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NSRTW_mk3 

User’s Manual 

 

 

Note: 

The time constant only affects the calculation of Lmin and Lmax. The Leq is integrated linearly 

over the specified log interval. 

6.6

 

Manual Recording 

Every time a recording is started, a new record is created in memory and filled until the recording is 
stopped. That record is time-stamped, so the signals can be displayed with respect to absolute 
date/time. Records are stored sequentially in the instrument’s memory. There is no limit to the number 
of records that the memory can contain, only a limit to the total size of the data recorded. The 

Instrument_Manager

 application displays the total memory recording time as a function of the various 

setup parameters. 

After (or while) recording,  the records contained in memory can be downloaded from the instrument 
and observed or exported. In case a recording is ongoing the last record is only displayed up to the 
present time. 

The recording is stopped automatically when the recording memory is full. This way a new record will 
not overwrite an old one. 

The recording memory is non-volatile, so there is no risk of losing the data that has already been 
recorded, even in the case of a reset or battery failure. 

Note: 

It is perfectly legal to find empty records in memory. That occurs typically when a recording is 

started and stopped quickly (for a time shorter than the log interval), before any data had time to be 
written to memory. In that case only the time-stamp is written to memory. 

An empty record can also occur when a recording was started but no data (Lmin, Lmax or Leq) was 
selected to be recorded. 

To record sound levels proceed as follows: 

1.  Select the statistics to be recorded (

L-min

L-max

 and/or 

Leq

). 

2.  Select the log-interval. Note that the total recording time is automatically calculated and 

displayed by the 

Instrument_Manager

 application, as a function of the log-interval and statistics 

selected. The log-interval is adjustable in 125 ms increments, from 125 ms up to 2H. 

3.  Select the time constant used to smooth the measured sound levels for 

L-min

  and 

L-max

Choose the Fast time constant (125 ms) to be able to detect short peaks and valleys. Choose 
the Long time constant (1 s) to provide cleaner more stable sound levels. Or adjust to another 
value, as required by the application. 

4.  When ready to start a recording immediately, simply press the 

Record

 button. Press 

Record

 

again to stop the recording. 

5.  Or to set a start time/date: 

 

Check to make sure that the instrument time is correct. If that is not the case press the 
Sync button in order to automatically set the instrument time to the PC time.  

 

Press the 

Timer

 button. Set a start time and date using the calendar. 

 

Click OK to arm the trigger. 

Summary of Contents for NSRTW mk3

Page 1: ...NSRTW_mk3 User s Manual January 29 2019 Bruno Paillard ...

Page 2: ..._____________ 7 6 4 2 Operation LED _____________________________________________________________ 8 6 5 Sound Level Calculation _________________________________________________________ 8 6 6 Manual Recording ______________________________________________________________ 9 6 7 Automatic Recording with WiFi Connection W model only ______________________ 10 6 7 1 WiFi Connectivity __________________...

Page 3: ...______________________________________________ 25 7 6 2 Cloud Setup _______________________________________________________________ 26 7 6 3 WiFi Settings Without Cloud Service __________________________________________ 29 7 6 4 Manual Connection _________________________________________________________ 30 7 6 5 Setting Up the Server to Work in a Local or Wide Area Network _____________________ 30...

Page 4: ...r outdoors applications All digital design Ultra stable sensitivity field recalibration is easily done but seldom required Very low sensitivity variation due to temperature changes Very low sensitivity to vibrations Software function calculates global Leq and or dose according to ISO and OSHA methods Adjustable response time Preprogrammed recording start date time Integrated oscilloscope function ...

Page 5: ... is facing down This way rain will not accumulate in the connector and microphone port 4 Getting Started 4 1 Software Installation On the PC that is used to setup the instrument run Instrument_Manager_Installer exe This installs the Instrument_Manager application as well as its USB driver and documentation On the PC that is used as a server to collect data over the network W model only run Instrum...

Page 6: ...ument time to be synchronized to the PC time Only say YES if the PC time is correct 5 In addition the application detects if the time zone of the instrument is different from the time zone of the PC If it is the application asks to set the instrument to the same time zone as the PC Note If in rare cases the instrument is not intended to be used in the same time zone as that of the PC used to confi...

Page 7: ...e increased If the connection fails the NSRTW_mk3 will fall back to its previous state Sleep or Recording Note WiFi communications consume battery so when leaving the NSRTW_mk3 unused for a long time it is important to disable the WiFi periodic connection feature In applications where the NSRTW_mk3 must record for longer periods of time it can be connected to a USB charger https convergenceinstrum...

Page 8: ...up to 6 months Active Connected to USB Not recording Instrument is fully on and measuring Instrument draws power from USB to power itself and if necessary recharge its battery Battery is not depleted Recording USB connected or not Fully on and recording If USB connected power comes from USB If not power comes from the internal battery If not connected the instrument can record for up to 7 days Per...

Page 9: ... time constant is applied to the calculation of L min and L max but not Leq A typical short time constant 125 ms allows the measurements to track sharp changes while a longer time constant 1s provides more stable cleaner RMS values that averages out short transients The Leq is integrated linearly over the specified log interval irrespective of the time constant setting The sound level statistics L...

Page 10: ...memory That occurs typically when a recording is started and stopped quickly for a time shorter than the log interval before any data had time to be written to memory In that case only the time stamp is written to memory An empty record can also occur when a recording was started but no data Lmin Lmax or Leq was selected to be recorded To record sound levels proceed as follows 1 Select the statist...

Page 11: ...a the timer The instrument will be completely controlled by the server including starting the recording erasing memory if required and resetting the time When using the WiFi feature the instrument will try to connect to a known server at regular intervals or immediately in case of alarm Whenever it connects the instrument will talk to a special Instrument_Listener application running on the server...

Page 12: ...o alarms can be enabled A noise level over a preset threshold The battery is close to being depleted 6 7 1 3 WiFi Reporting Via Cloud Service Reporting and email alerts via the cloud service work exactly like reporting without the cloud service except that it uses Convergence Instrument s servers and the user does not have to deploy their own server for the instruments to be able to connect In add...

Page 13: ...ton 3 Memory fill indicator 4 Timer button 5 Record button 6 Instrument Time indicator 7 Tab selector 8 Instrument Temperature indicator 9 Erase button 10 Instrument User ID 11 Instrument Information 12 Settings button 13 Field calibration button 14 Battery Condition Charge and Recording Time Field 15 Sound Level indicator ...

Page 14: ...evels 3 dB Lin button 4 Pan and zoom buttons 5 Record number selector 6 Cursor 7 Data source 8 File Save button 9 File Open button 10 Instrument Download button 11 Export button 12 Global level dose calculation method 13 Global Level Time Weighted Average value 14 Percentiles ...

Page 15: ...SRTW_mk3 User s Manual 14 Figure 4 Spectrum Tab 1 Cursor Zoom and Pan controls 2 Cursor values display 3 dB Lin button 4 Auto scale button 5 Cursor 6 Spectrum 7 Spectral controls 8 Spectrum reset button ...

Page 16: ...int Connected Indicator 11 Network Connected Indicator 12 Server IP address 13 Server Connection Indicator 14 Email Active Indicator 7 1 Starting the Application Note The application can be run with or without an NSRTW_mk3 connected When an NSRTW_mk3 is not connected the application can only be used to display and analyze a previously saved log file All the controls and indicators related to the i...

Page 17: ...rum Tab Is used to display a real time power spectrum from the NSRTW_mk3 see Figure 4 The WiFi Tab Is used to display the present connection state of the NSRTW_mk3 and to setup its connection parameters SSID Security Password etc see Figure 5 7 3 Setup Tab The setup tab is seen in Figure 2 It is divided into seven fields 7 3 1 Time and Date Field This field displays the internal time of the instru...

Page 18: ...Timer button is used to set a time and date to start the recording automatically This is only allowed when a recording is not already in progress To set the timer press the Timer button Then set the recording date and time and press the OK button to arm the timer Erase The Erase button erases unconditionally all the data that has been recorded in the instrument making room for new records The Memo...

Page 19: ...thout changing the date time setting 2 OK button Closes the window and accepts the newly set date time 3 Set to Now button Set the time and date to the present time 4 Date setting field Click a date to set 5 Time setting field Use the field to set a new time 6 Window close button Closes the window without changing the date time setting 7 3 5 Settings Field The settings field contains the Settings ...

Page 20: ...mates the sensitivity of human hearing 7 3 5 1 2 Bandwidth Selector Use this selector to choose the sampling frequency bandwidth 16 kHz bandwidth 32 kHz sampling frequency 24 kHz bandwidth 48 kHz sampling frequency 7 3 5 1 3 Log Interval The log interval defines the time between two successive recorded points That also defines the integration period for the LEQ and the observation period for L min...

Page 21: ...ime constant is not used for the calculation of Leq In the case of LEQ the sound energy is averaged linearly over the specified log interval 7 3 5 1 6 Closing the Window Each adjustment is implemented in the instrument when the OK button is pressed If the window is closed without clicking OK then the settings are not implemented 7 3 5 1 7 Save Recall Once the parameters are adjusted the whole setu...

Page 22: ...ing curve 7 4 Records Tab The Records tab is seen in Figure 3 It is used to retrieve the recorded information from the NSRTW_mk3 or from a saved file and to display and optionally export the recorded logs 7 4 1 Instrument Download To download data from the instrument press the Instrument Download button The whole contents of the instrument s memory are downloaded and the newest record is displayed...

Page 23: ... the network When a wlg file is opened the Instrument_Manager application asks to convert it to a cil file The Source field shows the User ID of the instrument the data comes from That function works even when no instrument is connected to the PC so it can be used to examine data that was recorded elsewhere and sent to the user as a file 7 4 4 Exporting Data The data of the record being presently ...

Page 24: ...trol simply press the button that looks like a magnifying glass and choose one of the following zoom functions Zoom X Y Zoom X Zoom Y Zoom Extents After choosing the function the cursor changes to a magnifying glass Click and drag on the graph to apply the required zoom 7 4 7 2 Pan Control To pan a graph left right up or down first press on the Hand button to the left of the graph Then position th...

Page 25: ...ation A larger value of Nb_Avg produces a spectrum that is more stable but also averages out short lived transients Linear Averaging takes an equal weight average of Nb_Avg successive spectra After the Nb_Avg spectra have been observed the result is frozen In both cases the Reset button discards the present display and restarts the averaging from zero The Averaging Mode can be chosen from several ...

Page 26: ...rt of the regular reporting of recorded levels The server connection can be done to a specified IP address or to a domain name Connecting using a domain name is preferable because IP addresses are often subject to change The instrument has a total time of 1 minute to go through the two stages If the final stage is not established by the end of that minute the instrument stops trying in order to pr...

Page 27: ... must be configured activated and deactivated using that Cloud Setup function In addition to simplifying the configuration process it insures that there is no discrepancy between the internal configuration of the instrument and the Cloud database When the instrument is used on the cloud the normal WiFi Setup Email Setup and Disable All functions of the Instrument Manager should not be used In addi...

Page 28: ... You must adjust all required settings and press the Submit button at the bottom of the web page a Instrument Info Add change the user ID for that instrument if one is required b Instrument Configuration Adjust all the measurement parameters for the particular instrument The setup for a VSEW_mk2 is presented Measurement setup options will be different for another type of instrument For a VSEW_mk2 ...

Page 29: ...ured The instrument may try to connect immediately or it may try to connect after the connection interval time has elapsed If the instrument is not actively trying to connect right away simply press the Connect Now button 6 Once the instrument has successfully connected to the server the Manager can simply be closed and the instrument disconnected from USB The instrument will keep connecting at le...

Page 30: ...e instrument report much more often but that will drain the battery faster Setting a much longer interval several days a week or more will risk losing data if the connection cannot be established at its scheduled time The interval must not be set as 0 We do not advise setting a schedule interval lower than 2 min The WiFi Report Active button must be pressed When the button is released the instrume...

Page 31: ...ove one should make sure of the following The IP address of the PC working as a server must be fixed To that end the router that the PC is connected to must be set to use Static DHCP for that PC This way the IP address cannot change The PC working as a server must be always on and must be running the Instrument_Listener Otherwise the connection can t be established when the instrument tries to con...

Page 32: ... Gmail_Setup pdf for details The complete email setup is similar to the configuration of any email application It includes the following Email server The internet name of the outgoing email server For gmail this is smtp gmail com Port number The TCP port number of the email service This is usually o 25 for an open no security account o 465 for SSL security o 587 for TLS security For gmail this is ...

Page 33: ...7 6 6 1 Advanced Email Setup Firmware versions of the instruments from V1 7 and up have the following advanced capabilities 7 6 6 1 1 Email Rate Limits The rate at which the alarm emails are sent can be limited By default it is 1 email per 5 min for a noise alert and 1 email per hour for a battery email These limits can be increased or decreased by writing new values in the respective fields 7 6 6...

Page 34: ...dic connection is enabled the instrument will regularly wake up and attempt to connect to the server Trying to connect at regular intervals will drain the battery in a short amount of time When that behavior is unwanted for instance when the instrument is unused and in storage pressing the Disable All button see 4 Figure 5 will completely disable WiFi and email connectivity If the instrument is id...

Page 35: ...dy been created If the instrument is not currently recording it then erases the instrument s memory adjusts the time and starts recording If the instrument is recording it closes as is and lets the recording continue 8 1 File Storage The wlg files that are created by the NSRTW_Server are stored in C Users username Documents Convergence_Instruments All_Instruments Records NSRTW_mk3 where username i...

Page 36: ...ment However a hardware reset will reset the instrument s time and date to a value in year 1903 9 3 Operation Outdoors The NSRTW_mk3 is weather proof It can safely be used outdoors provided that the temperature is always within the safe limits However when using it outdoors with a risk of rain or snow make sure its USB connector is facing down so water will not accumulate in the connector and micr...

Page 37: ...st an indication that the port is powered It should light up even if the USB driver is not installed properly 5 Make sure that the operation LED starts blinking If not go to step 6 6 Open the Device Manager on the PC This is usually found in Control Panel System and Maintenance 7 Just after connecting the instrument to the PC observe that the Device Manager window refreshes 8 Verify that an item n...

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