YSI SonTek ADVField, Technical Documentation Manual

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SonTek/YSI
ADVField Software Manual (September 1, 2001) 33
Section 7. Terminal Emulator (SONTERM.EXE)
SONTERM
is used for direct communication with the ADV through a computer serial port. Direct
communication can be used to verify all aspects of system operation and to initiate autonomous
deployments (see the
ADVField Operation Manual
for details). To establish direct communica-
tion with the ADV, simply connect the cable from the instrument to COM1 on your computer,
run
SONTERM
, and press <Alt-B> to send a
BREAK
to establish communication.
SONTERM
displays user commands in yellow type, and instrument output in blue type. There are
several active keys for special functions within
SONTERM
; these are shown in Table 3. One func-
tion, Alt-S, enables you to change communications settings; details of this are shown in Table 4.
The default settings match the default communication parameters of the ADV.
Key Function
Alt-B Sends a
BREAK
over the serial port. This involves holding the input data line high for a
period of 500 ms. A
BREAK
causes the ADV to terminate any ongoing operations and
enter the command mode.
Alt-F Open or close a log file. If no log file is currently open, the program prompts you to
enter a file name. Everything that appears on the screen will be written to this file. If a
log file is currently open, this function closes the file. At start up, no log file is used.
Confirmation is required before the program will overwrite an existing log file.
Alt-C Loads commands from an ASCII file. You are prompted to enter the file name. The
file specified should be an ASCII text file with each line containing one command for
the ADV. The program reads the commands from the specified file and sends them, in
order, to the ADV. This is useful to ensure that a precise series of commands are sent
to the ADV.
Alt-S Sets communication parameters, such as port number and baud rate. See the table be-
low for details.
Alt-X Exit the program.
To change communication parameters within
SONTERM
, press <Alt-S>. This displays a menu that
lets you select the communication port, baud rate, parity, number of data bits, and number of stop
bits. The default baud rate is 9600 baud; this can be changed using hardware switches in the
processing module (see the
ADVField Operation Manual
). The other default communication pa-
rameters are no parity, 8 data bits, and 2 stop bits. Table 4 shows the keys that set the values for
these parameters. When the desired parameters have been set, press <Esc> to return to normal
SONTERM
operation. The most recent parameter settings are saved to the computer disk and used
when running
SONTERM
.
Table 3. SONTERM Function Keys