9
Operation
Once the Weather Station and the Modem are configured and assembled, communication will begin
automatically at the interval you set during station configuration. Transmission is based on the
station’s clock. You can see as a transmit interval is approaching by monitoring the time on the
station's LCD. When the modem begins the transmission process, the following modem LED activity
should occur:
1.
PWR will light solid. If it stays lit for around 2 minutes, then communication was not
successful. Once successful communications occurs, the modem shuts off, generally in 30-90
seconds from the initial power-up.
If PWR does not light, check each of the following potential causes:
A.
Ensure that the gray cable from the modem is plugged into the station’s AUX port.
B.
Ensure that the connector on the modem end of the gray cable is plugged into the 9-pin
jack on the telemetry circuit board.
C.
Ensure the modem power cables are securely plugged into the green connector (see
image on page 6).
D.
Ensure the wires are correctly connected to the battery. Note: if the battery was
accidently cross-wired (black-to-red and red-to-black), then the circuit board may have
been damaged, and the modem will not receive power.
E.
Check to see if the station has been correctly configured to periodically send the
current conditions. Using the gray cable provided with SpecWare software, connect the
“Computer” port on the Weather Station to a laptop or other PC. Start the
HyperTerminal program. It can usually be found in Windows XP by clicking the “Start”
menu, then “All Programs”, then “Accessories”, then “Communications”, and then
“HyperTerminal”. Give the connection a name and click “Ok”. In the “Connect Using”
field, select the COM port associated with the PC’s serial port, and click “Ok”. This will
bring up a properties screen. The port settings should be 9600, 8, N, 1. Monitor the
screen through a transmission interval. If nothing appears on the screen, stop
HyperTerminal, and configure the station following the instructions on page 3.
F.
If you cannot test with HyperTerminal per letter E, repeat the Weather Station
configuration.
2.
After the modem boots for a few seconds, LS will light solid until communications is
established with a cell tower. At that point, LS will blink slowly, approximately once every 2-3
seconds. If LS remains solidly lit, then the modem has not connected to the cell tower.
Try the following steps, one at each of the next transmission intervals:
A.
Open the enclosure door 90°. If this works, rotate the enclosure 90° and close the
door.
B.
Open the enclosure door 180°. If this works, rotate the enclosure to the other side of
the post.
C.
Carefully peel the antenna off the inside of the door, and hold it aloft. If this works,
mount the antenna on a post. Do not attach the antenna directly to a metal post.
Instead attach a length of PVC pipe to the top of the metal post, and attach the antenna
to the PVC.
3.
TD will blink briefly 4-5 times as configuration commands are sent to the modem.
4.
TD and RD will then repeat short blinks sequentially on a 1-2 second cycle (LS is still blinking
asynchronously).
