Monopole
Omni
Omni with Radials
Yagi
Directional
The following are the basic steps required to set up a 5096 A2 transmitter. These steps are for rain and stream sites only:
- Upgrading 5096 Transmitter hardware (adding ALERT2 board and new radio)
- Adding additional components to site
- GPS antenna
- Polyphaser
- Solar Panel (if site does not have adequate power already)
- Programming 5096
- Novastar5 needs to have new ALERT2 point added (Scott will do this)
Equipment Needed
- Laptop with RS-232 cable
- Drill with 3/16”, 1/4” and 1/2” bits and hole saws
- GPS antenna, mount, hardware and cable
- Polyphaser with mount hardware and cable
- Upgraded ALERT2 5096
- 21 amp-hr battery
- Wattmeter
- Scanner
- ALERT2 field decoder
- Spare antenna
- Spare cables and cable fittings (N-type connectors, BNC connectors, adapters)
Common Commands
- SET-STAID – Sets the station id. For Ventura County, this is the station number (e.g., 188, but with a “20” prefix: 20188)
- SET-RF – Adjusts the parameters for the radio (Maxon 125E-v2 is inverted (1), all other radios (0))
- SET-TDMA – Used to program frame length, offset and delay of TDMA transmissions
- SET-EV – Used to adjust parameters for Event sensors
- SET-A2 – Sends all previously programmed parameters to the ALERT 2 board
- Attach antenna or dummy load to antenna port before the 5096 is powered up
- Attach GPS
- Connect Power
- Locate appropriate SA1, DAT and SA2 files on laptop and transfer to network drive (e.g., Q:\StationDocs\199 – Fillmore Sanitation\Records\2015)
- Open Hydstra Explorer (HYEXPLORE) and select from the menu tree: Programs by Function > Hydstra/TS – Time Series > Hydstra Data Management > HYDMWB – Data Managers Workbench
- Press the Open folder icon or select File > Open
- In the Open Time Series Site dialog box that opens, enter the site number in general format (e.g., 199) in the Site Specifier field and press the Lookup Site button
- Select the specific site (e.g., 199A) that appears in the dialog box and then press OK
- In the Open Time Series Sites dialog box confirm that the proper site is shown, then press OK
- Single-click the site icon that has an A at the end (e.g., 199A A) and select File > Copy
- Select File > Import Data.
- It is likely Hydstra will still “remember” importing ML1 data from previous site visits; therefore, you need to change the data type. Press Back until Logger is highlighted and select HYD from dropdown
- Press Next to highlight Variant and select RAININCH from the dropdown
- Press Next to highlight Filename and Browse to proper DAT file on network drive
- Press Finish and a new B file is created on the Data Manger’s Workbench
- Drag the C file to the B file and release
- In the Merge Files dialog box, select the Resolve Overlaps: Split blocks if necessary, preserving C File data radio button, verify the Delete Source box is checked and press OK
- Double-click the B file to open the work file
- In the dialog box that opens, double-click the row 11.00 Rainfall (inches) – High-Resolution
- Open the block of newly imported data by selecting the block and pressing the Text tab
- Highlight all data points and press the Quality edit button
- In the Quality Edit dialog box that opens select 20 Coarser dataset used to fill gap in dataset (ie. ALERT data) from the New Quality dropdown and press OK
- Fill data gaps and continue processing data as described in Hydrological Services ML-1 – Transfer Data
Downloading ALERT data is often performed once per year. The process described below creates three files: (1) a diagnostic file prior to the data download (SA); (2) the data file (DAT); and (3) another diagnostic file after the data is downloaded (SA2). For this, you will need a laptop with RS-232 cable for communicating with the Hydrolynx 5096 unit.
Radio transmission strength is also tested at this time. For this, you will need a wattmeter and radio scanner. Also, battery voltage and solar function should be tested.
Test Radio
Make sure either an antenna or dummy load is always attached to the transmitter to prevent damage to transmitter.
1. Use wattmeter set at the following:
• FWD and 15 watts – should read > 5 watts
• REV and 5 watts – should read < 1 watt. If reverse power is greater than a few watts (1-2), check the following:
→ Antenna at correct length for frequency (ALERT2 – 171.925 MHz) – adjusted antenna = 33.75″; omni with radials = 28″)
→ Antenna damage (bent, dented, excessive corrosion, etc.)
→ Damaged cable or fittings
2. Use scanner to confirm transmission
3. Use Novastar5 and vcwatershed.net to confirm arrival at base station
Download Data
- Unscrew two black nuts from top plate
- Grasp handle, lift slightly, then rotate 90 degrees to ensure that wiring does not catch on threads before lifting fully out of the can
- Connect unit to laptop via RS-232 serial cable and with 9-pin connector
- On field laptop, open PuTTY
- Under Session, confirm that the serial line is set to COM1 and the speed is set to 9600 baud
- Further under Session, select Logging and then select the Session Logging: All session output radio button
- Browse to the appropriate location (data folder on the hydrographer’s laptop), enter name in SiteMonthDayYear format, followed by the letters “SA1” (e.g., 199111515SA1), then press Save
- Press Open to activate a terminal session
- Enter command showall
- Confirm and record the following:
- Real Time
- RAW Reading
- Reset Count
- (Memory) Percent Used
- Close window
- Reopen PuTTY and repeat steps 5 and 7; however, the file name shall be followed by the letters “DAT” (e.g., 199111515DAT)
- Again press Open to activate a terminal session
- Enter command get-mem
- Press Close when finished downloading data
- Reopen PuTTY and repeat steps 5 and 7; however, the file name shall be followed by the letters “SA2” (e.g., 199111515SA2)
- Again press Open to activate a terminal session
- Enter command showall
- If necessary, change time on 5096 to match computer’s time in 24-hour format with hours and minutes separated by a comma (e.g., time= 13,15 for 1:15 PM) and press Enter
- Enter command align to synchronize all internal sensor timers
- After confirming that all files (SA, DAT and SA2) have been downloaded, enter command clear-mem
- Enter command showall to verify memory has been reset (Percent Used should read 0.00%)
- Press Close
- Tip rainfall bucket 3 or 4 times to confirm transmission via radio scanner (which should be set to same frequency as transmit signal from site)
For the Aspiring Hydrographer