Kor Software - EXO Sonde Deployment

Kor Software - EXO Sonde Deployment

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Kor Software - EXO Sonde Deployment

This video covers EXO Sonde deployment setup using Kor Software.

Timestamps of specific moments of the video

  • 0:00 – Overview
  • 0:45 – Deployment Options
  • 1:45 – Creating a New Deployment Template
  • 3:48 – DCP Adapter Output Options
  • 4:33 – Advanced Template Options
  • 8:15 – Saving the Template
  • 9:40 – Options During Deployments
  • 10:03 – Accessing Templates

Video Transcript

In this video, we’ll cover how to set up your EXO Sonde for deployment using Kor Software. You can also use the EXO Handheld or the Kor Mobile App.

EXO uses deployment templates for convenience; this allows you to save the deployment settings as a file on your PC which can be applied to other sondes. You can even share this file with colleagues! The deployment template can be configured without the sonde being connected to Kor. Once you are ready to apply the deployment settings to the sonde, connect the sonde to the software via USB or Bluetooth. I’ll get our sonde connected.

Using Kor Software, navigate to the Deployment menu. At the top of the menu, you will see several options. Start Deployment and Stop Deployment are only available if a sonde is connected. If you select Start Deployment, Logging will begin with the deployment settings that are currently loaded on the sonde. Stop Deployment will end the logging.

Next, we have three options for configuring the deployment settings: Create Template allows the user to create a new template from scratch. Create Template from Sonde allows you to modify the deployment settings that are currently loaded on the Sonde. A sonde must be connected to the software to access this option. This is a convenient way to check what is already loaded on the sonde. Open Template allows the user to view, edit, export, or delete a deployment template that has already been created. These templates are stored on the computer’s hard drive.

Let’s review how to create a new template. The deployment template configuration is broken up into three parts. Basic Deployment Settings are necessary for every deployment. DCP Adapter Output is relevant if you are communicating with a data logger. And Advanced are optional settings for a further deployment configuration.

Let’s look at the basic settings first, as this will be relevant for all deployments. The first thing you’ll want to do is name the deployment template. This is the name that will show up if you want to select this configuration to apply to additional sondes.

Next, you can specify the logging interval. This represents how often the sonde will wake up and take a reading. Notice that you must choose a time interval in order to proceed. I’ll choose 30 minutes. You may choose to specify a File Name Prefix. These characters will appear at the beginning of the file name of any logged data files using this deployment configuration, which may allow for easy search or file organization. However, this field is optional, so you can leave it blank if you prefer the default file name.

Also optional is specifying a Site Name and User Name. With the Site Name, you can choose from a list of already-created sites or create a new site. If you choose a site, the site name will be tagged with all of the logged files associated with this deployment template. The same applies to User Name. If you prefer not to specify a User Name, then “default user” will be applied. You may choose to input a description or additional information for reference with this deployment. This is also optional.

That is everything associated with a basic deployment! If you are preparing the sonde for unattended logging and don’t need any advanced features, then you can go ahead and save and apply the template to the sonde.

If you plan to transmit the sonde data to a data logger, then you will need to configure the DCP Adapter Output. Here you can set the SDI-12 address and the order of the parameter data that is transmitted to the logger. Use the arrow buttons to pull from the full list of available parameters. Once in the Selected SDI-12 Parameters column, you can reorder the parameters to match the settings of your data logger. Remember the SDI-12 address and parameter order must be consistent between the sonde and the datalogger; otherwise, you may have communication errors or incorrect values.

Finally, let’s take a look at the Advanced deployment settings, starting with logging mode. Normal Logging mode is selected by default. This means the sonde will wake up and take a reading at the logging interval specified in the Basic Settings. Right now, our sonde is set to wake up every 30 minutes, log a single data point and go back to sleep. You can use the additional Averaging Duration setting to log an average based on the specified duration. For example, if we select 10 seconds, then the sonde will wake up and log the average of ten 1-second readings to a single data point.

Sample and Hold should be selected if you plan to transmit to a data logger. This mode ensures that there will be no discrepancy between the data logged internally to the sonde and the data that is being transmitted. Basically, the sonde wakes up to take a reading at the logging interval we’ve set. It then holds that data to send to the data logger when it receives the command.

The last Logging Mode is Burst Mode. Instead of waking up and logging a single data point, the sonde will log readings once per second for a user-specified duration. If I choose 5 seconds, then the sonde will log five data sets at a one-second interval every 30 minutes based on our current deployment settings. With this mode, you cannot apply additional averaging. For our purposes, I’ll go back to Normal Mode.

Next, let’s look at Samples per Wipe. This allows us to specify how often the wiper will clean the sensors. The default setting is one sample per wipe, meaning the wiper will activate once right before each sample which is currently set for 30 minutes. If we change it to two samples per wipe, then the wiper will activate once an hour to clean the sensors, so two data sets will be logged for every wipe. For most applications, we recommend sticking with one sample per wipe.

The System-wide Averaging Mode allows you to adjust the data filtering that is applied to the sensors for each measurement. You can choose Default, Accelerated, or Rapid. Default averaging is recommended for fixed deployments and allows for optimum data filtering for all sensors. In Accelerated mode, sensors record data with a smaller rolling average window, so changes in sensor response are more quickly observed. Accelerated mode is recommended when sensors are moving through the water. Rapid mode should be used when the sonde is moving very quickly through the water, such as with rapid profiling and unique applications like towing the sonde. In this mode, readings may appear noisy and will not stabilize on a single value. We’ll keep the default average selected.

Finally, we have an optional Adaptive Logging feature. This allows the sonde to log at an alternative time interval if readings go above or below a user-specified parameter threshold. For example, if after 30 minutes, our sonde wakes up and logs a turbidity value above 20 FNU, then Adaptive Logging will immediately start forcing the sonde to log every minute until turbidity drops below 20 FNU. You can set up to two conditions for Adaptive Logging. Once logged readings drop below the threshold, the sonde will go back to its normal logging interval; the sonde will continue to log every 30 minutes unless a value triggers Adaptive Logging again. I’ll keep it off for the purposes of our video.

That covers all of the Advanced Deployment Settings! We have two options for saving the template. If you select Save Template it will just save it locally to the Kor Database on this computer; however, it does not apply these settings to the sonde. If we select Save and Apply Template to Sonde, then it will save to the PC and apply to the Sonde. I’ll proceed with this option.

The software will then ask if we would like to start logging on to the sonde. If you select No, the deployment settings will still be applied to the sonde, it will just not start logging internally, and you will need to reconnect to start the deployment. If you select Yes, then it will ask you to select the start time.

Here you have three options. If you select Next Interval, the sonde will start logging at the next logging interval from the top of the hour. For example, it is 3:15 right now. If our logging interval were set to five minutes, then the next logged reading would occur at 3:20. Since we have a 30-minute log interval, logging will start at 3:30, and the next log will be at 4:00, and so on. Selecting ‘Now’ will start the internal logging immediately. Custom will allow you to specify a date and time in the future to start logging. We’ll select Next Interval.

Now that our sonde is deployed, we have the option to Stop the Deployment. We can also see some information based on the deployment settings, battery life, and sonde memory. Kor will indicate that the sonde is deployed on the status bar located at the bottom of the screen. It is still possible to view live data while the sonde is logging internally.

Remember that you can now find this new template in the Kor database on this PC. Select the open template, find your template name, and click View Selected Deployment. Here you can apply these settings to a connected sonde and start the deployment. You can also edit and save the modified deployment template if desired.

That covers deployment setup. Please be sure to check out our other EXO University videos, and thanks for watching!

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