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30 

Appendix 3 

Troubleshooting 

1. 

Unable to bring up the Meter Settings screen.

 

Generally, this indicates that the PC is not able to communicate 
with the meter. Check the following:  
- The interface cable is securely connected to both the PC and 
the meter 
- The meter has fresh batteries 
- The meter is off 
- The correct COM port is selected (see p. 6)   
- The 

Meter Type

 is set to the TDR family (see p. 14) 

 
2. 

I am getting the “VWC%=ERR!” message. 

This message appears for two reasons. 
1. If the meter is set to read 1.5” (TURF) rods while in 

HiClay 

mode. There is no high clay calibration for the rod length op-
tion. Change the rod length or switch to 

Standard

 calibration 

mode. 
2. The probe block is damaged.  Meter must be returned for 
repair. Contact Spectrum Technologies or your distributor to 
obtain a Return Goods Authorization (RGA) number. 
 
3. 

I am getting VWC values near 0% for all measurements, 

even in very wet soil. 

Most likely a circuit component in the display is damaged and 
must be repaired.  Contact Spectrum Technologies or your dis-
tributor to obtain a Return Goods Authorization (RGA) num-
ber. 
 
4. 

When turning the meter on, it indicated it had found the 

GPS signal.  However, when taking readings I get a GPS 
error message. 

This can happen if the meter is set to only accept GPS readings 
that have been differentially corrected.  In general, this is not 
necessary.  On the 

Meter Settings

 screen (p. 16), uncheck the 

second box in the Logger Settings section. 

Summary of Contents for fieldscout TDR 300

Page 1: ...TDR 300 Soil Moisture Meter PRODUCT MANUAL Item 6430FS ...

Page 2: ... Water Content 24 Specifications 26 Appendix 1 Time Zone Corrections 27 Appendix 2 Soil Specific Calibration 28 Appendix 3 Troubleshooting 30 This manual will familiarize you with the features and operation of your new FieldScoutTM TDR 300 Soil Moisture Meter Please read this manual thoroughly before using your instrument For customer support or to place an order call Spectrum Technologies Inc at ...

Page 3: ...urements The user can quickly transition between taking VWC read ings in standard and high clay mode The meter s built in data logger can record data from several sites and eliminates the need to record data manually Through the software included the user can download the data change the logger settings and program the logger to record relative water content at multiple sites Contents Your TDR300 ...

Page 4: ...Shaft dimensions 1 3 3 0 3 1 The following are the dimensions of a fully extended shaft It is possible to reduce the length of the meter by 2 5cm by adjusting the lower half of the shaft 14 4 20 16 Meter ...

Page 5: ...tion with the software Connecting to a PC The Field Scout software comes with a gray PC interface cable This cable connects to the 9 pin serial port of your computer and to the meter s computer port The meter s configuration can be modified by clicking on the Meter Settings button see Meter Settings p 16 The Com Port Meter Type Download Clear Memory and Me ter Settings buttons are explained in the...

Page 6: ... to be tested and click the Port Test button Click the Test Port Now button If the message Connection OK is displayed another device such as a modem is probably connected to that port If the message No Connection is displayed this port may be the one connected to your serial cable and you can proceed to the next step 3 Place a paperclip on the end of the serial pin so that it touches both the tip ...

Page 7: ...ogger 75 Full No GPS Found Sample meter power up screens with datalogger enabled left screen indicates GPS signal was found If you are using GPS but the meter doesn t find the GPS signal when powering up the meter will not search for the GPS signal when taking readings Turn the meter off and on so it can look for the GPS signal Once the signal is found GPS information will be included in the data ...

Page 8: ...sted in performing soil specific calibrations see Appendix 2 Note There is not a high clay measurement calibration for the 1 5 rods The meter will display dashes if this mode rod length combination is selected Changing Rod Length In order to get accurate volumetric or relative water con tent VWC or RWC readings the rod length setting must be correct In the VWC modes the currently selected rod leng...

Page 9: ...Error Memory Full To resume normal op eration the logger memory must be cleared using the Clear Memory button in Field Scout software see p 15 READ When the DELETE CLR AVG button is pressed and immediately released the last data point will be taken out of the logger file and removed from the running aver age Pressing and holding this but ton will reset the running average but will not affect data ...

Page 10: ...e meters can be used interchangeably The calibration procedure is as follows 1 Use the MODE button to put meter in Calibration mode see p 8 Hit the READ button 2 Hold the meter so the rods are in the air Press the READ button and wait until the meter indicates it is ready 3 Immerse the rods completely in distilled or de ionized water The container should have a minimum diameter of 3 inches Press t...

Page 11: ... rod length setting see Changing Rod Length p 8 Select the correct mode setting see Data Collection Modes p 8 This will bring you to one of the data col lection screens The TDR 300 can be set to one of two VWC modes Standard or High Clay The Standard mode will be appropriate for most mineral soils The High Clay mode will be more accurate for soils with higher clay contents 27 In VWC mode the top l...

Page 12: ...aw reading if it is set to Period mode This mode is intended primarily for soil specific calibrations Push the rods into the soil When taking a measurement it is important that the rods be fully inserted into the soil If not part of the sampling volume will be composed of air and the reading will be inaccurately low For the same rea son the probe should be inserted with a steady downward pressure ...

Page 13: ...ertical force is applied to them This serves to protect the TDR block electronics from potential damage that could be caused by excessive force Occasional rod bending is normal and can be expected during the course of sampling Longer rods will be more susceptible to bending than shorter rods If bending oc curs rods should simply be bent back to parallel position perpendicular to the TDR block Meas...

Page 14: ... port Select the Com Port that is assigned to the computer data port See Identifying the Correct Com Port p 6 for in structions on how to determine which port to select Meter Type Select the TDR option from the list of available Field Scout me ters Field Scout software Toolbar ...

Page 15: ...where it will be saved When the file has been saved the software will give you the option of immediately viewing the file The data file is stored as a comma delimited text file and may be viewed in text editor or spreadsheet software Clear Memory Data is not automatically removed from the logger mem ory after a download The Clear Memory button clears all data from the logger memory Meter Settings ...

Page 16: ...bled by checking the first box If the data logger is enabled it will search for a GPS signal when the meter is turned on If a signal is found position data will be stored along with the soil moisture data If no GPS sig nal is available when the logger is turned on the logger will no longer look for one when measuring and re cording soil moisture data If the second box is checked the logger will st...

Page 17: ...Set Points Up to 2 Relative Water Content see p 24 modes can be programmed into the meter by entering the wet and dry set points into the appropriate boxes From the dropdown menus near the bottom of the screen select which VWC calibration Standard or High Clay should be used for each RWC mode Each of these modes can be given a descriptive name of 5 characters These names can be used to iden tify a...

Page 18: ...the GPS signal is found while taking geo referenced readings the LCD will briefly display the message Reading GPS before displaying the measurement If the GPS signal is lost during a series of readings or if the specified differential correction is not found the LCD will read Reading GPS ERR before returning to measure ment mode In this case the data will be recorded without latitude and longitude...

Page 19: ... cable has a 9 pin male connection and a stereo pin that connects to the meter s data port You will also need a cable that allows the GPS unit to connect to a 9 pin male serial port If this cable doesn t come standard with your GPS unit it should be available from the manufacturer This cable is gener ally used to upload information from a computer to the GPS unit These components should be connect...

Page 20: ...orld Geodetic Survey datum The fourth line shows the column head ings for the rest of the data file Logging sessions are started and completed by turning the meter on and off The start of a logging session is indi cated by the data line Logger Started If a GPS signal was found at the start of a logger session a time stamp is included on the Logger Started line Sample data showing results of data c...

Page 21: ...value measurement type and rod length The measurement type data field indicates whether the read ing is volumetric water content relative water content or measurement period For volumetric water content data the calibration equation Standard or High Clay for that data point will also be included in measurement type ...

Page 22: ...allowed to drain to a point where the pull of gravity is no longer able to remove any additional water Permanent Wilting Point The highest moisture content at which a plant can no longer extract water from the soil Additionally we can define Plant Available Water as the amount of water between Permanent Wilting Point and Field Capacity One rule of thumb is that irrigation should be initiated when ...

Page 23: ...soil along the waveguide composed of the two replaceable stainless steel rods The sampling vol ume is an elliptical cylinder that extends approximately 3 cm out from the rods The high frequency signal informa tion is then converted to volumetric water content High amounts of clay or high electrical conductivity EC 2 dS m will attenuate the high frequency signal and affect the reading displayed by ...

Page 24: ...il s volumetric water content is out side the range of the set points it is possible to get a negative RWC or an RWC greater than 100 If the volumetric water contents for field capacity and perma nent wilting point are the wet and dry set points respectively the RWC value will be equivalent to Plant Available Water PAW A general rule of thumb is to recommend irrigation when the soil has reached 50...

Page 25: ...25 The second line of the LCD gives the Average A of all readings taken the Number N of readings taken and the 5 symbol name given to this soil type in the Meter Set tings screen see p 16 ...

Page 26: ...DGPS Display 16 character 2 line LCD Weight 3 lbs 1 4 kg Probe Head Dimensions 3 1 x 3 x 1 7 8cm x 7 5cm x 2 5cm Rod Dimensions Length 1 5 3 8cm 3 7 6cm 4 7 12cm or 7 9 20cm Diameter 0 2 0 5cm Spacing 1 3 3 3cm Specifications The internal data logger and RS 232 port are compatible with GPS DGPS The data logger s LCD screen will display the data in one of three modes see MODE button p 8 1 Volumetri...

Page 27: ...nton 8 San Francisco Los Angeles Vancouver 9 Anchorage 10 Honolulu 11 Wellington 13 Adelaide Melbourne Sydney 14 Vladivostok Brisbane 15 Seoul Tokyo 16 Beijing Hong Kong Manila Singapore Taipei 17 Hanoi Jakarta Vientiane 18 Calcutta New Delhi 19 Kabul Islamabad 20 Tehran Abu Dhabi Dubai 21 Moscow Nairobi Kampala Riyadh 22 Ankara Athens Helsinki Istanbul Cairo Johannesburg Harare 23 Amsterdam Barce...

Page 28: ...radually wetting a known volume soil with the addition of known increments of water In most cases however the calibra tion will be done with gravimetric sampling This proce dure is briefly described below In the field establish a number of sites to sample Each site should be wetted to a different soil moisture content by adding varying amounts of water At each site a Field Scout TDR reading is tak...

Page 29: ...he gravimetric water content and soil bulk density VWC GWC ρb ρw Where GWC is the gravimetric water content and ρb is the bulk density GWC 100 Mwet Mdry Mdry ρb Mdry Vtot The final step is to plot the calculated the measured period values with the readings obtained from Field Scout TDR meter Regression analysis can then be performed on this data to develop an equation to convert from period to VWC...

Page 30: ...r switch to Standard calibration mode 2 The probe block is damaged Meter must be returned for repair Contact Spectrum Technologies or your distributor to obtain a Return Goods Authorization RGA number 3 I am getting VWC values near 0 for all measurements even in very wet soil Most likely a circuit component in the display is damaged and must be repaired Contact Spectrum Technologies or your dis tr...

Page 31: ...return to normal operating mode 8 I m getting a Memory Full message The meter must be connected to Field Scout software to clear the memory see p 15 This product is warranted to be free from defects in material or workmanship for one year from the date of purchase During the warranty period Spectrum will at its option either repair or replace products that prove to be defective This warranty does ...

Page 32: ...Laboratory Use Directive 2004 108 EC Standards EN 61326 1 2006 EN 61000 4 2 1995 including A1 1998 and A2 2001 EN 61000 4 3 2002 As a consequence of the meter s measurement principle radio frequencies less than 950 MHz can affect the meter s readings Operating the meter in areas where such transmissions are present should be avoided EN 55011 2007 Douglas L Kieffer Soil Water Products Manager March...

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