Active DST Module - DST-2-C
Page 11© 2016 Active Research Limited
Troubleshooting guide
This guide will concentrate on all relevant troubleshooting issues above simple cable connection faults. Therefore, the
cables between the Actisense DST-2 hardware and any other devices should be checked as a matter of course, before
continuing with this guide.
Problem / Error condition Required user response
No data seen on
NMEA instrument display
Ensure that correct polarity of the NMEA connections have been observed - NMEA
connections are polarity sensitive. No damage should be caused if the polarity is
reversed, but no NMEA data will be seen on the receiving instrument.
“+” and “A” connections should be wired to the DST’s “+/A”.
“-” and “B” connections should be wired to the DST’s “-/B”.
No data seen on
PC display
Ensure that the PC software is selecting the correct PC Comms port number.
As a diagnostic, you can use the standard Windows “HyperTerminal” utility to receive
NMEA data. By selecting the NMEA DST-2 input comms port, the baud rate to that
required (4800 standard), no parity, 1 stop bit, 8 data bits and no ow control, the
received NMEA text data from the DST-2 will be shown on the PC screen.
Table 1 – Troubleshooting guide
Diagnostic LED
The NDC-2 hardware supports a tricolour diagnostic LED that indicates the current operating mode of the hardware, or
if an error has been detected during the self-test initiation process. Table 2 details what each LED colour represents and
if any user interaction is required.
LED Colour Mode / Error condition Required user response
Normal operation modes
The sequence below indicates a successful power-up of the
DST-2 and the commencement of data combining.
Red,
No ashing
Start-up mode,
No error
No response required. A normal operation mode that should
last for no more than 1 second. Any longer indicates an error
with the main program.
Red,
No ashing
Flash updating mode,
No error
No response required. LED will stay red for the duration of
the ash update operation (using ActiPatch). Once operation
completes, the DST-2 hardware will be automatically reset.
Amber,
No ashing
Initialise and self-test mode,
No error
No response required. A normal operation mode that follows
after the Start-up mode and should last for approximately 0.25
seconds (and so may not be visible).
Green,
No ashing
Normal and no data mode,
No error
No response required. A normal operation mode that follows
the Initialise and self-test mode. Indicates that no error was
detected during the self-test operation.
Also indicates that no data is currently being transmitted by the
DST-2 hardware.
Green,
Flashing
Normal and data Rx mode,
No error
No response required. A normal operation mode that indicates
that data is currently being transmitted by the DST-2 hardware.
Flash length proportional to amount of data transmitted.
Table 2 – Diagnostic LED colours
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