Loggerhead LS1X User Manual

LS1/LS1X MANUAL

Multi-card Long-Term Underwater Acoustic Recorder

Manual v1.0

Updated 26 February 2018

www.loggerhead.com

LS1/LS1X Manual 1

Overview

Hardware

LS1/LS1X is a multi-card datalogger designed for collecting large amounts of
underwater acoustic recordings. Setup is designed to run through a simple button
interface with a display. No PC is needed to setup and deploy the LS1/LS1X.

• HTI-96-min hydrophone

• Fixed 44.1 kHz sample rate

• Up to 4 microSD cards formatted as FAT32

Software

LS1/LS1X store data directly as audio wav files.

Any audio analysis software (Adobe Audition, Cornell Raven, MATLAB, R,
Python) will work with these files.

LS1/LS1X Manual 2

Display Setting

Description

UP+DN->Rec

Hold down UP + DN to start
Press Enter to change settings

Rec:

Record duration in seconds

Slp:

Sleep duration in seconds. This is the time from the END of one
recording to the START of the next recording.

Batt:

Number of battery packs you will fill. There are 3 D-cells per battery
pack.
This setting was made available in Feb 2018. Previous versions of
firmware used 4 battery packs for this setting.

Year:

Year

Month:

Month

Day:

Day of month

Hour:

Hour (24 hour time)

Minute:

Minute

Second:

Second

Mode:

Switch between Norm(al) and Diel recording. In Diel recording mode
the Start HH:MM and End HH:MM are specified to limit recording to

Setting up LS1/LS1X for Deployment

See the online video for a tutorial on setting up the LS1/LS1X

Step 1. Prepare microSD card. Create setup.txt file if changing default gain
setting. This is usually not necessary. Be sure to safely eject the card before
removing from computer.

microSD cards larger than 32 GB need to be formatted as FAT32. Appendix 1
describes software that can be used to do this on Windows PCs.

Step 2. O-rings. Clean and grease o-rings with silicone grease and insert into the
groove on the ring. The fatter radial o-ring is 5 mm wide x 90 mm inner diameter
(McMaster Part number 9262K395). The o-ring that seals with the top of the tube
is -155 (McMaster Part number 9452K176).

Step 3. Turn on power switch.

The microSD cards will be scanned for free memory. There MUST be a card in
slot 1.

Use buttons to change settings
Enter: Used to move through menu settings and accept changes.
UP/DN: Used to change values.

LS1/LS1X Manual 3

certain parts of the day (e.g. record only in the morning). In Normal
recording mode, recordings are made throughout the day.

Step 5. Start Recording. Hold down the UP and DN buttons at the same time to
start recording. If this is not done, the recorder will automatically start after 15
minutes.

Step 6. Close lid. Lids should be closed securely using a coin. It should be more
than hand-tight.

LS1/LS1X Manual 4

Command

Function

Default

Example

Setup.txt example

RD

Record duration (s)

Last used

Record 600
second files

RD 600

RI

Record interval (s)

Last used

Sleep 240
seconds between
files

RI 240

SG

Hydrophone system
gain. See table for dB
gains associated with
different settings.

4

Set gain to
setting ‘10’,
which
corresponds to

11.1 dB gain

SG 10
ND

Remove DC from
audio. Turning on
increases electrical
noise

Off

Turn on feature
to remove DC
from audio

ND

setup.txt Commands

All commands are optional. Default column lists values if no setting in setup.txt
file. Record duration and record interval can be set through the button interface.

LS1/LS1X Manual 5

Power

The LS1 has battery holders for 4 sets of D-cell batteries (12 batteries total).

The LS1X has battery holders for 8 sets of D-cell batteries (24 batteries total).
Always use new batteries with the LS1, and tape them into place.

The display will provide estimated run time based on the number of battery packs
that are filled (LS1: 1-4 battery packs: LS1X: 1-8 battery packs) and the memory
available in all of the microSD cards.

LS1/LS1X Manual 6

Setting

Clip Level (peak-peak)

Clip Level (peak)

Gain (dB)

0

3.12

1.56

-3.9

1

2.63

1.315

-2.4

2

2.22

1.11

-0.9

3

1.87

0.935

0.6

4

1.58

0.79

2.0

5

1.33

0.665

3.5

6

1.11

0.555

5.1

7

0.94

0.47

6.6

8

0.79

0.395

8.1

9

0.67

0.335

9.5

10

0.56

0.28

11.1

11

0.48

0.24

12.4

12

0.4

0.2

14.0

13

0.34

0.17

15.4

14

0.29

0.145

16.8

15

0.24

0.12

18.4

HTI Hydrophone and Recording Gain

The LS1/LS1X uses a hydrophone manufactured by High-Tech Inc. The
sensitivity of the hydrophone will be on a specification sheet included with the
shipment (typically -170 dBV/uPa or -180 dBV/uPa).

The hydrophone has a red LED in the end to indicate when it is getting power.
This will only be turned on during startup and recording. The hydrophone red
LED will be off when sleeping.

The A/D converter gain can be changed through the setup.txt file. The default is
setting 4. The setting can be changed with SG command in setup.txt. The actual
setting that was used is stored to the log.txt file.

LS1/LS1X Manual 7

Vent Plug

This plug is only to be used if there is a leak in the housing.

A leak in the housing can be dangerous because the housing will pressurize
internally to the same pressure as the depth of deployment.

If there is a leak, it is critical to relieve the pressure before removing the lid,
otherwise the lid could fly off.

The vent plug can be used to relieve the pressure, by turning it slowly until you
start hearing air come out. Once air starts coming out, stop unscrewing and wait
until air stops coming out. The vent plug is designed to stay in the endcap and
safely vent air through holes machined in the plug.

Once the internal pressure has equalized, you may remove the top lid with the
hydrophone. There is no need to fully remove the vent plug. Then gently
retighten the vent plug. On PVC housings be very careful not to overtighten the
plug, otherwise the threads in the bottom endcap may strip.

LS1/LS1X Manual 8

Appendix I

Formatting SD card with EaseUS Partition Master for Cards Larger than 32
GB

32 GB cards can be formatted as FAT32 in Windows with standard re­formatting. New 32 GB cards will come formatted as FAT32 (you don’t need
to do anything).

Cards larger than 32 GB can not be formatted with the FAT32 file system with
the regular windows formatting tools. Cards shipped from Loggerhead have been
formatted as FAT32. The exFAT file system will not work with the DSG boards.
These larger cards can be formatted with EaseUS Partition Master, which has a
free personal edition available.
http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm

Run EaseUS Partition Master

1. Select drive with SD card.

2. Click on Format Partition on left.

LS1/LS1X Manual 9

3. Make sure File System is FAT32. Click OK.

4. Click Apply on the toolbar. Then click Yes.

LS1/LS1X Manual 10

You should see this screen. When it is done you can close EaseUS.

LS1/LS1X Manual 11