SonTek/YSI
ADVField/Hydra Operation Manual (September 1, 2001) 21
Section 3. Direct Command Interface for ADVField Systems
The direct command interface refers to the command inputs and response / data outputs for
communicating with the ADVField using its serial communication port. The command interface
shown in this section is used for either RS232 or RS422 communication protocol. The interface
used for RS485 protocol is not included in this manual. See §5.2 for the serial communication
protocols supported by the ADVField.
You can access the direct command interface using a dumb terminal or terminal emulator pro-
gram (e.g.;
SONTERM
). The default communication parameters for the ADVField are: 8 data bits,
no parity, and 2 stop bits. The baud rate defaults are 9600 for firmware v6.8 and earlier, or 19200
for firmware after v6.8. The baud rate can be changed using the BAUD rotary switch on the CPU
board (see §4.2).
Before data collection, you must set a few operational parameters. For real-time data collection,
this is normally done using the SonTek data acquisition software (
ADF.EXE
), but can also be done
using the direct command interface. Autonomous deployments (see §2.4) are configured and
started using the direct command interface. This section gives a detailed description of all aspects
of the direct command interface.
When using the ADVField, it is important that the correct probe configuration file has been
loaded into the system. The configuration file is loaded when data collection is started using the
SonTek data acquisition software (
ADF.EXE
) as described in the ADVField Software Manual. The
configuration file is stored in EEPROM memory until overwritten by a new configuration file.
CAUTION
Using an incorrect probe configuration file will result in invalid velocity data. If you are col-
lecting data using the direct command interface, be sure the probe serial number listed by
the Show Conf command matches the serial number of the probe being used and confirm
that the correct configuration file has been loaded.
Section 3.1 gives an overview of the operational modes of the ADVField. Section 3.2 presents
the syntax rules for the command interface. A summary of all commands is provided in §3.3. The
remaining parts of Section 3 describe the commands and output data format in detail.
3.1. Modes of Operation
The ADVField has four operational modes – command mode, data acquisition mode, deployment
mode, and sleep mode.
3.1.1. Command Mode
In command mode, the ADVField can receive commands relating to all aspects of instrument op-
eration. You can enter the command mode from data acquisition or deployment mode by sending
a
BREAK
(§1.2) or three
+
characters in succession (
+++
- see §3.12). You can enter command
mode from the sleep mode by sending a
BREAK
or by cycling the system power (see below). You
can put the ADVField into any of the other modes only from the command mode.
To enter the data acquisition mode (for real-time data collection) from the command mode, use
the command
Start
. To enter the deployment mode (for autonomous data collection) from the
command mode, use the command
Deploy
. To enter the sleep mode from the command mode,
use the command
PowerOff
. If the ADVField remains inactive in command mode for more than
five minutes, it automatically enters the sleep mode.
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