ACR Electronics FPR-20 User Manual

PRODUCT

SUPPORT

MANUAL

Y1-03-0181

Rev. A

FPR-20

Product No. 9466

Field Programmer Reader

ACR Electronics, Inc.

5757 Ravenswood Road

Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33312

[phone] • Fax [phone]

www.acrelectronics.com

Email: [e-mail]

A Chelton Group company

FORWARD

Congratulations and thank you for purchasing the ACR FPR-20. The combination of superior
design, high quality raw materials and quality controlled manufacturing produce a product that
will perform for years to come. The Test Facility at ACR can reproduce some of the harshest
environmental conditions known to man. This assures that the life saving devices can stand up
to the rigors found in any environment on earth.
ACR is proud to be certified to the ISO 9001:2000, the International Standard for Quality.
This manual provides operation and maintenance instructions for the FPR-20, hereinafter
referred to as the programmer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 OVERVIEW.......................................................................................................................2

2.0 CAUTION / SELF TEST .............................................................................................. 2-3

3.0 BEFORE YOU RUN SETUP........................................................................................ 3-4

4.0 INSTALLING THE FPR-20 SOFTWARE ................................................................. 4-5

5.0 USING THE FPR-20 ..................................................................................................... 5-8

TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - PLB-200/201 Keypad......................................................................................................8

Figure 2 – Program Setup Menu......................................................................................................9

Figure 3 – Program Beacon Menu.................................................................................................10

Figure 4 – Memory Read Display..................................................................................................11

Figure 5 – PC / FPR-20 Cable Connections ..................................................................................12

Figure 6 – Programming Head Positioning ...................................................................................13

Figure 7 – FPR-20 Hardware.........................................................................................................14

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SECTION 1 - OVERVIEW

1.1 FPR-20

The FPR-20 (Field Programmer Reader – 20) is designed to be both a re-programming
and verification tool for the ACR AquaFix, TerraFix, and AeroFix 406 PLB-200/201.

The FPR-20 consists of an adapter jack, a cable, programming head, programming plug
adapter and the FPR-20 application software installed on a PC (PC not supplied, see
figure 7). A user wishing to re-program a beacon is guided through a series of button
selections to determine the specific information that will be entered into the beacon.
Programming the actual beacons is accomplished with a programming head and plug
adapter.

Verification of the beacon’s message is accomplished by the Memory Read function.
This mode allows the user to read the beacon’s memory containing the UIN (Unique
Identifier Number) also referred to as Hexadecimal Identification Label. When a user
selects the Memory Read option, the nonvolatile memory contents are sent to the PC
from the beacon. The PC then displays the message and date that the beacon was
programmed.

The screen appears grouped on the PC in accordance with the major function to be
performed such as Program Setup, Control, Battery Expiry Date, User Name, etc. Upon
viewing the opening screen with the ACR logo, the user will program or read the beacon
by selecting buttons as required, to perform the desired function. A Help screen is
supplied for each of the major windows. The user may navigate to and from screens by
selecting the appropriate button. For example, clicking the Program Control button
causes the application to go to the Program Beacon screen. Return to the main Program
Setup menu, is accomplished by selecting the Program Setup button. If a mistake is
made, the user can return to the previous screen by choosing the button named for the
desired screen. The user can exit the program at any time using the Exit button and
return to the operating system (refer to figures 2– 4 for explanation of the different
menus).

SECTION 2 – CAUTION/SELF TEST

2.1 PLB-200/201 SELF TEST

To test whether the beacon operates satisfactorily, always perform a self test. Self test is
initiated by holding the self test button on the beacons keypad (See figure 1) for at least ½
of a second and less than five seconds. Your beacon will sound an initial beep and green
LED (Light Emitting Diode) flash to signify the test has begun. Four additional beeps
and a final green LED will flash a second time to indicate that the self test was
successful.

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406 GPS I (P/N 2797.2, 2798.2, 2799.2) self tested components: Data Integrity and
Memory; 406 MHz Synthesizer; RF Power/Battery

406 GPS I/O (P/N 2797.4, 2798.4, 2799.4) self tested components: Data Integrity and
Memory; 406 MHz Synthesizer; RF Power/Battery; GPS header

If your beacon flashes two green LED’s, the test has been successfully completed. If you
encounter only the initial green LED flash alone, your beacon has failed the self test,
please contact ACR Electronics or an authorized Battery Replacement Center for
servicing of your beacon.

NOTE: During a self test your beacon will send a 406 MHz signal coded as self-test to
the satellite system. The homing signal at 121.5 MHz is inhibited during self test; this
allows you to test your beacon any time during the day without causing any false alarms.

SECTION 3 – BEFORE YOU RUN SETUP

Before you run the FPR-20 installation software, please make sure that your computer
meets the minimum requirements in section 3.2.

3.1 FPR-20 Components

See Figure 7 for a visual representation of each component listed below.

• Programming Head, BEACON A3-06-2413

• Adapter Jack Assembly A3-06-2391

• 6 Conductor Cable with RJ11 plug (phone) A2-07-0137

• Programming Plug Adapter A1-18-1970

• Installation Disk/CD K3-06-0009

3.2 Check the Hardware and System Requirements

To run the FPR-20, you must have certain hardware and software installed on your
computer. The requirements include:

• Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 /, NT4.0, 2000, ME or XP.

• Pentium 75 MHz microprocessor (minimum).

• A hard disk with at least 10 megabytes of available storage.

• VGA or higher-resolution screen supported by Microsoft Windows.

• 16 megabytes of RAM.

• A mouse or other pointing device.

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• 1 available serial port.

• Printer (optional)

SECTION 4 – INSTALLING THE FPR-20 SOFTWARE

4.1 Downloading FPR-20 Software

The FPR-20 software may be downloaded from the web at

http://www.acrelectronics.com/download.html

1) Click on the fpr20.zip file.

2) A file download window will pop up, select Save.

3) A Save As window will pop up, select a folder on your C drive to save this zip

file.

4) Once the file has finished downloading, open the folder that you saved the file in

and unzip it onto your hard drive. You will need to have WinZip 6.0 or higher
installed on your computer in order to extract this file. If you do not have this
program, you can download a free sample version at www.winzip.com.

5) If you have a previous version of the FPR-20 software installed, delete the

existing directory, C:\FPR20 and its contents.

6) When attempting to unzip this file, you must enter a password under the options

menu, then extract the file to the hard drive. To obtain a password, call ACR at +1
954 981 3333 ext 113, or email [e-mail].

7) Now the software is ready to be installed. Typically, once WinZip has expanded

the files it will start to run the setup program for you. Select the OK button and
follow the installation instructions. This will save the file to your C drive and
create a separate folder for it called FPR20.

a. If the program does not start the installation, select the START button,

scroll up to the RUN program and select.

b. Type C:\setup.exe. Select OK.
c. Alternatively, use the file manager or Windows Explorer to find the

setup.exe file on C:\, double click on setup.exe, and follow the installation
instructions.

4.2 FPR-20 Software CD

If you have been provided with the FPR-20 installation CD you do not need to download
the software off the ACR website. The setup program will install all of the needed files to
your hard disk automatically. The software must be installed in the C:\FPR20 directory
to work correctly. This directory is the default directory in the setup program. If you
have a previous version installed, delete the existing directory, C:\FPR20 and its contents.

1) Place the CD in the appropriate drive of your computer.

2) Click the START button on the bottom of your Windows operating system. And

select “RUN.”

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