is that you use the same event ID as for the deals that are going to be played. You can disregard this point if you start the SP from the BOS as the matching of results with deals will then happen automatically. ii. S

ELECT

[a suitable]

MOVEMENT

, e.g. a 9 table Mitchell for the 17 pairs in the example.

iii. Select (click) the B

RIDGE

U

NIT

S

CORER option in the SP and iv. C

REATE

D

ATABASE v.

LAUNCH

BCS, which tells BSC to start reading the data base.

vi. Confirm BSC’s

GAME SETTINGS vii. click the S

TART button in BSC. Then tell the players to log in on their Scorers. (You should put a Scorer on table #9 if the players are to register at the tables and/or EW is to confirm the results with

PIN code.) viii. S

TART

R

ECEIVING to poll the results when you want to score.

Note

that you should use the

READ ALL RESULTS button only in emergency.

This is so because the effect of

READ ALL RESULTS is that any previously made amendments (changed results in the SP) will be lost (overwritten by the results that you have in BSC).

WITHOUT MOVEMENT

You can run the Scorers without any movement downloaded from the Scoring program. This is to cope with the cases that there is no regular movement available. (“Irregular movement” is when boards and/or pairs move in an irregular way.) See the inbuilt Help for detailed advise on how to set up a game without predetermined movement.

PLAYER NAMES

The recommended procedure is to make all possible (also guests’) names available for the Scorers before start as that makes it possible for the players to register at the tables with instant validation (automatically) of the entries. You can use

IMPORT PLAYER NAMES

(under

FILE

) if your SP does not make the names available to the Scorers before start (or you do not want to keep all possible names in your scoring program’s player database).c.f. the inbuilt Help for details.

32

Multi Session Events

When a tournament consists of a series of sessions you have a choice between: i. Treating each session as a separate event and then combine the scores from the various sessions in the

Scoring program.

ii. Creating a multi session event before (first) start in the SP and then create a database. (The ill. shows this method.)

Combine

Sessions

The difference is that the overall ranking will be shown at the tables in the latter case, while the ranking will be for the current session (only) in the first mentioned scenario. So, why not choose the latter solution, you may ask. Well, you need to know what you are doing in the SP as pair no. 1 might not consist of the same people in session 1 and 2. i.e. you have to make sure that the M

ULTISESSION

L

INKS are correctly set. See further your Scoring program’s manual for details.

Swiss (Swiss PairsScorer)

In a Swiss event you have to U

PDATE

D

ATABASE after each new

Assignment

. You can download a detailed description via www.Bridge-scorer.com.

When the Swiss PairsScorer is about to perform an update it presents a message:

Last Update was from

Round x. Confirm that you want to update the movement from Round y onwards.

This is to preempt disaster.

You can manually OVERWRITE the L

AST

A

SSIGNED

R

OUND textbox if necessary. But please note that

U

PDATE

D

ATABASE is not just a minor modification of data. This command actually overwrites any previously entered results from the set round and onwards. So, you need to handle the possibility to overwrite results with greatest care. The command F

ORCED START and R

EPLACE

U

NIT

, that can save the day when you find yourself in an unwanted situation, must also be handled with care.

Running a session

RESUME

The SP and the BSC should (both) remain running during the session. You can resume by

CLICKING THE LAUNCH

BCS button if you have (accidentally) closed the BSC.

RESTART

ALL data will be lost, including the results entered at the tables when you R

ESTART

. Or, the same thing in other words: Use the Restart option (only) when you want to restart the game from scratch, or are prepared to re-enter the results on played boards. An alternative to the SP’s

R

ESTART button is to start from scratch (in the BOS) with a new event.

33

Changing the movement

If you have started a session, but the players have not yet started to play, then you can R

ESTART as described above. If the players have registered at their tables and you need to give them other pair numbers, then you should consider to start a new event in BOS (as the names will otherwise be wrong).

We will, and you should, separate the two types of changes: i. Amendment of a movement ii. Replacing a movement with another.

It is the latter case that often create problems, not only with the names, why it must be handled with great care. But also simple amendments can cause headache with certain SP, so you should run some desktop tests to understand how it will work with you SP.

AMENDMENTS

By amendments we mean that the pairs keep their numbers.

Adding a pair

You can easily add an 18th pair during the 1st round in our example (with 17 pairs) if you followed our advice and started with a Scorer on the sit out table. That is to say, if you did start in exactly the same way as if you would have had 18 pairs [from start]. When two more players arrive, you simp-ly tell them to take the seats of the phantom pair at the sit out table. If there isn’t time for the late arrivals to play all boards, you tell them to enter “skip board” (crossed over board icon) when they come to the deals that they shall skip.

If you have started a movement for 18 pairs and indicated “missing pair” in the scoring program, you have to modify the movement (use the R

ETURN button to reach the M

OVEMENT section) and then perform an U

PDATE

D

ATABASE procedure, c.f. below and what we write about the subject in the BridgeScorer Control section.

You can add

Rover pairs

in a similar fashion.

Update database

You can use the U

PDATE

D

ATABASE option when play has started and you do not want to restart from scratch.The database must be updated AFTER you have changed the movement in the SP. This is so because a change of movement data is a three step process: i. Change of the movement settings in the SP (take Return to reach the Movement button).

ii. U

PDATE

D

ATABASE iii. Force the Scorers to (re)

START WITH NEW MOVEMENT

.

Adding a table

You can append a rover, or appendix, table in the aforementioned way if you get more players than you expected when you chosed movement.

REPLACING THE MOVEMENT

The dilemma is:

• That slow players should continue to play according to the old movement until they reach the point of change.

• That the faster players should not play any boards according to the old movement after the point of change.

The safest way to cope with this dilemma is to bring all Scorers to the Start screen before play is restarted with the new movement. (The same principle is used in Swiss Pairs.)

So, FIRST of all change the movement; then U

PDATE

D

ATABASE in the SP (i.- ii. above). This will have the effect that the question

Are you sure you want to bypass the start wth new movement button

appears on the screen. The safe answer is “No” which will make all movement data from the update

mand start with the new movement.)

The inbuilt Help gives examples when you can answer “Yes” and bypass the

Start with new movement

, but here we describe what happens when you opt for (the safe) “No” alternative.

When all results up to the update point have been received by BSC, i.e. when all cells in the BSC grid have become green, you should check that the results have been imported into the SP before you change anything. The steps that you should perform are (in summary):

1. Click S

TART RECEIVING

[the results] button in the SP

!

2. P

RINT REPORT of the results in case you would mess up things

3. S

ELECT

(change to) a suitable

MOVEMENT

4. Tick R

ETAIN RESULTS and OK the new movement

5. Go back to B

RIDGE

U

NIT

S

CORER

(in the scoring program)

6. Set the correct value for U

PDATE FROM ROUND

(normally “2”)

7. Click U

PDATE DATABASE in SP

8. Command L

OAD MOVEMENT

(under F

ILE in BSC). The Tbl column should now become all blue.

9. Click S

TART WITH NEW MOVEMENT button that appears when the grid has become ALL green, (c.f. Note 3 below).

Note 1

: R

ETAIN RESULTS must be ticked in the SP (see illustration above) when you set the new movement, or you will find yourself in the same situation as after a

RESTART

.

Note 2

: U

PDATE FROM ROUND

= 1 leads to a restart from scratch with the important difference that the players do not have to (again) enter their member numbers or PIN codes.

U

PDATE FROM ROUND

2 means that all data belonging to round 2 AND ONWARDS will be overwritten. That is to say, only the results in round 1 will be kept while any previously entered data (including results) for round 2 and onwards will be lost. (U

PDATE FROM ROUND

0 = no update whatsoever.)

Note 3

: You should tell the players to stop play immediately if the update must include the ongoing round

(this should be avoided, if at all possible). When you have updated the database with the new movement, you simply tell the players to report all boards as skipped (crossed over board icon) until they reach the

START position in their Scorer.

If a table shows blue in the table column, while all Round columns (belonging to that table) are green, the Scorer has passed the update point. You can force that Scorer to the Start screen by commanding

RECOVER

(in the Scorer’s hidden menu, or ask the players to skip boards until they reach the Start screen.

Anyhow, please make sure that all Scorers have come to the Start screen BEFORE you start with the new movement.

In summary: You can safely perform S

TART WITH NEW MOVEMENT

• when the grid is all green (with the possible exception of tables that have not logged in) and

• all Scorers are in the START position

Please remind the players to check their pair nos. extra carefully after a restart as they might have to change seats before they start playing.

Note 4

: The PIN codes should be disabled if the pairs are renumbered. And the feedback (traveller/ frequencies and ranking) given at the tables might be wrong (depending on how your SP copes with the case). We therefore suggest that you disable all feedback options in the G

AME SETTINGS if the feedback would not be correct after the change.

Note 5

: If you have to renumber the pairs (e.g. because a disabled pair refuses to become a moving pair) you need to handle the consequences in the scoring software. And you should disable the options that are not absolutely needed for the continuation when you have renumbered the pairs to preempt that you will come across situations that are difficult to cope with.

We recommend that you test (with e.g. a 3 table Mitchell) and update that from round 3, to make sure that you get the scoring right before you have a real case in front of you.

Note 6

: If a Scorer has passed the update point it will show the movement data according to the old move-

played. That is to say: Please make sure that all Scorers display the S

TART screen BEFORE you click the

S

TART WITH NEW

MOVEMENT button.

C H A N G I N G

RESULTS & RUL-

INGS

The players can correct incorrect entries until the moment when EW has

(re)confirmed the result. We recommend that the board

Deals

The deal will be shown to the right if BOS is running an event containing deals, c.f.

the inbuilt Help.

is reported as “skip board” (crossed over board icon) if the players do not agree on a result and the

Rulings

You can enter a ruling instead of a result in the grid, but please check that your scoring software understands BridgeScorer’s annotations, c.f. the inbuilt Help for

TD is not prepared to make an instant ruldetailed info about this.

ing in the case. That is to say, the players should continue to play while the TD thinks about how to rule.

You can make it possible for the players to review the results and change them at the end of the round

(see

GAME SETTINGS

). This alternative is primarily intended for team matches when the two pairs that have met should make sure that their entries are correct before they gather with their team mates for comparison.

Changes can also be made anytime via Results in the Scorer’s Hidden menu in the Scorer’s BSC, c.f.

the headline

Scorer’s screen interface

.

36

3. BRIDGESCORER CONTROL

3.1 HELP/SUPPORT

If you have a question related to the BSC, click the ?-mark icon in the dialog that you have problems with. Please use the search function (requires Internet) or browse the Index (works off line) that you find at the bottom of each Help page if the ?-mark does not lead you right.

You can alternatively access the entire Help file via the Help menu (or

F11). Please email [email protected] if the inbuilt help (and this manual) doesn’t give you any helpful advice.

Note

that you can switch between on/offline help in the P

REFERENCES dialog.

Note

that questions related to the scoring (i.e. other questions than the transmission of data between the tables and the control software) are best answered by your scoring software’s support people.

In this document we try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions.

3.2 GAME SETTINGS

You should tick all desired alternatives BEFORE start. This is so because it is much easier to reduce the number of actions that the players shall perform during play than the other way around.

And you should, to avoid ticking the same box repeatedly, take the time to set the

DEFAULT GAME SETTINGS that you find in the S

YSTEM menu.

The only difference between

GAME SETTINGS and

DEFAULT GAME SETTINGS is that the latter has a tickbox that permits you to send some of the settings from the scoring software.

37

Movement/Individual

The Scorers will display four player numbers [instead of two pairs] when this option is ticked.

Show go to info

The Scorers will tell the players where to play in the next round when this box is ticked.

TD PIN

The TD PIN is the code required when you want to reach the Scorer’s hidden menu. (Hold the ON button pressed when the Scorer is ON and the PIN entry screen is displayed.)

PIN codes

The players are prompted to select a PIN code at start. The PIN code is later used when EW confirms the results. (EW’s confirmation of the result will be without PIN when this box is not ticked.)

Player ID

This option is recommended when the players have a unique number, typically a member no., of some sort. The function is that the number that a player enters is automatically linked to the players name. See

IMPORT NAMES under the headline

THE MENUES below for advice on how to show names at the tables.

Lead

L

EAD means that the players first lead can be entered at the table.

Deal

D

EAL means that the players are prompted to enter the deal (that they have dealt at the table) in the first round so that the deal can be shown on other Scorers and hand records be distributed afterwords. Note that DupSoft contains an option (called R

EAD

) that makes the Duplimate/HandyDup read hand dealt deals into the system.

Bidding and Play

The Scorers offers a possibility to enter the entire bidding and the entire play of the cards. This is typically done by a 5th person on a separate Scorer. That is to say, this option is used instead of the standard procedure.

Rotate compass directions

Rotated compass directions means that the screen will show the situation at the table from North’s perspective. i.e. with West to the left and East to the right.

Points to declarer

Undertricks will always show as negative points when this alternative is ticked. (Otherwise the points will be from NS perspective.)

Reconfirmation:

The (extra) EW confirmation screen can be shown or suppressed.

Total number of tricks

This is what it says: 4 hearts with an overtrick is reported as 11 tricks. If declarer went down 2, 8 tricks are entered. This option is recommended when you have a field of players coming from different cultures.

+ / - / = (Eur standard)

The result is related to the contract. 4 hearts with an overtrick is reported (at the table) as 1 overtrick, while 4 hearts down two is reported as 2 undertricks.

Tricks made/minus tricks (US std)

4 hearts with an overtrick is reported as 5 tricks. 4 hearts down two is reported as 2 undertricks.

38

MP

The feedback at the tables will be based on matchpoints. Note that this will be the case regardless of how you score the results in the scoring program.

IMP

The feedback at the tables will be based on IMPs [instead of matchpoints]. The feedback is presented as percentages, c.f. the inbuilt help for details.

Across the field

The frequencies and ranking feedback given at the tables includes all sections when this box is ticked.

(The travellers will only show the results from the own section regardless of this setting).

GIVE FEEDBACK

Tick this box if you want to give the players an idea of how they are doing. Note that the accuracy of the percentages is dependent on how many results that have been reported on the board. The players should be informed that their percentage and ranking might change when more results are reported and that rulings (other than changed results) are not considered.

Traveller/frequencies

This (default) option implies that the results are presented in traveller form so long as there are few results. The feedback will automatically switch to frequency form when there are more results on the board.

Traveller

The players will see what they would have seen if a paper traveller would have followed the board; plus a provisional percentage if there are comparisons.

Frequencies

The Scorers show the frequency of each result (in points) and a percentage based on matchpoints or IMPs

(depending on that setting).

Show ranking

The ranking is based on the instant scoring made by BSC. That is to say, adjustments made in the scoring program are not considered. The list will become very long when there is a big field, in which case you should consider to tick the O

NLY TOP

10 option.

Show names

There is no need to untick this option if names are not used in your system. The point is that you can untick this option to avoid the confusion that follows when faulty names are shown at the tables.

Show round summary

The players will see a summary of their results at the end of the round when this option is ticked. If you tick

PERMIT PLAYERS TO CHANGE RESULTS

, it will also be possible for them to change their results by clicking on a result.

Recap at the end

Personal recaps are made available at the end of the session when this box is ticked.

Web publish

“Web publish automatically” implies that the results will be immediately available on the Internet when you close BSC.

Save

S

AVE saves the settings and starts (resets) the base station.

39

Cancel

C

ANCEL starts (resets) the base station with the settings that were displayed when BSC was launched.

That is to say, any changes that you have made will be disregarded.

3.3 BSC MAIN INTERFACE

3.3.1 Board/player view

The boards to be played in each round are shown in the BSC matrix by default. BSC can alternatively show what pair nos. that are playing each other.

3.3.2 Start/Stop

It isn’t possible to use the Scorers until you have clicked the S

TART button and the text in the button has changed to S

TOP

. Note that “Stop” indicates that the server is running

(i.e. that it can be stopped by a click on the red S

TOP button.)

If you click S

TOP

(once the game has been started) it does NOT stop the play — it only stops the communication with the Scorers. The Scorers will continue to run off line. So, you will have to TELL the players if you want them to stop play.

3.3.3 Red (blue) table

You should be alarmed if not all tables (the column to the far left) turns green shortly after start as it means that the players sitting at the red marked table no. have not logged in their

Scorer.

Blue in the table column indicates that the table has not yet got changed settings and/or a changed (updated) movement.

3.3.4 Non green rounds

You need not to be too alarmed if a table’s row does not become all green during the session. But when the session is finished all rows MUST be green (or some results will not be considered by the scoring software). The usual remedy is to bring the Scorer that appears red in the matrix closer to the Base

Station, and initiate upload of the results from there.

The worst case scenario is that the red-marked Scorer has ceased to communicate because it is broken, c.f. “How to recover”.

3.3.5 Change & annul results

Click on a cell and a yellow “tool-tip” box will appear. Then click on the line that you want to change and that line will be highlighted. Type the correct result in the highlighted area, or leave it blank if you want to annul it, c.f. the inbuilt Help (click the ? mark in the tooltip box if/when you need advice on this).

40

3.3.6 Rulings

Rulings can be entered via the tooltip box, but please check that your scoring software understands your notations before you make this to your practice c.f. what we wrote under the headline

RUNNING A SESSION and the inbuilt Help for further advice.

Note that you should change a faulty result (that you for some reason prefer to handle in the scoring program), to NP (for No Play), to prevent that it is included in the feedback given at the tables.

How to change in the grid

i. Click on the cell where you have the board result that shall be amended.

ii. Click on the line containing the incorrect entry in the tooltip box that appears.

iii.Type the correct entry in the box:

Contract, Declarer, Total number of tricks

taken,

Lead

(may be omitted) with at least one space between parameters.

Contract

can be 2-5 characters, e.g. 7NTxx; 1H; PASS; NT

Declarer

is entered as N; S; E; W (1 position)

Total number of tricks:

1-13 (i.e. 1-2 positions)

Lead

0-2 positions, e.g. H2, CA, C, or no entry at all.

It must be at least one space between the parameters, lead can be skipped, and caps (or not) does not matter.

Rulings

are described in detail in the inbuilt Help. Note that you are advised to check that your scoring program understands your way to enter rulings the first times you use this option.

3.3.7 The deals

The deals are shown automatically in the tooltip boxes (when a result is highlighted), provided that BOS is running with an event containing deals. There will be no problem if you follow our general advice to let BOS command both the dealing- and scoring software. If you have closed BOS accidently, you can close BSC and restart it when you have opened BOS with the current event.

You can import the deals into the BOS if they were not created within the BOS. Usually import can be made by a double click on the deals file BEFORE you start BOS. c.f. (the first page in) the DupSoft part of this manual for more detailed advice on this.

The link

SHOW ALL DEALS is displayed when the deals are available. It leads to Dupsoft where you can edit deals (useful if a board has become fouled), recalculate makeable tricks, etc. You can also bring up the deals in DeepFinesse and other software via BOS. c.f. the BOS manual.

41

3.4 THE FILE MENU

F

ILE can be used for import and export of data and it is also useful if/when you need to look up something. The options that are not explained below should be self explanatory.

3.4.1 Import player names

You can disregard this option if you are using ACBL-score, PairsScorer, or a scoring software that writes all possible names to the database (the .bws file).

If your scoring software does not write a complete list of names in the database at start, you can import a name list manually into BSC. Another reason to use the

IMPORT PLAYER NAMES function could be that you find it tiresome to make your scoring program write a list of names to the database each time.

The

IMPORT PLAYER NAMES function is self explanatory. You select (open) the file containing the names in a standard Windows dialog and import is automatic. BSC will tell if the source file is not in the right format. The correct format is <memberID>,<name>. MemberID can be up to 12 digits and the names can be of any length. You can set which part of the name you deem to be the most important in the

PREFER

-

ENCES

, see below.

3.4.2 Display results

D

ISPLAY RESULTS PER BOARD is useful when you want to study all results on a board. D

ISPLAY TEMPORARY

RESULTS gives a printable results summary for all boards.

3.4.3 Hand records

The Hand Records option will only show when the deals are available. See the inbuilt Help for advice on the print dialogs.

3.4.4 Display player names

This dialog is useful when the players complain that the name(s) are wrong and also when you need to look up where people should be seated.

3.4.5 Web publishing

This alternative can be used if you for some reason opt to disable “Web publish automatically” in

D

EFAULT GAME SETTINGS

.

3.4.6 Export deals

This alternative is used when the players have entered the deals at the tables. i.e.

when “Ask players for deals” is ticked in G

AME SETTINGS

.

3.5 GAME SETTINGS

Start

and

Stop

have the same effect as the S

TART

/S

TOP button, see above.

When communication has been established it shall show S

TOP

(red) and the Base station indication shall say ”OK” (green).

Settings

can be used when you need to change the Game Settings. Note that some settings cannot be chosen once the game has been started. The registration of players, i.e. the P

LAYER

ID option can for example not be activated once play has started.

42

3.6 SYSTEM

3.6.1 Communication

Channel needs to be changed:

• When there are two separate games running simultaneously

• When there is other RF equipment (e.g. WiFi) using/disturbing the channel that you have set.

Note that the channel setting in all Scorers must be set to the same.

3.6.2 Default settings

You should set what you want to appear in the Game

Settings dialog at start. See the headline G

AME

S

ETTINGS for explanation.

3.6.3 Preferences

contains the following options:

Do not show Game settings at start

means that the

G

AME SETTINGS DIALOG

(shown above) is bypassed when

BSC is launched by the scoring software.

On/offline Help

is a switch between the up to date Help found on the Internet and the local Help that you got when you installed the BOS package. You can update your local

Help by downloading the most recent help files from www.bridge-scorer.com/download/patches. The local Help folder (that you want to replace) is found in:

C:\BOS\BridgeScorer\.

Names

.

First/Mid/Last implies that the indicated part of the name will be the last to be shortened when long names are truncated to 20 characters.

Load movement

forces BSC to reload the movement, names, etc. from the database immediately. (BSC checks if there are any changes every 60 seconds.)

Upgrade firmware

starts the program that installs new firmware in the Scorers.

You will need to upgrade when BSC tells you that Scorers have too old program. c.f.

U

PGRADE OF FIRMWARE section in this manual.

Forced start

should only be used if the S

TART WITH NEW MOVEMENT button would not be displayed as it should. That is to say, the situation should be that all results (before the change of movement point) have ben transmitted to BSC.

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4. THE PLAYERS’ SCREENS

The Scorers (the tabletops) are very easy to use. But it could be a good idea to ask those who are not used to operate this type of devices to practice with the Scorer simulator found at www.bridge-scorer.com before you start your first session with wireless scoring. You may also draw the players’ attention to the stylus and that they should use their fingertips

(preferably their nails), if they do not use the stylus provided, c.f. picture to the right.

If you want to clean your Scorers, please use pure alcohol, preferably

Iso-propanol

and a soft cloth or tissue. Avoid water, strong detergents, etc.

5. THE TD’S SCREENS IN THE SCORER

5.1 HIDDEN MENU

The hidden menu can be reached by pressing the ON button for a while when the unit is active. (If the TD PIN question does not come up, try again and hold longer.)

5.2 TD PIN

You can look up the TD PIN in the BSC Game Settings dialog. If the PIN shown there does not work, reset the Scorer (reset is on the back of the Scorer; removing a battery will have the same effect) and enter TD PIN 0000. The PIN code can be changed in G

AME

S

ETTINGS temporarily and in D

EFAULT

G

AME

S

ETTINGS permanently.

5.3 SET/VIEW

What the players can set before game start (light, time out, etc), the TD can set

(change) anytime during game.

5.4 SELECT

You can select

NEW GAME or

CURRENT GAME

.

N

EW GAME shall ONLY be used when a Scorer has been left in an unfinished state and you want to force it to its

Start

position. C

URRENT GAME shall be used when you want to resume an ongoing game.

That is to say, do NOT choose “N

EW GAME

” unless you are absolutely sure that you want to leave the current game. You can use R

ECOVER if you have accidentally clicked N

EW GAME

.

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5.5 ADMIN (MENU)

The admin menu is for the TD’s private use.

5.5.1 Results & records

Results

and

Records

can be used when you want to look up what results were entered at the table.

Records

contains a timestamp, which can be useful in some cases.

Note that the results are available also when the Scorer show its S

TART screen. The results stay in the Scorer until a new game has been started in the Scorer.

Results

permits you to change results and to enter rulings. Just click on the result that you want to change. Click

REPLACE

, if that is what you want to do, and you will come to the usual results entry dialogs. The replace question that follows is shown to the right.

Click on “%-%” (instead of “Replace”) to display the rulings dialog. You can enter other rulings than the ones shown here via the Control Software’s main interface, or directly into the scoring software.

5.5.2 Set section/table

You can preset the section and table no. That is to say, instead of letting the players enter the table no. at the start of each session, they will only need to confirm that they are correctly seated. You should mark the plastic housing of the Scorer, if you have preset the table nos.

Preset table nos. are strongly advised when two clubs run games in parallel, i.e. when not all Scorers use the same channel. This is so because you will run into unnecessary problems if Scorers that are set to different channels are mixed up.

5.5.3 Recover

R

ECOVER can be used whenever you need to synchronize the Scorer and the BSC. Any not yet transferred results will be communicated at Recover. (The Scorer might tell you to bring the unit closer to the base.)

You can use the R

EPLACE function in the unlikely event that the Scorer has ceased to communicate (even though it is close to the base) but in that case you must handle any not yet communicated results manually.

Note

that the R

ECOVER function can save the day if a Scorer for some reason is out of pace with the control software. A typical example is that a Scorer has passed the update point when the movement is changed (it shows blue in Tbl column). With

R

ECOVER you force it to reload the status that the control software has for the table in question. The Scorer will hence get the lastest news from the control software. You will also find the R

ECOVER valuable when you have made the mistake to press the

N

EW GAME button, instead of C

URRENT GAME

.

5.5.4 Replace

You can use R

EPLACE if you need to replace a faulty Scorer in the middle of a game. You should first of all check that all results that have been entered on the faulty Scorer have been uploaded to the BSC. i.e. you should compare the results in the faulty Scorer with the ones that you find in the grid.

Then select R

EPLACE in ANOTHER (functional) Scorer and enter the broken Scorer’s table no. When the replacement has been completed, you can enter any missing (not yet uploaded) results into the “new”

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Scorer. When you have done that, you can let the players resume with the new Scorer.

5.5.5 Channels

There are two cases when you will need to change the channel setting: i. Separate games (e.g. two clubs share premises) ii. The radio link is disturbed by other wireless devices, e.g. a wireless LAN.

5.5.6 Install

It is easy to upgrade a Scorer with new firmware: i. Select Install ii. Connect the Scorer with the USB cable that belongs to the Base station.

iii. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Note that the USB cable must not be disconnected until the Scorer shows the Start screen!

c.f. the headline

FIRMWARE UPGRADE for further advice.

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6. HOW TO AVOID AND SOLVE PROBLEMS

Under this headline we give some general advice on how to recover when there is a problem. You will most probably have to study your scoring program’s manual as well because most problems are related to the scoring, not the transmission of data between the Scorers and the scoring program.

Note that you do not have to stop the game while you (re)start the scoring software and/or the BSC. The results will be stored in the Scorers until you have (re)started the game in BSC. So,

don’t panic

, but take your time to make sure that you get everything right before (re)starting/resuming!

6.1 PC SHUT DOWN

You have to be careful when you have restarted the PC. Remember that your goal is to restore (resume) the situation you were in when the PC was shut down. That is to say, you should NOT start a new event and/or create a new database, but let your scoring program resumee with the same event without tampering with the database.

When you have made sure that the correct, i.e. the ongoing, event has been selected in the scoring program, you can (re)launch BSC as usual.

You can use the BOS’s function

OTHER SCORING SOFTWARE if you are not sure how to restart BSC from your scoring software; click the ? mark in the dialog that appears if you need help with details.

6.2 NO COMMUNICATION

If no resuts are communicasted and no feedback is available at any table, it is either because you have clicked the S

TOP button (so that it now shows S

TART

), or the base station has ceased to function. In the latter case you need not do anything; BSC will reset the base station within seven minutes. If BSC fails to reset communication with the base station it will tell you to reconnect it.

Normally it is sufficient to unplug the USB cable until you hear/see that Windows has released the connection with

Prol.fic

... You can connect the USB cable again as soon as “Prol.fic..” has been disconnected.

Perform the following steps if communication is not established by the aforementioned remedy: i. S

TOP game (F4) in BSC.

ii. Disconnect the USB cable from the Base station until its lights go off. iii. Connect the USB cable again.

iv. S

TART game (F2) in BSC.

If this would not help, please close BSC and re-start (re-launch) the program from the SP.

6.3 A SCORER DOES NOT UPLOAD RESULTS

If a

PARTICULAR

Scorer fails to upload its results, you should first of all check if there is something disturbing the radio link; i.e.

bring the Scorer closer to the Base station.

You can consider to move the table if the Scorer communicates when brought closer to the base. We suggest, however, that you explain to the players (at the table concerned) that they will have to point their

Scorer towards the base station while transmitting, or they will have to live without feedback and names.

That is to say, the worst case scenario is that you have to bring the Scorer closer to the base station to have the results uploaded at the end of the game.

47

Note

that the base station should preferably be placed high up at the South (or West) end of the play area.

(You should avoid to put it along the North side, if possible.) c.f. the headline

BASE STATION EXTENSION

.

Fittings for mounting the base station on the wall/ceiling are supplied on request.

Wireless LANs can disturb the communication. The base station should therefore be put as far away as possible from such transmitters and it might be necessary to change the Channel.

If a Scorer would be broken, i.e. the players cannot enter any results on that unit, then you should replace it in the way described under the headline R

EPLACE

U

NIT

. (You can ask these players to use pen and paper meanwhile.)

6.4 “TABLE ALREADY TAKEN”

If a Scorer says

Table already taken

, you should do nothing until you know exactly what has happened.

Let’s say that the Scorer on table #3 shows “Table already taken”. Your first remedy should be to check how table #3 looks in BSC’s grid. If table 3 is red, you instruct the players to log in again as table three and nothing else. You can use R

ECOVER if the Scorer would display “Table taken” without any good reason.

If you would find that table #3 is green in the grid, it means that the players at another table has made the mistake to log on as table #3. Assume that you find that it is table #13 that has mistakenly logged on as table #3. Your remedy now depends on how far the players have come before you revealed their mistake. The key question is if they have reported any result(s).

We will discuss the possible cases in chronological order.

6.4.1 No result reported

You can, so long as no result has been reported from the incorrectly logged on table

(check this in the grid), ask the players at the false table (#13 in our example) to log in again with their proper table number (#13). This will release table #3 so that the players at table number 3 can log on as usual.

6.4.2 Result reported

If the players at table #13 has played, and reported, a result as table #3, then the easiest way to put things right is to ask them to (physically) move with their Scorer to table #3. The players that originally sat at table #3 will hence bring their Scorer to table #13, where they can log in [as table #13] as usual.

You must perform a number of steps if you for some reason do not want the players to trade places as described above.

i. Command N

EW GAME on the incorrectly logged on Scorer (#13 in the example).

ii. Tell the players at table #13 to log on with the correct table number.

iii. Annul (blank in BSC’s grid) the result(s) that the players at table #13 have entered as table #3.

iv. Ask the players at table #3 to log on as usual.

Note that the third step is crucial. BSC will not permit a complete log on from scratch if there are results reported from the table. You can bypass that hurdle by using the R

EPLACE function, but then you will have a number of other problems (with already registered names and results).

6.5 A SCORER HAS BLOCKED

You can, if a Scorer would block (freeze) in a certain position, use the reset function that is found on the back of the unit. (It is a small hole.) You can, alternatively, remove a battery for a movement. The Scorer will (automatically) resume from its last saved position. You can force the Scorer to F

ACTORY DEFAULT mode as described in the F

IRMWARE UPGRADE section.

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6.6 ACCIDENTAL START OF NEW GAME (IN THE SCORER)

You can use R

ECOVER if you have (accidentally) pressed

NEW GAME instead of C

URRENT GAME

. Note that the last entry (before you went to the Hidden menu) might be lost in which case you have to ask the players to enter the last result again.

6.7 LONG GAMES

Some type of games (e.g. Barometers and Swiss) run over several days even though they are (technically) only one long session with pauses between rounds. If you keep everything intact between rounds it will be as easy as changing rounds in a normal club game. But you have to watch out if you for some reason cannot keep everything intact from one day to the other. This is so because you will find yourself in trouble if you break up the links that were established at the [first] start of the game, c,f, the headline T

HE

B

RIDGE

S

CORER

S

YSTEM

.

Changing the PC

You are advised to export the event to the new PC if you want to change PC between sessions. See further the BOS manual (or Help) for advice on how to do this. You should also make sure that all files that the scoring software uses for the event are intact after the transfer.

You must start a completely new event containing the remaining rounds if you do not follow our aforementioned advice. This is so because the links that BSC established with the Scorers are in the old (now inaccessible) database. The system cannot work without links and new links can only be established before the first round of a new event...

Changing the Scorers

Our advise is that you mark the Scorers (physically i.e. on the plastic housing) when you have a game the

Scorers need to be stored away during the break. By doing so it will be easier to see which table each

Scorer is associated with.

6.8 EVERYTHING MESSED UP

If you have messed up everything, i.e. you have overwritten/erased all data that have been uploaded from the tables, you have a choice between: i. Let the game go on as if nothing had happened.

ii. Force all Scorers to start a new game (via the TD menu) with the remaining rounds.

i. Game goes on

When play has finished you can treat the Scorers as a score cards. That is to say, you use the R

ESULTS option in the Scorer’s H

IDDEN MENU to extract the results and enter them manually into the scoring program (if you do not find a method to upload them automatically).

ii. Start a new event

• Stop play when everybody has finished the ongoing round.

• Extract the results that have been played so far via the R

ESULTS option.

• Select N

EW GAME in all Scorers.

• Create a new database containing the remaining rounds.

• Start BSC as if it had been a new game.

• Merge the results from the two events (the two databases) in the scoring program.

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Running Scorers with ACBL-score

You can continue to run ACBL-score in the way you are used to. The main difference will be that you will spend less time with ACBL-score when you are using Scorers.

A. Preliminaries

1. INSTALLATION

Run the BOS setup when (after) you have installed ACBL-score.

2. STARTING ACBL-SCORE

i. Double-click the BOS icon that you find on the desktop after installation.

ii. Select an event in BOS (preferably the one where you have the deals) iii. Select scoring and ACBL-score iv. Click run

3. ALLOW REMOTE SCORING

Set Allow Remote score entry in Setup/Game options.

50

B. Set up a game

You can set up your game as usual but remember to say “yes” to:

C. Start Scorers

You simply follow the instruction on the screen when you have set up your game.

That is to say, you open the list with a big number of control commands with F11 (or Alt-L) and select (or type) “BMS” or “BMR” (doesn’t matter which) that you will find at the bottom of the list.

Confirm your choice and the following message will be shown:

51

This message has no meaning when you run with BridgeScorer Control.

There is no need to wait and you can safely disregard...

...if it would show up.

Just close this message box (with OK) if/when it appears.

D. Export names to the Scorers

When you start the BridgeScorer control software (BSC) in the usual way (via Alt+L and “BMR”), BSC will ask if you want to import names.

You should first of all check the Internet connection if you get this message.

52

E. Future starts

BSC will by default ask if you want to import player names at start.

You will not be asked this question again (after a completed download) until there is an updated member file available on the Internet. Please ask [email protected] for advise if your PC is not connected to the Internet.

F. Importing results from the Scorers

You need to import the results to ACBLscore before scoring.

Press Ctrl-P (or go to the command menu with F11 and type “BMP”) and the results will be loaded.

G. Change of movement

You can apply on our general recommendations for changes of the movement with one addition: You must close BridgeScorer Control and restart it from ACBLscore when you insert a pair as an appendix or rover.

53

BASE STATION EXTENSION

The BridgeScorer Base station can be connected with an up to 5 meter long

active

USB cable. You are advised to use a USB extension kit if you need a longer connection between PC and Base station, e.g. ATEN UCE60.

This solution can be used when the Base Station is within 60 meters distance from the PC. If the distance is bigger, you can extend it with another 60 meter with the help of a 2nd USB extension kit.

You can alternatively (safer) network two, or several, PCs. c.f. “Networking”.

54

NETWORKING

Networking can be used when you use more than one Base Station, or when the scoring PC is not within range of the play area..

LAN

Scoring program

BridgeScorer Control

BridgeScorer Control* BridgeScorer Control*

Base

Station

Base

Station

Base

Station

*Or third party control software if you need to network your Scorers with third party hardware.

MASTER /SLAVE

The PC where you run the Scoring program will be the master and the other PCs slaves.

The master

The scoring software and the BridgeScorer Control is started as usual on the master PC.

The slaves

The slave(s) can be connected to the master PC as soon as the scoring program has created a database for the event.

1. Select “Networking” via

BOS

/

SCORING

2. Click “Change database” in the dialog that appears:

55

3. Click “My Network Places”

4. Locate the current (just created) database on the Master PC.

The default path is

C:\BOS\Events\<Eventname>\Data\<Eventname.bws>

2010-08-31demo

2010-08-31demo

5. Click “Start BridgeScorer” when you have verified that the “Selected database” is the desired one.

56

BridgeScorer firmware upgrade

1.

Install BOS package

(make sure that you do not deselect the BridgeScorer part), if not already done.

2. Click Windows

START/Programs/BOS package/

3. Click

Browse

4.

Select

the TBS

firmware

(TBS_firmware_v.024 in the example shown below)

and

click

open

.

57

5.

Press and hold the ON button

on the Scorer until a TD PIN question is displayed.

6.

Enter TD PIN.

(You can leave the TD PIN blank, unless you have changed the default value. The actual PIN is shown in the control

Software’s File menu.)

7. Choose

ADMIN

and then

INSTALL

. The Scorer should show:

8.

Connect

the

Scorer to the PC

by USB cable

.

9.

Click Start

in the firmware upgrade dialog on the PC when you hear and see that the Scorer has been recognized. (The Scorer should show up as a USB device on Windows status bar.)

10.

Wait

for the Scorer to display the START screen

before disconnecting the USB cable!

NOTHING HAPPENS

If the INSTALL FIRMWARE screen does not disappear from the Scorer it usually is because the PC has not detected that the Scorer has been connected. You can verify this in Windows Device Mangager/

Universal

Serial Bus controllers

. The Scorer shall show as a

USB

Mass Storage Device

that appears/disappears when the

USB cable is connected/disconnected.

RESCUE FAILURE

You can rescue the situation that you will find yourself in if an upgrade would fail — i.e. if the Scorer would never come to its start screen and pressing its ON button has no effect — by removing a battery. Then insert the battery while pressing (simultaneously) the ON button and the upper left part of the Scorer’s display. This will lead to a factory default mode that you will need to replace by updating the firmware (again).

58