ABC Sports
Sports Master
Operating Manual
Model No: A04
www.ExcaliburElectronics.com
ongratulations on your purchase of the ABC Sports’ and
Excalibur Electronics’ ABC Sports Sports Master!
C
Whether you want to know which tennis pro won the
1972 French Open or who is the all-time NFL leader in punt
returns, your ABC Sports Sports Master will help you settle
almost any debate.
The ABC Sports Sports Master is easy to use, but be sure to use
it safely. Before starting, please read this manual thoroughly,
especially noting safety, care and battery information. Keep this
manual for reference.
The legendary King Arthur brandished
a magic sword, Excalibur, from which
we take our company name. With this
unique weapon in his hands, he could not be
vanquished.
Although Excalibur Electronics can’t
claim the magical secrets of Merlin,
King Arthur’s court wizard, sometimes
our patented technology may make it
seem as if we could. The ABC Sports
Sports Master is another unmatched innovation of Excalibur Elec-tronics.
We make you think.
© 2004 The ABC Sports Company.
The ABC Sports name and logo are trademarks
of ABC Sports, Inc.
Some info © 2004 World Almanac Edu. Group,
Inc. All rights reserved.
Sports Master TABLE OF CONTENTS
Layout of Sports Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 4
Functions of Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4
Installing Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 5
Getting Started with Sports Master. . . . . . . . . . . page 6
Set Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 12
Using the ABC Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 13
Auto Power Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 13
Special Care & Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 14
Battery Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 14
90-Day Limited Warranty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 15
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3
Layout of Sports Master
PREV
ON/ENTER
UP
DOWN
Functions of Buttons
PREV: Press this key to return
to the previous item or the previous listing. Also press to jump to
the first item on a menu.
ON/ENTER: Press this key to
turn on Sports Master or to confirm a selection after you have
scrolled to it. Press and hold for
two seconds to set speed for autopage down
DOWN: Press this key to scroll
down. Press and hold this key to
scroll down quickly.
NEXT: Press this key to display
the next listing. Press this key also
RESET
(ON BACK)
DISPLAY
LCD
NEXT
ABC
BACK
to jump to the last menu item.
When viewing detailed information, press this key to go to the
next item on the previous menu.
For Trivia Game, press this key to
display the “PASS,” “HINT,” and
“SCORE” menu.
ABC: Press this key to scroll
through a list quickly using the
UP or DOWN buttons, jumping
from one alphabetical first letter
to the next. (“
will display on the screen for one
second.) Press ABC a second time
to turn this feature off. (“ABC
4
ABC MODE ON”
MODE OFF” will display on the
screen for one second.)
BACK: Press BACK to return to
the former level. Also press to go
back to a question and its answers
in TRIVIA when the “PASS,”
“HINT,” “SCORE” menu is on.
(Press BACK a second time to be
asked if you’d like to quit the
game you’re playing.) At any
time, press and hold this key for
two seconds to return to the main
menu.
UP: Press this key to scroll up.
RESET: If Sports Master locks
up or malfunctions, use a ballpoint pen to press
press
RESET, on the back of the
unit, after inserting new batteries.
Installing Batteries
Your Sports Master requires two
AAA batteries, not included. To
install the batteries, carefully turn
Sports Master over so that the unit
is face-down on a soft surface.
Find the battery compartment on
the back of the unit.
Use a small Phillips screwdriver
to remove the screw. Lift off the
battery compartment lid. Install
the batteries, making sure to
match polarity (+ and -) with the
Sports Master may lock up due to static
discharge or other electrical disturbances.
If this should happen, use a slim,
pointed object to press the button
marked “
RESET” on the back of the unit.
diagram inside the battery compartment (see diagram below.)
Place the tab of the battery compartment lid in its slot and close
the compartment door. Replace
the screw and tighten it carefully.
5
RESET. Also
Getting Started with Sports Master
Your ABC Sports Sports Master can settle your sports arguments and answer your sports
questions. It contains thousands
of files of information, but it's
easy to navigate. After inserting
new batteries, press the
to turn the unit on. Your LCD will
display the following message in
three successive screens:
WELCOME TO
EXCALIBUR
ELECTRONICS’
ABC SPORTS
SPORTS
MASTER
SOME INFO (C) 2004
WORLD ALMANAC EDU
GROUP, INC. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED
Then your screen will automatically display the main menu of
Sports Master:
RESET
BIOS
FACTS & STATS
HIGHLIGHTS
RULES
STADIUM FINDER
TRIVIA
SET UP
Note: If the characters on the
screen seem uncomfortably small,
skip to
“SET UP” to change the dis-
play to expanded text.
Your ABC Sports Sports
Master holds thousands of sports
facts! The headings on the main
menu are your keys to finding
what you want fast. Press the
or DOWN key to scroll through
your choices. As you scroll, an
arrow on the left marks your position in the list. After scrolling to
the desired item, simply press
ON/ENTER to confirm your choice.
To give you an overview of the
possibilities, let’s take a quick
look at each of the categories on
the main (or home) menu.
Quick Tip:
Holding down the UP or DOWN key will
advance you quickly through a data file.
6
UP
Quick Tip:
Pressing the BACK button at any time takes you to
the former level. Holding down the BACK button
will take you back to the main menu.
Bios
BIOS are a source of brief
biographical sketches on famous
sports personalities. Selecting
BIOS gives you a choice of six
popular sports and a “
REFERENCE
sports files are all organized in the
same way and Sports Master
makes it easy to find what you
want. For example, if you select
BASEBALL, you will see a
screen of names, organized with
last names first:
AARON, HANK
ABRAMS, CAL
ALEXANDER, GROVER
ALLEN, MEL
Since the file contains a long list
of names, you can use the built-in
ABC function to quickly arrive at
the letter you want. Suppose you
are interested in information on
the great Jim Thorpe. You could
press the
will briefly display:
” file. The six
ABC key. The screen
QUICK
ABC MODE
ON
Now pressing either the UP or
DOWN key will jump alphabeti-
cally from one first letter to the
next. Because going “
arrive at the “T's” first, you could
press the
to this screen:
appear on the LCD at one time.
Therefore,
HAROLD
appear on the screen at once.
Instead the line of text will automatically scroll from right to left
when you place the cursor to the
left of that line. (To control the
speed of right-to-left scrolling,
see “
see this message:
7
UP key five times to get
TERRY, WILLIAM HAROLD
THORPE, JIM
TINKER, JOE
TURNER, CLYDE
Only 18 characters per line can
TERRY, WILLIAM
, will not in its entirety
SET UP,” on page 13.)
Press the ABC key again. You'll
UP” will
EACH MENU (LIST OF CATEGORIES) APPEARS
ALPHABETICALLY ON THE SCREEN.
ABC MODE
OFF
Now you can press DOWN to
scroll to “Thorp, Jim.” Press
ON/ENTER to read the information.
The “
QUICK REFERENCE”
file combines some of the most
famous names from all sports.
Scroll to this file and press
ON/ENTER. You'll see it's organized by letters of the alphabet. So
if you want to read about Julius
Erving, you should scroll to the
“
E's,” press ON/ENTER, and
then scroll down to his entry.
Additionally, please note that
this file may contain some of the
same names you'll find in the
sports categories. So to review all
available information, you may,
for example, want to check both
“
BASEBALL” and “QUICK
REFERENCE
” for Hank Aaron.
Facts and Stats
This category on the main or
home menu will resolve many a
sports debate!
Selecting “
STATS
sports categories. (You can see
four on the screen at any one time,
but can scroll up or down to read
them all.)
and
cursor to the left of the sport and
press
see more (sub)categories.
French Open men's singles championship in 1972 and who his
opponent in the final was? Select
and press
Then select and press TENNIS.
Select and press “
OPEN CHAMPS.” Then press
“
winner is listed first, and his
” gives you the following
AUTO RACING
BASEBALL
BASKETBALL
BOXING
FOOTBALL
GOLF
HOCKEY
TENNIS
To select a sport, use the UP
DOWN buttons to move the
ON/ENTER. You'll then
Want to find who won the
MEN” and scroll to 1972. The
FACTS AND
FACTS AND STATS.
FRENCH
opponent in the finals is listed
second.
Spend a few minutes exploringyou'll find that Sports Master's
arrangement of categories is intuitive and logical. You'll quickly
get used to following the clear
trail to the information you want!
Sometimes the
information at the top
of a screen will explain
how the information is
organized.
Highlights
This category on the main or
home menu contains sports highlights for each year since 1998. It
also contains a list of the most
dramatic sports events of the 20th
century!
Rules
This category on the main or
home menu lets you find the rules
for the “big four” of major league
sports! Rules for baseball, basket-
ball, football and ice hockey are
from The Sports Rules Book, 2nd
Ed, 2004, by Human Kinetics and
Thomas Hanlon. (Champaign, IL:
Human Kinetics), pages 23-30,
33-40, 103-108, 137-143.
Stadium Finder
This is another great category
on the home menu. Selecting this
category gives you the “big four”
sports to choose from, plus another category called “
SPORTS DIRECTORY
lecting this last choice gives you
contact information on many lesser known sports, like the U.S.
Trotting Organization and the
International Game Fish Organization.
Select one of the big four
sports, and you will see two more
choices:
FACTS
FINDER
Selecting “FACTS” will give
you information on that sport's
stadiums by team—for example,
whether it uses artificial turf, its
proper name, the year built, and
If no button is pushed for five minutes, your
Sports Master will switch off to save its batteries.
Just push
ON/ENTER to continue where you left off.
OTHER
.” Se-
8
9
seating capacity. Selecting
“FINDER” gives you all the contact info for that sport and its stadiums by team—where to call or
go online to buy tickets, for
example, and the street address.
Trivia
Selecting TRIVIA, the next-to-
last item on the home menu, gives
you access to a sports trivia game
with more than 400 questions that
you can play by yourself or with
friends!
TRIVIA GAME SET UP
To play Sport Master’s Trivia
Game, begin by pressing the UP
and DOWN keys to step through
the main menu until the arrow
points to
ON/ENTER. The screen will then
display “PLAYERS 1.” Use the
UP and DOWN keys to change
the number of players if there are
additional players. Then press
ON/ENTER to confirm the number of players.
Now the screen will display
“
CHOICE OF QUESTION:
10.
” Press the UP and DOWN
keys to change the number of
questions you’d like Sports
Master to ask during the game.
TRIVIA. Then press
You can choose either 10 or 20.
Press ON/
number of questions you’ve
selected.
Next you’ll see that the screen
displays “PLAYER 1 HINT 10”
or “
the UP and DOWN keys to
change the number of hints you’d
like Sports Master to give. (This
is the total number of hints for the
entire set of questions. Up to two
hints can be displayed for each
question until all of the hints have
been used.) Using a hint eliminates one of the incorrect choices.
Press ON/
the number of hints you’ve decided on. (Continue setting the number of hints for other players in
the same way. You may want to
allow certain players fewer or
more hints to make the game
more competitive. Younger players and players less knowledgeable about sports may need to be
given more hints, whereas a
sports expert might not be
allowed any hints at all.)
ENTER to confirm the
PLAYER 1 HINT 20.” Press
ENTER to confirm
PLAYING THE TRIVIA
GAME
After you’ve entered the number of hints to be allowed for the
last player and pressed
ENTER to confirm that num-
ON/
ber, your screen will display
QUESTION 1 PLAYER 1.”
“
Now hand your Sports Master to
Player 1. Player 1 presses the
ON/ENTER key to display his
first question.
To answer a question
After the first question is dis-
played, the player then presses the
DOWN key to view the entire
question and its choice of
answers. (The
used to scroll up to review the
question if necessary.) If the player thinks he knows the answer, he
then presses ON/
options
be displayed. The
DOWN keys are used to step
through these options until the
desired letter-answer is reached.
Pressing ON/
the choice of answer.
screen first displays “
RECT!
er number and his score. If the
answer is incorrect, the screen
first displays “
then the remaining options. In
that case, the player can press the
BACK key to display the question
A, B, C and D will next
If the answer is correct, the
” and then shows the play-
UP key can be
ENTER. The
UP and
ENTER confirms
COR-
WRONG!” and
and answers again, and then press
ENTER again to display the
ON/
remaining options. The player
uses the UP and DOWN keys to
step through the options, stopping
at the answer he thinks is correct
and pressing ON/
firm.
If the second attempt to answer
a question is also incorrect, the
screen will first display
“WRONG!” followed by the
remaining options. Press the
BACK key to display the question
again if you need to see it, and
then press ON/ENTER to display
the remaining options. Use the
UP and DOWN keys to step
through these answer choices.
Then press ON/ENTER to confirm your answer.
If the third attempt to answer a
question is still incorrect, Sports
Master’s screen displays
“
WRONG!” followed by the cor-
rect answer.
To pass, get a hint or
check your score
When a player doesn't know
the answer to a question or is
unsure, he can press the NEXT
key and use the UP and DOWN
keys to step through the menu
1110
ENTER to con-
items “PASS,” “HINT” and
“
SCORE.”
If the player selects “
and then presses ON/
PASS”
ENTER, the
question will be skipped. The
player may pass on one question
if there are 10 total questions, or
pass on two questions if there are
20 total questions.
If the player selects “
and presses ON/
ENTER, one of
HINT”
the incorrect answers is removed.
(The
HINT function can be used
twice on each question to eliminate two of the four answer
options.)
If the player selects “
SCORE,”
his current score will be displayed.
End of Trivia Game
After the first player has completed his turn, the screen will display “
QUESTION 1, PLAYER
2.
” (If there is only one player,
“
QUESTION 2, PLAYER 1”
will be displayed.) Players continue answering questions or passing
until all players have completed
their questions. After all players
have completed their questions,
the screen will display the score,
and the number of correct
answers for each player. The
screen will then display “
ER: 3 WINS
” (if player 3 won,
for example) to designate the winner. In case of a tie, the screen displays “
PLAYER: 2, 3 WIN!” if,
for instance, players 2 and 3 tied.
Calculating the Score
Sports Master automatically
calculates all the scores, using the
following rules;
Right answer on first try with
no hints – 10 points.
Right answer on second try
with no hints – 5 points.
Right answer on third try with
no hints – 2 points.
Right answer on first try with
one hint – 5 points.
Right answer on first try with
two hints – 2 points.
Right answer on second try
with no hints – 5 points.
Right answer on second try
with one hint – 2 points.
Right answer on second try
with two hints – 0 points.
Three wrong answers – 0
points.
Set Up
Select SET UP from the home
screen to make choices about how
your Sports Master displays infor-
12
PLAY-
mation. You can turn COMPRESSED TEXT
off so that
your unit will display expanded,
larger text, which may be easier
for you to read. You can turn the
SOUND on or off. You can even
AUTO SCROLL DOWN
select
to select the time (in seconds) that
your unit will display a screen of
information before automatically
moving to the next screen. (You
can always override this function
by using your
UP and DOWN
keys.) SCROLL SPEED allows
you to adjust the speed of the
right-to-left scrolling that takes
place with long items on a menu.
CONTRAST allows you to select
the right contrast for reading in
any light levels.
Using the ABC
Button
To jump through an alphabetical list quickly by first letter,
press the
ON
ABC button. “ABC MODE
” will display on the screen for
one second. Then use the
DOWN buttons to proceed through
the list by alphabetical first letter—
A, B, C, etc. (Note that the
list begins again with the letter
“
A” after you have scrolled
through the “Z” listings. You can
also use the
UP key to scroll back-
wards through the alphabet, from
“
Z” to “A.”)
When you reach the desired initial letter, press ABC again to turn
this mode off. “
ABC MODE OFF”
will display on the screen for one
second. Then press the
DOWN button to scroll one line at a
time, or hold either of these keys
down to scroll quickly. Press
ON/ENTER to confirm your choice.
Auto Power Off
If no key is pressed for five
minutes, the unit will automatically turn off to spare your batteries. Press
ON/ENTER and Sports
Master will return to where it was
before it was turned off.
13
UP or
UP or
Special Care & Handling
• Avoid rough handling such as bumping or dropping.
• Avoid moisture and extreme temperatures. For best results, use between the
temperatures of 39ºF and 100ºF (4º C and 38º C).
• Clean using only a slightly damp cloth. Do not use cleaners with chemical
agents.
Battery Information
• Batteries should be installed and replaced only by an adult.
• Your ABC Sports Sports Master uses 2 AAA batteries, not included.
• Do not mix alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc) or rechargeable (nickel-cadmi-
um) batteries.
• Do not mix old and new batteries.
• Do not use rechargeable batteries.
• Remove exhausted batteries from the unit.
• Do not short circuit battery terminals.
• Remove batteries and store them in a cool, dry place when not in use.
• To avoid explosion or leakage, do not dispose of batteries in a fire or attempt
to recharge alkaline or other non-rechargeable batteries.
Due to continuing improvements,
actual product may differ slightly
from the product described herein.
14
90-Day Limited Warranty
EXCALIBUR ELECTRONICS,
INC., warrants to the original consumer that its products are free from
any electrical or mechanical defects
for a period of 90 DAYS from the
date of purchase. If any such defect is
discovered within the warranty period, EXCALIBUR ELECTRONICS,
INC., will repair or replace the unit
free of charge upon receipt of the
unit, shipped postage prepaid and
insured to the factory address shown
at right.
The warranty covers normal consumer use and does not cover damage
that occurs in shipment or failure that
results from alterations, accident,
misuse, abuse, neglect, wear and tear,
inadequate maintenance, commercial
use, or unreasonable use of the unit.
Removal of the top panel voids all
warranties. This warranty does not
cover cost of repairs made or attempted outside of the factory.
Any applicable implied warranties,
including warranties of merchantability and fitness, are hereby limited to
90 DAYS from the date of purchase.
Consequential or incidental damages
resulting from a breach of any applicable express or implied warranties
are hereby excluded. Some states do
not allow limitations on the duration
of implied warranties and do not
allow exclusion of incidental or con-
sequential damages, so the above limitations and exclusions in these
instances may not apply.
The only authorized service center in
the United States is:
Excalibur Electronics, Inc.
Miami, Florida 33186 U.S.A.
www.ExcaliburElectronics.com
Ship the unit carefully packed, preferably in the original carton, and send it
prepaid, and adequately insured.
Include a letter, detailing the complaint and including your daytime
telephone number, inside the shipping
carton.
If your warranty has expired and you
want an estimated fee for service,
write to the above address, specifying
the model and the problem.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND
YOUR UNIT WITHOUT
RECEIVING AN ESTIMATE FOR
SERVICING. WE CANNOT
STORE YOUR UNIT!
15
13755 SW 119th Ave
Phone: 305.477.8080
Fax: 305.477.9516
E
XCALIBURELECTRONICS
, INC.
13755 SW 119
M
IAMI
, F
LORIDA
P
HONE
F
: 305.477.8080
AX
: 305.477.9516
THAVENUE
33186 U.S.A.
,
Play games
live at:
www.ExcaliburElectronics.com
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