Screen Layout
To switch between an analog an digital display, set the Style option in the Options screen. The layout of the footer will automatically adjust itself based on the screen resolution and font size selected in the Options screen. The font used for the footer will be a bold version of what you have selected for your device in the Options app. The split time will always be in the bottom left, and the lap time will either be to the right of the split time (if it can fit) or above it.
If the layout automatically chooses to use two footers, the time display (if enabled) will be placed on the right upper footer if it can fit, otherwise it will be placed on the left above the footer.
Note that touchscreen devices get a row of four buttons on the screen below the footers.
Modes
You can set the mode (when the timer is stopped) using Alt-M to sequence through the modes, or the M keyboard shortcuts (or selecting the Set Mode menu item) to bring up the Modes screen. The following sections describe the different modes:
Up Mode
This is the regular forward running “stopwatch” mode. When the stopwatch is running, the indicator triangle will change color to red. This color can be modified in the Appearance screen.
You can use the menu to start and stop the stopwatch, but it’s easier to use the keyboard shortcuts which are described below. To set the space bar and trackpad sequences, use the Options screen.
You can press the L key to increment the lap number. This will display the previous lap time in the footer. You can toggle the main view from total time to lap time by pressing the V key.
Down Mode
The down mode counts down to zero, then produces a chime which is set up within the sound profiles application. Select one of the preset times in the menu. This preset can be modified using the Edit Preset menu item.
You can also enable 1-3 warning times, which use their own sound profile. Note that these times are remaining times, not elapsed times.
Small triangles are displayed at the warning times, using colors from the clock hands, based on the time of the warning. Times >= 1 hour use the hour hand colors, times >= 1 minute (but less than 1 hour) use the minute hand colors, and times less than a minute use the seconds hand colors. On the analog display, times >= 1 hour use triangles that point outwards, times >= 1 minute (but less than 1 hour) point inwards, and times less than a minute use smaller wedges that point inwards. Translucent colors are used in the analog display, and solid colors are used in the digital display. The position of the triangles are also based on the time magnitude. When the time for the warning passes, the triangle is left hollow. For this example, the minute and hour hand colors have been changed to red and green in the Appearance screen.
The progress bar on the digital display uses the colors from the digital segments and (inactive) mode triangle.
The warning triangles and progress bar can be hidden using the Options Settings.
This screenshot shows the progress bar and warning triangle, just after passing a warning time at the 30 second mark.
Down-Up Mode
This combines the down mode, with its warning chimes and final chime, together with the up mode. This mode is handy for various activities, including parking.
Down-Repeat Mode
Similar to the down mode, but repeats until stopped by the user. Once a countdown completes, the chime will ring, then the alternate triangle will highlight and the counter will increment by one, then the timer resets and repeats the sequence.
You can determine your total time by multiplying the preset time with the counter and adding the split time.
Countdown Chimes
Two entries get added to each sound profile, Vorino Timer End and Vorino Timer Warning. Start the Sound Profiles application, which usually has a speaker icon, and you can usually get to it from the home screen. Then edit each Profile that you use and configure the chimes.
This post shows how to set your sounds for OS 6 and OS 7 devices.
This post shows how to create a new sound profile for OS 6 and OS 7 devices.
On OS 5 devices, you’ll first need to select Set Ring Tones/Alerts or Edit Profiles…
Shortcuts
Simply press the key within the brackets to perform the feature:
- [D] Data
- [L] Lap
- [Alt-M] Toggle to next Mode
- [M] Mode
- [P] Appearance Prefs
- [S] Stop
- [V] Toggle View (lap/total)
- [Alt-R] Reset/Clear
- [space] (see Options Settings)
- [trackpad] (see Options Settings)
- [Esc] Hide
Instructions and keyboard shortcuts are also in the Help menu item
Data Screen
The data screen records when the timer is started, stopped, when a new lap occurs, down-up transitions (for down-up mode) and when the timer is done (for down mode). You can view the data even when the timer/stopwatch is running.
If you select a new lap (i.e., by pressing the L key or Lap menu item) when the stopwatch is running up, you’ll get statistics at the end of the screen for min/max/average lap times.
You can copy/paste or email the data at any time. Copy / Email for Spreadsheet formats the data with comma separators. Note that the min/max/average lap times are not included in the spreadsheet format since the format of this data is different than the rest of the data, and the information is there to calculate the values.
When emailing the data, the cursor will position itself at the end of the data. You can select Add To: from the menu to quickly bring the cursor back to the top. Then scroll up one line and replace the Change-Address placeholder by either pressing the delete key or selecting Change-Address from the menu.
The spreadsheet format column order is:
Action Split Time Clock Time Lap # Lap Time
A simple way of loading the data into a spreadsheet is by pasting the text into a .txt file, then renaming the file extension to .csv.
Precision
Avoid changing the time zone during a timing session since this will reset the seconds.
Note that the BlackBerry is not a dedicated stopwatch and runs various software concurrently, which can affect the response times. For example, there can be delays in responding to the menu and keyboard during incoming emails and phone calls. For official events, dedicated timers/stopwatches and electronic timing equipment are recommended.
The keyboard shortcuts respond faster than the menu items, since the shortcuts don’t need to draw/undraw menus before the operation takes place. Ways to improve the keyboard response include exiting apps that are not being used, and (when possible/practical) turning wireless off.
Exiting
If the timer is running, pressing the Escape key or selecting Close from the menu will simply hide the timer. Selecting the Exit menu item will quit the timer, and the Data screen will be empty upon a subsequent restart.
Tips
- To keep the backlight from turning off, in the Options screen, set the Backlight forced on when timing option to Yes.
- Press Alt (or use the menu or trackpad click) to open choice fields. Press the first letter of the desired choice, then scroll to quicken selection. Or press the first letter of the choice until the correct selection is highlighted. This also works without opening the choice field – you can simply press the first letter until the right choice is found.
- You can reprogram one of the convenience keys to open Vorino Timer:
- Select the Options application, which usually has wrench icon). Then find the Convenience Key Opens setting and select Vorino Timer.
- Within the Options app, you can turn on Key Tone.
- Within the Options app, you can select Backlight Timeout.
- Press Alt-Escape to toggle between Vorino Timer and another running application.
Functional notes:
- If the duration between two countdown warning chimes (or warning and final chime) is less than the duration of the selected tune, the device may not play the second tune.
- If the duration between two countdown warning chimes (or warning and final chime) is less than the LED duration set in Options, the LED will stop blinking after it’s set value based on the first chime.
- Note that fuchsia is exactly the same as magenta, and similarly aqua is exactly the same as cyan. The equivalent color that is further up the list in a color choice field is chosen when going back into the Appearance screen.
- When the device is busy with other tasks, such as during incoming email, the seconds hand can sometimes hop in greater increments than it normally does, in order to catch up.
- When using a combination of the largest font size, digital readout, showing both the time and progress bar, and in down-up mode, the progress bar can overlap the time during the down phase.
Appearance Settings
Appearances 1-3 will initially be all the same. Modify the selected appearance set using the Appearance menu item. The settings under Options affect all three appearance sets.
The following screenshots show the Appearance settings used for the default timer appearance, which is blue hands on a white background, as per the first screenshot. For a description of the available colors, please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_colors#X11_color_names.
