PCjs Machines

Tomorrow's airplane mechanics, CAT SYSTEM (Computer Aided Teaching
System) is software to help you study for the FAA aviation mechanic
written examinations which lead toward receiving the FAA Powerplant or
Airframe Mechanic licenses. These tests can be tricky, so it is
important to get the feel for how questions are asked on the exams. The
more practice you get the better. With CAT SYSTEM, your computer
administers and scores mock exams of the same questions that may appear
on the actual test. Your computer gives the test, so you can concentrate
on the questions. The software is easy to use, even for the computer
novice.

The questions are drawn right from the the FAA "Aviation Mechanic
Powerplant Question Book" FAA-T-8080-11B and the "Airframe & Powerplant
Mechanics Powerplant Handbook" AC65-12A. Both are available from the
FAA and other book resellers. Keep in mind that the FAA does not
publish the correct answers, only the questions. CAT SYSTEM is your
chance to get a working professional's insight into the best answers
for these questions.

Disk No: 1680                                                           
Disk Title: CAT disk 1 of 2 (1681 also)                                 
PC-SIG Version: S1                                                      
                                                                        
Program Title: CAT                                                      
Author Version: 1.1                                                     
Author Registration: $15.00                                             
Special Requirements: Graphics (i.e. at least a Hercules card)          
                                                                        
Tomorrow's Airplane mechanics, CAT SYSTEM (Computer Aided Teaching      
System) is software to help you study for the FAA aviation mechanic     
written examinations which lead toward receiving the FAA Powerplant or  
Airframe Mechanic licenses.  These tests can be tricky, so it is        
important to get the feel for how questions are asked on the exams.  The
more practice you get the better.  With CAT System, your computer       
administers and scores mock exams of the same questions that may appear 
on the actual test.  Your computer gives the test, so you can           
concentrate on the questions.  The software is easy to use even for the 
computer novice.                                                        
                                                                        
The questions are drawn right from the the FAA "Aviation Mechanic       
Powerplant Question Book" FAA-T-8080-11B and the "Airframe & Powerplant 
Mechanics Powerplant Handbook" AC65-12A.  Both available from the FAA   
and other book resellers.  Keep in mind that the FAA does not publish   
the correct answers, only the questions.  CAT System is your chance to  
get a working professional's insight into the best answer's for these   
questions.                                                              
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                                                        
PC-SIG                                                                  
1030D East Duane Avenue                                                 
Sunnyvale  Ca. 94086                                                    
(408) 730-9291                                                          
(c) Copyright 1989 PC-SIG, Inc.                                         

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║            <<<<  Disk #1680  CAT disk 1 of 2 (1681 also)  >>>>          ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To start program, insert disk 2 and type:   CAT (press enter)           ║
║                                                                         ║
║ To print documentation, type:   COPY README.TXT PRN                     ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

                     C A T sys.  (1.1vs)

CAT System (Computer Aided Teaching System) with the data
supplied is for use in preparation for FAA (Federal Aviation
Administration) aviation mechanic written examinations which
lead toward receiving the FAA Powerplant or Airframe Mechanic
licenses.

Contact your nearest FAA district office to find out if you
meet the requirements to be able to take the FAA mechanic
written exams. They are usually located at major airports.

PLEASE don't go through a lot of study just to find out that
you don't qualify to take the tests. You must have an
Airman's Authorization for Written Test Form for each test
(General, Airframe, and Powerplant). The General test is
needed in combination with either or both of the other two
for a single or dual license as well as passing oral and
practical exams after the writtens.

18-30 months work experience (military or civilian) in the
right areas or an aviation school is required to take the
licensing tests. I was an Air Force C-130 mechanic (43151F)
which qualified me to take all the tests.

The FAA does not publish the correct answers, keep this in
mind, as mine are surely not all correct. Nobody knows for
sure as some questions are worded poorly and answers may be
partially correct, you have to find the "most correct"
answer of the four choices. The FAA Powerplant test is in
two sections. Questions 5001-5252 from which they choose 25
questions and the rest from which they choose 75 questions
for a total of 100. You must get at least a 70 on each
section to pass.

The file "pp.qst" contains the questions from the FAA
"Aviation Mechanic Powerplant Question Book" FAA-T-8080-11B.

The main reference material for the Powerplant questions is
in the "Airframe & Powerplant Mechanics Powerplant Handbook"
AC65-12A.

They are for sale by:

Superintendent of Documents
U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C.  20402

They have bookstores in major cities and reprints of these
books are available from other commercial sources.

PLEASE PAY ME:

*If you find this program of use please pay for it. There are
only two other vendors that sell such packages and they
charge $100 to $150 for them.

Registration Fee $15, or $45 for all three modules.

If you would like to be notified of future versions only and
don't wish to register please send self addressed stamped
envelope.

What you get for $15:
Latest version of CAT and your name will put on my mailing
list for future updates.

What you get for $45:
You will be sent all three modules General, Airframe, and
Powerplant, plus latest version of CAT.

Future updates will be made available at a reasonable cost to
registered users. With your help I plan on making CAT the
best in the field.

The question files in document format WordPerfect(TM) are
available if you wish to edit them to suit your needs plus a
program to rebuild the index files so CAT can access your
modified files. CAT is general enough that it could be used
to create your own computer aided instruction application.
Add $10 to complete price.
 
MAILING ADDRESS:

Building Bloc Systems
RD 7232
Reading, PA 19606

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS:

The program requires a CGA, Monochrome, or Hercules(TM) type
graphic adapter or emulation, one disk drive, and at least
256K of memory.

With your display in a 80 column mode run "cat.exe" it
requires the files "pp.qst" and "pp.idx" be on the same disk
or in the same directory.

"H" Displays help screen. "PgDn" for same information as in
"category.txt" file above. Any key to go on, except "Esc"
since it would quit the program.

"Esc" To quit. Works from anywhere in program. From a data
entry mode "Esc" will bring you back to the ">" prompt from
where it will quit the program. Be careful to always end this
way as files need to be closed properly.

", ." Scan backwards or forwards.

Shift ", ." or "< >" scan backwards or forwards by 10.

"N" Jumps ahead to the next category. The questions are
roughly placed in categories (reciprocating, turbine,
instruments, electrical, etc.). The category you are in is
displayed as a number on the status line. Print the
"category.txt" file to your printer to have a record of it.
From DOS enter "copy category.txt prn" to get a printout.

"B" backs up to the last category.

"J" Jumps to a particular question number, leave off
thousands. Use "backspace" to correct, "Esc" or "Enter" with
no number present to abort.
     ex. 5467 would be 467.

"R" Toggles between going on to the next question if you
answer incorrectly or repeating that question until correct.
If you turn the repeating feature on, keep in mind your score
will be inaccurate. It is a good feature, however, to
reinforce yourself when you finally make the correct choice.
When you are actually testing yourself the repeat feature
should be off which is the default. "REPEAT" appears in the
top right hand portion of the screen to indicate repeating is
on. Press "R" again to turn repeating off.

"S" Makes bottom score line disappear, Press "S" again to
return it. Your score is being kept anyway.

"^S" Clears score.

"^I" Modify a questions index record. The score line must be
on or "^I" is ignored. You can change the answer, figure,
category, similar question and reference fields. DANGER do
not edit the category field, this feature is for future
versions. After you press "^I" the word "MODIFY" will appear
in the top right hand side of the screen. Press "Enter" or
"Esc" to skip fields you don't wish to change or to move to
the next field after making a change. Use the backspace key
to make corrections, the cursor will jump to the next field
as the last allowable character is entered. Don't worry you
haven't changed anything permanently yet, you have only
changed the index file in memory. If you quit now CAT will
fire up with the original settings. Your speaker will beep if
you attempt to enter illegal characters. Zero's entered in
the figure, category, and the similar question fields are a
null value and the score line will show a "-" in a zero's
place.

The Similar Question field has the current question number in
it, in future versions this will be used to track similar
questions, eliminate reduncancy in tests etc. There are
hundreds of nearly identical questions in the FAA's sample
questions from which the actual test is contructed. Keep this
in mind in your studies as a similar question will often tip
you off to the correct answer and one of them is more likely
to be on the test.

     ex. 5242-5346, 5299-5305, 5265-5292, 5299-5305.

"^W" Write changes above to disk. The file "pp.idx" is over-
written so have a backup of the original. Answer "N", "Esc"
or "Enter" at the prompt to abort.

"PgUp/Any key" Allows you to view a question too large for
the screen. A "*" character helps you find your place as the
screen scrolls when you press page down. Press page up to see
the top again. Try question number 5226. The only other
command that functions here is "Esc" to quit.

"Z" - "z" Toggles the border on and off to the background
color. This is not a supported feature, it is harmless
though.

Use DOS's print screen function "PrtSc" to get a text dump of
questions that require further study or to make a record of
your score.

CHANGING STARTUP CONDITIONS:

Must enter all eight parameters or none. The parameters are
separated by a space. Making a batch file is the way to go.
If an error is encountered CAT tries to make the paramameter
the default.

1 - The question file name with no extension it assumes the
    extension is ".qst" ("pp" default).
2 - The starting question number (1 default);
3 - The background color, 0-7, (Blue default).
4 - The forground color, 0-15, (LightGray default).
5 - Detail color, 0-15, (Cyan default).
6 - F would write to BIOS rather than directly writing to
    video memory. If you have display problems try F,
    otherwise always use T. (T is the default and writes
    directly to video memory).
7 - F turns off snow checking. Use F with monochrome or newer
    CGA's for faster screen display. (T is the default snow
    checking on).
8 - The speed at which the explanation is printed after an
    incorrect response use 0 to 50 (25 default).

ex. "CAT pp 1 1 7 3 T T 25"  (This is the default setup).

Colors:
0 = Black           8 = DarkGray
1 = Blue            9 = LightBlue
2 = Green           10 = LightGreen
3 = Cyan            11 = LightCyan
4 = Red             12 = LightRed
5 = Magenta         13 = LightMagenta
6 = Brown           14 = Yellow
7 = LightGray       15 = White

PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS:

1. Private Pilot module.
2. Better references.
3. Access a file which displays an explanation of the correct
   answer when you answer incorrectly, not just the answer
   alone.
4. Fill in the blank text which you read and fill in key
   words omitted prior to answering questions.
5. User to be able to make sorted tests, saved to disk, based
   on category, reference, or randomly generated.
6. Print tests to line printer.

Your suggestions are welcome.


CAT sys. (1.1vs) Copyright April 1989 all rights reserved.
Written by Mike Schwartz.


GOOD LUCK!!

 Volume in drive A has no label
 Directory of A:\

FILE1680 TXT      2591  12-11-89   5:40p
GO       BAT        38   1-01-80   1:37a
GO       TXT       540   1-01-80  12:24a
README   TXT      9370   4-21-89  10:31a
        4 file(s)      12539 bytes
                      145920 bytes free