DIGIBAR-Pro PROFILING SOUND VELOCIMETER OPERATION MANUAL Software Version 1.XX Odom Hydrographic Systems, Inc. 1450 Seaboard Avenue Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA 70810-6261 Telephone: (225) 769-3051 Fax: (225) 766-5122 Email@Odomhydrographic.com http://www.odomhydrographic.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1-3 1.1 Instrument Description ............................................................................................................................... 1-3 1.2 Theory of Operation .................................................................................................................................... 1-4 1.3 Features ..................................
LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. 1.................................................................................................................................................................. 1-3 Figure 2. 2.................................................................................................................................................................. 1-6 Figure 3.1.....................................................................................................................
1 INTRODUCTION The Operation manual contains information required to operate and field test the DIGIBAR-PRO Model 1200 hand-held sound velocimeter. 1.1 Instrument Description DIGIBAR-PRO is a third generation velocimeter employing the sing-around method of sound velocity determination. Building on more than 15 years of experience in manufacturing velocimeters used in calibrating echo sounders, this latest version of the DIGIBAR-PRO is tailored for the advanced applications practiced in the field today.
The velocity of sound and depth values displayed on the DIBIGAR-PRO front panel are measured, stored in memory, and displayed by the system's internal microprocessor and its associated circuitry. The processor applies Del Grosso's formula to the sing-around frequency calibration constants, yielding accurate and traceable velocity results. The addition of a pressure sensor to the velocimeter probe lends new versatility to the instrument.
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1.4 Control Unit Front Panel Description All controls on the unit’s front panel as well as the LCD display are sealed to prevent water damage. As seen in Figure 1.2 below, the simple scheme of left, right, up, and down arrows, plus enter and escape keys, coupled with the scrolling display menu system makes the DIGIBAR-PRO quite straight-forward and easy to operate. Figure 2.
1.5 Probe/Cable Description The velocimeter/depth probe, in its standard configuration, is connected to the hand-held control unit via a low drag (0.27 in. (7mm)), 60-foot (20 m) long, multi-conductor cable. The cable is designed to withstand the rigors of long use in the field, having an internal Kevlar strength member and a heavy polyethylene outer jacket. Additional weight may be added to the cable (up to 25lbs. total) in order to depress the probe in high current conditions.
2 OPERATION Both the membrane switches and display on the control unit's front panel are sealed, and all openings in the body of the housing are gasketed in order to prevent water damage. However, it is a good idea to minimize the unit's unnecessary exposure to the elements in order to prevent possible long-term damage due to corrosion. To prevent unnecessary battery drain, the unit is powered down automatically after 10 minutes of inactivity (no switches are pressed). 2.
2.3 Initial Configuration Power ON Depress and hold the power button for 3 seconds. The display will show the Header Screen for 1 second: Digibar Pro v x.xx S/n DB98xxx Odom Hydrographic Systems, Inc. The Header Screen will disappear and be replaced by the Main Menu. The initial cursor position is opposite the Acquire sub menu. NOTE: Before starting the first velocity cast the conditions or parameters of the cast should be examined and adjusted as necessary.
2.4 Setup Menu Parameters Log Basis: Velocities can be logged in the control unit based on either depth or time. The usual method of producing a velocity profile is to log velocities based on depth. In order to accomplish this task, place the arrowhead cursor on Log Basis and press the Enter key. One should now note a blinking cursor over the last character of the parameter value. Press the UP or Down arrow keys. Note that pressing either key causes the value to toggle between Depth and Time.
influence of single bad data points, or storing one data point at each predetermined measurement interval. The results of a cast using a number of averaged velocities for instance would be a somewhat "smoother" profile, which reacts less rapidly to spurious changes as the number of averaged data points is increased. The default value for depth is 4 (four depths are averaged to arrive at the measurement depth) and velocity is 1 (the most recent velocity at the measurement depth is stored).
2.5 Performing a Velocity Cast From the Main Menu, position the arrowhead cursor opposite the Acquire parameter and press the Enter key. This will put the unit in the velocity acquisition mode. Acquire Menu Cast Memory/casts Depth Velocity View All Start %100/1 1.0 5,000.0 Cast: Pressing the Enter key with the arrowhead cursor positioned opposite the Cast parameter initiates velocity and depth data acquisition.
Once the velocity/depth probe has been lowered to the designated depth and then retrieved, position the cursor opposite the Cast parameter and press the Enter key in order to stop data collection. Cast Memory/casts Depth Velocity View All Acquire Menu Stop %100/1 0.5 4,960.0 As soon as data collection is terminated, the Review screen will be displayed. Date and Time at start of cast Cast # Average Velocity of entire cast (all samples) 1 09/16/99 12:05:02 AV 1500.0m/s MD 50m D 11.0 Vel 1300.0 D 12.
Press enter to DELETE this record, Or any other key to cancel Pressing the Enter key a second time will delete the record from the cast. . 2.6 Acquire Parameters In the Acquire mode, several parameters are displayed to assist in judging the quality of the cast data and for managing data storage. Memory/casts: This parameter displays the percent of memory available for cast data storage, and the number of casts collected.
rinsed with fresh water and dried after each cast. This will minimize the possibility of corrosion affecting the function of the probe.
3 Interfacing 3.1 Uploading Information to a PC Main Menu Acquire Review Setup Comm Battery/Probe Power Version After completing a Cast, it will often be desirable to upload the results to a PC in spreadsheet format for further processing or record keeping. To do so, select Comm in the main menu and press Enter. The screen shown below will be displayed. Output Cast Comm menu 3.2 All 1,2,etc.
Output Type: The choice of 5 different output formats can be made using the this parameter. CSV: Selecting the CSV format option results in the unit sending ASCII data in the following arrangement: # CAST 1 Meters Records 3 09/16/99, 11:33:17, 1503.0,1.5,16.0 09/16/99, 11:33:17, 1503.4,2.0,15.0 09/16/99, 11:33:17, 1503.9,2.5,14.
WESTGEO: This sentence complies with the requirements of the current WG-1100 velocimeter output string. 634 01503 635 01503 636 01504 The string is composed of a 3-digit sequential event number, followed by a space, and then 5 characters of velocity data. Each record is delimited by a . Sounder: When the Sounder output string is selected, the Digibar sends a A followed by "Digibar Pro 9999 (Serial No.) 11/08/99 10:45:20 AvgVel 1500.2 (m/s, f/s) MaxDepth 100 (m or ft.).D.
DIGIBAR-PRO control unit and an external computer. Selection of Yes under Output During will cause this to happen. The output string will be composed of the following: 02/28/02,08:56:02,1484.9,0.0,25.0 MM/DD/YY, time, velocity, depth, temperature In most cases, portable operation will not require data to be output until the entire cast, or a number of casts, are collected. In this case, Output During - No should be selected.
chart, and press the Enter key. This will cause the Echotrac/Hydrotrac to print the information contained in the Sounder string on the unit's chart. Please note that the actual velocity used by the sounder will not be changed as a result of this process! Since the sound velocity value established in the echo sounder is most often established by calibrating using the bar check method, changing the actual velocity in the echo sounder is left up to the operator.
DigibarPro Version 1.07 Appendix 1 Downloading Examples using Digibar Pro Log 2.1: HYPACK compatible velocity tables: Downloading a velocity cast from the hand held control unit into HYPACK assumes that a couple of conditions are satisfied. Namely, that velocities are either converted to or are measured in meters/second, and that the associated data file ends in the file extension ".vel".
DigibarPro Version 1.07 b. The box next to Com Port is checked and no checks remain in the boxes next to the "direct to probe" or "simulator" buttons. 6. Click on the Logging tab. The default file name is cast00.csv. Please note that if the operator chooses to change nothing from the default configuration, then the file to be downloaded (in most cases) will be stored at C:/Program Files/Digibar Pro/cast00.csv. 7.
DigibarPro Version 1.07 8. Click on the box next to the Begin Cast Download button and enter the # of the particular cast in the DigibarPro control unit you wish to download (1 thru 10). 9. Click the Begin Cast Download button. Note that the status line at the bottom of the Logging tab will show "Downloading cast # to log file", followed by "Download complete". In addition, the circle in the lower right hand corner of the screen will change colors while data is being transferred.
DigibarPro Version 1.07 10. Click on the Graph tab. Observe that the graph of the downloaded data looks appropriate for the cast conditions. 11. Click on the Grid tab. The grid tab allows the operator to observe and edit the collected data in spreadsheet format. Once the operator is satisfied with the veracity of the data, click the Save Button. At this point a windows menu titled "Save Cast File" will be displayed.
DigibarPro Version 1.07 An interesting observation: In Hypack applications, if velocity data is collected in feet/sec., the data will automatically be converted to meters/sec. by Digibar Pro Log once the operator tells the program to save the file as a *.VEL file (Hypack compatible file). Depths continue to be stored in feet, but all velocities are stored in meters/sec. You can monitor the results of this conversion in the Coastal/Datum directory by selecting Editing, Sound Velocity in Hypack.
DigibarPro Version 1.07 Once this step is completed, additional editing or plotting of the sound velocity profile can be accomplished using specialized outside software. The important fact here is that all of the data from the cast is easily and quickly transferred to a standard PC in a common spreadsheet readable format without the need of hand operations or translation from "scientific units" to depths and velocities.
DigibarPro Version 1.07 Appendix 2 Quality Assurance Check To receive the utmost reliability and accuracy from your Digibar Pro, it is recommended that a quality assurance check be performed periodically. This is a simple task that and will not take long to complete, but will give the user a high level of confidence in the data collected. You will need a bucket of water, the calibration certificate at the back of your Digibar Pro Operation Manual, a reliable thermometer and the Digibar Pro.
DigibarPro Version 1.
