Dwyer GDL-T User Manual
DwyerLog Logger Interface
Software
USER’S GUIDE
Version 1.4x
March 21, 2013
Dwyer Instruments, Inc
102 Indiana Hwy 212
Michigan City, IN 46360
Phone: (219) 879-8868 Fax: (219) 872-9057
http://www.dwyer-inst.com
Quick Start ................................................................................................................... 4
Overview ...................................................................................................................... 4
Connecting the Logger to Your PC .............................................................................. 4
Setting Up the Logger To Record Data ........................................................................ 5
Custom Interval Setup ................................................................................................. 6
Alarm Setup ................................................................................................................. 6
Using the Software to Check Logger Status ................................................................. 7
General Logger Status and Data In Memory Pane .................................................................. 7
Alarm Status Pane .................................................................................................................... 8
Last Sample Pane ..................................................................................................................... 9
Ending the Logging Session ........................................................................................ 9
Powering Down the Logger .......................................................................................... 9
Loading Logger Data ................................................................................................... 9
Automatic Data Retrieval ........................................................................................... 10
Working With the Data Graph .................................................................................... 11
Using the Zoom Feature ............................................................................................ 12
Data Listing Window .................................................................................................. 13
Data Summary and Statistics ..................................................................................... 13
Using the Data Filter .................................................................................................. 14
Hiding or Viewing Channels ....................................................................................... 15
Exporting Logger Data ............................................................................................... 15
Printing the Logger Data ............................................................................................ 16
Calibrating the Logger ................................................................................................ 16
Setting the Calibration Password ............................................................................... 17
Setting the Logger Real Time Clock ........................................................................... 18
Data Security ............................................................................................................. 18
Specifications ............................................................................................................ 19
MTL-30 Temperature Humidity Logger ......................................................................
19
MTL-30 Logger Status LED ....................................................................................... 19
Replacing the MTL-30 Battery ................................................................................... 20
MTL-30 Specifications ............................................................................................... 21
MTL-20 Temperature Logger ..................................................................................... 21
MTL-20 Logger Status LED ....................................................................................... 21
Replacing the MTL-20 Battery ................................................................................... 21
MTL-20 Specifications ............................................................................................... 22
GDL Temperature Humidity Logger with Display ....................................................... 22
Turning the GDL On and Off ...................................................................................... 23
GDL Sample Screen .................................................................................................. 23
The GDL Summary Screen ........................................................................................ 24
GDL Graph Screen .................................................................................................... 25
GDL Buttons .............................................................................................................. 25
Replacing the GDL Battery ........................................................................................ 26
GDL Specifications .................................................................................................... 27
GDL-T Four Temperature Logger with Display ........................................................... 27
Turning the GDL-T On and Of f ................................................................................... 27
GDL-T Sample Screen ............................................................................................... 28
GDL-T Difference Screen .......................................................................................... 29
GDL-T Summary Screen ........................................................................................... 29
GDL-T Graph Screen ................................................................................................. 30
GDL-T Buttons ........................................................................................................... 30
Replacing the GDL-T Battery ..................................................................................... 31
GDL-T Specifications ................................................................................................. 31
MTL-LCD Loggers with Display ................................................................................. 31
MTL-LCD Display and Butt on .................................................................................... 32
Replacing the MTL-LCD Battery ................................................................................ 32
MTL-20-LCD Specifications ....................................................................................... 33
MTL-30-LCD Specifications ....................................................................................... 33
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Quick Start
Follow the procedure below to start using your data logger:
1. Connect the data logger to a free USB port on your computer.
2. Start the DwyerLog Interface Program.
3. From the Logger menu, select Setup.
4. Select the "Logging starts immediately when setup is complete" option.
5. Click Continue to start logging.
The logger i s now logging data. Yo u can click on t he
has been lo gged.
icon on the toolbar to download and view the data that
Overview
The Dwyer USB data loggers are versatile devices that can be used for a wide range of logging applications. Ea c h
logger is capable of sampling data as fast as once per second or as slow as once every 18 hours. Each logger can
stop recording when memory becomes full, or rollover for continuous recording. The start of recording is software
selectable to be immediate, delayed, or initiated when the Start button is press.
The loggers can also be used to monitor high and low alarm events, that indicate if the recorded data passed above
and/or below the user selected threshold. The loggers have a visual indication of an alarm condition.
Each USB logger has an internal real time clock/calendar. This real time clock is used to record the time stamps for
data samples. This real time clock is independent of your computer clock, and can be set separately, or set to match
your computer clock.
The USB loggers are extremely low power. Under normal operating conditions, the battery will last several years.
Connecting the Logger to Yo ur P C
Your logger comes complete with the software and the USB interface cable. To connect the logger to your
computer, follow these steps:
1. Connect the USB cable to the logger and to a free USB port on your computer.
2. If you are connecting the logger to the PC for the first time, the logger will automatically be recognized and
installed on your computer.
3. Start the DwyerLog program and click on the
The logger status screen should now be displayed.
Note: The Windows operating system can not handle USB devices being unplugged and replugged too fast. When
unplugging the logger, wait for about 5 seconds before plugging it (or any other USB device) in again. If you
unplug and replug a device too quickly, the computer may stop recognizing any USB devices on that port. If this
happens, the only solution is to restart the computer. This is a Windows USB problem and is not related to the
DwyerLog soft ware.
If more then one logger is connected to your computer at the same time, the program will ask you to select one of
the loggers:
icon on the toolbar.
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To select a logger click on one of the l oggers on t he list, and click the Connect button.
Setting Up the Logger To Record Data
To set your logger to start recording data, select Setup from the Logger menu. The setup options window is shown
below.
• Sample Interval (Total Recording Length): Select the sample interval from a predefined list of intervals.
• Custom Interval: Add your own interval to the sample interval list.
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• Enable Data Rollover: Check this box to have the lo gger contin uously record the data, overwriti ng earliest
recorded data. When this box is not checked, logging is stopped when the logger memory becomes full.
• Logging Control: Logging can star t in three ways depending on the selection you make:
• Logging st arts when the Start button is pushed: Logging will start when t he Start button is pushed for about 3
seconds.
• Logging st arts immediately when se tup is complete: Logging will star t immediately once the Continue button
is clicked.
• Logging starts at this time: Logging will start at the user spe c ified time. There is no limit how far in the future
you can set the logging to start.
• Channels to Log: You can elect to disable unused logger channels. When a channel is disabled, its memory is
allocated to the other channels, increasing the total logging time. The total logging time will be reflected in the
Sample Interval window. Depending on the logger, some channels are required and cannot be disabled. Channels
that can not be disabled are grayed out and can not be unchecked. For instance, in the picture above, the
Temperature channel is required to record Realative Humidity, so the Temperature channel cannot be disabled. At
least one channel must be enabled for logging.
• User Information: Enter any text you like in this box. This field is used to identify the logger t o the user. Y ou
can enter descriptive location, serial number, etc.
• Alarm Setup: Click t his button to open the Alarm Setup Wind ow.
Custom Interval Setup
Commonly used intervals are predefined in the Sample Interval box in the Logger Setup screen. I f needed, a
custom interval can be defined by the user. This is done by clicking on the Custom Interv al button in t he Logger
Setup screen. The custom interval window will popup, as shown bel ow. You can se lect a custom logging interval
using this window.
In the window above, the sampling interval was set to 1 minute, 24 seconds, to allow a 3 week recording.
Alarm Setup
Alarms are used to indicate whether or not the data inside the logger exceeded a user specified threshold. This can
be an indication that an important event has o ccurred and the data i s worth downl oading and looking at. The alar m
status is indicated visually by pr e ssing the Check button and watching the LED light. The LED will flash green
when no alarms occurred. The LED will flash red when an alarm has occurred and is stored in logger memory.
To get to the Alarm Setup window, click the Alarm Set up button in the Lo gger Setup screen. The Alarm Setup
windows allows you to se t high and/ or low alarm thresholds for each l ogger cha nnel, or d isable these alarms.
Alarms are se t by entering the thresholds as shown in the window below.
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The checkbox to the left of the low/high alarms enables the alarm when checked, and disables the alarm when clear.
Using the Software to Check Logger Status
Selecting Status from the Logger menu brings up t he Logger Status window. You can al so bring up t he status
window by p ressing the
button on the toolbar. The logger status screen is separated into three panes:
General Logger Status and Data In Memory Pane
Logger State shows the internal st ate of the logger:
o Power Save Mode: This mode is entered when the battery is replaced, or the user powered down the
logger. The logger battery is not used in this mode and can last for up to 10 years. The logger's real time
clock is not running in this mode.
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o Idle, waiting for se tup: The logger is not logging. It is waiting for a setup from the user. The l ogger's
real time clock is active in this mode.
o Logging will start on button press: Logging has been setup to start when the logger's Start button is
pressed.
o Logging will start at xxxx: Delayed logging. Logging has been selected to start at a future time. The
logger is waiting for this time to arrive to start logging.
o Logging in Progress: The logger is currently logging data.
o Logger ID: An ID that is unique for each logger. This ID can be used to ensure that the logged data has
not been tampered with. See the Data Security section for more details.
o Recording #: Indicates the number of times the logger has been setup to log. This counter can be used to
ensure that the logged data has not been tampered with. See the Data Security section for more details.
o Logger Time: Shows the date and time of the logger's real time clock.
o Battery Level: Shows the current level of the logger's battery. It is recommended that the battery is
replaced when this indicator reaches yellow. When this indicator reaches red, it is imperative that the
battery is replaced before logging becomes unpredictable.
• Logging Started At: Shows at what time the logging has started.
• Logging Duration: Shows how long the logging session ha s been active.
• Sample Rate shows how often the logger is recording the data.
• Data Rollover shows how many times the sample memory wrapped around after becoming full.
• Samples in Memory: Shows informatio n on how many samples are currently stored in the logger memory, and
how much space remains free. Note that if rollover occurs, this value will always be 100%.
Alarm Status Pane
The Alarm Status pane displays the alarm thresholds for the active channels. If a high alarm occurred the threshold
is displayed in red. If a low alarm occurre d, the threshold is displayed in blue.
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Last Sample Pane
The Last Sample pane shows the value of the last sample taken, for all the active channels. It also shows when the
next sample will be taken.
Ending the Logging Session
There are a number of ways that the logging session can end:
1. When the logger memory becomes full, and data rollover was not selected during logger setup, the logger
will automatically stop loggin g and e nter the idle state.
2. Selecting End Logging f rom the Logger menu.
3. Logging will stop automatically if the logger detects a low battery condition.
4. If the battery is removed from the logger, logging will stop. No data will be lost.
Once loggi ng has ended, it cannot b e resumed without erasing the logged samples stored in the l ogger memory.
Powering Down the Logger
Your logger uses very little power and has a long battery life. If you want to e xtend the battery life farther, you can
power down the logger when it is not logging. In the power down mode the logger uses practically no power, and
can be stored without loosing battery power, as long as the battery shelf life allows (10 years for Lithium batteries, 6
years for Alkaline). This state is us eful if the logger is go ing to be s t ored without being used for an extended perio d
of time.
• To put the logger into the power down mode, select Power Down from the Logger menu.
• To check if the logger is in power down mode, check the logger st atus usin g t he PC. Logger State will be indicated
as Power Save Mode.
• The logger automatically exits power save mode when it is set up to log, or when the logger's real time clock is set.
Note: The power down mode can only be entered when the logger is idle (not logging). In the power down mode
the logger's real time clock is not running.
Loading Logger Data
To get the sampled data from your logger, connect the logger to your computer and click the button on the
toolbar, or select Get Data from the Logger menu. Once the data is transferred from the logger to your PC, the data
graph and data listing windo ws will be displayed.
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Logged data can be retrieved from the logger at any time. You do not have to stop the logging session to retrieve
the data.
The graph display will be blank if there a r e le ss than two data points logged. The listing window will be blank if
there are no data points logged (as can happen during delayed logging, or when logging is set to start on button
press).
Automatic Data Retrieval
The DwyerLog Interface Software can be setup to automatically load the data from the logger into the computer as
samples become available. In this mode the graph and the listing windows are updated automatically with the new
data.
To enable this feature follow these steps:
• Make sure that your logger is connected to your computer.
• Make sure that the logger is logging dat a. Automati c retrieval is not available when the logger is not loggi ng.
• Manually download the data for the first time by clicking the
the Logger menu.
• From the Logger menu select Auto Update.
The computer will download data as often as the sampling interval you s etup. For instance, if you set your logger to
collect data once every minute, the software will perform a download once a minute. Of course the logger has to be
connected to your computer while the Auto Update mode is active.
When the Auto Update mode is active, the software does not change the zoom level of your graph. Instead it scrolls
the graph as new data becomes available.
button on the toolbar, or select Get Data from
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