OmniLog FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions:

Product Questions:

What is the purpose of this FAQ
Who maintains this FAQ
Who can submit questions to this FAQ
What is the Latest version of the OmniLog Software
How do I get the latest version of the OmniLog Software
Can I get a version of the OmniLog Software for Windows 3.1
What is a Derived Channel
What are plug in reports
Detailed instructions about setting the gain etc in the units and scaling and calibration sections of the channel set up screen
How much memory do the HR series loggers have


What is the purpose of this FAQ

This FAQ covers the Installation, Configuration and Operation of the OmniLog Data Management Program.

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Who maintains this FAQ

This FAQ is maintained by the team of designers and programmers who developed the data loggers and maintain the OmniLog software

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Who can submit questions to this FAQ

Any OmniLog software User can submit questions to this FAQ. Email your question to Controls@Vespo.com Also, specific telephone and email enquiries may be added to the FAQ if they are of relevance to OmniLog Users

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What is the Latest version of the OmniLog Software

The Latest Version of the OmniLog Software is Version 1.74

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How do I get the latest version of the OmniLog Software

The Latest version of the OmniLog Software can be downloaded from Factory website. If you do not wish to download the software over the internet contact us to obtain a CD copy of the latest version of the software (A handling fee will apply).

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Can I get a version of the OmniLog Software for Windows 3.1

The OmniLog Data Management Program will not run on Windows 3.11 or earlier. There is no plan, at present, to produce a Windows 3.11 version of this application.

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What is a Derived Channel

A Derived Channel is a channel derived from the data of existing channels and added to a dataset.
Examples of derived channels include:
Absolute Humidity from Temperature and Relative Humidity
Dew Point from Temperature and Relative Humidity
Wind Chill Factor from Temperature and Windspeed

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What are plug-in reports

A number of reports come as a standard part of the OmniLog program. These include:
Logger Status Report - Report on the Logger and Channel setup
Periodic Report - For dividing logged data up into Hour, Day, Week and Month periods including Totals ,Averages, Maximums and Minimums for each period.
Grow Degree Days Report - Accumulative Grow Degree Day calculations for a wide variety of crops
Switch Report - Report showing the state of a switch on an analogue channel including On and Off times and durations

These reports are included because they will be used by a large number of OmniLog users.

Other reports are available but are distributed separately to avoid make the OmniLog installation file too large. These reports will only be used by a small group of OmniLog users.

These Plug-in reports are small exe files that you put into the same folder as your OmniLog system. The Flow Totals Report is a good example of OmniLog Plug-in Reports.

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Are there some detailed instructions about setting the gain etc in the units and scaling and calibration sections of the channel set up screen.

They both appear to have the same affect. However sometimes if for instance in Rain fall if the gain is set to 0.5 on one of them the pulses increment by 0.5mm but the data is only recorded to the nearest 1mm and at other times the recorded data is to the nearest 0.5mm.

Calibration Gain and Offset
These are used to convert the A2D converter and counter readings to SI Units
As much as possible we try to convert everything to SI units then Scale the readings to whatever the user requires.
There are five exceptions we have made because the SI units are of inconvenient scale
These are:
1... Temperature we use degC not degK
2... Distance we use millimeters not metres
3... Pressure we use hectaPascals not Pascals
4... For a milliVolt logger we use milliVolts not Volts
5... For a 20mA channel we use milliAmps not amps

Scale Gain and offset
These are used to convert the SI units (or our preferred units as listed above) to the users required units.
So for example:
A 4~20mA channel will be calibrated so that the Calibration Gain and Offset will give the correct result in mA
The Scale Gain and offset can be used to convert the mA's to any other units the user may want.
Another example:
Temperature Logger - the Calibration Gain and offset will give a reading in degC - the Scale Offset and Gain can be used to scale this to degF or degK.
This scaling can be done automatically by clicking the Select button in the Scale box and selecting the required units.

In the case of the rain gauge the Calibration offset and gain are used to get the logger reading in mm. .5mm per tip therefore 2 tips per mm therefore gain of .5
The scale offset and gain could be used to read in metres or feet or yards of kilometers or miles or even fathoms if the user requires. The Select button will only give the common conversions and as feet and metres of rain are uncommon the only options available are inches and tips.

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Your web site says that the HR logger has 64k of memory in 8 bit mode
and 32k of memory in high resolution (12 bit mode), The data sheet I received from the agent said it had 32k in 8 bit and 16k in 12 bit modes. Which is correct?

The HR series of loggers was originally released with 32K of memory giving 32,000 readings in low res and 16,000 readings in high res mode. When a compatible 64K memory chip became available at a price that we could upgrade the HR's to 64K without increasing the price, we decided to do so. This happened in Jan 2002. You can determine if an HR logger has 32K or 64K by looking at its Firmware Number. This is shown in the Logger Status Screen in the Logger Control Window. If the Firmware number is 3.3 or less the logger has 32K memory. If the Firmware number is 3.4 or greater the logger has 64K of memory. The OmniLog software was updated at the changeover so that it would correctly identify the loggers that had 64K of memory. This was OmniLog Version 1.35. If you are using an HR logger with a firmware number of 3.4 or greater you should be using OmniLog 1.35 or greater. The latest version of OmniLog can be downloaded from the Factory website.

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