Guralp Systems Shout User Manual
User’s manual for Shout
January 15, 2003
$Id: manual.tex,v 1.2 2002/03/24 11:42:15 root Exp root $
1 Overview
Shout provides a way to configure test and even record sample data from connected Guralp equipment
using a variety of PalmOS platforms. Many Palm Pilots can run for many days on a single set of AAA
batteries thus they can be used where getting a power source for a laptop would be impractical. Shout
supports downloading predefined configurations to attached equipment so that many instruments may
be configured to exactly the same parameters. Shout can record blocks from the attached instruments
and store them in the Palm Pilot for later analysis on a PC or workstation.
2 Getting started
2.1 Prerequisites
2.1.1 Compatibility
Shout has been tested on PalmOS 3.0 3.0.1 3.1 3.1.1 3.5 3.5.1 and 4.0. To communicate with Guralp
equipment you require a Palm Pilot with a serial port. Some PalmOS devices have only USB slave
ports, devices which have serial ports include the following Palm models: III, IIIe, IIIe SE, IIIx, IIIxe,
IIIc, V, Vx, Vx LE, VII, VIIx, m100, m105, m125, m130, m500 m505, m515, and i705. The Visor Treo
has a serial port, and serial port adapters are available for other Visor models but they may require
external power.
2.1.2 Cables
To use Shout you will need the correct sort of cable.
Most people have a Hotsync cable or cradle. To use
this with the standard data cable that connects Guralp
equipment to a PC you will need a null modem adapter.
The adapter should have two 9 pin male D connectors
and be wired as follows. (As the adapter is symmetrical
the two ends are interchangeable, so it doesn’t matter
which end is connected to the palm pilot)
Palm side
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
a
a
!
a
!
!
!
a
Guralp side
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2.2 Memory
Shout uses approximately 45kB of space on your Palm Pilot, when running it uses another 15kB on
the local heap and 20kB of database space. When recording Shout has a 32 byte overhead per block
stored.
1
2.2.1 Old Infrared Enhancements
If you are using an older Palm Pilot (one running PalmOS 3.1.1 or
earlier) you will need to ensure that the serial port is not redirected to
use infrared. To check this start the preferences application and select
‘Serial/IR’ from the drop down menu at the top right, and change the
setting to ‘Cradle’. If your Palm doesn’t have a ‘Serial/IR’ option then
you either have the modern IR packages or you haven’t installed any IR
packages.
2.2.2 Slow Palm Pilots
If you are using a slow Palm Pilot (such as an m100), or are using one of the utilities which slows the
processor of the Palm in order to extend battery life you may find that Shout is unable to keep up with
packets as they arrive. This problem may be especially noticeable when plotting or recording. The
simplest solution to this problem is to use a utility like ‘Tornado V’ to speed up the Palm Pilot clock.
2.3 Installing
Unix:
Use your Pilot desktop to install the shout.prc file or use the command line. For example:
[root@unix cgcf]# pilot-xfer -p /dev/ttyS0 -i shout.prc
Port: /dev/ttyS0
Please press the HotSync button now...
Connected...
Installing shout.prc... OK
Install done
[root@unix cgcf]#
Windows:
Either launch the Palm ‘Install tool’ from the Start Menu, or select the install option from the
Palm Desktop software:
2
Once you have launched the installer click on the Add button and select the shout.prc file:
Next click the done button; Shout will be installed the next time your Palm Pilot Hotsyncs with
your PC.
2.4 Launching Shout
Launch Shout by clicking on the Shout
icon in the launcher. Shout will use the
first hardware serial port on your Palm
Pilot. You can check the version of Shout
by selecting ‘About’ from the menu (click
on the menu button to display the menu).
3 Usage
3.1 The status line
At the top of the display Shout shows a status indicator. The numbers from left to right mean:
B The number of valid blocks so far received.
G The number of errors the block parser has encountered.
I The number of interrupt requests that Shouthas sent.
C The number of bytes received on the serial port.
S The size of the last received block.
It is normal for the parser to encounter a few errors when Shout is first started or parts of the system
are being rebooted. Note that most actions will reset the number of blocks counter.
3
3.2 Quitting Shout
Occasionally you may ask Shout to do something impossible (for example contacting a now disconnected
device). You can interrupt at any time by clicking on the applications button (which is the button on
the silkscreen which looks like a house or an arrow). Clicking on the applications button will cause
Shout to quit and will return you to the application launcher.
3.3 The devices form
Here Shout displays the system ids and serial numbers found in all
the blocks so far received. When it is known, the type of device is displayed next to the serial number.
Baud rate: Here you can adjust the baud rate Shout uses to
communicate with the attached devices (see the notes for slow Palm
Pilots in section 2.2.2 if you intend to use particularly high baud
rates).
Probe: Clicking on ‘Probe’ causes Shout to connect to and identify
the first attached device. ‘Probe’ is useful if you wish to contact
an attached device which isn’t sending out packets often.
Streams: Clicking on ‘Streams’ will take you to the streams form
(see section 3.6).
Start: Clicking on ‘Start’ will start recording received blocks to
a database in the Palm Pilot, appending them to any currently
stored blocks (see section 3.8).
Stop: Clicking on ‘Stop’ will stop the recording of received blocks.
Erase: Clicking on ‘Erase’ will erase any currently stored blocks.
Clicking on a system id causes Shout to query that device to determine what type of device it is
and then to launch the relevant configuration form for that type of device.
3.4 The DM configuration forms
Before any changes to the configuration can be made you must ‘Fetch’ the current configuration from
the DM. Do this by clicking on the ‘Fetch’ button. You can now modify configuration items in any of
the DM forms. After changing any of settings in the forms click on the ‘Apply’ button for that form,
which will cause the new settings to be downloaded to the DM and the DM to be rebooted. Once you
have finished with the form (or if you wish to exit the form without saving the changes to the DM)
click ‘Done’. It is not necessary to fetch the configuration if you only wish to use the ‘Mass’, ‘Lock’,
‘Unlock’, ‘Center’, ‘Gps’, ‘Macros’, or ‘Send Buffer’ functions.
4
3.4.1 Main DM form
SysId: and Serial: Here you can edit the system id, and serial
number for the DM. The strings are composed of the characters
‘A’-‘Z’ and ‘0’-‘9’. Leading ‘0’s are stripped.
Port0: Here you can set the baud rate for Port 0. (On the DM24/3
this is the baud rate of the Data Out port).
Port1: Here you can set the baud rate for Port 1. (On the DM24/3
this is the baud rate for the GPS port which should be set to 4800).
Type: Here you can set the type of seismometer connected to the
DM.
Gps duty: Here you can set the duty cycle of the GPS in minutes.
Sync: This controls the protocol used on port 1. Choose from
trimble, garmin or stream.
Mass: Click here to query the positions of the masses in the attached seismometer (see section 3.4.2).
Lock: Click here to lock the masses (see section 3.4.3).
Unlock: Click here to unlock the masses (see section 3.4.4).
Center: Click here to center the masses (see section 3.4.5).
GPS: Click here to query the status of the GPS receiver (see section
3.4.6).
Taps: Click here to go to the taps form where you can change
sample rates and streams (see section 3.4.7).
SOH: Click here to change the streams in the MUX and the automatic centering threshold (see section 3.4.8).
Trigger: Click here to set the trigger parameters (see section 3.4.9).
Fetch: Click here to fetch the current parameters from the DM.
Apply: Click here to apply the changes on this form to the DM
and reboot it.
Macros: Click here to enter the macros form (see section 3.9).
Done: Click here to exit this form and return to the main form.
5
Loading...