Star-Oddi Starmon Mini, User Manual

Page 1: ...mini Temperature Recorder and SeaStar Graphic Supporting Software Skeidaras 12 210 Gardabaer Iceland Tel 354 533 6060 star oddi star oddi com www star oddi com Distributed by MicroDAQ com Ltd www Mic...

Page 2: ...User Manual SeaStar Graphic Supporting Software 2014 Star Oddi All Rights Reserved Page 2 Distributed by MicroDAQ com Ltd www MicroDAQ com 603 746 5524...

Page 3: ...Data in Excel 33 6 Printing 34 6 1 Charts 34 6 2 Histogram 35 6 3 Files 37 7 Settings 38 7 1 Directories 38 7 2 Preferences 39 7 3 Data File Format 40 7 4 Connection 41 7 5 Retrieve Data 42 7 6 View D...

Page 4: ...onnection Wizard 72 12 2 Cable Connection 72 12 3 Start Recorder 73 12 4 Retrieve and View Data 73 12 5 Quick Retrieve and Restart Recorder 74 12 6 Change Battery Life 74 12 7 Insert New Calibration C...

Page 5: ...r titanium The plastic housing allows for an external pressure of 40 bars which equals a depth of approximately 400m The titanium housing has a pressure tolerance of 1100 bar 11000m The serial name of...

Page 6: ...r Figure 2 1 SeaStar main Window If you are starting the software for the first time you will be asked if you want the Connection Wizard to open automatically each time you start SeaStar If you change...

Page 7: ...t It is necessary to define which USB or serial port on your PC computer you will use for connecting the communication cable Using the USB Serial Converter If you are using the USB serial converter yo...

Page 8: ...Settings menu The Communication definition dialog box appears 2 Select a serial port for communications 3 Choose the OK button Figure 2 4 Communication Port Configuration After you plug in the USB ca...

Page 9: ...Windows XP you can do it following way Control panel system hardware device manager Under Ports you can view all available ports Make sure that the port you are intending to use is enabled right clic...

Page 10: ...inside the recorder is dead the PC and cable are still able to connect to the recorder and retrieve data 3 2 Connecting Unscrew the end cap on Starmon mini The socket becomes accessible as shown in t...

Page 11: ...ttings Communication Serial Ports to display available ports see figure 3 2 Com ports up to COM255 can be selected 3 4 Com Port Wizard Figure 3 3 Com Port Wizard Choose Wizards Connection Wizard Conne...

Page 12: ...n outlined in chapter 2 Step 2 Connect Unscrew the end cap on Starmon mini Connect the communication cable between the serial port of the computer and the socket inside the recorder Step 3 Connect to...

Page 13: ...appears Figure 4 2 Connecting and Retrieving Once the connection has been established a window appears with information on the 4 3 Figure 4 3 Connecting to the Recorder Press OK The Recorder is now on...

Page 14: ...ons depending on the status of recorder If a previous CCT file exists and the recorder was in sleep or slumber mode a PC vs recorder clock comparison is calculated indicating difference in seconds and...

Page 15: ...or multiple you want to use see figure 4 5 Figure 4 5 Intervals If you are not using the wizard choose the Edit menu and the New Measurement Sequence Definition command The following window appears Fi...

Page 16: ...ed by clicking Cancel when connecting to the recorder see figure 4 7 Figure 4 7 Multi Start Mode The three buttons Use Template Use Sequence and Previous are not commonly used They can be used when on...

Page 17: ...ence Once the new measurement sequence has been downloaded into the recorder a window appears on the screen in order to verify the settings see figure 4 9 Figure 4 9 Start New Measurement Sequence Pre...

Page 18: ...ettings plus information on the sequence time duration and battery usage same as in the NMS file Step 6 Retrieve Data When connecting to a logger after a measurement period the following window appear...

Page 19: ...recorder are automatically saved in the serial number directory The default data directory can be viewed in the Settings menu and Directories The user has the option to define a new data directory pat...

Page 20: ...seal is recommended when being disconnected from the computer but will continue consuming battery To put your Starmon into sleep mode select Disconnect Recorder in the wizard or Recorder Disconnect to...

Page 21: ...command The name of the data file consists of the number of times the recorder has been set up to measure plus the serial number of the recorder When the data file mid has been selected the chart and...

Page 22: ...chart are displayed Active Series List This button can be useful when working with a multi sensor recorder in order to select which parameters to display in the chart Click the button and the followi...

Page 23: ...e table see figure 5 3 Figure 5 3 Table Horizontal Vertical Gridlines These two buttons give the option of hiding displaying the horizontal vertical gridlines in the chart A drop down menu appears whe...

Page 24: ...lines Select the minimum grid size Data Point Marker This button gives the option of displaying hiding data points in the chart Histogram The chart can be shown as histogram displaying the distributio...

Page 25: ...ed but if changes are made with the graph for example with the time scale the save button enables the user to save the graph as a DAT file Print Chart The chart can be printed For more details see cha...

Page 26: ...rt This button gives several options regarding the look of the graph The axis can be to activate the features The graph can be exported in formats as jpg gif bitmap metafile pdf htm and svg Templates...

Page 27: ...and to the sides by holding down the right button of the mouse and moving the cursor in the desired direction Go Back to Initial View To go back to the initial view of the chart simply hold down the...

Page 28: ...part of the SeaStar documentation system The files that the file browser accepts must have the following extensions TXT Frequently users copy SeaStar data to text processors and spreadsheets like Word...

Page 29: ...nd the MDT file created Figure 5 8 The MDD SMNS Error Message Measurement Data Measurement Download Definition MDT This text file contains information on data downloaded into the recorder for the meas...

Page 30: ...calibration range Binary Data DAB This file contains raw data of the measurements in the data file Calibration files are not calculated into the data View DAB Files as Trend When converting the DAD D...

Page 31: ...ing decimal values to unit values is the circuitry temperature correction The result of this first correction can now be seen in a new file in SeaStar BPD The file contains the corrected decimal value...

Page 32: ...ted This file can be opened in SeaStar under View SeaStar Log or by opening it with a text editor Screenshots By pressing the Print Screen keyboard button while in the application a screenshot of the...

Page 33: ...with the data called DAT This text file can be opened in Excel and in other programs Joined Date and Time option is not disabled the following is performed for opening data in Excel 1 Excel is starte...

Page 34: ...on the menu bar The following window appears Figure 6 1 Print Preview Orientation The chart can be printed in either portrait or landscape format Margins scaled The margins can be varied by either ch...

Page 35: ...es as well as the texts on the X and Y axis can be re scaled by using the scroll bar The number of gridlines is increased when the bar is moved to the left Another way of printing out a chart is openi...

Page 36: ...in figure 6 3 appears Figure 6 3 Output Options To change the selected printer click Setup and select another printer To see a preview of the print out select Preview under Report Destination and cli...

Page 37: ...on the menu bar The following window appears Figure 6 5 Output Options The dialog window in figure 6 5 has the same functions as the one in figure 6 3 Note that as some of the files are very large it...

Page 38: ...Figure 7 1 Directory Path Definition Default SeaStar Path Structure With default settings SeaStar Starmon mini SeaStar eated when the software was installed on the computer After connecting to a recor...

Page 39: ...a particular recorder If this option is enabled SeaStar will start looking for the INI file in the user defined directory More information on files and their structure can be found in the Appendix 7...

Page 40: ...h or dash should be used to separate the date Time Separation The user defines whether a colon or a dot should be used for the time separation Field Separation For the text files created the user defi...

Page 41: ...manually via the recorder wizard or by choosing the File menu and Retrieve Data command Automatic data retrieval upon connection By enabling this option the software will automatically check for data...

Page 42: ...o the number of data byte to retrieve the user has the option to define number of bytes to retrieve If for some reason or another it becomes necessary to retrieve data more than once or even several t...

Page 43: ...ta file all of which result in numerous files To ease the task of remembering settings and results and or renaming and copying files a backup system of reconverted files has been implemented A reconve...

Page 44: ...cimal Values Decimal Values DV are raw measurements sometimes referred to as binary data The decimal value is between 0 and 4095 which is the range for the 12 bit AD define the decimal value range unl...

Page 45: ...n this case the software will know if the value is under the minimum or maximum limit After the correction has been made the data needs to be reconverted under File Reconvert Data and data will be cha...

Page 46: ...9 Rate Of Change ROC This new feature gives the user a chance to see how fast the signal is changing i e the estimated velocity of the signal This applies to all measured parameters The ROC is calcul...

Page 47: ...m then millimeters are expressed as mm Data Trend and Table Rate Of Measurement Data 7 10 Chart Title To change the title of the chart click on the title name A dialog box appears Figure 7 11 Chart Ti...

Page 48: ...ox By disabling the Automatic option the minimum and maximum measurement values become active By clicking on the Change buttons for the maximum and minimum values the temperature range to be shown on...

Page 49: ...f the data are viewed again or the chart or the database Series The Series window offers the same features as t Figure 7 14 Chart Editor When a particular series is selected like the Temperature serie...

Page 50: ...ecorder type The Left Axis and Custom 1 axis are always in use the latter is reserved for the timeline Figure 7 16 Axis Formatting Figure 7 17 shows a six tab Axis menu There are numerous options some...

Page 51: ...ndow which can be positioned anywhere on the chart There are multiple formatting options six tabs for each title Figure 7 17 Title Menu Legend The legend menu see figure 7 18 gives the user an option...

Page 52: ...into pages with a user defined number of points per page Only one page is shown at a time and the user can scroll through the pages via the page buttons that appear are enabled on the chart to the ri...

Page 53: ...image on the panel can be seen through the wall with the Transparency option Data In the data menu seen in Figure 7 22 gives the user access to the database upon which the chart rests Here text labels...

Page 54: ...osen setting check uncheck the Active box on top of the first page of this menu Figure 7 23 First Page of Tools Menu Export Under the Export menu three tabs offer as many menus for saving data as Pict...

Page 55: ...t Menu Picture Native The Native menu see figure 7 25 these files is not supported in SeaStar at the moment Figure 7 25 Export Menu Native Data Data can be exported to files in four formats see figure...

Page 56: ...s option is not relevant in SeaStar Another method for exporting is to use the Alt PrintScreen keyboard buttons to copy an image of the SeaStar window to the clipboard thereafter to paste it to anothe...

Page 57: ...a time value is calculated for every measurement point These time values form the Timeline The Timeline is an extra series that follows the rules of the other measurement series When the graph first a...

Page 58: ...ig 7 30 Figure 7 30 Timeline Options There is no need to reconvert the data as every time a data file is loaded the Timeline is calculated in accordance with Timeline settings The Timeline is not a pa...

Page 59: ...ts to reuse partly or completely presumably a complex and or lengthy measurement setting Saving a Template The user can now when editing New Measurement Settings NMS save his work by plate fil 1 befor...

Page 60: ...ally templates deleted The recorder type and interval type which the template was based on are visible for each template Figure 7 33 Template Selection Templates can be used across recorder type bound...

Page 61: ...ore option to quickly set up the NMS The button in fig 1 marked and return four different settings depending on the status of recorder and measurement selection 1 Use Default No recorder selected 2 Us...

Page 62: ...can be to save memory but still be able to have frequent measurements in between Select Multiple recording intervals in the wizard or choose the Edit menu and the New Measurement Sequence Definition...

Page 63: ...and continue until memory is filled or connection with recorder is establised 8 3 Set Mode to enable the user to fix the settings in case many option has been selected the same settings will automati...

Page 64: ...ed for temperature unit alteration Need for data file format alteration 9 1 Data Definition By choosing the Edit menu and Reconvert Data Definition a dialog box appears Figure 9 1 Reconvert Data Defin...

Page 65: ...t the RBD files to the recorder Convert Number of Data According To You can reconvert all the data in the last measurement sequence or you can define the number of measurements to be reconverted The u...

Page 66: ...ter 2 3 years When recalibrating the battery can be replaced as well so the recorders are good as new When checking older recorders it has come apparent that the error in the measurements is mainly du...

Page 67: ...e response shift It is possible to set the desired start end point to be shifted by X seconds This shift can only be performed on data with an interval of 1 second Linear estimation outside calibratio...

Page 68: ...t Previous Conversions Reconvert Previously Retrieved Data If data from the same sequence is retrieved more than once a bookmarked data sequence file DAD is created These files can be accessed and rec...

Page 69: ...user receives the recorder in Sleep Mode but it can easily be awakened by the Connect command in the Recorder menu The recorder is put into Sleep Mode when the recorder is disconnected without putting...

Page 70: ...ieved from the recorder the following occurs 1 The computer retrieves the data from the recorder and writes the data to the The recorder has stopped recording but still holds the recorded data When ne...

Page 71: ...m in a register file in the RID At the time the recorder is in production when the battery is new the energy number is set to 100 Each time the recorder is started up in a new measurement sequence the...

Page 72: ...o enter the connection wizard see figure 12 1 12 2 Cable Connection Figure 12 2 Cable Connection Wizard Choose the Wizards menu and the Cable Connection command to enter the Com Port wizard see figure...

Page 73: ...re 12 4 Start Recorder Wizard This wizard starts the recorder with a new user defined measurement sequence 12 4 Retrieve and View Data Choose the Wizards menu and the Retrieve Data command to enter th...

Page 74: ...s wizard retrieves data from the recorder without graphically displaying it and offers the user to start it again with a new measurement sequence 12 6 Change Battery Life A new wizard has been added t...

Page 75: ...can also refer to other same type recorders working under similar conditions Calculate from NMS Check the Calculate from NMS option and click on Calculate NMS The user is now transferred to the Set Ne...

Page 76: ...es recorder raw measurement values Having recalibrated a Starmon mini recorder the results must be placed in a text file named after the recorder and with the extension NCT For example for recorder T4...

Page 77: ...mon mini like T6405 the wizard will look for a NCT file with the same name like T6406 NCT in the SeaStar RBD folder Having found the matching NCT file the wizard will read the NCT file and merge it wi...

Page 78: ...urrent that can be read in the RIT file Check the results Having run the wizard the user can check if the new calibration constants were inserted correctly First connect to the recorder again The RCI...

Page 79: ...or further data analysis Figure 13 1 Group menu New Group Select New Group to create a new group Please note that it is also possible to create a new group by clicking the New Group button in the grou...

Page 80: ...Open Group button in the group view pane Once a group has been selected the group view pane appears Figure 13 3 Group view Adding sequences to group To add a sequence to the group connect to a logger...

Page 81: ...starting up a logger the new measurement sequence will be automatically registered in the group If no group is open the sequence will not be registered in any group Retrieving data When retrieving da...

Page 82: ...To Select Send Group To to transfer a group to another software Figure 13 6 Send Group It is also possible to transfer a group by clicking the Send Group to button in the group view pane Close Group S...

Page 83: ...01 recorder When connecting to a recorder for the first time SeaStar creates the recorder directory named after the serial number of the recorder Information Files SeaStar uses information files to st...

Page 84: ...D file must be selected Recorder Related Files Every file for Starmon mini that is recorder related has the following name format Txxxx The name is the recorder ID serial no Ext Description File type...

Page 85: ...ctual result file where the measurements are converted to their natural units and timed This is a text file with columns The first column is the measurement number the second column the date and the t...

Page 86: ...1 3 1 Result file Number Date Time Channels 1 3 2 Binary file Number Binary Channels 1 3 3 Columns 1 Total number of columns 3 6 4 Channels 1 Number of measurement parameters 1 3 5 Field separation 1...

Page 87: ...re conversion temperature correction in pressure calculations is used as extra header information 0 1 0 Normal correction 1 Correction was disabled 13 Pressure offset correction 2 In pressure calcula...

Page 88: ...User Manual to open the Starmon mini user manual Troubleshooting Select Troubleshooting to open the Trouble Shooter Release Notes Select Release Notes to view a description of the latest features adde...

Page 89: ...rs Figure A 2 Select files to download Select the files you want to download and click OK The program downloads and installs the latest updates to the software Please note that this can only be done w...

Page 90: ...describes your problem and write a subject and description If you like you can select Images screenshots and browse for images in the screenshots folder and send them with the ticket By selecting Othe...

Page 91: ...rder The user should contact Star Oddi for a RBD file The name of the backup file is Txxxx RBD serial no of the recorder plus the RBD ending Downloading the backup file 1 Copy the backup files RBD int...

Page 92: ...e sequence number and remaining battery life see figure A 7 Note that if the sequence number is set too low data will be overwritten Figure A 7 Set Sequence Number 6 The SeaStar software downloads the...