Sensor installation

Guide for installation and set up of oceanographic sensors

Scicon set up files

Assuming these sensors will be attached to scicon, .cnf files are not needed. Instead you will need to add the sensors to the scicon.ins, scicon.att, and scicon.sch files - see scicon manual here.

IOP’s default is to connect the optode to hardware channel 1 (scicon J5 - assuming this is for sg274, that should map to endcap port F) and the Tridente to hardware channel 0 (scicon J4, which should map to endcap port E). You can set them how however you like but you’ll have to adjust the entries in the scicon.att file to point to the correct hardware channels.

NoteTo check hardware channel:

From the glider menu choose hw/loggers/sc/direct. You might want to add stroke=1 so that the glider doesn’t reboot in 10 minutes (i.e., if you’re going to be longer than 10 minutes).

At the scicon > prompt, use the attach command and note the hwchan setting for the sensor.

Example scicon.ins

Example from IOP. Includes both Tridente and optode.

# instance tridente of class tridentebb700chla470fdom365 {
tridentebb700chla470fdom365 = {
 prefix = td
 baud = 19200
 cycles = 0
 timeout = 1000
 warmup = 0
 skip = 0
 bufflen = 0
 avg = 0
 dec = 0
 multiline = 0
 power = 0
 terminator = 10
 format = %d, %00, %01, %02
 meta = %9%9%F%n%[Ready: ]getall%r%n%[Ready:]
 column = bb700(100000,0)
 column = chla470(1000,0)
 column = fdom365(1000,0)
}

# instance optode of class aa4831 {
aa4831 = {
 prefix = aa4831
 baud = 9600
 cycles = 0
 timeout = 5000
 warmup = 1000
 skip = 0
 bufflen = 0
 avg = 0
 dec = 0
 terminator = 10
 format = %s %d %00 %01 %02 %03 %04
 meta = %[4831]%n%$11%9get all%r%n%[Reference]%[%$23]
 column = O2(1000,0)
 column = airsat(1000,0)
 column = temp(1000,0)
 column = calphase(1000,0)
 column = tcphase(1000,0)
}

Example scicon.att

Example from IOP. Includes both Tridente and optode and uses standard hardware channels of 0 for Tridente and 1 for optode. These may need to be changed. See note on how to check this above.

tridente = {
 type = tridentebb700chla470fdom365
 hwchan = 0
 verbose = 2
}

optode = {
 type = aa4831
 hwchan = 1
 verbose = 2
}

Example scicon.sch

You will also need Tridente and optode entries in your scicon.sch file. Here is an example pieced together from SG274’s original and Jace’s examples:

ct = {
 150,5.0
 600,10.0
 970,20.0
 1000,10.0
}

optode = {
   150,5.0
   600,10.0
   970,50.0
   1000,10.0
}

tridente = {
   150,5.0
   250,40.0
   600,80.0
}

Set up instructions

Here are some setup instructions for getting these sensors set up for standard integration into Seaglider.

General direct comms with sensors

Connect to the sensors via scicon - from the glider menu, hw/loggers/sc/direct

You might want to add stroke=1 so that the glider doesn’t reboot in 10 minutes (i.e., if you’re going to be longer than 10 minutes).

At the scicon > prompt, use the attach command and note the hwchan setting for the sensors.

To talk to a specific sensor:

  • Use command term N 9600 addlf stroke where N is the hwchan of the sensor you want to talk to and 9600 is the baud rate for this sensor
  • If you don’t add the stroke argument here the scicon will reboot in 1 minute (it has a much shorter watchdog timer than the glider).
  • When you are done with sensor comms, use Ctrl+D to return to the scicon prompt and then Ctrl+Q to return to the glider menu.

Aanderaa 4831

  1. Connect to the optode with the default baud rate (9600). If the sensors are plugged into the glider and the scicon.ins and scicon.att files are correct, you can connect to the sensors via scicon:
  • From the glider menu, hw/loggers/sc/direct (which connects you to scicon)
  • Then term 1 9600 addlf stroke (this assumes hwchan is 1, change if needed)
  1. Once connected to the optode, give it the following commands (the sensor will likely be streaming data - you just have to type over it, usually easiest done by copying + pasting each line):
term 1 9600 addlf stroke
set passkey (1000)
set mode(smart sensor terminal)
set  enable comm indicator(no)
set salinity(0)
set enable text(no)
set enable decimalformat(yes)
set enable rawdata(yes)
set enable sleep(no)
set interval(1)
save
reset
  1. Disconnect from the optode with Ctrl+D, disconnect from scicon with Ctrl+Q

RBRtridente

  1. Connect directly to the Tridente (via scicon) at 115200 baud:
  • From the glider menu, hw/loggers/sc/direct (which connects you to scicon)
  • Then term 0 115200 (which connects you to the Tridente on hardware channel 0, at 115200 baud)
  • Data should start streaming immediately

  1. Type serial baudrate = 19200 and press return. If that works, you should see serial baudrate = 19200 echoed to the screen and the data will stop streaming (because you are no longer talking to the Tridente at the correct baud). If it is not successful, try again. If you are having trouble typing while the data is streaming, you can copy + paste serial baudrate = 19200 into the window.

  2. Disconnect from the Tridente with Ctrl+D, disconnect from scicon with Ctrl+Q

  3. Select sample from the menu to verify that the sampling is working.

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