Orion TI-36X User manual

ORION TI-36X
USERS MANUAL
2
RESEARCH
RBIT
TALKING SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR
24th July, 2005, Revision A Copyright Orbit Research, 2005

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ........................................................1
1.1 Features.........................................................1
1.2 Conventions used in this manual..................3
2. Getting Familiar with your ORION
TI-36X Calculator ..............................................5
2.1 Shipping List.................................................5
2.2 Orientation of the unit and its Controls........5
2.3 Power supply and Charging..........................6
2.4 Switching on the unit....................................9
2.5 Volume control .............................................9
2.6 Learning-mode............................................10
2.7 Orientation of Keys.....................................11
2.8 Display of results ........................................21
2.8.1 Changing the display format ................23
2.8.2 Converting an entered number.............25
2.9 Clearing and correcting ..............................25
2.10 Speech modes .............................................27
2.10.1 Selecting Speech Modes........................27
2.10.2 Feature Modes ......................................30
2.11 Configuration..............................................30
3. Calculator Functions ........................................33
3.1 Basic arithmetic functions ..........................33
3.2 Number entry, editing and display .............33
3.3 Trigonometric functions .............................34
3.4 Hyperbolic Functions .................................36
3.5 Transcendental functions............................36
3.6 Memory Functions......................................37
3.7 Statistical functions.................................... 38
3.7.1 One-Variable Statistics…………… 38
3.7.2 Two-Variable Statistics……………..39
3.8 Fractions..................................................... 41
3.9 Rectangular / Polar Conversions ............... 42
3.10 Number-System Modes.............................. 43
3.11 Probability………………………………..45
3.12 Physical Constants………………………..46
3.13 English/Metric Conversions…………….. 47
4. Care of your ORION TI-36X .......................... 48
5. Warranty .......................................................... 49
6. Troubleshooting and repair ............................. 51
7. Shipping instructions....................................... 53

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1. Introduction
This manual is designed to guide you in the use and
care of the Orion TI-36X Talking Scientific
Calculator. The Orion TI-36X is a specially
designed unit, based on the popular TI-36X Solar
scientific calculator. The functionality and
operation of the Orion are identical in all respects to
the standard TI-36X. The only difference is that
additional controls and options are provided to
adjust the speech output to your preference. We will
first start by familiarizing you with the speech
controls on the unit and then describe the math
functions. You may also refer to the TI-36X Solar
guidebook from Texas Instruments.
1.1 Features
Your Orion TI-36X comes with a host of advanced
but user-friendly features:
♦Over 127 scientific functions including one-
and two- variable statistics and trigonometry
♦Ergonomically designed for use by the visually
impaired
♦Small and light weight (pocket size, 11 oz.)
♦Dimensions: 6.2 x3.0 x1.3 inches
♦Clear, high-quality, natural speech
♦Each key is spoken when pressed
♦Choice of speech modes for quiet or verbose
operation
♦Unique learning-mode for key identification
during operation
♦Large, tactile, functionally zoned keys
♦Repeat facility to speak display at any time
♦Backspace/correction key to delete last digit
♦Easy for teachers to help with - LCD display
and functionality are the same as TI-36X Solar
♦Volume control & earphone
♦High capacity rechargeable battery for over 6
hours of continuous operation
♦Battery or AC adapter operation
♦Easy on/off control, auto power-off
♦Protective snap cover
♦Included accessories: high quality earphone
for private use, AC adapter
♦One year limited warranty from Orbit Research
The scientific functions available on the Orion
TI-36X are as follows:
10 digits plus 2 digit exponent (-99 to +99),
12 digit internal accuracy
One- and two-variable statistics for Linear
Regression and trend line analysis
Fraction entry, operation, and conversion to
decimal. Conversion of mixed numbers to
improper fractions
Trigonometric functions in degrees, radians
and grads

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Hyperbolic functions
10 Metric/English conversions
8 Physical constants
Three Memories
Combinations and Permutations
Common and natural logarithm
Universal powers and roots
Reciprocals and factorials
Polar / rectangular conversions
Conversion from degrees, minutes, seconds
to decimal degrees and vice-versa - results
spoken with appropriate units
Calculations and conversions in decimal,
hexadecimal, octal and binary number bases
Boolean logic operations, computer math
Percent operations
15 levels of parentheses
Engineering and scientific notation
Fixed decimal capability
1.2 Conventions used in this manual
This manual references various functions of the
calculator in the following manner:
Key names are enclosed in square brackets. If a
function is invoked by multiple keystrokes as is the
case for secondary functions of keys, it is enclosed
in square brackets and the individual keys that are
required to be pressed are all enclosed in round
brackets. The position of the key is indicated in
round brackets e.g.
(Row 2, Column 1)
Let’s take the instance of the [ab/c] key below:
[ab/c]Enter Fraction. This is the primary or first
function of this key.
[d/c] ([2nd][ab/c]) Convert between mixed number and
improper fraction. This is the second function of the
[ab/c]key and is invoked by pressing the [2nd] and
[ab/c] keys.
[F◄►D] ([3rd][ab/c]) Fraction Exchange Decimal. This
is the third function of the [ab/c]key and is invoked
by pressing the [3rd] and [ab/c] keys.
Speech output is denoted by enclosing it in quotes
e.g. “All Clear”.

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2. Getting Familiar with your ORION
TI-36X Calculator
2.1 Shipping List
You should have received the following items in
your Calculator package:
1. Orion TI-36X Talking Scientific Calculator
2. This Users Manual
3. A 3.5 inch floppy disk containing ASCII and
Microsoft Word versions of this manual
4. Earphone
5. Battery charger (AC adapter)
6. Audio cassette tape with recorded users manual
7. Warranty Registration card
2.2 Orientation of the unit and its Controls
This section will familiarize you with the location
and functions of the primary controls of your Orion
TI-36X Talking Scientific Calculator.
First, open the protective snap cover. This cover fits
tightly and can be opened by pressing down the
upper end of the cover gently with your thumb, and
pulling up on the bump at the top of the cover with
your fingers. Then, place the unit on a desk or hold
it in your hand such that the keypad is on top and
facing you. In this position, you should be able to
feel the speaker grill and four rubber feet on the
bottom of the unit. Orient the unit so that the keys
are located on the lower end of the unit (towards
you) while the flat LCD display is at the upper end
(away from you). This is the normal operating
orientation for the unit.
With the unit in this position, on the left hand side
of the unit, you will find the volume control thumb-
wheel towards the top and the earphone socket
towards the middle.
On the right hand side of the unit, towards the top
you will find the power socket for inserting the
battery charger (AC adapter) plug. Towards the
middle of the right hand side, you will find two
push-button switches. The upper button, called the
LEARN/MODE button, is for entering learning-
mode and to select various speech options. The
lower button, called the REPEAT/OFF button,
repeats the number on the display and turns the
power off when pressed for more than 2 seconds.
2.3 Power supply and Charging
Your Orion TI-36X calculator has a built-in re-
chargeable battery pack, which gives you the
freedom of carrying the calculator and working
anywhere and also relieves you from having to
replace the batteries frequently.

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It can also be powered by the AC adapter provided
with the unit, which can be plugged into a standard
110V wall socket. The AC adapter also serves to
charge the battery.
CAUTION
Do NOT use any other AC adapter with the
Orion TI-36X. This can result in damage and
destruction of the unit and will render the
warranty void. The accessories (AC
adapter/charger and earphone) supplied with the
Orion TI-36X have been specially designed for
use with the unit. Using the unit with any
accessories other than the ones supplied by Orbit
Research may result in serious damage or even
destruction of the unit. Orbit Research will not
be responsible for any direct, indirect or
consequential damage or injury resulting from
the use of such accessories.
Low battery Indication:
The unit continuously monitors the battery. When it
detects a low power level, the unit will speak “Low
Battery”. Thereafter the unit gives beeps at regular
intervals to remind you to insert the AC adapter for
charging the battery. If you fail to do so, the unit
gives a final warning message “Low Battery, Power
Off” and shuts down. Under these circumstances,
any data in memory or on the display will be lost.
Charging:
When you hear the "Low Battery" warning, it is an
indication that the batteries have become weak and
need to be recharged. Plug in the battery charger
(AC adapter) provided with the unit into the power-
socket near the top on the right hand side of the
unit. The charger can also be plugged in at any
time; it will serve to top up the charge on the
batteries. Ensure that the adapter is plugged into a
live wall-socket when plugged into the power-jack
of the unit.
Note that you can continue to use your Orion
TI-36X calculator while it is being charged by the
battery charger.
Please note that the batteries should be charged
for at least 16 hours before using the unit for the
first time.
The calculator will operate for several hours or days
depending on the extent of use. The life of the
battery is over 6 hours of continuous use. It is
generally not necessary to change the batteries
inside the unit until they have completed at least
500 charge and discharge cycles. At this point they

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may become "tired" resulting in a decrease in the
duration of use before they need to be recharged.
The batteries in the unit CAN NOT BE
REPLACED BY THE USER. Please contact Orbit
Research for battery replacement.
2.4 Switching on the unit
To switch ON the Orion TI-36X Talking Scientific
Calculator press the ON/AC key until you hear a
beep and release it immediately. The ON/AC key is
located at the top-right corner of the keypad. Make
sure that the volume control (described in the next
section) is not at the minimum volume setting, since
you will not be able to hear speech in that case.
When you switch on the unit by pressing the
ON/AC key you will hear the unit first give a beep
and then say “Power On” after releasing the key. If
you do not hear this, please charge the unit for some
time and try again. To switch the unit off, press and
hold the REPEAT/OFF button (the lower of the two
buttons on the right hand side of the unit) for 2
seconds or more. For fast shutdown of the unit,
press both the buttons – LEARN/MODE and
REPEAT/OFF – simultaneously.
2.5 Volume control
Speech volume can be controlled by the volume
control thumb-wheel on the left hand side of the
unit. It is easier to set the volume when the unit is
on since you can listen to the change. Rotate the
volume control thumb-wheel counter-clockwise
(with a downward motion) to increase the volume
level and clockwise (with an upward motion) to
decrease the volume. A high quality earphone is
provided with your calculator. To use the earphone,
plug the jack into the earphone socket located on
the left hand side of the unit, just below the volume
control. Plugging in the earphone disconnects the
internal speaker and all speech is heard through the
earphone to enable comfortable private use.
2.6 Learning-mode
The Orion TI-36X is equipped with a special
Learning-Mode designed to help you locate keys
and confirm their functionality at any time, even in
the middle of a calculation. You can enter Learning-
Mode at any time by pressing the LEARN/MODE
button (the upper button on the right hand side of
the unit) very briefly (less than 1.5 seconds). When
the unit is in Learning-Mode the previous state of
the calculator remains preserved, i.e. if you were in
the middle of an operation, it is not interrupted and
the display remains unchanged.
In Learning-Mode, every key that is pressed is
spoken out to help you locate a particular key if you
do not know its position. Each key pressed by itself
speaks out its primary function, and when pressed
in combination with various modifying keys, it
speaks the secondary functions as set by the

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modifying key (this will become clearer in the
following sections). When you exit the Learning-
Mode by briefly pressing the LEARN/MODE
button again, the calculator returns to the speech
and operational mode you were using before
entering Learning-Mode. It also restores all
preferences in use before you entered learning-
mode and you can resume operation from precisely
the point where you had left it.
Note that when entering Learning-Mode, the unit
always reverts to the default Decimal Mode (which
is the mode at power-on). If you need to locate key
functions in other modes, you can easily enter those
modes as described in the following sections.
The keys on the Orion TI-36X have a positive
tactile feel and are designed to be sensitive for easy
operation. Hence we recommend that while getting
familiar with the unit, the user uses Learning-Mode
to locate the position of each key sequence listed in
the next section.
2.7 Orientation of Keys
The Orion TI-36X has 40 keys arranged in 8 rows
and 5 columns. This section will describe the
location of each of the keys. We will follow a (row,
column) numbering scheme where the position of a
key will be specified by its row and column with
the bottom left corner key being in row 1 and
column 1.
Each key can have several functions, determined by
which mode the calculator is in and by the sequence
of keys pressed.
When pressed by itself, each key performs its
primary function depending on the calculator mode
as described below. When pressed immediately
after the [2nd] key (located in the 7th row and first
column), each key performs its secondary function,
again depending on the calculator mode. For
example, in the Decimal Mode, [1][SIN] calculates
the sine of 1, while [1][2nd][SIN] calculates the
arcsine of 1. In addition, the [HYP] key, when
pressed before a trigonometric function key,
generates the hyperbolic equivalent of the function.
The [2nd], [3rd] and [HYP] modifiers can be
cancelled by pressing these keys again, upon which
the unit speaks “Normal” after the key is spoken
out.
The Orion TI-36X calculator can be used in six
different modes viz. Decimal (the default mode at
power-on), Hexadecimal, Octal, Binary, One-
Variable Statistics and Two-Variable Statistics.
These modes can be selected using the [3rd]key.
The [3rd] key is located in the 8th row and 1st

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column. The six modes can be set by pressing the
[3rd]key followed by other keys as shown below.
Key Sequence Calculator Mode
[3rd][EE] Decimal mode
[3rd][X] Binary mode
[3rd][)] Octal mode
[3rd][(] Hexadecimal mode
[3rd][x◄►y] One-Variable Statistics
[3rd][ Σ
ΣΣ
Σ+] Two-Variable Statistics
Note: Some operating features such as
trigonometric functions are available only in
decimal mode and statistics mode. You will hear a
warning tone or the word “Error” if you attempt to
use a feature that is not available.
Given below are the positions of the keys on the
keypad (in row, column format), the functions that
the key performs and the sequence of keys required
to invoke the function. If a key has a special
function in a particular mode other than the default
Decimal Mode, e.g. the [X2]key gives the mean in
One Variable Statistics Mode, the mode is shown in
round brackets.
(Row 1, Col. 1)
[→
→→
→] Back space
[nPr] ([2nd][→
→→
→]) Permutations
[nCr] ([3rd][→
→→
→]) Combinations
(Row 1, Col. 2)
[0] The digit zero
[►°F] ([2nd][0]) Celsius to Fahrenheit
[►°C] ([3rd][0]) Fahrenheit to Celsius
(Row 1, Col. 3)
[.] Decimal point
[►oz] ([2nd][.]) Grams to Ounces avoirdupois
[►g] ([3rd][.]) Ounces avoirdupois to Grams
(Row 1, Col. 4)
[+/-] Change Sign
[P►R] ([2nd][+/-]) Polar to Rectangular
[R►P] ([3rd][ +/-]) Rectangular to Polar
(Row 1, Col. 5)
[=] Equals key
[►DD]] ([2nd][=]) Convert to Decimal Degrees
[►DMS] ([3rd][=]) Convert to Degree, Minute,
Second
(Row 2, Col. 1)
[ab/c]Enter fraction
[d/c] ([2nd][ab/c]) Convert between mixed
number and improper fraction
[F◄►D]
([3rd] [ab/c]) Fraction exchange decimal

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(Row 2, Col. 2)
[1] The digit one
[►in] ([2nd][1]) Centimeters to inches
[►cm] ([3rd][1]) Inches to centimeters
(Row 2, Col. 3)
[2] The digit two
[►gal] ([2nd][2]) Liters to U.S. liquid gallons
[►l] ([3rd][2]) U.S. liquid gallons to liters
(Row 2, Col. 4)
[3] The digit three
[►lb] ([2nd][3]) Kilograms to pounds
[►kg] ([3rd][3]) Pounds to kilograms
(Row 2, Col. 5)
[+] Addition
[y’] ([2nd][+]) Predicted y value (Stat-2)
[ENG] ([3rd][+]) Engineering Notation
(Row 3, Col. 1)
[RCL] Recall memory
[SUM] ([2nd][RCL]) Add to memory
[EXC] ([3rd][RCL]) Exchanges displayed and
Memory values
(Row 3, Col. 2)
[4] The digit four
[ITC] ([2nd][4]) Intercept (Stat-2)
[COR] ([3rd][4]) Correlation coefficient (Stat-2)
(Row 3, Col. 3)
[5] The digit five
[SLP] ([2nd][5]) Slope (Stat-2)
[FLO] ([3rd][5]) Floating Decimal
(Row 3, Col. 4)
[6] The digit six
[X’] ([2nd][6]) Predicted x value (Stat-2)
[SCI] ([3rd][6]) Scientific Notation
(Row 3, Col. 5)
[-] Subtraction
[Σ
ΣΣ
Σxy] ([2nd][-]) Sum of the xy products
(Stat-2)
[NOT] ([3rd][-]) Logical NOT (HEX, OCT,
BIN)
(Row 4, Col. 1)
[STO] Store in Memory
[Σ
ΣΣ
Σx] ([2nd][STO]) Summation X (Stat-1, Stat-2)
[AND] ([3rd][STO]) Logical AND (HEX, OCT,
BIN)
(Row 4, Col. 2)
[7] The digit seven
[Σ
ΣΣ
Σx2] ([2nd][7]) Sum of X square (Stat-1,
Stat-2)
[OR] ([3rd][7]) Logical OR (HEX, OCT,
BIN)