User's Manual
Table Of Contents
- Chapter 1. Introduction
- Chapter 2. Using the addSDI
- Opening the packages
- Installing the RTU
- . In general the typical “line-of sight” distance over which the RTU can communicate is 1 km (.6 miles). This is valid if both t...
- . As with all wireless communication devices, the higher the transmitter is installed, the better the communication will be.
- Field Installation
- Figure 2. LED Tool
- 1. Review the installation area and choose the best site.
- 2. Perform a connectivity check using the LED tool:
- a. Insert the LED tool into the POWER connector and wait up to 10 seconds. If the unit connects to at least one station (or a base station), it will light up the LED for about 4 seconds.
- b. Keep observing the LED tool and, after another several seconds, the LED will blink one or more times (the number of blinks indicates the number of stations it has contacted).
- 3. Assemble the mast from the set of poles.
- 4. Drive the tipped aluminum pole vertically into the ground, using a sledge hammer. Put the “pole pounder” cap on top of the po...
- 5. Using a pipe clamp, fasten the solar panel onto the aluminum mast. Make sure that the panel is facing south (north if you are located in the southern hemisphere) and is out of the way of the addSDI RTU.
- 6. Fasten the addSDI RTU to the top of the mast using another pipe clamp. Adcon recommends that you perform another connectivity test, if you can, to check the positioning of the device.
- 7. Attach the SDI-12 sensor to the SDI jack and the solar panel to the POWER jack by turning the connectors fastening screws clockwise until secured tightly.
- 8. Secure access cable of the SDI-12 cable to the pole with cable ties. To protect it from damage don’t let it sit on the ground!
- More about the LED tool
- Configuring an addSDI RTU in the addVANTAGE software
- Maintaining and servicing the RTU
- The RTU battery
- Changing the battery
- 1. Open the lid by unscrewing the four screws in the corners of the addSDI RTU, then remove the lid as shown in Figure 3.
- 2. The battery pack is connected to the electronics board by means of a PCB connector. Remove the battery pack’s plug from the PCB connector, as shown in Figure 4.
- 3. Unscrew the two screws of the metal cover that holds the battery pack in place, then remove the cover. Figure 5 shows the A725 battery pack inside the RTU.
- 4. Remove the battery pack and replace it with a new one (obtainable from your Adcon dealer).
- 5. Put the metal cover back in place and secure it with the two screws.
- 6. Replace the old cover seal with the new one, provided together with your battery, as rubber gaskets tend to stiffen and might not reseal properly. Place the rounded side of the gasket into the groove and have the flat side showing!
- 7. Insert the battery plug into the PCB connector.
- 8. Mount the lid back, taking care that the rubber gasket sealing the box is not out of place.
- Chapter 3. Performing Advanced Functions
- Understanding connectors
- The POWER Connector
- The SDI Connector
- SDI-12 Sensor Connections
- Communicating with the RTU
- Serial communication protocol
- General format of a command
- . ID is the destination device. If you include an ID as part of a command, the node checks whether ID=ownID. If it does, the nod...
- . Command is the command proper, which can be composed of a variable string of characters (for example, SLOT). Each node can imp...
- . Param1 Param2 ... ParamN represent the parameters, which are command dependent. If you type no parameters when you issue a com...
- General format of an answer
- . ID is the answering device. If a command was further routed, it is the ID of the end device. The answer must always contain the ID on return.
- . Command is the string representing the original command. It is supplied so that a master can distinguish between the answers i...
- . Result1 Result2 ... ResultN are the result values returned by the remote node. If the ErrResult is not zero, all other possible characters and/or strings until the end of the line may be ignored.
- . ErrResult shows whether the command was successfully executed or not. If this value is 0, the command was successfully execute...
- General format of a command
- Using terminal commands
- . new device type: A725
- . only SDI-12 Sensors available
- CMDS
- TIME
- FREQ
- RSSI
- ID
- SLOT
- PMP
- DATA
- Description
- Parameter
- Returns
- Remarks
- Remote
- Example
- . dd mm yyyy is the date
- . hh mm ss is the time
- . si is the size of the frame
- . ft is the frame type (39 for the A725)
- . d1 d2 ... dn are the data values (the frame content)
- . cs is a 16-bit checksum obtained by summing the bytes and discarding the carries over 0xFFFF
- IMME
- FDEV
- INFO
- Description
- Parameter
- Returns
- . rf_in and rf_out as a decimal
- . date as dd/mm/yyyy
- . time as hh:mm:ss
- . ver as x.x
- . clk, stack, and cop as decimal; they represent internal housekeeping parameters: the A725 uses cop to number watchdog occurrences, but clk and stack are currently undefined
- . batt as battery level using the standard voltage conversion equation (0 is 0 volts, 255 is 20 volts)
- . temp as internal temperature in the A725 housing, which is device dependent. The precision of the sensing element is low (±2°C...
- . days_uptime in days; together with hr:min_uptime, it represents the amount of time the device is up without a reset or watchdog
- . hr:min_uptime in hours:minutes format
- . rssi as decimal; it is the value programmed with the RSSI command
- . pmp_low and pmp_high are the programmed values with the PMP command )
- . type is used to represent the device type; the following types are currently assigned: - 0 for A730MD - 1 for A720 - 2 for A73...
- . po is the power output of the device during the last frame sent
- . err_level is the error value; 0 means no error
- RX
- TX
- B
- BLST
- VER
- SDI
- Description
- Parameters
- . sdi + adds a measurement to the list. If you add the C argument, CRC-measurements are used (default is without CRC). You can s...
- . sdi - removes a configuration entry. The argument are the sdi- addr and the method ('M' or 'R') and optionally the checksum flag 'C'. Sensors are considered as belonging to the same sensor unit if they have the same sdi-addr and method.
- . sdi I returns the sensor configuration, including the sensor identifier string in double quotes, where '\' and '"' in the id s...
- . sdi ! resets the SDI-12 configuration. All previous entries are deleted from the configuration table.
- . sdi * forces a sensor discovery cycle after the next measurement cycle. The status of the operation can be checked by issuing ...
- . a/A - The presence of the SDI-12 BUS: a absent, A active;
- . w/W - Wait-State of the system: w not waiting, W waiting for an SDI-12 sensor;
- . m/M - Measurement command status: m no measurement is being done, M a measurement is in progress;
- . v/V - Availability of Values for storage: v no values are available, V values are available for local storage;
- . d/D - discovery initiation: d no discovery pending, D discovery pending (will be done at the next sensor poll cycle).
- . sensor id - the sensor ID in ASCII (0 - 9, A - Z and a - z);
- . method + CRC - the measuring method, either M (normal) or R (continuous), optionally followed by the CRC flag (C);
- . index - the indices used (in hexadecimal), e.g.: 0x3 if indices 0 and 1 are used.
- DATASDI
- Description
- Parameters
- Returns
- . dd mm yyyy is the date
- . hh mm ss is the time
- . si is the size of the frame (variable for the SDI frames)
- . ft is the frame type (60)
- . rfin is the RFin RSSI value
- . rfout is the RFout RSSI value
- . db is the digibyte value
- . batt is the battery voltage value
- . sdih ist the SDI-12 header
- . sdib1, sdib2 ... sdibn are the SDI-12 sensor quadruples
- . cs is a 16-bit checksum obtained by summing the bytes and discarding the carries over 0xFFFF (float values are not included in the checksum).
- . SDI count - represents the number of configured SDI values following in the SDI data block.
- . SDI offset - the offset in the SDI-12 frame. Usually it is 0 (no offset is used).
- . SDI available - is the number of SDI-12 sensor values effectively returned. The difference between the SDI count and SDI available indicates missing sensors (down or damaged). Usually these two values are identical.
- . SDI values - this is a number of SDI-12 quadruples:
- SDA
- Returned errors list
- Command line interpreter
- . 1 - command not recognized (=it doesn’t exist or isn’t supported)
- . 2 - command line buffer overflow (input line too long)
- . 3 - internal error
- . 4 - reserved
- . 5 - missing or false parameters in command
- . 6 - operation not implemented
- . 7 - remote operation not allowed
- . 8 - Invalid IMEI checksum number
- Device descriptors and storage handler
- . 10 - device not found (attempt to perform a command on a non-existent device)
- . 11 - device already exists
- . 12 - reserved
- . 13 - no more space for descriptors (too many devices)
- . 14 - no more records for the specified device
- . 15 - temporary communication break, no more data (the last request was not successful)
- . 16 - time-out (the handler blocked or is busy)
- . 17 - internal error
- . 18 - attempt to insert a reserved device ID number (0 or 65535)
- Real time clock
- Radio interface
- . 30 - error at receive (CRC, etc.)
- . 31 - unexpected frame received
- . 32 - wrong length
- . 33 - reserved
- . 34 - reserved
- . 35 - time-out (remote device not responding)
- . 36 - receiver busy (for example, just executing a polling series)
- . 37 - time stamp of a frame is too far in the future
- . 38 - general modem error
- Command line interpreter
- Understanding connectors
5
Chapter 2. Using the addSDI
The A725 addSDI Remote Telemetry Unit (RTU) is part of the A7xx
series. For testing purposes, you should have an A840 Telemetry
Gateway installed before you install the A725 RTU. For informa-
tion about installing the A840, refer to the
Base Station, Telemetry
Gateway A840 and Wireless Modem A440 User Guide
.
Opening the packages
The addSDI RTU package contains the A725 RTU, an antenna, and
a pipe clamp. If ordered, the following items come in separate
packaging:
• A solar panel and pipe clamp
• A set of aluminum poles
• A LED tool
• Sensors and cables, one box for each sensor.
Make sure you have received all the equipment and read through
the instructions that follow. Once you are sure to understand
them, you are ready to install your RTU.