Sea-Bird Scientific SBE 25plus, User Manual

Page: 16 / 66

4.1 Software menu items
Note that the sensor will "time out" if it does not receive a command for two minutes. To
start the sensor again, select
Connect in the software Communications menu or push
Enter .
Menu item Description
File Load command file opens the selected .xml command file in the "Send Commands" area.
Unload command file closes the file and removes the commands from the "Send Commands" area.
Exit closes the program.
Communications Connect connects to the COM port. Disconnect disconnects from the COM port.
Configure establishes COM port and baud rates.
Disconnect and reconnect turns communications off then on. Useful if a sensor is non-responsive.
Command Abort stops the sensor. (The Esc key is equivalent.)
Send 5-second break is used with Serial Line Sync Mode.
Send stop command stops sensor operation.
Set local time / Set UTC time sets the clock in the sensor. (This is disabled if the baud rate is set at
115200 because the software cannot set the time at that rate.)
Capture Capture sensor responses to save real-time data or for diagnostics. Select Capture again to turn it off.
Capture status shows in the "Status" bar.
Upload Upload data from the sensor to a PC. Data is in an .xml format and is automatically converted to a .hex
and .xmlcon file for the Data Conversion software module.
Tools Diagnostics log saves diagnostic data.
Use Convert .xml data file to manually convert data if the automatic Upload does not convert the data.
Send script sends the same setup information to a number of MicroCAT sensors.
Options Select (default) or deselect the option to Prompt to launch data conversion after data upload .
4.2 Communication troubleshooting
Do the steps below if the sensor does not respond to GetHD and GetHD to troubleshoot
the problem.
1. In the Communications menu, select Configure . In the Configure Communications
window, select the COM port and baud rate for communication. The manufacturer-set
baud rate is on the Configuration page that ships with the sensor.
2. Push OK .
3. In the Communications menu, select Connect .
• If Connect is not available, select Disconnect and reconnect . The software will try
to connect at the specified baud rate, but will try all other available baud rates to
try to connect.
4. If there is still no communication, check the cable and connections with the sensor
and the PC.
5. If there is still no communication, do step 1 with a different COM port or baud rate and
try to connect again.
Set up sensor and verify operation
14