BTD
Control Software
USER MANUAL
User Manual for BTD Control Software
Page 2
PROPRIETARY NOTICE
The information contained in this manual (including all illustrations, drawings, schematics
and parts lists) is proprietary to BIRAL. It is provided for the sole purpose of aiding the buyer
or user in operating and maintaining the instrument. This information is not to be used for the
manufacture or sale of similar items without written permission.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
This document has been prepared by Bristol Industrial and Research Associates Limited and
contains copyright material belonging to the company.
The contents may not be copied or disclosed to a 3rd party without the express written
permission of Biral.
© Bristol Industrial and Research Associates Limited (Biral) 2018
LIABILITY AND WARRANTY
BTD Control Software remains the property of Biral and is protected by appropriate
copyright law and international treaty provisions. The Licensee is granted the right to use the
software, but not to de-compile or to in anyway alter the composition of the software. The
software contains information of commercial value and worth to BIRAL. The licensee may
not transfer the software to any third party and should hold it in confidence and protect it
from disclosure to third parties.
No other warranties except those expressly set out above are implied or should be inferred.
Biral makes no warranty concerning the fitness of the BTD Thunderstorm Detector or its
software for a particular purpose or use. BIRAL does not warrant, guarantee or make any
representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the BTD Thunderstorm Detector
or the software.
In no event will Biral, its Directors or employees be liable for direct, indirect, incidental,
exemplary or consequential damages, expenses, or losses arising out of the use or inability to
use the instrument or software.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Biral, PO Box 2, Portishead, Bristol, BS20 7JB, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 1275 847787
Facsimile: +44(0) 1275 847303
Manual Number: 106546
Revision: 04D
User Manual for BTD Control Software
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CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION _____________________________________________________ 4
1.1 Minimum System Requirements ___________________________________________ 4
2 INSTALLATION ______________________________________________________ 5
2.1 New Installation _________________________________________________________ 5
2.2 Update to an Existing Installation __________________________________________ 7
3 ETHERNET CONNECTIVITY __________________________________________ 7
3.1 Assigning the Virtual Com Port ____________________________________________ 7
3.2 Private IP Addresses ____________________________________________________ 11
3.3 Removal of Old Port Assignments. ________________________________________ 11
3.4 Network IP Addresses ___________________________________________________ 12
3.5 Static IP Addresses _____________________________________________________ 13
3.5.1 Installing the Device Installer ___________________________________________________ 13
3.5.2 Running the Device Installer ___________________________________________________ 13
3.5.3 Assigning an IP address _______________________________________________________ 14
3.5.4 Assigning Com Port __________________________________________________________ 17
4 RS422 CONNECTION _________________________________________________ 18
5 USER INTERFACE ___________________________________________________ 19
5.1 Main Display __________________________________________________________ 20
5.1.1 Lightning Indication Plot ______________________________________________________ 20
5.1.2 Lightning Key _______________________________________________________________ 22
5.1.3 Warning of Potential Thunderstorm Activity Overhead _______________________________ 22
5.1.4 Status Indication _____________________________________________________________ 23
5.1.5 Flashes with No Direction _____________________________________________________ 23
5.1.6 Idle Mode __________________________________________________________________ 25
5.2 Configuration Screen ___________________________________________________ 26
5.2.1 Configuration Parameters ______________________________________________________ 26
5.2.2 Operation __________________________________________________________________ 30
5.2.3 Site Calibration ______________________________________________________________ 33
5.2.4 Connection _________________________________________________________________ 33
5.2.5 BTD Date and Time __________________________________________________________ 35
5.2.6 Status _____________________________________________________________________ 36
5.3 Service Screen _________________________________________________________ 39
5.3.1 Command Area ______________________________________________________________ 41
5.3.2 Direction Finder Commands ____________________________________________________ 44
5.3.3 Quick Commands ____________________________________________________________ 46
5.3.4 Lightning Warning Limits _____________________________________________________ 47
5.3.5 Sensitivity Thresholds_________________________________________________________ 48
6 APPENDIX A: TROUBLESHOOTING___________________________________ 51
6.1 Communication Problems _______________________________________________ 51
User Manual for BTD Control Software
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1 INTRODUCTION
This manual applies to both the BTD-300 and BTD-350 Thunderstorm Detector models.
It covers the use of the BTD Control Software connected to a BTD Thunderstorm Detector.
This manual specifically covers releases SI100276.01A onwards of the software.
The software runs on a standard PC running the Windows 7 or later operating system. The
Professional version of Windows is required. The software will run on either 32-bit or 64-bit
versions of Windows. Make sure that your computer has the latest Windows service pack and
critical updates.
The BTD Control software communicates with the BTD Thunderstorm Detector either via an
RS422 serial or Ethernet data link. (The link is dependent on the BTD configuration, which is
selected at the time of order)
Before operating the BTD the user should have read the BTD User Manual which describes
the operation of the detector.
1.1 Minimum System Requirements
The requirements apply to situations where the software is installed as a single application on
a computer. Where the application is to be run in conjunction with other applications it is the
responsibility of the user to ensure the system requirements are adequate.
The compatibility with operating systems not listed in this document is not currently known.
If operation with alternative operating systems is required please contact Biral for further
advice.
System Component
Minimum Requirement
Processor
Pentium 1 GHz
Pentium 2GHz or higher is recommended.
RAM Memory
1 G Bytes
2 G Bytes is recommended.
Available Hard Disk
Space
32-Bit - 1 G Bytes for Program Installation
64-Bit - 2 G Bytes for Program Installation
Additional space is required for the storage of logged data. The BTD
Control Software generates approximately 200 M Bytes per day of
logged data. It is the responsibility of the user to manage the long
term archiving of data and housekeeping of the data storage area.
Video Adaptor
DirectX 9 graphics device
Monitor
800 x 600 Minimum Pixel Resolution
Communication
Ports
Either
RS422 Serial communications port
Capable of supporting the following:
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Baud Rate 115,200
Parity No Parity
Data Bits 8 Data Bits
Stop Bits 1 Stop Bit
Or
USB 1.0 or USB 2.0 Port
Capable of connection to a USB to Serial Port adaptor with the
capabilities listed above.
Or
Ethernet Port
Table 1.1: System Requirements
2 INSTALLATION
If you have the BTD Control Software already installed on your system, please refer to
section 2.2 for upgrade instructions.
2.1 New Installation
To install the software run the program BTD Installer.exe from the installation media.
As the software requires administrator access, the windows User Access Control dialog will
be displayed prompting the user to allow the program to have administrator access. Click the
Yes button to allow this.
A series of screens will be displayed during the installation process:
Figure 2.1: Licence Agreement
Click on the “I agree to the license terms and conditions” box to enable the Install button.
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Clicking on the Install button will start the installation process.
Figure 2.2: Initialisation
The installation process checks for, and installs any prerequisite Windows components that
are not already installed (for example the .NET framework). If these are required the
installation process may take a long time and you may be prompted to reboot the computer
during the installation, if this happens the installation will continue automatically on restart.
Once the Installation has finished the Following screen will be displayed.
Figure 2.3: Successful Setup
If an error is displayed please contact Biral for assistance.
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Once the installation is complete an icon will be placed on the Windows Desktop.
Note: If a USB to RS422 converter is being used for the serial data connection the drivers
will need to be installed – refer to the converter manufacturer for details and make sure that
the appropriate drivers are installed BEFORE starting the software.
2.2 Update to an Existing Installation
If a previous version of the BTD Control Software is installed on the PC, then this will need
to be removed before proceeding with the new installation.
To remove an existing installation:
Open the Windows Control Panel - located on the Start Menu.
Select Programs and Features.
Wait for the list of installed program to be updated.
Locate the Biral BTD Control Software in the list and click on it.
Right Click on the file and select Uninstall. This will run the uninstaller and remove the
software from the system. Once it has been removed the BTD Control Software will not
be displayed in the list of currently installed programs.
Close the Programs and Features window and the Control Panel.
Now follow the instructions in section 2.1 to install the new software.
3 ETHERNET CONNECTIVITY
The BTD sensor is set up to automatically assign an IP address to the sensor on start-up. This
assumes that the sensor will either be connected to a network or that the PC it is connected to
is set up to have an automatic private IP Address.
If in doubt of the set-up of your computer please contact your IT administrator.
The BTD Control Software uses a Virtual Communication Port to communicate with the
sensor. This port needs to be assigned on initial start-up.
3.1 Assigning the Virtual Com Port
To assign the Virtual Com Port start the BTD Control Software.
On start-up the BTD Control software will try and find the BTD sensor and connect
automatically. The initial display will be:
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Figure 3.1: Searching For BTD Sensor
As the port has not been allocated, the software will not find the BTD Sensor, so the display
will change to:
Figure 3.2: No Sensor Found
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Pressing the Assign button will start the program that assigns the Com port to the sensor.
Assigning a Com Port needs to have Administrator privileges so the User Account Control
dialog will be displayed:
Figure 3.3: User Account Control
Pressing the Yes button will start the Automatic Com Port Assignment program.
Figure 3.4: Automatic Com Port Assignment Display
When this program starts it searches for any BTD sensors and displays the information about
them in the Device box.
In the above example there are two BTD sensors found – One is on a network (IP address
60.1.9.31) and that has a port assigned – in this instance the software cannot connect to this
sensor as it is already in use.
The second sensor is connected locally to the PC with a private IP address (169.254.184.252)
and does not have a port allocated to it. (Signified by the -1 in the allocated port field)
To allocate a port to the second sensor use the Allocate options:
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Figure 3.5: Allocate Options
The Port # drop down box lists all the free ports on the system. The first available port is
displayed in the field.
The IP Address drop down box lists those devices found with no ports allocated.
To allocate a port, press the Allocate Port button, the status at the foot of the display will
change to: “Allocating Port 4 to IP: 169.254.184.252, please wait.
On successful allocation, the display will change to:
Figure 3.6: Successful Port Allocation
Once all the ports have been allocated, close the allocation program.
Once the program is closed, the BTD Control software will automatically try and connect to
the sensor.
On successful connection the display will change to:
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Figure 3.7: Main Display
3.2 Private IP Addresses
If the BTD is connected to a PC that has an automatic private IP address, then whenever
either the BTD sensor or the PC is restarted the automatic IP address will change and the
BTD Control will not be able to automatically connect to the sensor. In this case the process
described in section 2.1 will need to be repeated.
3.3 Removal of Old Port Assignments.
If the Private IP Address process as described in section 3.2 above has produced numerous
assigned ports to old IP addresses, the Assignment program can be used to remove old
assignments and free the com ports associated with them.
In this example there are two old assignments listed in the Unassigned Ports box.
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Figure 3.8: Example 2
Figure 3.9: Unassigned Ports
Pressing the Remove All button will remove ports 4 and 9 and free them for future use.
3.4 Network IP Addresses
If the BTD is connected to a PC via a network, then the network server will assign the IP
address. Restarting the PC or the BTD sensor will not change the assigned IP address, so the
control software should be able to connect without having to reassign a com port.
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3.5 Static IP Addresses
If the BTD sensor is to be connected to a standalone PC it may be more convenient to assign
a static IP address to both the PC and the sensor.
In this case restarting the PC or the BTD sensor will not change the assigned IP address.
It is possible to connect the BTD to the Control Software using static IP Addresses but this
requires that changes are made to BTD sensor setup.
The BTD-300 uses a Lantronix® XPort® Serial to Ethernet embedded device server. This
device has been set up to have an automatic IP address.
In order to change the IP address to a static address, some proprietary Lantronix® software
must be installed on the PC.
3.5.1 Installing the Device Installer
When the Biral BTD Control is installed, the Lantronix® software installers are also installed
with the Biral program.
These programs are located in the following folder:
C:\Program Files\BIRAL\BTDControl\Lantronix
Run the program “setup_di_x86x64cd_4.4.0.0.exe” as administrator to install the Lantronix
software.
Follow the on-screen instructions to install the software.
3.5.2 Running the Device Installer
Run the Device Installer via the Start Menu.
Start – All Programs- Lantronix – DeviceInstaller 4.4 – Device Installer
This will bring up the Device Installer main screen.
The first thing the device installer does is to search for any Lantronix devices and will display
any it finds. See Figure 3.10 below.
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Figure 3.10: Device Installer Screen
Before making any changes to the IP addresses it is recommended that you read the TCP/IP
tutorial in the Device Installer Help files.
NOTE:
Changing the IP address of the sensor may make the sensor unreachable – in the example
shown in Figure 3.10 above the xPort device is unreachable and displayed in red. If the
sensor is shown as unreachable an IP address can still be assigned and will have to be
assigned before the BTD Software can connect to the sensor.
3.5.3 Assigning an IP address
Select the xPort device in the right hand window and press the Assign IP button in the toolbar
The dialog as shown in Figure 3.11 will be displayed
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Figure 3.11: Assign IP Address Dialog
We recommend that you read the TCP/IP Tutorial before changing any IP Addresses
Select Assign a specific IP address and press Next >
Figure 3.12: IP Settings
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Enter the IP Address, following the instructions on the screen. Then press Next>
Figure 3.13: Static IP Assignment
Press Assign to complete the assignment.
Figure 3.14:Progress
The progress bar will update until the assignment is complete then the completion screen will
be displayed as shown in Figure 3.15.
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Figure 3.15: Completed
Press the Finish button.
The screen display will change to show the new IP address as shown in Figure 3.16 below.
Figure 3.16: Completed Assignment
Close the device installer.
3.5.4 Assigning Com Port
To assign the Virtual Com Port start the BTD Control Software and follow the instructions in
section 3.1.
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4 RS422 CONNECTION
If Serial communications have been installed on the BTD, The BTD will use a 4-wire RS422
interface. See the BTD User manual for details on the connection.
As most PCs don't have RS422 ports a RS422 to RS232 or RS422 to USB converter may be
required. This converter is not provided with the Software or the BTD and it is the
responsibility of the user to provide this.
If the converter has been properly connected and installed, then the BTD Control software
will automatically detect the BTD on the serial port on start-up.
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5 USER INTERFACE
All of the functionality of the BTD is controlled via the BTD Control Software.
The BTD Control Software is designed to be flexible and easy to use. The software is started
via the icon on the Windows Desktop.
On start-up the BTD Control software will try and find the BTD sensor and connect
automatically. The initial display will be as shown in Figure 3.1 above.
If the connection cannot be found the No Sensor Found display as shown in Figure 3.2 above
will be displayed. If this happens, for Ethernet connections follow the instructions in section
3.1 above. For serial connections, check that the RS422 connections are correct and, if using
a USB converter, check that the drivers are installed and a virtual COM Port is available.
On successful connection the main display will be shown.
When the software is closed, the BTD instrument will still be running but all data logging
will stop and no warnings will be displayed. The user will be asked to confirm the closure via
the message as shown in Figure 5.1 below:
Figure 5.1: Close Confirmation
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5.1 Main Display
The Main Display is as shown in Figure 5.2 below:
Figure 5.2: Main Display – No Direction Finding
The main Display has the following components:
Lightning Indication Plot.
Lightning Key.
Warning of Potential Thunderstorm Activity Overhead.
Status Indication.
5.1.1 Lightning Indication Plot
This displays an indication of the lightning activity. The sector containing lightning activity is
filled with the appropriate colour according to the key (bottom left). The number of flashes in
the last user-defined warning period (default 15 minutes) is indicated in the sector’s centre.
The number representing the most recent flash is displayed in bold.
The display in Figure 5.3 below shows the indication of lightning activity during a
thunderstorm.
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