APPLE IIE EVENT RECORDER

Apple IIe Event Recorder

An alternative to the mechanical event recorder is one that can be programmed into an old Apple computer, the Apple IIe. The following program is written in BASIC for the Apple IIe. In order for the program to work, you must have a photogate(available from Vernier Software) connected to the game port of the Apple IIe. The light-detecting apparatus is placed so that an animal breaking the beam will trigger an input to the computer. Since the Apple IIe has no internal clock, I have estimated the amount of ticks necessary to approximate 24 hours. When you test the program on your IIe, you should check to see if the time period is close to 24 hours. If not, you should modify the last number in line 60 and test again.

The data is stored in an array and is accessed at the end of the 24-hour period using the on-screen prompts. The data you receive represent the number of times the beam was broken in that hour period. The period with the highest number was presumably the hour of greatest activity. A problem may occur in which the organism breaks the beam and then remains in it--try to avoid this by placing food and water sources away from the photogate area.

An alternative to the cockroach/Tygon tubing experiment would be one in which the photogate would detect the running wheel activity of a rodent. An attachment to the wheel would have to be fashioned which extended out and broke the light beam of the photogate as the wheel rotated. Rodents have been used very successfully in experiments involving biological timing since they have a very pronounced activity cycle. The set-up would have to be placed in an area that was undisturbed, since the noise of a class of students or the lights being turned off and on may disrupt normal activity rhythms.

Program

10 HOME
15 REM *SETS UP MEMORY LOCATIONS*
20 B1=49249
30 B2=40250
35 REM *INITIALIZE DATA-STORAGE ARRAY*
40 DIM TRY(240)
50 COUNT=0: ROACH=0: V=0: LAST=0
55 REM *SETS PROGRAM TO RUN FOR 24 HOURS*
60 FOR J=1 TO 981032
70 COUNT=COUNT+1
75 REM *CHECKS TO SEE IF BEAM IS BROKEN*
80 IF PEEK(B1)<127 THEN GO TO 110
90 LAST=0
100 GO TO 600
110 IF LAST=O THEN GO TO 130
120 GO TO 600
130 ROACH=ROACH+1
140 LAST=1
145 REM *CHECKS FOR INPUT FROM OTHER PORT*
150 IF PEEK(B2)>127 THEN GO TO 205
155 REM *PLACES DATA INTO ARRAY*
160 TRY(V)=ROACH
170 V=V+1
180 COUNT=0
190 ROACH=0
200 GO TO 70
205 REM *SHOWS RESULTS ON SCREEN WHILE RUNNING*
210 PRINT "TIME: "COUNT
220 PRINT "ROACH CROSSINGS: "ROACH
230 IF COUNT=3747 THEN GO TO 160
240 NEXT J
250 HOME
255 REM *DISPLAY DATA AT END OF RUN*
260 PRINT "------------------------"   (<--there are 24 dashes)
270 PRINT "DATA RETRIEVAL"
280 PRINT "------------------------"
290 PRINT
300 PRINT "THIS PROGRAM WILL SHOW YOU A"
310 PRINT "SCREEN AT A TIME.  TO CONTINUE"
320 PRINT "VIEWING DATA, ENTER 1 WHEN PROMPTED."
330 PRINT
340 FOR HOUR=1 TO 24
350 PRINT "HOUR "HOUR
360 FIRST=(HOUR-1)*10
370 LAST2=(HOUR*10)-1
380 FOR Z1=FIRST TO LAST2
390 PRINT TRY(Z1)
400 NEXT Z1
410 PRINT "TO CONTINUE--"
420 PRINT "PRESS 1"
430 PRINT "TO EXIT PROGRAM, PRESS 0"
440 PRINT
450 INPUT "CONTINUE? ";XY
460 IF XY=0 GO TO 500
470 IF XY=1 GO TO 490
480 GO TO 4025
490 NEXT HOUR
500 END

Accessibility statement