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Appendix F—Troubleshooting
T
ROUBLESHOOTING
C
OMMUNICATION
I
SSUES
When the baud rate on the HeadStart
Communications
screen and the Power Patrol do not match,
communication fails, the
Status
box displays the following message: “Unable to establish connection
with meter, please check settings and try again”
The following headings provide possible solutions for communication errors.
Baud Rate Communications Error
(RS-485 Serial Communication)
To correct a baud rate communications error, use the following steps:
1)
In HeadStart, set the
Modbus Base Address Switches
field to
00
.
2)
Set the address switches to
00
,
3)
Power up the meter. With both settings at 00, HeadStart and the Power Patrol will communicate at
a 9600 baud rate regardless of a baud rate mismatch. Communications is established.
4)
Next, select the desired baud rate in HeadStart from the Baud Rate drop-down list. This
synchronizes the baud rates between HeadStart and the Power Patrol.
5)
Click
Connect
in HeadStart to reconfirm communications.
Port Error
If the
PC COM Port
drop-down list does not contain a RS-485 COM port, the RS-485 adapter driver is not
installed or the device is not connected to the computer’s USB port. Check that the adapter is connected
to a live USB port or move the USB cable to another USB port.
Other Communication Failures
The following items can also cause a communication failure.
Check for wiring and cabling issues with the RS-485 adapter. Check for polarity, frayed wires,
and/or pinched insulation.
Verify that the dip switches on the back of the USB to RS-485 adapter are set to the following:
Reboot the computer. Click
Connect
on the Communications tab to reestablish communications.
