VIRTINS VT UltraMic-384, Hardware Operation Manual

Page 1: ...ology Virtins Technology VT UltraMic 384 Ultrasonic USB microphone and recorder with Bluetooth for an easy configuration via Android smartphone Note VIRTINS TECHNOLOGY reserves the right to make modifications to this manual at any time without notice This manual may contain typographical errors ...

Page 2: ...inutes Recording Mode 11 Scheduled Recording Mode 11 UM384BLE configuration app 12 USB Power 13 SD card 14 XML File Editing 15 Scheduling Deletion 18 Amplification Settings 19 Firmware Upgrade 20 Simplified Flow Code 21 Led messages 22 Technical Specifications 25 Recording Times 26 Customization 26 VT ULTRAMIC 384 Bottom Recorder 27 Examples 33 1 BAT CALLS 33 2 BIRD INSECT AND BAT CALLS 37 3 SOUND...

Page 3: ...p to about 190 Khz The USB 2 0 full speed port allows an easy connection to your PC iOS Android smartphone or tablet and to embedded Linux systems When used with an external USB battery the VT Ultramic 384 s low power integrated 32 bit microcontroller makes it the perfect device for long term autonomous recording Only 30 mA 5 Volts of power are required when operating at full speed Features A high...

Page 4: ...ng mice ultrasonic vocalizations for pharmacological studies o Soundtracks and special effects such as slowing down the recorded ultrasounds INDUSTRIAL o LEAK detection o Predictive motor fault monitoring o Detection of high frequency noises emitted by switching power supplies LCD screens or the turbines of car and truck engines energy saving lamps The Circuit Backup and clock battery Amplificatio...

Page 5: ...with the O Ring A bad insertion can cut the sealing vanishing the waterproof protection Disassembly To disassemble the VT UltraMic 384 you can simply unscrew the back ring and keep the metal tube with one hand and push the plastic component To reassemble the VT UltraMic 384 you can push back the plastic into the metal tube 1 2 3 ...

Page 6: ...t 2018 2020 Virtins Technology Virtins Technology Screw the top cap Membrane inserted Insert the membrane in the cap Place the membrane Black ring face up The membrane can be easily unmounted unscrewing the top cap Unscrew the top cap Membrane mounted Membrane mounting ...

Page 7: ...VT Ultramic 384 is a waterproof IP67 microphone when the front cap is tightly screwed The USB connector is not a waterproof device therefore it must be protected from humidity and dust The microphone sensor is protected by a PTFE membrane glued to the black front cap Even if the membrane is very thin it will block a part of ultrasonic sounds If you don t need the waterproof protection or if you ha...

Page 8: ...dard Plug Play device with no driver installation required WITH YOUR PC Insert the USB connector of the microphone to the USB connector of your PC and launch the Multi Instrument software WITH YOUR SMARTPHONE OR TABLET Use a USB OTG adapter and connect the VT UltraMic 384 to your Android smartphone Download the compatible software such as BAT RECORDER app and open it Connect your headphones to lis...

Page 9: ...20 Virtins Technology Virtins Technology dB Frequency in Hz 1000 WITH YOUR iOS DEVICE With the lightening USB adapter connect your microphone to your iPad iPod or iPhone Download the compatible software such as ULTRASONIC ANALYZER app to capture the ultrasound Frequency response ...

Page 10: ... into a low power mode How to setup the autonomous one hour recording mode Open the VT UltraMic 384 by unscrewing the back Insert a formatted SD card into the slot on the circuit board Reassemble the device Power the device via an USB power supply such as wall adapter or a USB power bank Then the device starts recording at 384kHz sampling rate Every 8 seconds the RED led emits a blink indicating t...

Page 11: ... kHz for 70 minutes splitting the recording If you need different times please change the 70 in the file name with the correct one If you need other sampling frequencies please change the 48 in the file name with the preferred frequency Allowed frequencies in kHz are 384 192 96 48 200 250 Allowed file name for minutes are between 11 rec and 90 rec the range is between 11 and 90 minutes For the spl...

Page 12: ...ces from 4 3 are compatible with Bluetooth low power UM384BLE configuration app The UM384BLE CONFIG app allows a complex recording scheduling Follow these steps to set up your UltraMic 384 Download the UM384BLE CONFIG app from www dodotronic com download SCHEDULING TAB Install and launch the app The following screen appears CONNECTION TAB TRIGGER ...

Page 13: ...onnection Conf erase it allows you to delete the configuration from the VT UltraMic 384 Send Time it aligns the time synchronizing of the smartphone with the internal clock of the VT UltraMic 384 Get Mic Info it updates the information on this page with the internal settings of theVTUltraMic 384 Audio Level it shows the audio level in dB Send conf it send the configuration parameters to the VT Ult...

Page 14: ...er according to the previously mentioned modes If a SD card is used VT UltraMic 384 requires a card with a 2 GB minimum storage capacity Note also that faster data transfer speeds will result in better performance Old or low quality SD cards could have a low transfer rate and data loss can occur during recordings Please note that data transfer speed may gradually degrade depending on the type of S...

Page 15: ...in folders using the naming convention YYYYMMDD where YYYY stands for the year MM for the month and DD for the day Each file in the folder will use the following naming convention YYYYMMDDT_hhmmss_fff wav where the last part of the file name corresponds to the starting hours minutes and seconds respectively and then the sampling frequency During recording the red LED will blink every 8 seconds xml...

Page 16: ...e used to set a name for a recording session timeleft is the remaining recording time in the SD card before the alert defined by a yellow led fast blinking stop_db and start_db values are related to the trigger if a signal goes over the start dB then the recording starts and continues until a signal is present over the stop dB If the signal is below the stop dB for at least 1 second then the recor...

Page 17: ...ng when the VT UltraMic 384 is powered on record this is the time in hours and minutes for recording pause this is the pause between two records Comments can also be added using the following tag xxx where xxx represents the comment itself Comments are ignored by the VT UltraMic 384 How to load the XML file Copy the XML file named ultramic384 xml in the root directory of a micro SD card Insert the...

Page 18: ...up battery every scheduling is deleted herein included the internal clock Use the Android app and once connected click on CONF ERASE The clock is maintained Save the following xml file and store it into the VT UltraMic 384 as previously explained for normal scheduling Contrary to the standard scheduling programming the ultramic384 xml file will be renamed to ultramic384 err and the scheduling will...

Page 19: ...hes control the amplification level By unscrewing the back of the device near the USB cable and then pushing on the aluminum tube you can access to the circuit board Turning on the switch n 1 will result a 10 x amplification Default with the FG sensor Turning on the switch n 2 will result a 100 x amplification Be sure to grease the o ring when reassembling the device UltraMic 384 circuit board PIN...

Page 20: ... different filename will not update the firmware Firmware Upgrade Download the upgrade file if any FIRMWARE ENC Store the file in the root directory of a micro SD card Insert the SD card into the VT UltraMic 384 Power the microphone the yellow LED is on for some second and then the green LED will blink up to the end of the firmware updating Remove the SD card ...

Page 21: ...ology Virtins Technology USB audio Are there configured timers YES RENAME THE XML TO OLD NO STARTUP START SCHEDULED RECORDING START ONE HOUR RECORDING Simplified Flow Code NO YES NO NO YES SD card XML SET TIME AND DATE LOAD ALARMS SET THE FIRST ALARM FIRMWARE EN C PRESENT UPDATE THE FIRMWARE YES ...

Page 22: ...VT UltraMic 384 Hardware Operation Manual www virtins com 22 Copyright 2018 2020 Virtins Technology Virtins Technology LED messages RECORDING MESSAGES ...

Page 23: ...VT UltraMic 384 Hardware Operation Manual www virtins com 23 Copyright 2018 2020 Virtins Technology Virtins Technology MIX MESSAGES ...

Page 24: ...VT UltraMic 384 Hardware Operation Manual www virtins com 24 Copyright 2018 2020 Virtins Technology Virtins Technology ERROR MESSAGES ...

Page 25: ...r second Resolution 16 bit Amplification High quality and low noise differential analog amplification with no filter CPU 32 bit integrated ARM Cortex M4 microcontroller Power 25 mA power requirement in USB mode 27 5 mA mean power requirement in autonomous recording mode during recording 300 uA in autonomous recording mode during the pause Update Software upgradable via firmware file stored in the ...

Page 26: ...ours if the sampling rate is 384kHz 41666 seconds 11 hours Recording format Capacity Time 384Khz 8 2 53 384Khz 16 5 47 384Khz 32 11 34 384Khz 64 23 08 384Khz 128 46 17 48Khz 8 23 08 48Khz 16 1 day 22 hours 48Khz 32 3 days 20 hours 48Khz 64 7 days 17 hours 48Khz 128 15 days 10 hours Customization For specific application where the plastic components and aluminum tube are not required and a specific...

Page 27: ...hone sensor SQ29 specifically designed to bring the right sensitivity for marine environment This device implements all the characteristics of VT UltraMic 384 ultrasonic microphone The circuit board is integrated in a plexiglass can with two caps and the hydrophone sensor placed in one of them The container is tested for up to 500 m deep use and it is intended to be used only in autonomous mode Th...

Page 28: ...or Android smartphone and tablet to ease the scheduling By default you cannot install apps out of the Play store so you need to change the settings on the specific page of your device The app is compatible only with the specific firmware present in the VT UltraMic 384 so please take care to install the compatible version This user guide refers to the app version 2 01 and firmware version 02 01 ...

Page 29: ...duling plan START A TIMING PLAN There are two possible modes Timer o You can define 28 different times at which to start the recording in the same day with different length Repeat o You can define how many recordings to do for each day the gap and the recording length In this page you can add the time for at which the recorder will start Set Date Start is the date at which the first record will st...

Page 30: ...threshold and a specific high pass filter can be applied If the trigger is set to No Trigger Then the device starts to record at the defined time and date regardless of the sound level detected Clicking on Set Freq you can select a default sampling rate at which the MIC will be set This setting is redundant and is useful only to see the Audio level with the Trigger functionality ON ...

Page 31: ...ecordings of this device The File Split Size can be defined in minutes or in seconds and this defines the maximum size of the recorded files I e if a long record takes GBytes of storage this will be split in smaller files for an easier post elaboration with your PC The File Size in minute pop up will be updated with the correct unit of measure Each configuration can be saved clicking on Save the C...

Page 32: ...rrent time and date with the clock of the VT UltraMic 384 Get Mic Info updates this page with the data grabbed from the mic Audio Level will show a little graph with the signal captured by the MIC The graph is updated with real time sample on which are applied the chosen HP filter Below this button there are info read from the Mic After the date and time there will appear two icons The first one m...

Page 33: ...er 1 BAT CALLS I want to record bat calls all night long avoiding blank spaces in recordings In this case we set the sampling rate at 384kHz and implement our trigger and high pass filter A from the START menu click to B Unscrew the VT UltraMic 384 and insert a formatted SD card C Power the VT UltraMic 384 the green led will blink rapidly and the following screen will appear Info about the SD card...

Page 34: ... start for xxxx seconds The Stop dB is the level at which the record will be stopped If the level falls below this limit the registration will be stopped Furthermore if bat call trigger the signal then the record starts for xxx second even if the signal goes below the Stop dB limit if another signal over the Stop dB is sensed then the record will continue for xxxx seconds Enabled HPF is set if you...

Page 35: ...the file size is time length in seconds x 2 bytes 16bit x sampling rate If you set the FILE SPLIT size to 60 minutes at 384kHz you will got 60 minutes x 60 seconds x 2 bytes x 384K 2764800 Kbytes file size of 2 764 Giga Bytes It is a good practice to have small file size to be easily handled by your PC software In timing mode you can delete the single row by pressing the row for 2 seconds F Set th...

Page 36: ... G Save the configuration for future use optional from the menu or eventually load the saved configuration H At this point you can send the configuration to the microphone from the CONNECT menu When the configuration is uploaded to the microphone it will restart and it will operate according to the uploaded information ...

Page 37: ...higher frequencies Therefore we set 384Khz for bat calls since the bandwidth is about the half of the sampling rate and for 384Khz the bandwidth is about 190 Khz and we can record all bat calls A bird song is in audio range and for a better quality recording we set 48Khz as sampling rate for bird songs Cicada calls too are in audio range but some insects go over 20Khz and we set 96Khz sampling rat...

Page 38: ...ime Mode and click on Add time E Insert the following time Rec for 00 10 pause for 00 50 Sampling frequency 48kHz Follow the steps from point F to H like in the previous chapter 1 Bat Calls 4 MONITOR PREDICTIVE I need to record bearing noise in industrial environment in order to know how ultrasonic spectrum normal operating conditions If you need to monitor in real time then you must remove the SD...

Page 39: ...in a room HOW TO Follow the steps of chapter 1 Bat calls from point A to point C D in the Timing tab set the Repeat Mode and click on Add time E choose SET DATE AND TIME to configure the date and time you want the registration start F insert the following time Rec for 23 59 Pause for 00 01Sampling frequency 48Khz Follow the steps from point F to H like in the previous chapter 1 Bat Calls ...

Page 40: ...integrated recorder instead Q I want to record each day from 8 00 to 8 55 and from 13 00 to 13 15 how can I do it A Take a look at XML RECORDING MODE section above Q I need to record cetacean vocalizations A Connect your pre amplified hydrophone to the 6 pole connector of the VT UltraMic 384 and use it as a standard USB microphone or recorder Q I have connected VT UltraMic 384 to my PC but it isn ...

Page 41: ...icrophone outside provide a shelter to protect it from rain 2 Keeping far from the power the battery supply will reduce the noise due to the switchingregulator of the USB converter 3 Usually a continuous line in a spectrogram is not a symptom of the microphone malfunctioning but a noise generated by some device around you such as PC power supply low power light and so on To check it you can try to...

Page 42: ...s CD DA Memory media This is a storage system that do not lose the data stored on it even when the power is removed In this manual it refers to the built in flash memory and the SD card Encoding Encoding is a process in which the information obtained from a source is converted into data according to certain rules Or it is a process in which data is converted from one format to another such as audi...

Page 43: ...r use Do not leave the product where it will be subject to high temperatures and or in directsunlight Do not use organic solvent such as alcohol or thinner for cleaning Do not apply strong vibration or shock to the product Use appropriate cables Warning Do not disassemble repair or modify the product except for the instructions reported below Do not insert a card other than SD SDHC or SDXC card in...