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WEB VIDEO) TURNING SIDEPAK ON/OFF & MENUS:
http://ccap.etr.org/base/documents/SidePakMenus.flv
Here is a list of some basic things to try:
Take the Sidepak out of the case. It’s the blue
thing with a LED panel and buttons on the front
(see the photo of the Sidepak control panel on the
front face).
Turn ON the Sidepak by pressing the purple PAGE
button on the far left of the front face. The Sidepak
will take a few minutes to warm up. When it is
ready to measure, the text “SURVEY MODE” will
appear on the top line and the current level of
airborne particles (aerosol) will be shown on the
bottom line (see photo) in units of micrograms per
cubic meter of air (mg/m3). In a clean
environment the level of particles should be very
low, e.g, around 0.001 mg/m3.
Page Through the Menus. Pressing the leftmost purple PAGE button again brings you to the
MAIN MENU. You can then us the up and down arrow keys in the center of the control
panel to view different menu options. To select a given item, press the ENTER key, which is a
button with a right-angle arrow on it. To return back to a previous menu press the leftmost
PAGE button repeatedly. Eventually you will get back all the way to the SURVEY MODE
screen.
Turn OFF the Sidepak. To turn off the Sidepak simply hold down the leftmost purple PAGE
button for at least 3 seconds. The display will show a countdown and shut off automatically
when “0” is reached.
What Does the Sidepak Measure?
The Sidepak is an aerosol monitor, which means that it measures particles that have been
suspended in the air. “Aerosol” is another term for “airborne particles”. For this protocol,
which uses a PM-2.5 impactor on the Sidepak inlet, the Sidepak measures fine particles that have
diameters smaller than 2.5 micrometers. All tobacco smoke particles are in this size range. A
micrometer is a millionth of a meter and is equal to a 10,000
th
of an inch. That is very tiny. You
cannot see particles of this size with your naked eye. However, you can see light that scatters off
them if they are concentrated enough, as with a fresh tobacco smoke plume. The Sidepak also
uses light scattering to “see” these particles. With proper calibration, the Sidepak can accurately
give readings of mass concentration of particles. A mass concentration is the total weight of
particles contained with a given volume of air. The Sidepak gives readings of milligrams of
particles per cubic meter of air. We typically convert these values to micrograms per cubic meter
of air by multiplying them by 1000. The units of micrograms of particles per meter cubed of air
is a standard way to report levels of particle air pollution. Air quality standards by the U.S
Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies make use of these units.
The Sidepak aerosol monitor front side.
