Operation Manual
SYSTEM
OCR-504 Multispectral Radiometer
SECTION
K - APPENDIX A
K - APPENDIX A
Using Windows
HyperTerminal
Most Sea-Bird Scientific instrumentation uses serial communications for
interfacing with the outside world. This type of interface is simple to operate and
convenient for applications such as these. Although the instrument’s telemetry
interface is used mainly for broadcasting telemetry, it can also be used to
establish a human user interface so you may configure and test the
instrument’s systems. To use this interface, or to monitor instrument telemetry
directly, you will need a terminal emulation program. These programs have
many common uses such as communicating with bulletin board services,
remotely logging on to other computers on a network, or communicating directly
with your modem. You can also use it for direct communications with a serial
port, which is ideal for communicating with Sea-Bird Scientific instruments.
There are many types of terminal emulation programs. Most of these are
suitable for this application, so you are free to use whatever terminal emulator
you are comfortable with. If you are unfamiliar with terminal emulators, this
tutorial will help you get started with the emulator program that is distributed
with Windows
called
HyperTerminal
.
The first step in using HyperTerminal is to make sure you have it installed. One
way of starting the application is to use the
Start
button on your desktop. Select
“
Run…
” and type “hypertrm” in the space provided. If the program cannot be
found, it has probably not been installed. You can also check for a
HyperTerminal installation by selecting
Start -> Programs -> Accessories
. If
a
HyperTerminal
folder is visible in the
Accessories
folder, HyperTerminal is
already installed.
If HyperTerminal is not installed, it is an easy matter to install it now. In Windows
95/98, open the Control Panel by selecting
Start -> Control Panel
. Open the
Add/Remove Programs
control. When you have setup these dialog boxes as
shown below, press the OK button in each one. Windows will now install
HyperTerminal on your computer. You may need your Windows Setup
Disks/CD for this to complete. Just follow the on-screen instructions.