3rd Party Products
From dataTaker Wiki (FAQ)
What third party products can I use with a dataTaker data logger?
This page describes a wide variety of third party products that can be used with dataTaker data loggers in a wide range of applications. Where possible, information on using third party products with dataTaker data loggers or links to such information will be provided here.
Disclaimer:
- Note that we do not sell or directly support these products. However we may be able to offer limited assistance with aspects related to their use with dataTaker data loggers.
- Any information supplied here is supplied AS IS with no guarantees. We do not guarantee that 3rd party products mentioned here will fully integrate with dataTaker products. Any products known not to work with dataTaker products will be removed if we become aware of related problems.
- Not all of these products have been tested by dataTaker.
Contents |
Displays and Operator Interfaces
Displays can be interfaces to the DT80 range in three main ways:
- Via Modbus interface. Many operator panels support a Modbus interface to support PLCs. The DT80 series has a Modbus slave cabability which can be used by the display to poll for values to display.
Maple Systems Blue Series
- Via web interface. Panel PC's can support a browser interface. You can use either the built-in web pages or write custom pages to be displayed on a panel PC or similar.
- Via serial data. Some simple displays provide a serial interface. The DT80 range and DT800 loggers can output serial data from either the serial sensor port or the serial host port to these types of displays.
Here are some links to suppliers of these types of displays.
- Maple Systems - Touch screens, Modbus interface. The Blue series is small and inexpensive. Able to interface to DT80 range via Modbus interface and has been tested by Datataker. The BLU300 is a low cost unit and has been tested using Modbus connected to a DT80 Host RS232 port. It works reasonable well for input using arrow keys. Display is limited in size so best suited to simple tasks with perhaps 4 variables. The MAP450B Mini-Terminal has also been successfully interfaced using serial data to DT80 range and DT800 serial channel.
- Advantech Touch Panel PC - Use the browser interface to create required interface on this panel PC.
- Weintek - Touch screens with Modbus interface. 5.7" mono, 5.7"color, 9.4"mono, 10.4"color, touch screens.
The model MT506TV has been tested by Datataker as a Keyboard interface and data/mimic display. The RS232 Modbus port was connected to the HOST port on the DT80 configured as a MODBUS slave. The touch screen works well and it is generally a crisp and bright display. Designed to operate at 24V but will function at 12V, however the backlighting is dull at 12V.
- Vartech Systems - Industrial LCD monitors and panel PCs.
- Red Lion Controls HMI Large Displays and Operator interfaces, serial and Modbus interfaces.
GPS
- Garmin - GPS 18 5Hz - Samples at 5Hz for greater location precision.
- Garmin - GPS 18 1Hz - Samples at 1Hz for general pupose use.
Note: Both these models are discontinued but the code required for other models should be very similar
See Code Examples page for DT80 & DT800 GPS programming examples - Code Examples
| CANgate Pin# | GPS Description! | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vin (power) | Red |
| 2 | Ground | Black (x2 wires) |
| 4 | Transmit Data | White |
| 8 | Receive Data | Green |
| Not Connected | Measurement Pulse Output | Yellow |
Communications and Networking Products
Convertors
- Lantronix UDS1100 Ethernet to RS232 adaptor - Use this instead of obsolete dataTaker ethernet to serial convertor for the DT50/500/600 range. An adapter cable is required to convert from the DT50/500/600 range 9 Pin D connector to the Lantronics UDS1100 25 pin D connector.
| DT50/500/600 Pin No. | UDS Pin No. |
|---|---|
| 4 (RXD) | 3 (TXD) |
| 3 (TXD) | 2 (RXD) |
| 1 (Sig Gnd) | 7 (Sig Gnd) |
| There also needs to be links on the dataTaker end of the cable. | |
| Pin 1 linked to pin 2 | |
| Pin 7 Linked to pin 5 |
- Moxa UPort 1410/1450 - USB to 4 x RS232/RS422/RS485. Good if you want to connect a few loggers to your PC via RS232.
- FTDI USB - RS232 Serial Converter - Use this with dataTaker DT500 and DT800 products when your PC hasn't got a RS232 serial port available.
Radio modems
Ethernet Radio Bridges
AvaLAN provide a number of Ethernet radio bridge products that allow you to connect dataTaker data loggers via Ethernet radio links (900Mhz/2.4Ghz/5.8Ghz). They also have some nice, reasonably priced, spectrum analyser products that allow you to easily survey the available radio spectrum for radio site surveys and diagnostics.
WiFi (IEEE 802.11b/g) Adaptors
- DLink AirPlus G DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router/AP Compact unit, allows logger with Ethernet port to have WiFi added
If you want to simply be able to walk up to the logger with a PC and connect to it without any configuration on the PCs part with the DT80 NOT permanently connected to any WiFi Access Point.
- Set the Unit to AP mode and connect the ethernet cable supplied with the unit to the logger
- Connect to the logger using the USB cable and DeTransfer
- Type: PROFILE"ETHERNET","IP_ADDRESS"="169.254.xxx.yyy" 'where xxx and yyy are two numbers you have chosen
- Type: PROFILE"ETHERNET",""SUBNET_MASK"="255.255.0.0"
- Type SINGLEPUSH
- Type IP to check if you have completed the proceedure correctly
- Right click on the wireless ICON in the system tray and select 'View available wireless networks'
- Select the 'Default' network
- It will ask for a Network Key enter 0000000000 twice
- The PC will then connect to the WiFi unit... it will look for a DHCP server and will not find one... This process takes around 1min... there are indications of this process in the system tray. A message will be shown 'Limited or No Connectivity' this means the PC cannot find a DHCP server and has allocated a random IP address in the 169.254.aaa.bbb range to its WiFi interface.
- You can now contact the logger using the IP address set in step 2... the simplest way to test this is to bring up Internet Explorer and enter the IP address in the address line. The DT80 web browser should pop up. The next time your PC locates that network it will not ask for the network address BUT it will spend around a minute looking for a DHCP server.
There are MANY possibilites in connecting this unit to a logger. however if you are like do not want to reconfigure your PC each time you connect to the logger the above is pretty simple. Other modes such as 'AdHoc' have not been tested. If you are going to use the unit to connect to WiFi access point follow the instructions in the supplied manual and use 'Client mode'.
Zigbee Modems
Digi International XBee-PRO™ Zigbee/802.15.4 RS-232 RF Modem Zigbee RS232 modem
Underwater Acoustic Modem
This has not been tested. http://www.link-quest.com/html/models1.htm
Vibrating Wire technology
Sensors based on vibrating wire technology are used to measure a variety of parameters such as strain, load, force, pressure, temperature, and tilt. The sensor output is a frequency that is proportional to the strain or tension of a tensioned steel wire within the sensor. Vibrating wire sensors are renowned for their long term stability and ability to transmit a signal over long distances (up to several kilometers). This makes them ideal for use in situations which require measurements over a long period in adverse environments.
Vibrating Wire Interfaces for use with DT80 range
Not all of the DT80 range of data loggers directly support vibrating wire sensors, only the GeoLogger models. To use these types of sensors with non GeoLogger models a third party vibrating wire interface is required. The following vibrating wire interfaces can be used with the dataTaker DT80 range of data loggers.
Canary Systems - VW DSP interface
Features
- 2 channels of vibrating wire + thermistor inputs.
- RS232 connection to the logger.
- Relatively Inexpensive
- Expandable using Analog multiplexer from same manufacturer. Up to 8 multiplexers with 16/32 channels on each multiplexer.
- DSP processing of signal gives better readings in noisy environments.
Connection to logger
Power connection: The VW DSP requires nominal 12VDC, 40mA. The supply can be from 6VDC to 16VDC. This can be supplied directly from the 12V output of the DT85 or by using a separate power supply. For the DT80/81 you can use the external supply to the logger as long as it in the range 10-16VDC. Note that the enable terminal on the VW DSP (EN) should be connected to the supply as well to enable normal operation of the unit.
Communications: The VW DSP can be connected to either the serial sensor input (1SERIAL) or the HOST RS232 port (2SERIAL) if it is configured as a second serial sensor port.
To connect the VW DSP to the serial sensor port of a DT85 use the following connections:
DT85 VW DSP
-----------------
12V<------->12V
|->EN (Loop to 12V)
DGND<------>GND
SS Tx<----->RD
SS Rx<----->TD
Keynes Control - VW-108 interface
Features
- 8 channels of vibrating wire and thermistor inputs.
- SDI-12 connection to the logger
- built in speaker and display for local diagnostics.
For information on the connection to the logger and code example look here
Sensor output
The VW-108 returns frequency for vibrating wire inputs, and raw voltage for the thermistor inputs. To convert the raw voltage to temperature it must first be converted to resistance. The thermistor conversion from mV(Vout) to Ohms(Rsense) is
SysCurrent (Amps) = (2.5V - Vout) / 3300Ohms Rsense (Ohms) = Vout /SysCurrent
This assumes that the Input impedance when measuring Vout is relatively high (Meg Ohms). The accuracy of this system also assumes that any cable resistance is negligible compared to the sensor resistance.
Once the temperature input is converted to resistance then it can be converted to temperature units by following the thermistor manufactures recommendations.
Logger programming
The following table shows the required channel and options to use to access the relevent channels on the vibrating wire 108 interface.
| VibWire 108 Input | DT80/81/85 SDI-12 Channel & Options |
|---|---|
| 0VW | nSDI12(ADa,R001) |
| 1VW | nSDI12(ADa,R002) |
| 2VW | nSDI12(ADa,R003) |
| 3VW | nSDI12(ADa,R004) |
| 4VW | nSDI12(ADa,R005) |
| 5VW | nSDI12(ADa,R006) |
| 6VW | nSDI12(ADa,R007) |
| 7VW | nSDI12(ADa,R008) |
| 0Therm/Analog | nSDI12(ADa,R009) |
| 1Therm/Analog | nSDI12(ADa,R010) |
| 2Therm/Analog | nSDI12(ADa,R011) |
| 3Therm/Analog | nSDI12(ADa,R012) |
| 4Therm/Analog | nSDI12(ADa,R013) |
| 5Therm/Analog | nSDI12(ADa,R014) |
| 6Therm/Analog | nSDI12(ADa,R015) |
| 7Therm/Analog | nSDI12(ADa,R016) |
where:
- n is the digital I/O channel being used to communicate via SDI-12 to to the VW-108 interface. This would be 5 if using Digital I/O 5 on the dataTaker to communicate to the VW-108 interface.
- a is the SDI-12 address of the particular VW-108 to communicate with on the SDI-12 bus. This would normally be 0 if only one VW-108 interface is being used.
Code example
begin"VW-108 example"
' Set measurement rate to 10 seconds.
RA10S
' Read the first two vibrating wire sensors and return the frequency
5SDI12("Gauge0 Freq",AD0,R001)
5SDI12("Gauge1 Freq",AD0,R002)
' Read the first two thermistor inputs and convert to Ohms
5SDI12(AD0,R009,=1CV,W) 2CV"Gauge0 Temp",=(1CV/((2500-1CV)/3300))/1000
5SDI12(AD0,R010,=1CV,W) 2CV"Gauge1 Temp",=(1CV/((2500-1CV)/3300))/1000
' enable logging of readings
logon
end
Lightning protectors
The following companies offer lightning protection products that can be used with the dataTaker range of data loggers.
- Transtech provide a range of low voltage lightning protectors.
- Citel provide a range of lightning protection products.
Harsh Environment Connectors
Connector~Tech provides a range of harsh environment connectors to the Australian market.
Serial Printers
Thermal Printers
Axiohm A630 series
An Australian Distributor is Artech
This printer has an RS232 port that can be used to receive data from either the dataTaker RS232 comms port or the serial sensor port.
SRI serial miniprinter (100% Australian made using epson printhead)
Plotting and Data Presentation tools for Developers
These tools may be useful for developing applications requiring custom presentation of data.
Gnuplot Command-Line Plotting Utility Software
Ploticus A free, GPL, non-interactive software package for producing plots, charts, and graphics from data.
GPS Visualizer A free, online utility that creates maps and profiles from GPS data. Ouputs in various formats including Google Earth. Requires some manipulation of logged data in CSV or TXT file.
Other
Egg Buddy
The Egg Buggy is a digital egg monitor produced by Avitronics. Placing a fertile egg on the sensor pad the Egg Buddy will return the heart beat rate and heart waveform data of the developing embryo out an RS232 port that can be logged into the dataTaker.
Refer to Egg Buddy section of Code examples for programming details.
