SPX SPIDAR NIC-500s, Operation Manual

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Introduction
1
1. Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of SPIDAR. The SPIDAR NIC-500s are a family of devices
used to connect multiple GPR systems and create a custom platform to address a wide range of
GPR applications. The variety of available configurations allow for a truly customizable multi-
channel system.
There are two ways to configure SPIDAR for multi-channel applications:
•
Connect the same frequency GPR antennas to create an array system and collect a
wide swath of data in a single pass.
•
Connect different frequency GPR antennas to create a multi-frequency system, and
collect data at varying depths in a single pass
Both systems increase the speed of data collection, resulting in increased productivity.
There are three variations of the NIC-500 available:
•
NIC-500N
– used to run Noggin systems. Each NIC-500N can run 2 Noggin sensors
simultaneously. Multiple NIC-500Ns can be connected together (daisy-chained) to run
several Noggins simultaneously.
•
NIC-500P
– used to run pulseEKKO PRO antennas. Each NIC-500P can run 2 pairs of
pulseEKKO PRO transmitters and receivers simultaneously. Multiple NIC-500Ps can be
connected together (daisy-chained) to run several pulseEKKO PRO antennas
simultaneously.
•
NIC-500X
– used to run pulseEKKO PRO antennas. Each NIC-500X can run any
combination of pulseEKKO PRO transmitters and receivers totaling up to 8
simultaneously.
A key feature of SPIDAR is that the data acquisition software and storage reside on the NIC-
500. As a result, any network capable device can be used to setup and control data acquisition
on a NIC-500. Once data has been collected, it can be downloaded to a computer, post-
processed and analyzed with the EKKO_Project software.
For those who would like to use GPR, but control it with their own data acquisition software,
SPIDAR can be put into SDK (Software Development Kit) mode. Details of SDK can be found
in
Section 5.
This manual references NIC-500 firmware version V1 R5.