Orion LT Weather Station 1 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Orion LT Wind Monitor™ User Manual Version 1.08 Serial Number: _____________________________ Date Purchased: ___________________________ All specifications subject to change without notice. Printed in U. S. A. Columbia Weather Systems, Inc.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ © Copyright 2005 - 2010 Columbia Weather Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary Notice: Orion, Orion LT, Orion LX, Capricorn 2000, Capricorn 2000MP and Capricorn 2000EX are trademarks of Columbia Weather Systems, Inc. The information and drawings contained herein are the sole property of Columbia Weather Systems, Inc.
Orion LT Weather Station 3 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Welcome! Welcome to the Columbia Weather Systems family of users and congratulations on your purchase of the Orion LT Wind Monitor. Please read this manual completely prior to installation. Columbia Weather Systems, Inc.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Important Notice: Shipping Damage BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER, please inspect all system components for obvious shipping damage. The Orion LT is a high precision instrument and can be damaged by rough handling. Your unit was packaged to minimize the possibility of damage in transit.
Orion LT Weather Station 5 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ESD Protection Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) can cause immediate or latent damage to electronic circuits. Vaisala products are adequately protected against ESD for their intended use. However, it is possible to damage the product by delivering electrostatic discharges when touching, removing, or inserting any objects inside the equipment housing.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents WELCOME! ..................................................................................................................................3 IMPORTANT NOTICE: SHIPPING DAMAGE .......................................................................4 ESD PROTECTION...................................................................................
Orion LT Weather Station 7 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SECTION 6: MAINTENANCE .................................................................................................37 CLEANING ................................................................................................................................................................37 FACTORY CALIBRATION AND REPAIR SERVICE .............................
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Orion LT Weather Station 9 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION The Orion LT Wind Monitor The Orion LT provides ultrasonic wind direction and speed measurements. Available in three configurations – fixed-mount, vehicle-mount, and portable – Orion LT data can be monitored with our proprietary Weather Display Console and WeatherMaster™ Software, as well as with third-party software.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Heating Power Source Input: 5 to 30 VDC (1.1 A at 12 VDC) Sensor Housing Protection class: IP66 (with mounting adapter) Materials: Polycarbonate + 20% glass fiber, stainless steel (AISI 316) Weight: 595 g (1.
Orion LT Weather Station 11 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Principles of Measurements Wind Measurement Both wind speed and direction are measured using advanced ultrasonic technology. The sensor utilizes ultrasound to determine horizontal wind readings.
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Orion LT Weather Station 13 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SECTION 2: PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Orion LT Sensor Transmitter The Orion LT Sensor Transmitter is an all-in-one sensor unit containing ultrasonic wind speed and direction sensor. Sensor Transmitter Components 1: Top assembly 2: Silicon gasket 3: Spacers 4: Bottom assembly 5. Allen screws Columbia Weather Systems, Inc.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bottom of the Transmitter 1: Alignment direction sign 2: Service port 3: Water tight cable gland 4: Unused cable gland, covered 5. Optional 8-pin M12 connector (not supplied with standard system). Mounting Adapter To facilitate easy installation and north alignment, the Orion LT Sensor Transmitter comes standard with a mounting adapter.
Orion LT Weather Station 15 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Orion Interface Module The Orion Interface Module is used to supply power to the sensor transmitter and to provide two RS-232 communication ports. The RS-232 ports can be connected to computers, display consoles, transceivers, and other such devices. The Interface Module has two LED indicators.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Surge/Lightning Protectors A nearby lightning strike may induce a high voltage surge which the internal suppressor of your weather instrument may not be able to withstand, causing significant damage to the weather station. Protect your weather station investment with the Orion Surge Protector.
Orion LT Weather Station 17 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ WeatherMaster Software (Optional) WeatherMaster is a professional grade weather monitoring software. This software package is designed for specialized markets that require robust weather calculations, interoperability with computer models, and data interfaces to other industrial systems.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Weather Display Console (Optional) The Weather Display uses “intelligent” touch-screen technology. With its programmable microprocessor and abundant memory, the Weather Display can display weather information, perform complex computations, and store relatively large amounts of weather data.
Orion LT Weather Station 19 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Weather MicroServer The Weather MicroServer uses a small computer board that runs an imbedded Linux operating system. The MicroServer has 512MB flash memory for data logging and operation. The Orion LT transmitter connects to the MicroServer via COM1.
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Orion LT Weather Station 21 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SECTION 3: INSTALLATION Weather Station System Configuration The Orion LT Weather Station can be installed in multiple configurations depending on the communication options, power availability and viewing options. Columbia Weather Systems, Inc.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Installation Overview Unpacking the Unit Installing Sensor Transmitter Installing the Interface Module Connecting the Sensor Transmitter to the Interface Module Connecting to Weather Display, Computer, and/or MicroServer Unpacking the Unit The sensor transmitter comes in a custom shipping container. Be careful when removing the device.
Orion LT Weather Station 23 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Installing the Orion LT Sensor Transmitter Site Selection: Finding a suitable site for the sensor transmitter is important for getting representative ambient measurements. The site should represent the general area of interest.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Compass Alignment 1. If the sensor transmitter is already mounted, loosen the fixing screw on the mounting adapter. 2. Use a compass to determine that the transducer heads are exactly in line with the compass and that the arrow on the bottom of the transmitter points to north. 3.
Orion LT Weather Station 25 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Routing Cable Use plastic tie wraps secure the cable to mast. Be sure that one is used at the mast base. Tighten the tie wraps securely and clip off any excess length with a wire cutter tool. Route the cable back to the Interface Module. Any mast or tower should always be properly earth grounded to minimize electrical storm damage.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Connecting the Sensor Transmitter to the Interface Module Attach the wires from the end of the sensor cable to the terminal block screws on the Interface Module as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Signal +12 V GND N/C GND RX TX Standard Color RED White and Bare No connection Green Black Orange Heated Color RED and Brown White, Blue, and Bare No connection Green Black
Orion LT Weather Station 27 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Section 4: Optional Sensor Mounting Hardware Fiberglass and steel 10-foot masts are available for use with either Roof Mounting Hardware Kit (Cat. No. 88002). Only the steel 10-foot mast is available for use with the Wall Mounting Kit (Cat. No. 88003). A 10-foot free standing tripod is also available. Roof Mounting The Roof Mounting Kit (Cat. No.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Guy Wire Clamps, 1/8" 3 (not shown) 88070 *Steel Guy Wire, Galvanized 50 ft.
Orion LT Weather Station 29 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wall Mounting The figure and table below illustrates and describes the individual parts in the Wall Mounting Kit (Catalog No. 88003). Only available with the steel mast. Items included in the kit are marked with an asterisk (*). Individual parts are also available. Description Pkg. Ref Catalog No. Mast, 10 ft.
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Orion LT Weather Station 31 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tripod The instrumentation tripod is designed to provide up to 10 feet of stable, secure support for your meteorological sensors. Constructed from welded aluminum and is powder coated for appearance and longevity, the 15-pound tripod can easily support up to 60 pounds of equipment. An optional tie-down kit allows for additional security in high-wind areas.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tripod 10-foot (Catalog No.
Orion LT Weather Station 33 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Orion LT Sensor Data Output Definition Wind data is transmitted every second. A Supervisory message is transmitted every 60 seconds when heating is turned off and every 15 seconds when heating is turned on.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CRC-16 Computation The computation of the CRC is performed on the data response before parity is added. All operations are assumed to be on 16 bit unsigned integers. The least significant bit is on the right. Numbers preceded by 0x are in hexadecimal. All shifts shift in a zero. The algorithm is: Initialize the CRC to zero.
Orion LT Weather Station 35 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SECTION 5: CALIBRATION Factory Calibration The wind sensor is checked in a zero wind verifier that meets Vaisala’s manufactured specifications. The Zero wind verifier measures the ultrasonic speed transmitted and received in zero-wind environment. Once calibrated, the wind readings will be accurate over the full range of the sensor.
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Orion LT Weather Station 37 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SECTION 6: MAINTENANCE This chapter contains instructions for the basic maintenance of the sensor transmitter. Cleaning To ensure the accuracy of measurement results, the sensor transmitter should be cleaned when it gets contaminated.
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Orion LT Weather Station 39 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Section 7: Troubleshooting This chapter describes common problems, their probable causes and remedies. Problem Possible Cause Action Wind measurement failure. Both the speed and direction sensors are not reporting correct data Blockage (trash, leaves, branches, bird nests) between the wind transducers. Remove the blockage.
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Orion LT Weather Station 41 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SECTION 8: USER SUPPORT INFORMATION This section consists of the following items: 1. One-Year Limited Warranty: Please read this document carefully. 2. Return for Repair Procedure: This procedure is for your convenience in the event you must return your Orion LT for repair or replacement.
Orion LT Weather Station ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ C. Shipping Send freight prepaid (UPS recommended). Insurance is recommended. (The factory can provide the current replacement value of the item being shipped for insurance purposes.) D. Send to: Columbia Weather Systems, Inc. 2240 NE Griffin Oaks Street, Suite 100 Hillsboro, Oregon 97124 E. C.O.D. shipments will not be accepted. 3.
Orion LT Weather Station 43 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Columbia Weather Systems, Inc. 2240 NE Griffin Oaks Street, Suite 100 Hillsboro, OR 97124-6463 Telephone (503) 629-0887 Fax (503) 629-0898 Web Site http://www.columbiaweather.com Email info@columbiaweather.com Version 1.07 Printed in U.S.A. Columbia Weather Systems, Inc.
