At several locations, Mini-Divers have been installed as a redundant water level sensors to the existing gas purge systems. With a 5-minute data logging setting, the internal memory of the Divers will be full in ~83 days. There is no memory wrap feature and the Divers must be stopped/started in order to erase existing data. Data for the Mini-Diver and BaroDiver must be downloaded individually.
- Connect the threaded end of the USB interface cable to the Baro-Diver
- Open Diver-Office
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)
- Turn on Bluetooth capability (procedure will vary by laptop)
- Click on appropriate site from list
- If site does not automatically connect, use the password 1610
- Open WinComLog
- Select correct COM port
- Follow standard directions for downloading data from the ML1 here
Gage height and discharge data are periodically transferred from the unit in the form of a .NEW file. After being copied to the appropriate media, the .NEW file is deleted, thereby reducing file size for subsequent downloads. Should problems arise in downloading this file, a longer term record (.WRP file) is stored on the unit and can be accessed in a similar manner. Unlike the .NEW file, the .WRP file is only deleted at the end of each water year.
The processes described below is applicable to several types of transfer media, including USB keys or PCMCIA (Flashdisk) cards
Copy .NEW File to Media
- Open lid of H-350XL/H-500XL
- Insert PCMCIA card or USB key into appropriate slot
- Press Display On/Off key to turn on display
- Stage = x.xx is displayed; record this value on front sheet
- Press ▼ key until System Status is displayed
- Press ► key, Battery = xx.xx volts is displayed
- Press ▼ key, Min Battery = xx.x is displayed
- Press ▼ key, Max Battery = xx.x is displayed
- Press ▼ key, System Resets = x is displayed
- Press ▼ key, Resets Stats Screen? is displayed
- Press Enter to reset stats
- Press ◄ key to get back to System Status screen
- Press ▲ key until Data Options is displayed
- Press ► key, Data Memory OK is displayed
- Press ▼ key until Copy Files is displayed
- Press ► key, Copy All 2 Ext Card? is displayed
- Press ▼ key until Copy .NEW to USB or Copy .NEW to Card is displayed
- Press Enter, Copying [site].NEW is displayed
- When copying is completed, Enter to Erase .NEW is displayed
- Press Enter, Erasing .NEW is displayed
- Press Esc until Stage = x.xx is displayed
- Remove PCMCIA card or USB key
- Press Display On/Off key to turn off display
- Verify that Scanning is On is displayed
Copy .WRP File to Media
- Open lid of H-350XL/H-500XL
- Insert PCMCIA card or USB key into appropriate slot
- Press Display On/Off key to turn on display
- Wait a few seconds and the instrument should give a gage height reading
- Press
- Push ▼ key until Data Options is displayed
- Push ► key, Data Memory OK is displayed
- Push ▼ key until Copy .WRP to Card or is displayed
- Push Enter, unit should display the file that is being copied
- When the copying is complete, Done, Press Any Key is displayed
- ERASE NEW FILE
- Remove the PCMCIA card or USB key
- Push Display On/Off to turn off display
Clear Internal Memory
This process should be done on a yearly basis on the first download after the start of the new water year if the data for the previous water year is known to be complete. Be sure to download .NEW and .WRP files before completing this process.
- Open lid of H-350XL/H-500XL
- Insert PCMCIA card or USB key into appropriate slot
- Press Display On/Off key to turn on display
- Wait a few seconds and the instrument should give a gage height reading
- The scanning must be turned off in order to clear the memory not the logging
- Press the Esc key until back to Data Options
- Arrow Down to Scan Setup
- Right Arrow, Scanning [ON] should now be displayed
- Press Enter and ON should now be flashing
- Press ▲ key to turn the scanning off, then press Enter
- Press the Esc key until back to Scan Setup
- Press ▲ key until Data Options is diplayed
- Press ► key, Data Memory OK should now be displayed
- Press ▼ key until Erase Internal Data is displayed, then press Enter
- When asked Are You Sure?, press Enter
- Press the Esc key until back to Data Options
- Press ▼ key until Scan Setup is displayed
- Press ► key, Scanning [OFF] should now be displayed
- Press Enter and OFF should now be flashing
- Press ▼ key to turn the scanning on, then press Enter
- Press the Esc key until back to Scan Setup
- Press ▲ key to Sensor Input Setup
- Press ► key, Stage Setup should now be displayed
- Push Display On/Off to turn off display
ML1 data loggers are attached to TB3 tipping rainfall buckets at most sites. Please refer to this for further details on maintenance of TB3 units while downloading data from ML1s.
- Remove three screws from bottom of TB3 and remove circular enclosure
- Remove black cap from ML1 and connect to laptop via RS232 serial cable
- Open WinComLog
- Select appropriate COM port and baud rate (usually, this is COM1 at 9600 for hardwired connection, but will be different if connecting to ML1 via Bluetooth (see this)
- Once connection is made, press Status to display parameters
- Make note of time and date if different from that on laptop
- Tip rainfall bucket to verify connection and to establish beginning of site visit, Time/Date/Value are displayed
- To download data, press Start Capture and then CSV-1
- Navigate to data folder on field laptop and enter name in SiteMonthDayYear format (e.g., 194a081715)
- Press Dump Rain, Would you like to plot this data? is displayed, press No
- Once data download is complete, verify file in selected data folder on field laptop
- Return to WinComLog and press Stop Capture
- Enter PASSWD=BOMM to access ML1memory
- To clear data, enter CLR and verify by pressing Status button (rainfall total should be reset)
- If appropriate, set time and date to match that of field laptop using TA function
- Tip rainfall bucket to mark end of site visit
- Perform field maintenance on TB3 as described here
For the Aspiring Hydrographer