Excalibur 460 User manual

Electr
Electronic onic
Garden Exper
Garden Expert t
OPERATING MANUAL
www.ExcaliburElectronics.com
Model No. 460
Excalibur
Electronics

Your Electronic Garden
Expert requires two AAA
batteries, not included. To
install the batteries, careful-
ly turn Electronic Garden
Expert over so that the unit
is face-down on a soft sur-
face. Locate the battery
compartment on the back of
the unit. Then use a small
Phillips screwdriver to
remove the screw. Lift off
the battery compartment lid
and install the batteries,
making sure to match polar-
ity (+ and -). Place the tab
of the battery compartment
lid in its slot and close the
compartment door. Replace
the screw and tighten.
Congratulations on your purchase of The New York
Times and Excalibur Electronics’ Electronic Garden
Expert! With the press of a button, you can choose
among 1,000 questions and answers from one of the most
widely read gardening columns in the world—Garden Q &A
from The New York Times.
The Electronic Garden Expert is easy to use, but be sure to
use it safely. Before starting, please read this manual thor-
oughly, especially noting safety, care and battery information.
You’ll want to keep this manual available for easy 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
New York Times Electronic Garden Expert is another unmatched
innovation of Excalibur Electronics.
We make you think.
© 2004 The New York Times Company.
The New York Times logo is a registered
trademark of The New York Times Company.
Installing Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3
Layout of the Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Functions of the Buttons. . . . . . .. . .. 4
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Climate Zones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Saved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Set-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Using the
ABC button. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Automatic Power Off. . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Special Care & Handling . . . . . . . . . 14
Battery Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
90-Day Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . 15
Table of Contents
2
Layout of Electronic Garden Expert
ON/ENTER
Installing Batteries
3
BACK
ABC
SAVE
INFORMATION
WINDOW
PREV.
UP
DOWN
NEXT

quickly using the UP or
DOWN buttons, jumping
from one alphabetical first
letter to the next. (“ABC
Mode On” will display on
the screen for two seconds.)
Press ABC a second time to
turn this feature off. (“ABC
Mode Off” will display on
the screen for two seconds.)
(Also see Using the ABC
Button on page 12.)
SAVE: Press this button to
save data when you are
viewing questions and
answers or temperature
information. If you try to
save data that has already
been saved, then the mes-
sage “SAVED ALREADY!” will
appear. If you have saved 25
questions and answers or
tips or zones (the maximum
number allowed) and
attempt to save another
piece of data, then “FULL!
DELETE? DOWN (NO)ORUP
(YES)” will then display on
the screen. Press the UP but-
ton to delete the first ques-
tion or item you saved to
make room for the new
information, or press the
DOWN button to return to the
last screen.
RESET: If your Electronic
Garden Expert locks up or
malfunctions, use a ball-
point pen to press RESET,
located on the back of the
unit. Remember to press
RESET also after inserting
new batteries.
Getting Started
with your Electronic
Garden Expert
After inserting new bat-
teries, use a ballpoint pen to
press the RESET button,
located on the back of the
unit. Your LCD will display
the icon “THE NEW YORK
ON/ENTER:Press this but-
ton to turn on your
Electronic Garden Expert or
to confirm a selection after
you have scrolled to it.
When the Question and
Answer screen is displayed,
pressing the ON/ENTER but-
ton for two seconds will
allow you to set the Auto-
Page Down function. Use
the UP and DOWN buttons to
choose a setting, and then
press the ON/ENTER button
to confirm your choice.
You’ll then be returned to
where you were before you
pressed ON/ENTER.
PREV.: Press this button to
return to the previous item
on the last menu, or to place
the arrow next to the first
item on a screen.
UP: Press this button to
scroll up. This button will
also scroll to the previous
page if you are at the
Question and Answer
screen.
DOWN: Press this button
to scroll down. This button
will also scroll to the next
page if you are at the
Question and Answer
screen.
NEXT: Press this button to
return to the next item on
the last menu or to place the
arrow next to the last item
on a screen.
BACK: Press this button to
return to the previous
screen, or hold it down for
two seconds to return to the
Home screen.
ABC: Press this button
while on the Index menu to
then scroll through a list
4 5
Functions of Buttons

through all of the 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.
Selecting any of the above
categories will then take you
to another submenu. Con-
tinue selecting a category
until you get to the Question
andAnswer screen. (You are
at the Question and Answer
screen when you see “Q:” on
the first line of the display.)
Press the UP or DOWN button
to scroll through the six
short descriptions of the
questions and answers one
at a time. Pressing the NEXT
button will take you to the
next description on the next
screen of questions and
answers, while pressing the
PREV.button will take you to
the last description on the
last screen of questions and
answers. Confirm your
choice by pressing the
ON/ENTER button. The ques-
tion will then be displayed
on the screen.
The answer will be dis-
played on the screen imme-
diately after the question
(the answer will start with
“A:”). Pressing the DOWN
button will scroll you for-
ward through the question
and answer, while pressing
the UP button will scroll you
backward through the ques-
tion and answer. There may
be a Gardening Tip that is
associated with the question
immediately after the
answer (this will start with
“TIP:”). Continue pressing
the UP or DOWN buttons to
scroll through the data.
Press the BACK button to
return to the previous mode.
Press the BACK button and
TIMES ELECTRONIC GARDEN
EXPERT.” Press any button
(except RESET) to proceed to
the Home screen.
The Home screen offers
you the following choices:
CONTENTS
INDEX
CLIMATE ZONES
SAVED [NONE]
SET UP
You’ll see an arrow is dis-
played to the left of CON-
TENTS. Press the UP or DOWN
button to scroll through all
of the choices. As you
scroll, the arrow on the left
marks your position in the
list. After scrolling to the
desired item, simply press
ON/ENTER to confirm your
choice. Contents
After you’ve selected
CONTENTS, the LCD displays
the following:
FLOWER GARDEN
LANDSCAPE GARDEN
KITCHEN GARDEN
POTTED GARDEN
GARDEN KEEPING
Only 12 characters per
line can appear on the LCD
at one time if the
COMPRESSED TEXT function
is set to “OFF.” Therefore,
none of the above items will
completely appear on the
display. Instead, the line of
text will automatically scroll
from right to left when you
place the arrow next to that
line. Turning the
Compressed Text function
to “ON” will allow you to see
18 characters per line (see
Set Up on page 11).
You’ll see that an arrow is
displayed to the left of
FLOWER GARDEN. Press the
UP or DOWN button to scroll
6 7

After you’ve made your
selection, you may see a sub
index. In that case, again
scroll through the items to
make your final selection.
At this point, one or a few
short descriptions of the
question and answer will be
displayed. Press the UP and
DOWN buttons to make your
selection, then press
ON/ENTER to confirm your
choice.
Pressing the DOWN button
will scroll you forward
through the question and
answer, while pressing the
UP button will scroll you
backward through the ques-
tion and answer. There may
be a Gardening Tip that is
associated with the question
immediately after the
answer. Continue pressing
the UP or DOWN buttons to
scroll through the data.
Press the BACK button to
return to the previous mode.
Press the BACK button and
hold it down for two sec-
onds to return to the Home
screen.
If you select ZONES, the
operation and display is the
same as selecting CLIMATE
ZONES on the Home screen
(see the Climate Zones sec-
tion immediately below).
Climate Zones
After you’ve selected CLI-
MATE ZONES, the list of states
of the United States will be
displayed in alphabetical
order. Use the UP and DOWN
buttons to scroll through the
list, and ON/ENTER to make
your selection. After you
select a state, geographical
descriptions of the state will
appear. Selecting a geo-
graphical description will
show you the Climate Zone
number. Pressing ON/ENTER
hold it down for two sec-
onds to return to the Home
screen.
Saving Data
At any time while you’re
viewing a question, answer
or tip, you may press the
SAVE button to save this
data. The LCD will display
“SAVED!” for two seconds to
confirm your action, and
then return you to the screen
you are currently viewing.
To view your saved infor-
mation and for other infor-
mation concerning saving
data, please refer to the
Saved function on page 10.
Index
After you’ve selected the
INDEX, you will see six index
words on the screen,
arranged in alphabetical
order. Press the UP or DOWN
button to go through the
selections one by one, or
press the PREV.button to see
the last screen or the NEXT
button to see the next
screen. If you’d like to scroll
alphabetically by first letter
through the index, first press
the ABC button. “ABC MODE
ON” will display on the
screen for two seconds. (See
Using the ABC Button, page
12.) Then press UP or DOWN
to move alphabetically by
first letter through the index.
When you reach the initial
letter you want, press ABC
again to exit that mode.
“ABC MODE OFF” will display
on the screen for two sec-
onds. Then resume using the
UP or DOWN button to scroll
through the index listings
one at a time. 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.
8 9

Set Up
Select SET UP from the
home screen to make choic-
es on the display and sound
of the unit. Press the UP or
DOWN button to scroll
through the choices, and
press ON/ENTER to confirm
your selection.
COMPRESSED TEXT: The
default is set to “OFF,” which
displays 12 characters of
text on a line. Press the UP or
DOWN buttons to select ON
or OFF, and press ON/ENTER
to confirm your choice.
Having the Compressed
Text function “ON” will dis-
play 18 characters of text on
a line.
SOUND: The default is set
to “ON.” Press the UP or
DOWN buttons to select On
or Off, and press ON/ENTER
to confirm your choice.
AUTO-PAGE DOWN: The
default is set to “OFF.” You
may either turn the function
off or select the page scroll
speed. If you choose to turn
Auto-Page Down off, select
“OFF.” If you choose to turn
Auto-Page Down on, press
the UP or DOWN buttons to
place the cursor next to the
speed (1-8 Sec.) at which
you want the text to scroll.
Press ON/ENTER to confirm
your choice.
When you are on the
Question andAnswer menu,
pressing the ON/ENTER but-
ton for two seconds will
allow you to set the Auto-
Page Down function. Use
the UP and DOWN buttons to
choose a setting, and then
press the ON/ENTER button
to confirm your setting. You
will then return to where
you were before you pressed
ON/ENTER.
again will show the range of
average annual minimum
temperatures for that
Climate Zone number. Press
the BACK button to return to
the previous mode. Press the
BACK button and hold it
down for two seconds to
return to the Home screen.
Saving Data
At any time while you’re
viewing the average annual
minimum temperatures, you
may press the SAVE button
to save this data. The Lcd
will display “SAVED!” for
two seconds to confirm your
action, and then return you
to the screen you are cur-
rently viewing. To view
your saved information and
for other information con-
cerning saving data, please
refer to the Save section
immediately below.
Saved
The number that is in
brackets to the right of
SAVED shows how many
questions/answers/tips or
zones you have saved. If
“NONE” is shown in the
brackets, then you won’t be
able to access the Saved cat-
egory. If 1 to 25 is shown in
the brackets, then you may
select the Saved category.
Scroll through the entries to
select the item you would
like to see, then press
ON/ENTER to confirm the
selection. To delete the
entry, press the SAVE button.
“Delete? Down (No) Or Up
(Yes)” will then display on
the screen. Press DOWN to
return to the last screen, or
press UP to delete the current
data. The screen will display
“DELETE!” for two seconds
to confirm your delete.
10 11

ABC again to turn this mode
off. “ABC MODE OFF” will
display on the screen. Then
press the UP or DOWN button
to scroll one line at a time,
or hold either of these but-
tons down to scroll quickly.
Press ON/ENTER to confirm
your choice.
Auto Power Off
If no button is pressed for
five minutes, the unit will
automatically turn off in
order to preserve your bat-
teries. Simply press ON/
ENTER and your Electronic
Garden Expert will return to
the point where it was
before it was turned off.
SCROLL SPEED: This
defines the scrolling speed
of the text when the line of
data cannot be completely
viewed. The default is set at
“4” out of a maximum of
“6,” “6” being the fastest
setting. Press the UP or
DOWN buttons to select a dif-
ferent rate of scrolling, and
press ON/ENTER to confirm
your choice.
CONTRAST: The default is
set at “4 / 6” out of a maxi-
mum of “6 / 6,” with “6 / 6”
being the highest contrast.
Press the UP or DOWN but-
tons to select a different
contrast, and press
ON/ENTER to confirm your
choice.
Using the ABC Button
If you’d like to jump
through an alphabetical list
quickly by first letter, press
the ABC button. “ABC MODE
ON” will display on the
screen. Then use the UP or
DOWN buttons to proceed
through the list by alphabet-
ical 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 but-
ton to scroll backward
through the alphabet, from
“Z” to “A.”)
When you reach the
desired initial letter, press
12 13

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 war-
ranty period, EXCALIBUR ELEC-
TRONICS, 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 mainte-
nance, 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 attempt-
ed 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 dura-
tion of implied warranties and
do not allow exclusion of inci-
dental or consequential dam-
ages, so the above limita-
tions and exclusions in
these instances may not
apply.
The only authorized service center in the
United States is:
Excalibur Electronics, Inc.
13755 SW 119th Ave
Miami, Florida 33186 U.S.A.
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
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!
LIMITED 90-DAY WARRANTY
We make you think.
14 15
• 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.
Special Care & Handling
• Your New York Times Electronic Garden Expert uses
2 AAA batteries, not included.
• Do not mix alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc) or rechargeable
nickel-cadmium) 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.
Battery Information

Excalibur Electronics, Inc.
13755 SW 119th Avenue,
Miami, Florida 33186 U.S.A.
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Play games live at:
www.ExcaliburElectronics.com