LISST - 25 User’s Guide
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Appendix D: Alternate Communications Software
The TFTOOLS for Windows software has been provided as an alternative the LISST-25 software.
It can be used to communicate with the instrument and download data. It is also used during the
hard reset procedure and for firmware upgrades. Below are the procedures for using the TFTOOLS
for Windows software.
Basic Operation
The TFTOOLS program is primarily a terminal window for the instrument. Before using the
software for the first time check the serial port settings by choosing
Serial Port…
from the
CommPort
menu. Select a baud rate of 19200 and the correct serial port. The LISST-25X should
respond with a L25>> prompt each time Enter is pressed. The two letter commands for the
instrument can be entered anytime this prompt is displayed.
Downloading Data
To download data we must stop the running program. If the instrument is acquiring data or running
a batch file type CTRL-C (hold down the CTRL key and press C). This will stop the program and
bring up the standard
L25>>
prompt. At the prompt type ## and press Enter. This will stop the
running firmware and bring up the # prompt. The # prompt is the lowest level prompt where the
firmware is loaded, data is offloaded, and where the datafile is erased. Pressing enter will cause a #
to be displayed. In this mode the instrument will not respond to standard commands. To download
the data choose
Xmodem Offload…
from the
TattleTale
menu. A window will appear showing
the number of bytes store in memory and the number of bytes to offload. By default the number of
bytes to offload will be set to the bytes stored in memory. However, a different value may be
entered. Each LISST-25X sample uses 36 bytes. After selecting the number of bytes to offload
press OK and select the name of the file to store the data to. We suggest an extension of DAT for
raw binary datafiles. After downloading the data it will need to be converted to an ASCII file by the
LISST-25 software. The file can also read in to Matlab using special M-file functions.
Erase Datafile
After downloading data you can reset the memory pointers back to zero. This is done by selecting
the
Erase Datafile…
option from the TattleTale menu. This must be done while the instrument is at
the # prompt. It should be noted that this only resets the pointers to the beginning of the datafile. It
does not actually erase the data. The data will remain there until it is overwritten. This is true even
if all power is remove from the datalogger. Therefore it is possible to still download data even after
erasing the datafile.
Restarting Firmware
After downloading data or erasing datafile the firmware can be restarted by typing Alt-R or by
choosing the Run option from the TattleTale menu. The L25>> prompt should be displayed.
The TFTOOLS program can also be used to load new firmware. Procedure for loading new
firmware will be provided with the new firmware upgrade.
