Orion Users Guide-V2.061

DRAFT
Orion User’s Guide

version 2.061
April 22, 2004
Foreword
Thank you for choosing Orion. Orion is a DSP equipped broadband receiver/data logger,
with unprecedented flexibility to be used as a radio or acoustic telemetry unit. Its input
daughter board may be changed, depending on the study to be implemented, to receive
VHF radio signals in the 148 to 170 MHz range, IF radio signals in the 30 MHz range, or
acoustic signals in the kHz range. Similarly, output options are in development to permit
remote download by radio, serial port, or cellular modem.
Taking the VHF radio range as an example, Orion may be configured to monitor any 1
MHz band between 148 and 170 MHz. It will do this without scanning frequencies, a
huge advantage in many situations in radio telemetry data collection. Its sensitivity is
better than any existing broadband receiver.
Downloading is simple and quick – simply remove the MMC card and replace with a
fresh one. Your receiver is off line for a matter of seconds. MMC cards are widely
available in commercial outlets, and can be obtained in many sizes. Orion comes
equipped with a 32 MB card. Orion will automatically detect the correct size of the card
inserted.
Orion operates on 12V DC power, which may be supplied by a 12V battery or through a
wall converter plugged into the AC power. Orion’s power consumption in normal
operation is approximately 0.5A. This will increase somewhat if the radio transmitter
download option is selected, for example.
Two fundamental operations are performed using the Orion software supplied on the CD:
configuration for optimal operations, and downloading and converting data. All
operations are performed through a single software application called “OrionTool”.
This document describes the operation of the Orion and the OrionTool.
Orion Users Guide-v2.061.doc

c Grant Systems Engineering Inc., 2004
Draft, April 22, 2004
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Table of Contents
1 Hardware..................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Internal Components........................................................................................... 3
1.2 External Components and Connectors................................................................ 3
1.2.1 Power Connector......................................................................................... 3
1.2.2 Antenna Input.............................................................................................. 3
1.2.3 MMC card slot ............................................................................................ 3
1.2.4 Serial Connectors ........................................................................................ 4
1.2.5 LED Indicators............................................................................................ 4
1.2.6 Pause Button ............................................................................................... 5
2 Software ...................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 OrionTool Installation......................................................................................... 6
2.2 Running OrionTool............................................................................................. 6
2.2.1 Options........................................................................................................ 7
2.2.2 Serial Communications Commands............................................................ 8
2.2.2.1 Configure Orion ...................................................................................... 9
2.2.2.2 Manage Memory................................................................................... 18
2.2.3 MMC/Data Commands............................................................................. 19
2.2.3.1 Download From MMC ......................................................................... 20
2.2.3.2 Convert Data ......................................................................................... 20
2.2.3.3 Erase MMC........................................................................................... 21
2.2.3.4 Upload Firmware to MMC ................................................................... 21
3 “Factory” Configuration Settings ............................................................................. 22
4 Output Data Formats................................................................................................. 22
4.1 Orion Format..................................................................................................... 23
4.1.1 Text Format............................................................................................... 23
4.1.2 Log Format................................................................................................ 24
4.2 Mitas Format..................................................................................................... 26
4.2.1 Text Format............................................................................................... 27
4.2.2 Log Format................................................................................................ 27
4.3 ATS Temp Format ............................................................................................ 29
4.3.1 Text Format............................................................................................... 29
4.3.2 Log Format................................................................................................ 29
4.4 Output Fields Used ........................................................................................... 30
5 Known Limitations ................................................................................................... 31
Orion Software Manual – v2.061

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1 Hardware
1.1 Internal Components
Internally, Orion consists of 3 boards:
• A Motherboard - containing the 2 DSP processors and signal conditioning circuits.

• An input daugtherboard – which is designed to handle signals of the appropriate
frequency for tag detection.
• An output daugtherboard – designed to provide input/output support for
configuration and data download.
These will not be discussed in detail here. If you wish to change the functionality of your
Orion (to accommodate different types of tags for example), one or more of the
daugtherboards may need to be exchanged. For normal operations, the Orion case will
never need to be opened.
Orion is fused with a 1A fuse. If the fuse requires exchanging, the main cover will have
to be removed. The fuse is located as in Figure 1.
In the unlikely event that internal jumpers and/or connectors fall off your Orion in transit,
Figure 1 also shows the correct placement of all internal jumpers and connectors.
[Add Figure 1 – Orion Internals with fuse location and internal jumpers/connectors]
1.2 External Components and Connectors
1.2.1 Power Connector
1.2.2 Antenna Input
1.2.3 MMC card slot

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The MMC slot is used for inserting/removing MMC cards. The correct orientation of the
card is shown in the graphic on the front face of the case just above the slot. The graphic
shows that there are 2 MMC slots, but only “MMC-A” is currently in use.
To exchange an MMC card, please read the section about the “Pause Button” below first.
1.2.4 Serial Connectors
Orion is equipt with 2 serial ports. Currently, only “Serial A” is in use. It’s location is
shown in the graphic on the front face of the case.
1.2.5 LED Indicators
There are 3 LED indicators on the front face of the Orion. They are arranged vertically
and have the following meanings in normal operations.
LED State Meaning

off Input DC voltage is in valid range. Or,
input voltage is near 0.0.
Low voltage
On (red) Input DC voltage is inadequate for Orion
to function properly.
Flashing (~1 second cycle) Orion is sampling data.
Frozen Orion is not sampling data. This could
Sampling data
be because Orion isn’t configured
properly.
Flashing (~1 second cycle) Orion is decoding data. This means that
the decoding process is going on – NOT
that a tag has been detected. The
flashing occurs independently of any tag
Decoding data
detection.
Frozen Orion is not decoding data. This could
be because Orion isn’t configured
properly, or because Orion is paused.
Special LED sequences:
Event LED indicator sequence

Orion Booting • Both LEDs on for ~ 20 seconds
• Decoding LED flashes rapidly for ~5 seconds.
• Sampling LED flashes rapidly for ~5 seconds. This may
occur before decoding LED finishes flashing.

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• After a delay, both lights will flash, showing normal

operations. This delay may be ~20 seconds/
New Firmware Upload • Both LEDs flash rapidly, not synchronized.
• Brief delay, then Sampling LED off.
• ~1 second delay – no LED activity.
• Decoding LED flashes again but more slowly.
• Decoding LED off.
Normal Operations / • Both Decoding LED and Sampling LED flashing at ~ 1
Running State second cycle. These light should be synchronized, but will
jump from being in-phase to being totally out of phase.
Paused State • The Sampling LED will continue to flash as the normal
rate, but the Decoding LED will be frozen.
1.2.6 Pause Button
The pause button is located next the the MMC slot. The pause button is a state-less
button. When you push the button the state will toggle between “running” and “paused”.
Sometimes you will find you have to push the button a couple of times before the state
changes properly. The state can be determined from the LED indicators.
The Orion states are defined as:
State Meaning
Running Orion is running, and is acquiring/storing tag data if present. Orion can be
configured.
Paused Orion will NOT acquire tag data even if present. Orion can be configured.
There are 2 uses for Pause Mode:
• If you wish to exchange the MMC card, place Orion in pause mode, exchange the
MMC card, and place Orion in running mode. This will accomplish 2 critical
things.
1. It will guarantee that data is not being written to the MMC card at the time
you are removing it.
2. After the new MMC card is inserted, transitioning from pause mode to
running mode will initialize the MMC card interface. If this is not
performed, NO DATA WILL BE WRITTEN TO THE MMC.
• When Orion is running, detected tag records are streamed out the serial port. This
is generally not an issue, but if the streaming rate is too high, you can lose control

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and NOT be able to configure Orion. Often, this happens if the noise floor is set
too low, and you can’t change the noise floor because you can’t configure the
Orion because the serial port is swamped. In this case, place the Orion in pause
mode, wait for the serial output queue to empty, and then you should have no
problems configuring Orion.
2 Software
All control, configuration, and data management software functions are performed by a
single Windows application called “OrionTool”. This section describes the installation
and functioning of OrionTool.
2.1 OrionTool Installation
Installation Steps:
1. Create a folder for Orion software and data. This following assumes you have
created “C:\Orion”.
2. Create a folder for executables, C:\Orion\bin
3. Create a folder for data, C:\Orion\data
4. Create a folder for installation, C:\Orion\install
5. Copy the contents of the installation CD to C:\Orion\install
6. From explorer or “My Computer”, navigate to C:\Orion\install and run the setup
application GTK-Runtime-Environment-2.2.4.1.exe.
7. Add C:\Orion\bin to your path. This can most easily be modified from Start ->
Settings -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables.
8. Also, add the location of the GTK libraries you just installed. If you accepted the
defaults on installation then you must add
C:\Program files\Common Files\GTK\2.0\lib
9. Copy from the installation folder to the bin folder:
• OrionTool.exe
• dd.exe
10. Create a shortcut to OrionTool.exe and place it on your desktop.
11. Launch OrionTool and configure as necessary.
2.2 Running OrionTool
When you launch OrionTool, you will see the following interface:

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There are 3 areas of interest in running OrionTool.
• Options – to setup a number of required parameters for the tool itself.

• Serial Communications Commands – tools you can use when connected via a
serial connection to an Orion unit. These include tools for configuring Orion and
for managing internal memory.
• MMC/Data Commands – tools you can use when downloading data from an MMC
card, or for further processing.
These features will be discussed in separate sections below.
2.2.1 Options
The Options are accessible from the “Options” menu. The Options Page looks like this:

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The parameters, and their meanings, are given below.
Parameter Meaning Remarks

Com Port Com Port used to Drop-down list is populated
communicate with Orion with valid ports only.
Mmc Drive Drive letter of MMC drive. Can be determined using
“My Computer”, or
explorer, with your MMC
reader/writer plugged in.
Data Folder Default location for Orion Can be modified by clicking
data. on the button. During data
download/conversion, any
other folder can be
navigated to – this is only
the starting point.
Compressed File Extension File extension applied to Compressed file is in
compressed data file binary.
Text File Extension File extension applied to Text file contains extracted
text data file data, in text.
Log File Extension File extension applied to log Log file is a summary file.
file.
Output Format Different users require Current Options:
different data output • “Orion” – gives
formats. This drop-down is essential information
used to select a data format. only.
The data format does not • “Mitas” – output text
effect the compressed file file is compatible with
but DOES effect the text MitasView viewer
file and the log file. software. Also, tag
frequency is not given
because it has been
converted to “channels”.
• “ATS Temp”. Output
appropriate for ATS
Temperature tags.
Includes approximate
temperature as well as
actual interval in ms.
2.2.2 Serial Communications Commands

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The serial communications commands are ONLY useful if OrionTool is running, and
there is a NULL modem serial cable between the PC and Orion, and if Orion is running
(in running or in paused mode).
There are 2 Serial Communications Commands:
• Configure Orion – used to configure Orion, and/or for setting the receiver time.
• Manage Memory – used to see how much data is on the MMC card currently in
the Orion, and/or to clear the memory.
2.2.2.1 Configure Orion
The Orion Configuration dialog contains 2 menus, “File” and “Receiver”. The File menu
is used for reading/writing the global parameters. The Receiver menu is used to Send or
Retrieve configuration information to/from the Orion currently connected.
The configuration information is laid out in pages, which are selected using the tab on top
of each page. As the pages are similar in function, this document will discuss only the
first page, “ID”, in detail, simply defining the parameters on the other pages.
The ID page contains a label (“Identification Parameters”) which describes the general
purpose of the parameters on the page. The ID page also contains a table of parameters.
Each parameter (row) has four elements:
• The name of the parameter

• A check box to indicate if the parameter is “global”. If you click on the check box,
the global symbol will appear or disappear. A “Global” parameter is one that
applies to a group of Orions, such as site ID, as opposed to one that is specific to
one unit (such as antenna number) For more on “Global” parameters, please refer
to Section 2.4.
• The current value of this parameter. If you are connected to an Orion unit and
have pressed “Retrieve Config”, this will be the last value of the parameter set on
that Orion unit. These values cannot be overwritten by the user, and can be
changed only through reconfiguration.
• The new value of this parameter. This is the value that would be set on an Orion
unit if you pressed “Send Config”.
In this section, the pages will be shown, along with descriptions of the various
parameters.
Config – ID – Identification Parameters

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Antenna Number An integer representing the antenna number.
Site ID An integer representing the site number.
Config – Channels

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The Channel configuration contains multiple pages – because Orion can be configured to
handle and scan through 5 bands if required.
There is 1 common setting for all bands:

Scan Time (s) The amount of time to spend on each band, if multiple bands Can be set in
are enabled. increments of
0.1 s.
And for each band, these settings apply:

Enabled If a band is enabled, it will be “Cur” shows the current setting,
included in the list of bands to “New” shows the new setting if
scan. If not, it will be ignored. the configuration were to be
uploaded.
Base Freq (MHz) Sets the base Freq for the band. The valid values for the base
The base freq can be set in frequency is determined by the
multiples of 100 kHz. input board installed.

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Freq selector Allows the selection of any On the left of the scroll window
combination of 5 kHz frequency the “current” values are shown.
bins. The “new” values are shown by
the buttons on the right, which
can be modified at will.
Config – Noise Parameters

Store Noise Enable the storage of noise If selected, noise events will be
events. stored. Otherwise, only valid
contacts will be stored.
Noise Floor This can be used to set a fixed Unit for noise floor is dBm.
noise floor.
Auto Noise Select for automatic noise floor This allows the noise floor to
detection. fluctuate, depending on ambient
noise. The noise floor is

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recorded as part of the data set.

PQ Max Max Pulse Queue desired for
constraining the automatic noise Larger numbers will lower the
floor noise floor (make the receiver
PQ Max Min Pulse Queue desired for more sensitive), but allow more
constraining the automatic noise interference from noise.
floor.
Config – Tags
The tag configuration page contains multiple pages. One page, “Types” is used to select
which tag type is to be used, and then there is a separate setup page for each tag type.

Use ATS Temperature Enable detection of ATS
Tags Temperature tags.
Use Beeper Tags Enable detection of Beeper tags.

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Use Lotek Coded Tags Enable detection of Lotek coded

tags.
Use NMFS Coded Tags Enable detection of NMFS
coded tags.
Pulse Power Match Maximum power fluctuation A pulse that exhibits substantive
allowed within a single pulse. variation in power levels within
the pulse may be rejected as
being noise. Power unit is dB.
Tags – ATS Temp

Pulse Min (ms) Minimum acceptable length of
pulses
Pulse Max (ms) Maximum acceptable length of
pulses
Interval Min (ms) Minimum Acceptable interval.
Interval Max (ms) Maximum Acceptable interval.
Temp Divisor Approx Temp = [offset –

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Temp Offset 10*interval(ms)/divisor] / 10
These values are tag specific. To

get approx temp values, typical
values can be used.
Power Match Maximum power fluctuation Power unit is dB.
allowed between pulses in a
single contact
Tags – Beeper

Pulse Min (ms) Minimum acceptable length of
pulses
Pulse Max (ms) Maximum acceptable length of
pulses
Doppler (ms) If more than 2 pulses are required, Useful for acoustic.

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this setting specifies a time

acceptance window.
Required Number of Required number of pulses to
Pulses create a contact record.
Power Match Maximum power fluctuation Power unit is dB.
single contact
Tags – Lotek

Lotek Codeset Codset to use.
Power Match Maximum power fluctuation A contact that exhibits substantive
allowed between pulses in a single variation in power levels between
contact pulses may be rejected as being
noise. Power unit is dB.

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Tags – NMFS

NMFS 2 Pulse Tags Enable detection of 2 Pulse tags 2 pulse and 3 pulse can both be
NMFS 3 Pulse Tags Enable detection of 3 Pulse tags selected if desired.
First Pulse Min (ms) Minimum acceptable length of
first pulse
First Pulse Max (ms) Maximum acceptable length of
first pulse
Second Pulse Min (ms) Minimum acceptable length of
subsequent pulses
Second Pulse Max (ms) Maximum acceptable length of
subsequent pulses
Power Match Maximum power fluctuation Power unit dB.
single contact

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Config – Hardware

Input Board Type of input board installed
Output Board Type of output board installed
Calibration Offset Offset applied to dBm calibration Linearly applied to convert dB to
dBm.
Dead Time (scans) Allows the receiver to become Useful for controlling reverb in
“deaf” for a certain number of acoustic applications.
scans after a pulse is detected.
Gain A First-stage gain setting Factory set
Gain B Second-stage gain setting Factory set
2.2.2.2 Manage Memory
The Orion Memory Management windows looks like this:

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The window shows the current memory status of the MMC card inserted in the Orion.
The “Rx Memory” menu has 2 menu items.
• Status – Used to update the display to reflect changes since the last update.
• Erase – Used to initialize the MMC card in the Orion. If selected, the user will be
prompted before proceeding with the following dialog box:
2.2.3 MMC/Data Commands
The MMC/Data commands are useful for interacting with the data, particularly when
connected to a USB MMC reader/writer. These commands may be executed whether or
not an Orion is connected to the serial port.
The MMC/Data Commands are:
• Download From MMC – for downloading and converting compressed data into
text and log files.
• Convert Data – to reconvert data – This will re-extract the compressed data into
the text and log files.

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• Erase MMC – This will clear the MMC device. When placed into an Orion and
un-paused, the MMC card will be auto-sized and an appropriate header will be
written. This function will erase data cards and/or firmware cards.
• Upload Firmware to MMC. This will deposit new firmware onto an MMC card in
such a way that Orion will detect and self-install the new firmware.
2.2.3.1 Download From MMC
When you select “Download from MMC”, a dialog box will appear letting you navigate
to the folder, and select the file prefix, that you want. The dialog box looks like this:
2.2.3.2 Convert Data
When you select “Convert Data”, a dialog box will appear letting you navigate to the
folder and select the compressed filename that you want. The dialog box is the same as
for the “Download From MMC” tool.

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2.2.3.3 Erase MMC
When you select “Erase MMC”, a dialog box will appear asking you to confirm the
erasure, and reporting which drive letter it wants to erase. The dialog box looks like this:
2.2.3.4 Upload Firmware to MMC
When you select “Upload Firmware to MMC”, a dialog box will appear allowing you to
navigate to the firmware image file. The firmware file will be sent to you by email or
CD, and can be placed anywhere on the PC that is convenient for finding.
The initial dialog box looks like this:
When you click on the “Firmware File” button (“C:\” in the above example), you can
then navigate to the firmware file.
After you select the firmware file, you will get another dialog which shows the FULL
path to the file you are about to upload. This is to allow you to confirm the correct
firmware image file before actually copying it to MMC. That dialog looks like this:

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Now, when you click “OK”, the firmware file will be uploaded to the MMC.
3 “Factory” Configuration Settings

Many of the configuration settings are known only by the user. This includes arbitrary
settings (such as antenna number) and project specific settings (such as what frequencies
the tags are on).
However, there are some recommended settings that should apply for all orions and these
are listed here.
Input Board
Parameter
Acoustic 30 MHz 150 MHz
Noise – store noise no no no
Noise - AutoNoise yes yes yes
Noise - PQ Max 3 5 5
Noise - PQ Min 1 3 3
Tags – Pulse PowerMatch 50 4 4
Hardware - calibration 0 -130 -130
Hardware - deadtime 5 0 0
Hardware – Gain A 4095 4095 4095
Hardware – Gain B 0 200 200
4 Output Data Formats

Orion records data to the MMC card in a compressed format. When data is downloaded
it is automatically converted to human readable formats. The conversion format is
determined by the “Output Format” specified in the OrionTool Options.
Please note that the conversion process produces 2 output files:

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• A “Text” file, which contain a record (line) for each tag contact. The fields
included varies with the output format specified.
• A “Log” file, which contains summary information about all the data in the file.
The summary produced varies with the output format specified.
As of this version, there are 3 output formats:
• “Orion” – this gives essential tag information only.

• “Mitas” – this is a file format compatible with the Mitas receiver. It contains extra
fields that are sometimes useful for diagnostic purposes. Also, files in this format
can be viewed with the “MitasView” data visualization software.
• “ATS Temp” – this file format outputs fields that are meaningful only for ATS
Temperature tags.
Special formats may be created for customers on request.
This section shows example data and explains the output formats. Please read the section
on the “Orion Format” first, regardless of which format you wish to use, as general
information is given there.
4.1 Orion Format
The Text format and Log format files that follow were created from the same compressed
file. The “Text Format” section only shows the first 9 records – the “Log Format”
section shows the results for the entire data file. The data was created using Lotek coded
tags.
4.1.1 Text Format
A sample or the text output format is shown below.
The file consists of a header, followed by the data presented one line per tag record.
A complete list of the fields used, their meaning, and their units can be found later in this
section.
Date Time Site Ant Freq Code Power NFL

2004-04-15 09:48:11 4 3 150.280 25 -78 -100
2004-04-15 09:48:16 4 3 150.280 25 -78 -100
2004-04-15 09:48:21 4 3 150.280 25 -78 -100
2004-04-15 09:48:26 4 3 150.280 25 -78 -100
2004-04-15 11:51:32 4 3 150.380 46 -107 -110
2004-04-15 11:51:41 4 3 150.400 247 -110 -110
2004-04-15 11:51:50 4 3 150.420 2 -110 -110

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2004-04-15 11:52:03 4 3 150.440 134 -110 -110

2004-04-15 11:52:17 4 3 150.360 162 -109 -110
4.1.2 Log Format
The Log format consists of 3 sections:
• Overall file information.

• Histograms (“star bars”) for various parameters.
• Hourly summary of system performance parameters.
The sample output is shown below. The 3 sections are demarkated with underlined
headers that are NOT present in the actual log file.
Overall File Information
SiteID : 4
Antenna : 3
First Data Record : 2004-04-15 09:48:11

Last Data Record : 2004-04-15 16:04:00
Processed : 2004-04-22 09:47:29
Total Number of Contacts: 975

Total Number of Noise : 4
Histograms
#Contacts By Freq:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 193
150.280 *********************** 92
150.320 *********************************** 136
150.340 ****************** 73
150.360 ************************************** 149
150.380 ********************************** 134
150.400 ************************************************** 193
150.420 ******************* 77
150.440 ************* 52
150.460 ***************** 69
#Contacts By Power:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 202
-77 1
-78 4
-79 1
-80 1
-83 1
-85 1
-87 * 5

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-88 4
-89 3
-90 * 7
-91 * 7
-92 4
-93 *** 14
-94 *** 14
-95 ** 10
-96 *** 16
-97 ***** 24
-98 ****** 25
-99 ********* 40
-100 ******** 35
-101 ******** 33
-102 ******** 33
-103 ** 9
-104 **** 19
-105 ************ 52
-106 ************ 49
-107 ***************** 70
-108 ************************* 104
-109 ************************************************** 202
-110 ********************************************** 187
#Noise By Freq:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 4
150.400 ************************************************** 4
#Noise By Power:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 3
-96 ************************************************** 3
-97 **************** 1
Hourly Performance Indicators
Performance Indicators By Hour:
Year-Mo-Dy-Hr AveNoiseFloor AveNumScans AvePulseQueue

2004-04-15-09 -100.0 191.0 N/A
No Data for 1 hour
2004-04-15-11 -110.0 197.5 7.1
2004-04-15-12 -109.6 198.6 5.5
2004-04-15-13 -107.2 199.6 6.5
2004-04-15-14 -105.7 199.4 6.4
2004-04-15-15 -102.3 203.4 3.0
2004-04-15-16 -102.0 205.4 3.4

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4.2 Mitas Format
file. This is also the same compressed file used in the “Orion Format” case above.
The Mitas Format is similar to the Orion Format with the following differences:
• An extended file header has been added.

• Frequencies have been converted to “channels”.
• Additional diagnostic information is provided.
The frequency to channel assignment is as follows:
Freq (Mhz) Channel

150.28 26
150.30 0
150.32 1
150.34 2
150.36 3
150.38 4
150.40 5
150.42 6
150.44 7
150.46 8
150.48 9
150.50 10
150.52 11
150.54 12
150.56 13
150.58 14
150.60 15
150.62 16
150.64 17
150.66 18
150.68 19
150.70 20
150.72 21
150.74 22
150.76 23

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4.2.1 Text Format
This format contains too many fields to conveniently fit the page – the line breaks are
added here but are not present in the original data file.
DataFormat 4
SiteID 4
SiteName Orion
FirstAntenna 1
LastAntenna 3
SDBFactor 8
Date Time Tag Ch Code St An Pow #H T0 T1 T2 #L #H
HQ PQ #C IC NFL Cal
2004-04-15 09:48:11 CODED 26 25 4 3 -78 4 263 297 981 31 31
0 0 191 681327 -100 -128
2004-04-15 09:48:16 CODED 26 25 4 3 -78 4 273 292 971 34 34
0 0 191 731309 -100 -128
2004-04-15 09:48:21 CODED 26 25 4 3 -78 4 268 292 972 34 34
0 0 191 781300 -100 -128
2004-04-15 09:48:26 CODED 26 25 4 3 -78 4 268 287 981 34 34
0 0 191 831287 -100 -128
2004-04-15 11:51:32 CODED 4 46 4 3 -107 4 322 273 355 22 22
6 3 0 175095 -110 -128
2004-04-15 11:51:41 CODED 5 247 4 3 -110 4 750 226 385 18 18
6 8 0 270078 -110 -128
2004-04-15 11:51:50 CODED 6 2 4 3 -110 4 207 225 456 9 9
8 6 0 353360 -110 -128
2004-04-15 11:52:03 CODED 7 134 4 3 -110 4 503 264 273 10 10
6 6 0 489492 -110 -128
2004-04-15 11:52:17 CODED 3 162 4 3 -109 4 557 529 1272 10 10
6 10 0 628494 -110 -128
4.2.2 Log Format
SiteID : 4
Antenna : 3

Last Data Record : 2004-04-15 16:04:00
Processed : 2004-04-22 10:00:28

#Contacts By Channel:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 193
1 *********************************** 136
2 ****************** 73
3 ************************************** 149
4 ********************************** 134
5 ************************************************** 193

Page 28 of 31
6 ******************* 77
7 ************* 52
8 ***************** 69
26 *********************** 92
#Contacts By Power:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 202
-77 1
-78 4
-79 1
-80 1
-83 1
-85 1
-87 * 5
-88 4
-89 3
-90 * 7
-91 * 7
-92 4
-93 *** 14
-94 *** 14
-95 ** 10
-96 *** 16
-97 ***** 24
-98 ****** 25
-99 ********* 40
-100 ******** 35
-101 ******** 33
-102 ******** 33
-103 ** 9
-104 **** 19
-105 ************ 52
-106 ************ 49
-107 ***************** 70
-108 ************************* 104
-109 ************************************************** 202
-110 ********************************************** 187
#Noise By Channel:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 4
5 ************************************************** 4
#Noise By Power:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 3
-96 ************************************************** 3
-97 **************** 1

2004-04-15-09 -100.0 191.0 N/A

Page 29 of 31
No Data for 1 hour

2004-04-15-11 -110.0 197.5 7.1
2004-04-15-12 -109.6 198.6 5.5
2004-04-15-13 -107.2 199.6 6.5
2004-04-15-14 -105.7 199.4 6.4
2004-04-15-15 -102.3 203.4 3.0
2004-04-15-16 -102.0 205.4 3.4
4.3 ATS Temp Format
file.
The ATS Temp format is similar to the Orion Format, with the exception that the “code”
value is replaced by 2 fields: the approximate temperature (~Temp), and the exact time
interval in ms. The approximate temperate is only approximate in the sense that instead
of applying the actual slope/offset values for the tag being reported, nominal values are
used. These nominal values are the ones that were given in the Orion Configuration.
4.3.1 Text Format
Date Time Site Ant Freq ~Temp Interval(ms) Power NFL

2004-04-20 15:14:07 1 14 150.535 -1 0 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:08 1 14 150.535 23.3 843.5 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:10 1 14 150.535 23.3 843.5 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:12 1 14 150.535 23.3 843.0 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:13 1 14 150.535 23.3 843.6 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:15 1 14 150.535 23.3 842.5 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:17 1 14 150.535 23.3 842.5 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:19 1 14 150.535 23.3 843.0 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:20 1 14 150.535 23.3 842.5 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:22 1 14 150.535 23.3 843.0 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:24 1 14 150.535 23.3 842.4 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:25 1 14 150.535 23.3 842.5 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:27 1 14 150.535 23.3 843.1 -73 -100
2004-04-20 15:14:29 1 14 150.535 23.3 843.0 -73 -100
4.3.2 Log Format
SiteID : 1
Antenna : 14

Last Data Record : 2004-04-20 15:23:25
Processed : 2004-04-22 09:13:08

Page 30 of 31

#Contacts By Freq:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 332
150.535 ************************************************** 332
#Contacts By Power:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 332
-73 ************************************************** 332
#Contacts By ~Temp:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 308
23.3 ************************************************** 308
23.4 *** 24
#Noise By Freq:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 1
150.535 ************************************************** 1
#Noise By Power:
+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- 1
-73 ************************************************** 1

2004-04-20-15 -100.0 181.7 1.0
4.4 Output Fields Used
The following table specifies the meaning of the various output fields in alphabetical
order.
Label Meaning Unit

#C Scan Rate kscans / 100 seconds
#H number of hits per record
#L/#H number of samples per contact
An antenna number
Ant antenna number
Cal calibration offset used dB
Ch channel
Code code

Page 31 of 31
Date date yyyy-mm-dd

Freq frequency MHz
HQ hit queue length
IC relative time on dsp. Counter counts 0.1 ms
from 0 to 100 seconds.
Interval (ms) interval between pulses ms
NFL noise floor used dBm
Pow average power for contact dBm
Power average power for contact dBm
PQ pulse queue length
Site site ID
St site ID
T0 first time interval within contact 0.1 ms
T1 second time interval within contact 0.1 ms
T2 third time interval within contact 0.1 ms
Tag tag type text
~Temp approximate temperature for ATS temp degrees C
tag. Temperature is approximate
because only typical calibration values
have been applied.
Time time HH:MM:SS, 24-hour format.
5 Known Limitations
• OrionTool will only run properly under Win2000 or better.

• Orion has been observed to operate poorly when powered by a wall charger that
was getting AC power from an inverter.
• The size of the MMC cards is determined automatically by Orion. This capability
has only been tested with 32, 64, and 128 MB cards.
• As of version 2.061, the “global” feature in the Orion Configuration is not
operating properly and may lead to application crashes. The global feature should
not be used at present.
• For reading data from MMC cards, an MMC “reader” is adequate. However, for
uploading new firmware to an MMC card, or for erasing an MMC card, an MMC
“reader/writer” is required.
• For Serial communications, a NULL modem serial cable is required.
• Tag type selection is mutually exclusive. Although the user interface implied that
you can select multiple tag types, you cannot.


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Orion User’s Guide

Orion Users Guide-v2.061.doc

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

1.1 Internal Components

Internally, Orion consists of 3 boards:

• A Motherboard - containing the 2 DSP processors and signal conditioning circuits.

1.2 External Components and Connectors

1.2.1 Power Connector

1.2.2 Antenna Input

1.2.3 MMC card slot

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

1.2.4 Serial Connectors

1.2.5 LED Indicators

LED State Meaning

Special LED sequences:

Event LED indicator sequence

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

• After a delay, both lights will flash, showing normal

1.2.6 Pause Button

The Orion states are defined as:

There are 2 uses for Pause Mode:

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

2.1 OrionTool Installation

2.2 Running OrionTool

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

There are 3 areas of interest in running OrionTool.

• Options – to setup a number of required parameters for the tool itself.

These features will be discussed in separate sections below.

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

The parameters, and their meanings, are given below.

Parameter Meaning Remarks

2.2.2 Serial Communications Commands

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

There are 2 Serial Communications Commands:

2.2.2.1 Configure Orion

• The name of the parameter

Config – ID – Identification Parameters

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

Parameter Meaning Remarks

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

There is 1 common setting for all bands:

Parameter Meaning Remarks

And for each band, these settings apply:

Parameter Meaning Remarks

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

Config – Noise Parameters

Parameter Meaning Remarks

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

recorded as part of the data set.

Parameter Meaning Remarks

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

Use Lotek Coded Tags Enable detection of Lotek coded

Tags – ATS Temp

Parameter Meaning Remarks

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

Temp Offset 10*interval(ms)/divisor] / 10

These values are tag specific. To

Parameter Meaning Remarks

Orion Software Manual – v2.061

this setting specifies a time

Parameter Meaning Remarks