Instruction Manual
VLB-67 LED Beacon
© Vega Industries Ltd, July 2014
VLB-67 LED Beacon
Page 42 of 52
VLB-67 V1.0.17
Outgoing Data:
Each data package uses a pseudo XML format consisting of a tag followed by data then a
terminator.
Tags are always three characters surrounded by the ‘<’ and ‘>’ symbols.
This is a tag: <TAG>
Data is always a signed integer, ranging between -32768 to 32767
The termination character is ‘/’.
An entire data packet might look like this: <BAT>120/
The data may or may not contain white space characters. These are to be ignored.
Incoming Requests:
A request for data is a single character command consisting of a front slash ‘/’.
Free Run Mode:
If the beacon is in free run mode data is automatically transmitted every second while the beacon
is operating, and every ten seconds while the beacon is hibernating (in day mode).
Data Request Mode:
If the beacon is not in free run mode, data transmissio
n will start following the reception of the ‘/’
character.
During the day (hibernating) the beacon must receive the ‘/’ character during the data
transmit wake period (every ten seconds). Sending a ‘/’ every second during the day will
guarantee this.
Data is transmitted every second while the beacon is operating, and every ten seconds while the
beacon is hibernating. Data transmission will continue as long as ‘/’ continue to be received. If
multiple ‘/’ are received they will be queued up until the recei
ve buffer is filled.
Data Packet Tag Definitions
The following data tags have been defined:
BAT
beacon battery voltage
LIT
beacon photo sensor reading
TMP
beacon temperature sensor reading
SLR
beacon solar panel voltage
BCI
beacon battery average charge current
SLI
solar panel current
LDI
beacon current( as seen from battery)
LOI
Average current when beacon is ON (from battery)
CUR
Internal diagnostic variable
GUD
beacon alarm status ( 1 = No Alarm )
DAY
beacon day/night status (1 = day time)
END
End of Data Packets
The units of the data are raw A/D counts unless otherwise specified.
The following are the conversion factors based on the existing design:
BAT
Voltage = BAT * 0.247 volts
LIT
See light sensor calibration data
TMP
Degrees C = TMP *3.3/1023
–
0.6
SLR
Voltage = SLR * 0.247 volts
BCI
Current = BCI * 0.21484 milliamps
SLI
Current = SLI * 0. 21484 milliamps
