Director’s Brief Instruction Sheet BridgePad System
Ver. 2.2

New Game Setup

1. Prior to starting a new game, be sure that you DO close the BridgePad window and software. All the BP units should be displaying the initial screen. Use XX and PWR keys to reset units to this state.
2. Open ACBLscore for Windows. Setup a Section or multiple sections with Remote enabled for each section. After doing this for all sections, Press F11 and select Start Remote Server (BMS). At this point check or reset any options on the BridgePad server (go to Game Options in BridgePad program) such as travelers scores, ACBL member, etc. These options are the same for all sections. Some changes in options (like ACBL player #s or EW security code) can be made only BEFORE any BP unit is logged on.
3. ACBLscore program can be closed during the game and reopened with the same game. Important: 1) Disable Power Saving Option on the laptop. 2) Once Game file name is set-up, DO NOT Change It. 3) DO NOT Set-up game using DOS and import it to Windows.
4. Please tell the players not to turn on their tabletop units until you have entered the section(s) and started the BridgePad software.
5. BP units can now be initialized on all tables and scores sent to server. If the number of tables or the movement needs to be changed during the 1st round, go to ACBLscore, hit F9 (SET) to modify the number of Tables and/or the movement parameters, OPTION 5. The new movement information will now be automatically sent to the BP units after the next score is sent to the server.
6. As long as the game is in session, NEVER CLOSE the BridgePad matrix software window (it can be minimized). This will stop communication with the table units. But if you do so accidentally, the scores will be saved in the memory of each BP and retransmitted automatically when the server starts working again (use the Re-start command (BMR, near the bottom on F11 options).
7. If EW security code is enabled, each EW pair will be asked to enter any two digits during the initialization period. If one pair forgets this number it can be found on our software under Files> Security Codes. Or they can use the default override code, 99. If you use Howell movement NS pairs will also be asked for their code.
8. Results can be posted to ACBLscore at any time by pressing CTRL-P while in the ACBLscore window. CTRL-P must be pressed TWO TIMES after the final round to ensure all results are posted. It is recommended to press Ctrl P sparingly to allow for score changes to be posted properly to ACBLscore, about every 3 or so rounds.
9. If a player enters NO PLAY or LATE PLAY for a board, director has to enter it manually into ACBLscore. Otherwise, the final scores will not be posted if ONE or more board results are missing. If you have a late play, a separate screen pops up whenever you hit CTRL-P. Just close this box by hitting the “X” on the late play dialog box.
10. To see final results, a player can take any BP on that section; type pair number (for example N03 or E07) and the results will be displayed on the screen. These results are not official though, since there may be unfinished boards, or the director could make changes/adjustments to boards that are not fed to the units.
    

Troubleshooting and Warnings During the Game
Individual BP Units

1. If a player enters a mistaken contract/result, the results can be corrected using the BACK key (while in the same screen) or ERROR key at the end of the round before hitting NEXT to send results. This allows correction of board contracts, if discovered by any player at this point. Once the final results of the round are sent to the server, any corrections must be made in ACBLscore by the director or at the table where the board was played using ERROR and the director’s menu ( Q+K+Next). This will correct the final summary for the pairs involved.
2. When playing boards out of order, at the point when the boards to be played are shown on the screen, do not press NEXT to play the next sequential board. Instead enter the board number that will be played. Alternatively, if NEXT has been pressed (to move to the next board in the normal sequence), use the BACK key to change the board number. If you expect that there will be many boards out of order, you should enable that option in the Game Options.
3. If any BP unit batteries fail during the game, they can be replaced without any loss of data. If batteries are weak, there is a warning at the beginning of the game. The batteries are OK for at least one more game but it’s advised to change them quickly since weak batteries may result in slow transmission. Please ask players to inform director when they see the “low Batteries” message.
4. If BP units get damage or stop working completely for any reason, they can be easily replaced with a new unit by initializing it as the lost unit using the “REPLACE FAILED UNIT” protocol (i.e., same table and section number) using the director’s menu. The previous data and movement information is sent to the new unit at the point in time it got broken.
5. To go to director’s menu in each BP, (to replace a failed unit, for example) press BACK key and enter password Q, K, NEXT. The unit must be in the initial screen.

Problems During the Game

1. If, during the game, for whatever reason, the server program, individual BP units, ACBLscore software breaks down or is terminated by mistake, operating system crash, loss of power, etc, DO NOT PANIC. The game can be restored to the last state, and all previous data recovered, including movement information. To do this close BridgePad server software and issue the Restart Remote Server command from ACBLscore. DO NOT issue the Start Remote Server command, as this will erase all the scores.
2. Adding a table or deleting a table during the first round can be implemented using EDITMOV. Example: Started game with 13 tables, need to change it to 12 tables. System allows to convert it to 3 boards/round ( from 2/round) by going to ACBL and edit the move to convert it to non-sequential boards, i.e., T1= 1,2,25, T2=3,4,26, etc.
3. You can retransmit all the saved scores from any BridgePad at the end of the game as long as the server is running with the same movement, in case communication was lost and could not be restored during the game. To do this, select option 7 in Directors menu. You can also get all the scores from each unit by pressing PWR key 4 times at the end of the game. The units need to be in the “initial” screen on both cases.