Valeport VA500 Operating Manual

Valeport VA500 Operating Manual

Altimeter
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VA500 Altimeter Operating Manual
Document ID
MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3
Date:
January 2022
This confidential document was prepared by the staff of Valeport Limited, the Company, and is the
property of the Company, which also owns the copyright therein. All rights conferred by the law of
the copyright and by virtue of international copyright conventions are reserved to the Company.
This document must not be copied, reprinted or reproduced in any material form, either wholly or in
part, and the contents of this document, and any method or technique available there from, must
not be disclosed to any other person whatsoever without the prior written consent of the Company.
© 2022 Valeport Ltd
Valeport Ltd
St Peter's Quay
Totnes TQ9 5EW
United Kingdom
As part of our policy of continuous development, we reserve the right to alter, without prior notice,
all specifications, designs, prices and conditions of supply for all our equipment
Phone:
+44 1803 869292
email:
sales@valeport.co.uk
Web:
www.valeport.co.uk

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Summary of Contents for Valeport VA500

  • Page 1 Date: January 2022 This confidential document was prepared by the staff of Valeport Limited, the Company, and is the property of the Company, which also owns the copyright therein. All rights conferred by the law of the copyright and by virtue of international copyright conventions are reserved to the Company.
  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Physical Characteristics ......................4 Dimensions ............................. 4 3.1.1 Standard VA500 Altimeter ..................... 4 3.1.2 VA500 Altimeter with 90° Transducer ..................5 Configuration and Operation ....................... 6 Using the Configuration Wizard ....................... 6 Manually Configuring the Unit ......................9 Instrument Settings ......................... 9 Range Settings ..........................
  • Page 3: Introduction

    MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 1 Introduction The VA500 altimeter has been designed with the objective of providing an accurate, reliable and robust measurement of range from surface and underwater platforms. State of the art signal processing offers unrivalled range and performance from a 500kHz transducer.
  • Page 4: Specifications

    ±3° 2.1.1 Acoustic Footprint The acoustic beam angle of the VA500 is, for practical purposes ±3°. The beam pattern is a cone extending from the face with that angle so the foot print diameter is approximately 10% of the range as described in the table below: Range(m) Footprint Ø...
  • Page 5: Communications

    RS232 & RS485 fitted as standard Protocol: 4800 to 115200 baud, (8,1,N) Formats: Valeport NMEA / Tritech / Kongsberg / $SDDBT / NMEA Analogue output: 0-5/0-10 V fitted as standard RS485 is enabled by grounding pin 9 to pin 5 in the communications lead see Wiring Information 2.5 Power Requirements...
  • Page 6: Physical Characteristics

    43mm main body Ø 215mm length (including connector) 248mm length with pressure module fitted Weight: 0.95 kg (air)/ ~0.7 kg (in water) Connector: SubConn MCBH10F (titanium) 3.1 Dimensions 3.1.1 Standard VA500 Altimeter © 2022 – Valeport Ltd Page | 4...
  • Page 7: Va500 Altimeter With 90° Transducer

    VA500 Altimeter Operating Manual MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 3.1.2 VA500 Altimeter with 90° Transducer © 2022 – Valeport Ltd Page | 5...
  • Page 8: Configuration And Operation

    Section 4 | Configuration and Operation 4 Configuration and Operation The VA500 is supplied with a Valeport DataLog x2 and Terminal x2, setup and terminal communications program and configuration tools designed specifically for use with Valeport instruments. Install the program by opening the install package supplied (or download from https://valeport.download) and follow the on-screen instructions.
  • Page 9 VA500 Altimeter Operating Manual MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 Select the VA500 altimeter from the drop down list. Select the Read Configuration from the instrument to determine current settings Open previously saved configuration file to load a predefined setup. The first wizard screen will give information about the instrument.
  • Page 10 Latitude is used in the conversion from pressure to depth. Continuous output rates can be 1,2 or 4 Hz Alternatively the VA500 can be triggered with a serial command (S followed by a carriage return) or via TTL (see wiring schedule in section 6) Once configuration is complete, the wizard will summarise the commands to be sent to the instrument.
  • Page 11: Manually Configuring The Unit

    4.2 Manually Configuring the Unit Alternatively, the VA500 Altimeter can be manually configured via serial communications using a series of # code commands. This can be Valeport’s Terminal x2 or an alternative terminal program such as HyperTerminal. Valeport Terminal is preconfigured with the required settings, but for reference the settings...
  • Page 12: Range Settings

    Section 4 | Configuration and Operation 4.4 Range Settings The VA500 has a standard operational range of 0.1m to 100m. If required this can be restricted with the setting of a minimum range and maximum range. minimum and maximum ranges are set in metres regardless of the units programmed by setting...
  • Page 13: Communications Settings

    VA500 Altimeter Operating Manual MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 4.5 Communications Settings The full-scale DAC range is set in metres regardless of the units programmed by setting #021 # code Followed By: Operation Sets the units baud rate #059 ;baud_rate<CR> 2400,4800,9600,19200,38400,...
  • Page 14: Sampling Regime

    See section 4 for detailed description of output formats # code Followed By: Operation #089 <CR> Reads current output format ;SDDBT<CR> ;TRITEC<CR> #082 Sets output format (see section on output strings) ;BENTHOS<CR> ;NMEA<CR> © 2022 – Valeport Ltd Page | 12...
  • Page 15: Pressure Settings

    MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 4.8 Pressure Settings The pressure sensor fitted to the VA500 measures absolute pressure, i.e. it includes atmospheric pressure. The pressure tare function allows the atmospheric pressure (as measured by the sensor before deployment) to be removed from the readings, so the output is simply pressure of water.
  • Page 16: Output Data String Formats

    5 Output Data String Formats If the optional pressure sensor is fitted and enabled then the only data format that supports this is the Valeport NMEA format. A number of other formats have been implemented to provide compatibility with existing systems.
  • Page 17: Benthos Data String

    = Source ID (ID of Device responding - fixed) xx.xxx = Data – NO TARE applied (psia) <CR><LF> Telegram example: Valeport NMEA telegram appended by the DigiQuartz type telegram (without psia units) >#042;1 (enable DQ output) >#028 (run) $PRVAT,05.432,M,0010.076,dBar*39 *000114.614 With units: *0001xx.xxxpsia<CR><LF>...
  • Page 18: Care And Maintenance

    Section 6 | Care and Maintenance 6 Care and Maintenance There are no user serviceable parts within the VA500. The VA500 is remarkably robust, being primarily constructed of titanium. The only maintenance required, other than periodic recalibration as necessary, is to keep the sensor as clean as possible.
  • Page 19: Wiring Information

    VA500 Altimeter Operating Manual MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 7 Wiring Information It is advised that continuity checks are performed prior to all terminations. 7.1 SubConn MCBH10F SubConn Function MCBH10F Power Ground Power +V Analogue +'Ve Analogue -'Ve Enable 485 Link to Pin 9 for RS485.
  • Page 20: Non Standard Instrument Connectors

    7.2.3 6 Way XSG-6-BCL Pinout 6 way XSG-6-BCL Function RS232 Rx (into sensor / From PC) Power Ground RS232 Tx (from sensor / into PC) Analogue +Ve Analogue –Ve/ RS232 Ground Power +V © 2022 – Valeport Ltd Page | 18...
  • Page 21: Test Lead With 6 Way Female Rmg-6-Fs Connector

    VA500 Altimeter Operating Manual MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 7.2.4 Test Lead with 6 Way Female RMG-6-FS Connector To mate to XSG-6-BCL connector END 1: END 2: END 3: FUNCTION END 2: 6 Way In Line ANALOGUE 9 Way D POWER IN...
  • Page 22: Customer Specific Configurations

    8.1.1 Physical Characteristics Housing: Titanium (6000m rated) Size: 48mm max Ø 43mm main body Ø 205mm length (including connector) Weight: 0.95 kg (air)/ ~0.7 kg (in water) Connector: SEACON 5507-1508-0001 8.1.2 Dimensions © 2022 – Valeport Ltd Page | 20...
  • Page 23: Seacon 1508 Pin Out

    VA500 Altimeter Operating Manual MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 8.1.3 SEACON 1508 Pin Out © 2022 – Valeport Ltd Page | 21...
  • Page 24: Declarations Of Conformity

    Any changes or modifications to the product or accessories supplied, that are not authorised by Valeport Ltd, could void the CE compliance of the product and negate your authority to operate it. This product has demonstrated CE compliance under conditions that include the use of shielded cables.
  • Page 25: Declaration Of Conformity - Ukca Marking

    VA500 Altimeter Operating Manual MANUAL-1969127270-2 | issue: 1.3 9.2 UK Declaration of Conformity - UKCA Marking © 2022 – Valeport Ltd Page | 23...

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