The All-Knowing, Ever-Patient Chris "Nice Guy" Newman, who also happens to be the operations manager here at Coastal, along with his trusty sidekick, Rebecca "L" Sama, have come up with the answers to a number of commonly asked questions to expedite your needs should you come into any type of problem with your instrument.  You can still always email Chris or give Coastal a call during business hours if there are questions that you can not find the answers to here.

1. My Macro or Micro/Mini Series Instrument is not responding.
2. Where can I find a Macro or Micro/Mini Series Users Manual?
3. How should I replace the batteries in my instrument?
4. How do I refill the silicon fluid for the pressure sensor?
5. How should I remove the compact flash card from my Macro instrument?
6. How do I convert my PSI readings to depth?
7. How do I calculate salinity from my MacroCTDs readings?
8. What is the processed data file format?
9. I've had no luck.  I (have to leave, the ship sails, I need pizza) in an hour, and my 
   (boss, client, spouse) is annoyed.  What do I do?

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Prior to replacing batteries, make sure that any existing data has been read from the instrument.  Reinitializing will erase all previous data.  Next, open the Macro Instrument pressure case by taking out the screws and sliding the electronics carefully out of the case.    Each battery board consists of 9 alkaline 'D' cells.  Remove all 9 cells from the board and check the battery contacts for any signs of corrosion.  If all looks good, replace one stack at a time, securing with elastic bands.

The '1/3N' or ‘AA’ cells, located in the plastic electronics box, will not need to be replaced as often as the 'D' cells as they are only used as a backup power device.  DO NOT remove both the 'D' cells and the '1/3N' or ‘AA’ cells at the same time or the entire instrument will have to be reprogrammed.

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To clean and refill fluid, remove the upper swaglok fitting with the extension tube on top of the top plate with a 9/16" wrench.  Check this fitting and extension tube and, if dirty, clean it.  Make sure that the hole in the top plate is filled to the top with silicon fluid;  if not, top off the hole with Dow Fluid 200, viscosity 350 cSt for wave gauges and 10K cSt for tide gauges.  Wait until all air bubbles have vented up;  this could take some time, as the silicon fluid is quite viscous.  Take the clean fitting and extension tube assembly and screw it into the hole.  As it screws in, air and then silicon fluid will be pushed out through the top of the extension tube.  Tighten fitting with 9/16" wrench.                                    

M Be sure that all air bubbles have vented out before deployment.

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Remove the instrument from its housing and remove the cover from the white electronic box.  Connect the instrument to the computer with its standard communication cable and start the Wizard program.  From the Main menu select Utilities and then select Connect.  After the program gets the instrument's attention, the logger's prompt should be displayed:   

Ex:  10660 CL8>           (10660 = serial no. of the instrument)

Press the [!] and then the [^] keys, and then press [Enter].

You do not have to remove power, just remove the compact flash.

Install the new compact flash.

Press [Alt-w] to get the instrument's attention.

Press the [!] and then the [z] keys, and then press [Enter].  Follow the instructions to format the new compact flash.  After the formatting is done press [Esc] and follow instructions to exit from the Connect screen.  Quit the Wizard program.

Restart the Wizard program with the Program/Calibrate option:  WIZARD -PRO [enter]

Select Calibrate and then press [Enter].  At 'select from files matching :prm\*.prm', press [Enter].  This will produce a list of all the parameter files in the directory. Use the up/down arrow to highlight the correct file, and press [Enter].  This puts a check mark to the left of the correct file. Hold the [Ctrl] & [Enter] keys down together to send the file to the instrument. Follow the instructions. 

After the instrument has been calibrated, Quit the program.  Restart the Wizard program normally and select Initialize to set your deployment settings.

Data recorded by the MicroTide, in addition to date and time tagging, are battery voltage (volts DC), pressure (PSIA), and temperature (^oC).  Conversion to depth of water is relatively straightforward.  The pressure data recorded is total pressure, measured in pounds per square inch absolute (i.e. PSIA), and includes both atmospheric and hydrostatic pressure components.  Then the depth of water above the pressure port can be calculated as:  D =  (P - A) * K    Where: 

D = depth, in meters

P = total pressure, from MicroTide, in PSIA

A = atmospheric pressure, either the nominal 14.7 PSIA, or actual measured barometric pressure from an independent source

K = pressure-to-depth conversion factor, which is a function of temperature and conductivity

The conversion from pressure-to-depth can be derived from the density of water as follows:  

K = 0.703242 m/psi * 1/Rho (T) * 1/Rho (S)     Where:  

0.703242 m/psi = Corresponding depth of pure water at 4^oC

1/Rho (T) = Relative Volume, function of Temperature

1/Rho (S) = Relative Volume, function of Salinity

The latter two quantities are tabulated and shown in Table A:

Table A:            Relative Volume of Water as a Function of Temperature (^oC)

^oC            Volume         ^oC        Volume          ^oC          Volume         ^oC           Volume

-10          1.00186          0          1.00013        10            1.00027        20            1.00177

-9            1.00157          1          1.00007        11            1.00037        21            1.00198

-8            1.00131          2          1.00003        12            1.00048        22            1.00221

-7            1.00108          3          1.00001        13            1.00060        23            1.00244

-6            1.00088          4          1.00000        14            1.00073        24            1.00268

-5            1.00070          5          1.00001        15            1.00087        25            1.00294

-4            1.00055          6          1.00003        16            1.00103        26            1.00320

-3            1.00042          7          1.00007        17            1.00120        27            1.00347

-2            1.00031          8          1.00012        18            1.00138        28            1.00375

-1            1.00021          9          1.00019        19            1.00157        29            1.00405

Relative Volume of Water as a Function of Estimated Salinity (PPT)

S            Volume        S            Volume          S            Volume          S            Volume

0            1.00000        15            0.98912        30            0.97828        45            0.96740

5            0.99631        20            0.98542        35            0.97466        50            0.96386

10          0.99275        25            0.98184        40            0.97097        55            0.96034

NOTE:  Derived from Specific Gravity at 20^oC

The conductivity measured in situ is first converted to a conductivity ratio defined by :

            R (S, T, P) =       C (S, T, P)

                                 C (35%, 15^oC, 0)

where:   C (S, T, P) = conductivity at salinity (S%), temperature (T ^oC), and pressure (P dbar)

            C (35%, 15^oC, 0) = 42.914 mmho/cm

Second, correct for the effect of pressure on conductivity by the formula:

            R (S,T)  =   R (S, T, P)

                               (1 + F)  

where:   F =  (1.60836x10^-5) P – (5.4845x10^-10) P² + (6.166x10^-15) P³                          

1 + (3.0786x10^-2)T + (3.169x10^-4)T²

Third, correct for the effect of temperature by the formula:

            R (S) =  R (S, T)

                            r_T

where:

Finally, the salinity is obtained by putting R (S) into the formula:

            S =  -0.08996 + 28.8567R + 12.18882R² - 10.61869R³ + 5.9862R⁴ - 1.32311R⁵ + 

                    R(R-1) [0.0442T - 0.46x10^-3 T² - 4x10^-3 RT + (1.25x10^-4 - 2.9x10^-6 T) P]

Text inside (PARENTHESIS) below is explanatory here and does not appear in the actual output file. Text inside "Quotes" below is replaced with application specific wording. All other text below is replaced with application specific numeric data. Indentations, white spaces, newlines and comma separations are used in the actual output file exactly as shown below, except for continuation lines in this document. The notation (CONT) below means that there is not a newline here in the output file, and that data would actually continue on the same line. The notation (SPACE) or (SP) means there is a space character here in the output file. Blank lines appear in the output file only where indicated by (BLANK LINE) below.

            (CALIBRATION BLOCK BEGINS HERE)

@INSTRUMENT(SP)"Instrument Name",(SP)"Vcccc-ssssssss-mmmmmmmm-t-bb-pp",(SP)program.version,compiled.mm/dd/yy

(SPACE) calibrated.mm/dd/yy, (SP) calibrated.hh:mm:ss, (SP)master.version,master.serial,software.version,software.mm/dd/yy,(CONT)

                interface.version,interface.serial,logger.version,logger.serial,disk.version,disk.serial,casing.version,casing.serial

(SPACE) ClockDrift,datafile_bytes,datafile_free,total_bytes,max_file,amp_hours,min_battery,min_radio,reference,mode_flags,(CONT)

Chained,ChainDelay,BinaryReport,AutoReport,disk_delay,converter,bipolar,crystal,memobanks,config_info,(CONT)

baud_code,warmup,transmit_code,nibbles,consumption,battery_stack,leaveon,echo_full_burst,continue_when_full,recording

            (SENSOR BLOCK BEGINS HERE, PLUS/MINUS (+/-) INDICATES ENABLED/DISABLED CHANNEL)

+channel0,"label",version,serial,burst.logger,burst.pc,average.logger,average.pc,monitor.logger,monitor.pc,(CONT)

                threshold,mode,cycles,timeout,prescale,enabled,power,warmup,port,cal_units,exp_units,nibbles,consumption,"format"

(SPACE) calib0,calib1,calib2,calib3,calib4,calib5,calib6,offset,multiplier,divisor

            (CHANNELS 1 THROUGH 7 APPEAR HERE AS ABOVE)

            (SENSOR AND CALIBRATION BLOCKS ENDS HERE WITH 1 BLANK LINE)

            (DEPLOYMENT BLOCK BEGINS HERE)

@DEPLOYMENT(SP)"User's Deployment Specific Text"

(SPACE) deployment.mm/dd/yy, (SP)deployment.hh:mm:ss, (SP)sys_clock,start_delay,sampling_interval,sampling_period,(CONT)

start_sampling,stop_sampling,data_pointer,disk_bytes,ram_bytes,next_file,events

            (PLUS/MINUS (+/-) INDICATES MODE ENABLED/DISABLED FOR THAT CHANNEL)

                (BURST MODE)

@BST(SP)-0,(SP)-1,(SP)-2,(SP)+3,(SP)-4,(SP)+5,(SP)+6,(SP)-7

(SPACE)burst.start.mm/dd/yy,(SP)burst.start.hh:mm:ss,(SP)ID_value,last_time,next_time,ram_size,interval,period,number,warmup,ID_adjust

                (AVERAGE MODE)

@AVG(SP)+0,(SP)+1,(SP)+2,(SP)+3,(SP)+4,(SP)+5,(SP)+6,(SP)-7

(SPACE)average.start.mm/dd/yy,(SP)average.start.hh:mm:ss,(SP)ID_value,last_time,next_time,ram_size,interval,period,number,warmup,ID_adjust

                (MONITOR MODE)

@MON(SP)+0,(SP)+1,(SP)+2,(SP)+3,(SP)-4,(SP)+5,(SP)+6,(SP)+7

(SPACE)monitor.start.00/00/00,(SP)monitor.start.00:00:00,(SP)ID_value,last_time,next_time,ram_size,interval,period,number,warmup,ID_adjust

            (DEPLOYMENT BLOCK ENDS HERE WITH 1 BLANK LINE)

                        (IN AVERAGE FILES, AVERAGE BLOCK FOLLOWS AS BELOW)

@AVERAGES

average.mm/dd/yy,average.hh:mm,0.00,1.11,2.22,3.33,4.44,5.55,6.66                (AVERAGE 1)

average.mm/dd/yy,average.hh:mm,0.00,1.11,2.22,3.33,4.44,5.55,6.66                (AVERAGE 2)

                (OTHER AVERAGES, TO END OF FILE)

                        (IN BURST FILES, BURST BLOCK FOLLOWS AS BELOW)

@BURSTS

burst.mm/dd/yy,burst.hh:mm                (BURST 1)

3.33,5.55,6.66                                         (FIRST ELEMENT OF BURST 1)

...                                                             (OTHER ELEMENTS OF BURST 1)

3.33,5.55,6.66                                         (LAST ELEMENT OF BURST 1)

burst.mm/dd/yy,burst.hh:mm                (BURST 2)

3.33,5.55,6.66                                         (FIRST ELEMENT OF BURST 2)

...                                                             (OTHER ELEMENTS OF BURST 2)

3.33,5.55,6.66                                         (LAST ELEMENT OF BURST 2)

                (OTHER BURSTS, TO END OF FILE)

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