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| # | Post Title | Result Info | Date | User | Forum |
| RE: Geometrics preliminary MagArrow and MagEx data processing program download | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Rui Zhang | Software | |
| @ahmed_ramadan_geo Hi Ahmed, The remaining noise after compensation is likely from 3 main sources: 1. The intrinsic sensor noise. At 10Hz, 5pT/rt-Hz rms sensor noise is equivalent to about 0.08 nT peak-to-peak noise. 2. Remaining drone noise. Our EM customers use 5m suspension cables, instead of 3m, to further reduce the drone interference. But this depends on your drone. 3. Compensation noise. The compass reading is very noisy. Part of it will enter the data after compensation. If you want to further reduce the noise, you can apply LPF at lower frequencies. For mineral explorations, I don't think you need 10Hz data. Regarding your other question, the coordinates in the sample file is NOT at the real survey site. We intentionally shifted the coordinates for privacy reasons. MagArrow is based on the scalar sensor technology. Its readings are absolute, not relative. | |||||
| Using and Charging the MagEx LiPo Battery | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Gretchen Schmauder | Hardware | |
| This link takes you to a short video on properly using the Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery. | |||||
| RE: What 16 bits of Mag1 Status and Mag2 Status represent? | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Rui Zhang | Application | |
| The Mag Status table can be found on page 8 of the MFAM module user guide, which is inside the USB drive shipped with the MFAM. The user guide can be downloaded here as well. Attachment : 770-00103-01_RevB3_MFAM_Module_User_Guide0623.pdf | |||||
| MagMap and Windows11 Issue | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Randl Rivera | Software | |
| Attachment : MagMap_W11.pdf It has been reported that the MagMap software does not work with some versions of Windows 11. The following error is shown: C:\Program Files (x86)\MagMap\olch3d32.dll is not intended for use with Windows or contains an error. Try reinstalling the program from the original installation media or contact your system administrator or software vendor. Error Status: 0xc000000d Solution: There's a setting in the Windows Security that needs to be changed. See attached. | |||||
| RE: 1000 Hz Sample rate and Powerline Variations | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Rui Zhang | Application | |
| The 50/60Hz signal (noise to surveys) from powerlines can be mostly filtered out, as seen in the post above. When you do surveys around powerlines, please keep a safe distance according to health/safety considerations. The magnetometer data may be negatively affected around the survey areas too close to the powerlines. But you can always cut out those parts of the survey in the data processing. After all, bad data is better than no data. | |||||
| What is the name of the antenna connector on WiFi and GPS boards inside the Dev Kit? | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Rui Zhang | Hardware | |
| This connector style is called U.FL (UMCC). For more details, please refer to more connector information. | |||||
| Does the OhmMapper use GPS, and if so, what kind? | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Gretchen Schmauder | Hardware | |
| The system is designed to collect GPS data along with the resistivity measurement during the survey. It requires a standard NMEA output from the GPS. The software uses the $GGA string. If the OhmMapper G-858 console is used a serial output from the external GPS is required. If it uses a Windows device an external GPS with any interface to the PC is acceptable. If the data logger is an android device the internal cell phone or tablet GPS can be used. | |||||
| Geode SGOS Timing | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Gretchen Schmauder | Software | |
| The time associated with each data point in a SEG-2 data file generated by a Geode is related to the time of the “trigger” event which was instrumental in the production of the file and its content. The Trigger Master and Trigger Distribution The trigger event occurs at the Geode designated within the Controller software as the Trigger Master. Although all Geodes are capable of being Trigger Masters, there must be one and only one Trigger Master in any properly functioning Geode system. The Controller automatically takes care of this requirement when the designation is made by a user, and when the system is established at the time of Controller start-up based on a previous designation (or a default setting in the case of a “new survey”). All other Geodes in the system will have their Trigger Master circuit disabled. A trigger event can be initiated by an external electrical pulse provided to the trigger input connector of the Trigger Master Geode, or by a command sent via Ethernet from the Controller to the Trigger Master (usually for test purposes), but only when all conditions are satisfied to allow data recording. There is also a special trigger initiation situation, called “self-triggering” which will not be discussed further here. Upon acceptance of a trigger event, the Trigger Master will distribute the trigger signal to all Geodes in the system, itself included, via an RS-485 network that resides within the digital interconnect cabling. (Proper termination of this RS-485 network is automatically taken care of by the Controller.) The trigger signal is propagated through the cabling and Geodes at the nominal speed of 70% of the speed of light, or approximately 2.1x10^8 m/sec. The maximum distance of successful propagation depends on a number of factors such as the number of Geodes involved, the noise environment, the quality of the cables, and the acceptable amount of timing uncertainty for the particular application. Distances approaching or exceeding 1km should be given careful attention in this regard. In a 3-D Geode system involving LTUs, each LTU, unlike a Geode, will reconstruct the trigger signal before sending it on, effectively confining the maximum distance issue to each sub-network separated by LTUs. The penalty is an additional delay of about 100nS for each LTU in the route. The External Trigger Circuit The external trigger input is capacitively coupled, with a 2mS time constant, to the midpoint of a resistive voltage divider. The voltage difference between the two ends of the divider constitute a voltage "window", which size is set by the trigger sensitivity parameter and can range from essentially zero at the highest sensitivity, to about +/- 2.5V at the lowest sensitivity. The Geode will trigger (if enabled) if and when the coupled signal exceeds the window, in either direction (i.e., positive or negative going). The signal, after the capacitor, is clamped by diodes to the range between the trigger signal ground and +5VDC. The trigger detector output is disabled when the system is disarmed, during a parameter change, and during a shot, up to the trigger hold-off time after the end of the shot. The trigger hold-off time is a parameter set by the user. Preceding the coupling capacitor (i.e., essentially the node accessible at pin A of the external connector), there is a 3.3K-Ohm pull-up resistor to +5VDC (relative to pin B). Also a fast transient suppressor clamps the input at about +/-14VDC. It is advised that the DC + AC level of any voltage applied to pin A relative to pin B be kept within the range of +/-7V, giving some margin of safety. If a DC voltage somewhat less than +5VDC is applied when the connector is first mated, the instrument may trigger at that moment. But, subsequently, because of the capacitive coupling, it will trigger on the next positive or negative going pulse that exceeds the window level. If the duration of the applied voltage pulse is less than the record length + delay time + hold-off time, then the Geode will effectively be ready to trigger on the same edge of another similar pulse. Sub-sample Synchronization The Geode supports a sub-sample timing synchronization feature used for synchronizing the data acquisition after a trigger event to the distributed trigger signal, so that subsequent time points will be known to within 1/32 (~1/20 at the fastest two sampling rates) sample interval. It does this by increasing the sample interval at the trigger time by 0 to 31/32 of a sample interval in increments of 1/32, so that the first sample after the trigger would represent a time of one sample interval after the trigger event, with a tolerance within 1/32 of a sample interval. The following samples continue from there at the expected intervals. For example, with a selected sampling interval of ¼ mS and a recording delay of 0mS, the first sample in the recorded file for each channel would represent data at 250 to 258uS after the trigger event. This of course potentially introduces a small discontinuity at the time of the trigger, observable depending on the nature of the channel waveform(s). (The zero-phase anti-alias filter will smear the discontinuity into the nearby samples both before and after, consistent with the bandwidth of the filter.) Sub-sample synchronization can be disabled if it is deemed to be detrimental for the particular application, at the expense of losing the 1/32 interval timing accuracy. Timing Errors The principal errors in Geode timing are of two types: those associated with the trigger mechanism and which are static over the duration of the record, and those associated with the time base and which change over the duration of the record. Excluding the trigger propagation delay mentioned above, the trigger timing uncertainty is about 1uS. The known fixed errors have been lumped together and are reported in the SEG-2 file trace headers as channel SKEW. (The actual channel skew is zero, since all channels are effectively sampled simultaneously, but the SKEW value in the header is used as the only place permitting small timing corrections. Note that the SKEW value for every channel is identical.) If the size of this correction is important to the application, the SKEW value should be added to the calculated time points when the data is being processed. The Geode time base has a +/-15ppm stability over temperature (-20C to +70C) and component variations. Thus time drift relative to absolute time and relative to other Geodes is possible. (However, all channels within any Geode enclosure use the same time base, so there is no relative drift between channels in the same enclosure.) Therefore timing uncertainty increases from that existing at the time of the trigger until the time of the next trigger (or end of record). Special Timing Issues Involved with “Continuous” Recording “Continuous” recording is a method that allows unending 100% time coverage with recorded Geode data. It produces a series of time-overlapped records created by the use of a negative time delay set equal to the record length such that each record consists of completed history at the time of the trigger event. This technique circumvents the problem of data transmission overrunning data acquisition. The principle constraint is that the cycle time from trigger to trigger must always be less than the chosen record length. Otherwise, gaps rather than overlap would result. Commonly it is used with GPSderived triggering in order to provide time-stamping of each trigger event. Upon consideration of the above, it will become clear that the time-stamp associated with a particular trigger event will pertain to the data in the following record, not to the data in the record in which the time-stamp is written. This comes about because the trigger event ends the record. Because there is data overlap between records, the precise trigger point in the following record at which the time-stamp applies can be found by comparison of the data values at the end of the former record with those near the beginning of the subsequent record. The overlapping data will be exactly identical in both records (since they are read from the same memory location, twice). The earliest data in the subsequent record that goes beyond the data of the previous record is the data that is one sample interval (assuming sub-sample synchronization is enabled) past the time-stamp. Note well that this comparison must be made independently for at least one channel of each 8-channel Geode board set, because the discrete time at which data values are written to the memory buffer, relative to the trigger event, is a function of each individual board set in the Geode system. Correct GPS Time-Stamping There are differences between various GPS models that can affect accurate time stamping. The 1PPS signal from a GPS has a “timing edge” and return edge, of which only the former is the true whole-second edge. Some models use a rising edge as the timing edge, some the falling edge, and some have it selectable. Consult the GPS manual to determine the definition of its timing edge. As indicated earlier, the Geode can be triggered on either a rising or falling edge. It is important to insure that the Geode is being triggered on the proper edge in order to avoid timing that may be a fraction of a second off. This is expanded upon below. Some GPS units provide a very narrow timing pulse, others one that has a nearly 50/50 duty cycle. For the narrow pulse units, almost certainly it is the leading edge (rising or falling) that is the “timing edge”. This case can be easily handled by using the Geode Trigger Hold-off feature. If a 10-second cycle time is desired, set the Trigger Hold-off time to about 9.5 seconds. In this case, there is a very small chance that the very first trigger could occur on the wrong (trailing) edge, but from then on the leading edge will be used as the triggering edge. If the GPS provides a 50/50 duty cycle edge, and it is not alterable, then the Geode by itself could as easily start on the wrong edge as on the correct timing edge, and continue thusly until restarted. For this case, Geometrics can provide a Trigger Timing Interface Box (TTIB) that will correct the situation. The TTIB can be programmed to respond only to the correct edge (rising or falling), change the polarity if needed, and gate through only one of every N 1PPS pulses, where N is programmable. (The TTIB also incorporates an alarm system that can provide a remote alert if a record is missed.) Another potential issue comes from the variations between GPS models of the time that the serial time string (containing the time value of the associated 1PPS) is issued relative to the 1PPS itself. The Geode Controller attempts to pick the correct serial string based on a calculation involving the known record length, the PC times, and the trigger notification message from the Geodes. But if the GPS issues the serial string at an unusual time (and the time has been seen to vary somewhat with a given GPS unit) then it could pick up the incorrect time, off by 1 second. If rare, it can be subsequently detected and corrected during data processing, but if consistent it may not be easily detected. Again, the TTIB can accommodate the situation by only gating through to the Controller PC the string belonging to the gated-through 1PPS pulse. The Controller Serial Input Time Window can then safely be widened to 2 seconds (assuming the cycle time is more than 2 seconds) if need be, to expand the Controller’s search for the string around the calculated trigger time. | |||||
| Importing Raw Data From the MagArrow | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Gretchen Schmauder | Software | |
| Raw Data MagArrow data is imported into Survey Manager in the form of .MAGDATA files, downloaded from the MagArrow. The .MAGDATA file contains measurements from different sensors inside the MagArrow: 1000Hz magnetometer readings; accelerometer, gyro, compass, temperature readings; and GPS info. MFAM assigns a fiducial number, or “FID” to each magnetometer reading, in a cycle from 1 to 1000 that repeats every second. In the instrument, the magnetometer readings and the GPS sentence data are synchronized so that the “FID-1” magnetometer record is matched with the GPS location and timing information. Exports to CSV and Geosoft file formats 1000Hz un-filtered export The 1000Hz export provides the original raw magnetometer data plus some simple interpolations: • Magnetometer reading: The raw magnetic field values are exported without application of a filter. [While these raw measurements are the output of a filter inside the MFAM sensor: a 9-pole Butterworth low pass filter with a -3dB point at 400Hz, that filter is considered part of the sensor for this description.] • Auxiliary sensors: Gyro, accelerometer, and temperature are acquired once per every 5 magnetometer readings, and are reported only when acquired. Compass readings are acquired one per every 10 magnetometer readings and are reported only when acquired. • GPS NMEA sentence: Reported with the associated FID-1 mag record. A few individual fields from the GPS are also broken out from the GPS sentence and reported separately, without interpolation. • Interpolated GPS fields: Time, date, latitude, longitude, and track (course over ground) are linearly interpolated between GPS readings. Decimated exports Each of the exports at frequencies from 10 Hz to 100 Hz is a decimation – data are filtered by a low-pass filter and then down-sampled to the target sample rate. Each low-pass filter (a different one for each decimation) is a symmetric finite impulse response (or FIR) filter, with the following design goals: • -3dB attenuation at 0.75 * Nyquist frequency (e.g., the -3dB point for the 10Hz decimation is 3.75Hz) • Significant attenuation of 50Hz and 60Hz signals. • Reasonably flat response in the pass band. Linear phase (or zero phase, or constant group delay) filters. These filters are not Kalman filters. The filters are applied to fields in the decimations as follows: • Magnetometer readings: Magnetometer readings are decimated: the FIR is applied, then the data are down-sampled to the target rate. • Aux sensors: Aux sensors are first up-sampled to 1000Hz by linear interpolation of values between individual readings (which occur once every 5 mag readings for gyro, accelerometer, and temperature, and once every 10 mag readings for compass). Then these 1000Hz values are decimated in the same process as the magnetometer readings. • Latitude and longitude are first up-sampled to 1000Hz by linear interpolation of values between successive GPS data (once per second), then these 1000 Hz values are decimated in the same process as the magnetometer readings. • Time, date, and track are linearly interpolated as in the raw, unfiltered 1000Hz export. Merging filtered and unfiltered data. Some of the values in an individual line of data are filtered: mag readings, aux sensors, etc. Other measurements are not filtered: time and date, GPS sentences, record counters, and the simple interpolated fields. These two sets of values – filtered and unfiltered, must be reported in individual lines that contain values of both types. The question “How should the two sets of values be matched?” is addressed as follows: A decimation filter has a center. For example, a single filter result that weighs 499 individual measurements running from record number 752 to record number 1250 (in DSP terms, it is the result of the convolution of 499 input values with 499 filter weights), is centered on record number 1001. The result is the “filtered value of record 1001”. In a single line along with this value should be the other filtered results centered on record number 1001 plus the unfiltered raw and interpolated values that were recorded as part of the original, raw record 1001. The down-sampling part of decimation involves keeping some results and discarding others; down-sampling from 1000Hz to 100Hz includes discarding 9 out of 10 results. During exports, Survey Manager keeps the “FID 1” record, because it includes the original GPS information, then discards the next 9 records (if it’s a 100Hz decimation), and then repeats the pattern, each time starting with FID 1. If you have questions about the MagArrow decimations, please contact your Geometrics account manager. | |||||
| Choosing the Right Lithium Polymer Battery for your MagArrow | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Gretchen Schmauder | Hardware | |
| The MagArrow uses a 3 cell Lithium Polymer battery to power the MagArrow during surveys. The two main requirements for the battery are that it must fit into the battery compartment, and it must be nonmagnetic. Non-Magnetic Batteries: Some types of Lithium Polymer batteries are extremely magnetic. This is because the cell-to-cell connections are made with nickel strips (nickel is extremely magnetic). This makes them unsuitable for use in the MagArrow since they will interfere with the background magnetic field that is being measured. Whether or not the batteries are magnetic is not something that appears on the data sheet, so it is important to choose batteries of a particular construction form factor that in practice has been shown to have a very low magnetic signature. Examples of this battery type will be shown below. There are many brand names for this battery type, and the brand names seems to change frequently. Evaluating the Magnetic Properties of a Battery: Batteries should be measured for magnetic signature before using them. This is especially true when trying a new battery brand just to be sure the battery is not going to affect the survey data. To perform this test you will need to start a survey with a stationary MagArrow pointing north-south on a nonmagnetic platform (wooden sawhorses, cardboard box, etc). Hold the battery to be tested immediately over the battery compartment and rotate it in all orientations. Download the data and look for variations in the magnetic field that correlate with the battery rotation. There shouldn't be any correlation above 1 nT peak to peak. Make sure the operator is nonmagnetic when doing this test (shoes, belts, watches, cell phones, keys, etc. can all corrupt the results). Battery Size and Shape: The correct batteries are rectangular in shape and measure roughly 105x34x24mm. They are made from 3 flat cells stacked up measuring 11.1 volts nominal. They should be between 1800 and 2200 mAh (milliamp-hour). Higher capacity batteries will not physically fit in the battery compartment. Lower capacity batteries will work, but with a reduced run time. One 1800 mAh battery will run the MagArrow for about two hours. The MagArrow power connector is XT-60 so the battery must match. There are other power connector types, but XT-60 is commonly used. The 4-pin balance port connector is a JST-XH4 connector (though this is standard on most batteries). Where to Find Batteries: If you are in an area that doesn't have strict controls on shipping Lithium Polymer batteries, then Amazon.com is a good source. Another good source is hobby stores, or anyplace that sells radio-controlled toy cars, boats, or airplanes. This is typically where this style of battery is used the most. What do the Battery Specifications Mean? 3S: This means it is a stack of three Li-Po cells Voltage: A fully charged 3 cell Li-Po battery measures 12.6 volts. A depleted battery will measure 9.6 volts. Thus, the voltage for this battery is typically labeled as 11.1 volt (the average of 12.6 and 9.6 volts. 35C (or any other "C" value): This is a rating on how much current can be safely drawn from the battery. To get the value in amps, take the milliamp-hour rating and divide by 1000 (to get amp-hours), and then multiply by the "C" value. For a 2200 mAh battery with a 35C rating multiply the 2.2 amp-hour capacity (2200 mAh / 1000) times the C value of 35, which gives a maximum discharge current of 77 amps. The MagArrow draws about 0.6 amps, so any C value is fine - even if is down to 0.5. Battery Chargers: Most battery chargers being sold now are universal chargers which support a variety of rechargeable battery chemistries and output connectors. They come in many sizes and shapes, but most of them operate identically because the internal circuitry is the same. Most chargers will charge at a much faster rate than the MagArrow discharges them, so you technically only need two batteries in the field. A nice feature to look for is the ability to power the charger off 12V as well as with AC power. This will allow charging in the field off a car battery. Be sure to charge in batteries in "Balanced Charge" mode using the battery balance JST-XH connector. This allows more charge current into cells that are more deeply discharged than the others and ensures that the battery gets all three cells completely charged. Battery Safety: Lithium Polymer batteries are small and light but store a tremendous amount of energy inside. This is good for running equipment for long periods of time between charges, but it also means that if something goes wrong and it releases all its energy at once it can be a serious fire hazard. Never charge a lithium battery unattended, charge only in a fireproof location. Batteries that are swollen or damaged should not be used. Dispose of these per local regulations. Be sure to follow all regulations for shipping or hand carrying Li-Po batteries. This may include packaging and labeling requirements, limiting the number of batteries, and discharging the batteries to 30% capacity before shipping. Do not discharge the battery below 9.6 volts (3.2 volts per cell). This damages the battery and could result in destructive decomposition and fire. If a battery that is discharged below a safe level is placed on the battery charger it will refuse to charge it. Batteries that are discharged below 9.6V should be removed from service and disposed of according to local regulations. To download a copy of this document as a PDF, click here. Some example batteries are shown below: | |||||
| Choosing the Right Lithium Polymer Battery for your MagEx | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Gretchen Schmauder | Hardware | |
| The MagEx uses a 3 cell Lithium Polymer battery to power the MagEx during surveys. The two main requirements for the battery are that it must fit into the battery compartment, and it must be nonmagnetic. Non-Magnetic Batteries: Some types of Lithium Polymer batteries are extremely magnetic. This is because the cell-to-cell connections are made with nickel strips (nickel is extremely magnetic). This makes them unsuitable for use in the MagEx since they will interfere with the background magnetic field that is being measured. Whether or not the batteries are magnetic is not something that appears on the data sheet, so it is important to choose batteries of a particular construction form factor that in practice has been shown to have a very low magnetic signature. Examples of this battery type will be shown below. There are many brand names for this battery type, and the brand names seems to change frequently. Evaluating the Magnetic Properties of a Battery: Batteries should be measured for magnetic signature before using them. This is especially true when trying a new battery brand just to be sure the battery is not going to affect the survey data. To perform this test you will need to start a survey with a stationary MagEx pointing north-south on a nonmagnetic platform (wooden sawhorses, cardboard box, etc). Hold the battery to be tested immediately over the battery compartment and rotate it in all orientations. Download the data and look for variations in the magnetic field that correlate with the battery rotation. There shouldn't be any correlation above 1 nT peak to peak. Make sure the operator is nonmagnetic when doing this test (shoes, belts, watches, cell phones, keys, etc. can all corrupt the results). Battery Size and Shape: The correct batteries are rectangular in shape and measure roughly 105x34x24mm. They are made from 3 flat cells stacked up measuring 11.1 volts nominal. They should be between 1800 and 6000 mAh (milliamp-hour). Higher capacity batteries will not physically fit in the battery compartment. Lower capacity batteries will work, but with a reduced run time. One 1800 mAh battery will run the MagEx for about two hours. The MagEx power connector is XT-60 so the battery must match. There are other power connector types, but XT-60 is commonly used. The 4-pin balance port connector is a JST-XH4 connector (though this is standard on most batteries). Where to Find Batteries: If you are in an area that doesn't have strict controls on shipping Lithium Polymer batteries, then Amazon.com is a good source. Another good source is hobby stores, or anyplace that sells radio-controlled toy cars, boats, or airplanes. This is typically where this style of battery is used the most. What do the Battery Specifications Mean? 3S: This means it is a stack of three Li-Po cells Voltage: A fully charged 3 cell Li-Po battery measures 12.6 volts. A depleted battery will measure 9.6 volts. Thus, the voltage for this battery is typically labeled as 11.1 volt (the average of 12.6 and 9.6 volts. 35C (or any other "C" value): This is a rating on how much current can be safely drawn from the battery. To get the value in amps, take the milliamp-hour rating and divide by 1000 (to get amp-hours), and then multiply by the "C" value. For a 2200 mAh battery with a 35C rating multiply the 2.2 amp-hour capacity (2200 mAh / 1000) times the C value of 35, which gives a maximum discharge current of 77 amps. The MagEx draws about 0.6 amps, so any C value is fine - even if is down to 0.5. Battery Chargers: Most battery chargers being sold now are universal chargers which support a variety of rechargeable battery chemistries and output connectors. They come in many sizes and shapes, but most of them operate identically because the internal circuitry is the same. Most chargers will charge at a much faster rate than the MagEx discharges them, so you technically only need two batteries in the field. A nice feature to look for is the ability to power the charger off 12V as well as with AC power. This will allow charging in the field off a car battery. Be sure to charge in batteries in "Balanced Charge" mode using the battery balance JST-XH connector. This allows more charge current into cells that are more deeply discharged than the others and ensures that the battery gets all three cells completely charged. Battery Safety: Lithium Polymer batteries are small and light but store a tremendous amount of energy inside. This is good for running equipment for long periods of time between charges, but it also means that if something goes wrong and it releases all its energy at once it can be a serious fire hazard. Never charge a lithium battery unattended, charge only in a fireproof location. Batteries that are swollen or damaged should not be used. Dispose of these per local regulations. Be sure to follow all regulations for shipping or hand carrying Li-Po batteries. This may include packaging and labeling requirements, limiting the number of batteries, and discharging the batteries to 30% capacity before shipping. Do not discharge the battery below 9.6 volts (3.2 volts per cell). This damages the battery and could result in destructive decomposition and fire. If a battery that is discharged below a safe level is placed on the battery charger it will refuse to charge it. Batteries that are discharged below 9.6V should be removed from service and disposed of according to local regulations. Some example batteries are shown below: | |||||
| What is degaussing? How can I degauss metallic components for my magnetometer setup? | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Gretchen Schmauder | General Magnetometer Info | |
| Degaussing is a method by which magnetic domains in metals or magnetic inclusions in other materials are randomized so that net magnetization is minimized. One tool do accomplish this is the “Bulk Tape Eraser” designed to erase data tapes. The method works because the “Bulk Tape Eraser” generates an alternating electromagnetic field, which flips the magnetization of the magnetic domains in the material at 100 or 120 reversals per second (50 or 60 hertz). As the operator slowly removes the “Eraser” from the vicinity of the magnetized material, the magnetic domains of the material individually freeze in one orientation or the other, leaving the domains in a randomized orientation with minimal net magnetic effect. Degaussing with a Bulk Tape Eraser *The procedure is straight forward. Plug the Eraser into an extension cord or wall socket (the Eraser cord is usually short). Holding the object to be degaussed in one hand, depress the Eraser start button and move it towards the object. Once close to the object or section of material, begin moving the Eraser with a small circular motion and then increase the radius of the circle as you draw the Eraser away from the object. DO NOT STOP the Eraser closer than three feet from the object being degaussed or it will become strongly magnetized in one direction! If this happens accidentally, just redo the degaussing procedure over again starting from the beginning. *For larger objects, run the Eraser along tubing or struts in a circular motion to “bathe” the objects in an oscillating field. Be sure to cover the entire surface area of the object being degaussed. Then slowly withdraw the eraser (while still running) until it is at least 3 feet away. Then release the power switch. *The magnetometer can be used to check the sufficiency of the degaussing procedure. After degaussing, rotate the object close to an operating magnetometer to see if there is a response from the magnetometer. This is best done with a cesium magnetometer operated in gradient mode, but it can be done with a single sensor with one person watching the result and another moving the object near the sensor. Degaussing Sensor Mount Degaussing Pack Frame Degaussing GPS Antenna Limitations of Degaussing with a Bulk Eraser Depth of penetration: The Bulk Tape Eraser can only randomize materials to a certain depth. This is due to the size of the gap in the degaussing unit. A small gap makes for a very large degaussing field at the gap (about 2000 gauss, or 200 million nanoteslas), but also for a very rapid falloff away from the gap. Bulk tape erasers are optimized to penetrate through the thickness of a typical video tape. This gives a typical depth of an inch (2.5 cm). Deeper objects may need to be degaussed using stronger degaussing fields. Degaussing through a conductive chassis: An additional problem occurs when the object being degaussed is covered by a conductive surface (such as a sheet of aluminum). The degaussing field will generate huge eddy currents in the conductive surface which will generate its own opposing magnetic field. This will be evident to the operator because the opposing field will cause the degausser to buzz loudly. This doesn’t hurt anything, but be aware that the degaussing field on the other side of the conductive surface will be attenuated by some amount, so it may take a longer amount of time or multiple passes to degauss the object. The Bulk Tape Eraser is a short duty cycle device. It varies a little from manufacturer to manufacturer, but typically it is rated for 1 minute on and 5 to 10 minutes off. Most have an internal thermal cutout that will shut it off if it overheats, and if tripped may take 20 minutes or more to cool down enough to reset. Frequently Asked Questions Why is degaussing needed? Degaussing misaligns magnetic domains so that there is no net permanent magnetization that would give an offset or heading error to magnetic field readings. Sensitive magnetometers such as those manufactured by Geometrics can be effected by nearby materials that are not sufficiently magnetically randomized. Degaussing does not alter the induced magnetic moment of any material. A piece of steel, when degaussed, is still magnetic because it draws and concentrates the earth’s field through it. However, a degaussed piece of steel is much less magnetic than a permanently magnetized piece. How much effect does it have on magnetic signatures? Depending on the distance from the sensor to the magnetic object and the amount of magnetization, the effects can be very large -10’s of nanoTeslas. Many materials including brass, aluminum, fiberglass and other non-ferrous materials may have some ferrous materials in them naturally or acquired during the manufacturing process. Other materials such as ‘non-magnetic’ stainless steel are hugely magnetic when compared to the sensitivity of our magnetometers. Degaussing can decrease the magnetic effect of these materials by a factor of 10 or more. What should I degauss? The operator should degauss any metallic object that is near the sensor. By “near”, in general we mean within 1 meter but certainly those metallic and non-metallic materials within a few centimeters of the sensor must be considered (this also includes the sensor itself, which could have minute magnetic inclusions in the sensor materials). This could also include GPS antennas, magnetometer cart assemblies (including brass fittings, bolts, clamps), buckles, eyeglasses, boots and parts of backpacks. We would also do occasional degaussing of the G-858 console and batteries. Will degaussing hurt anything? This is a tough question since it is impossible to imagine every conceivable system arrangement that could be subjected to degaussing. In all our experience we have never had any electronics device hurt by the degaussing process. This is because the induced voltages from the degausser are low, and the electronics components have a fairly high impedance at low voltages. It would be safer to degauss electronics while the power to the electronics is turned off in case the small induced voltages cause the device to operate incorrectly. It is always safe to degauss any of Geometrics’ manufactured equipment (including the sensor). On the other hand, here are some things to consider when degaussing some types of objects. Large conductive planes or rings will have large circulating currents induced in them by the degausser (but the voltages are still very small). This induced current will produce an opposing magnetic field that will fight the degaussing field – causing both the degausser and the conductive plane/loop to vibrate substantially. If the device being degaussed is sensitive to this vibration (intricate mechanical workings and the like) then this is a possible route for causing some damage. Also, sometimes objects being degaussed have embedded magnets that are necessary for the device to operate properly. A good example is a device with a permanent magnet speaker inside. Generally it is hard to degauss a magnetically hard permanent magnet, but the degausser is strong enough to at least partially do the job. A partially degaussed speaker (or other object that requires a magnet to work right) isn’t going to work the same as before – so be aware. [Things that have magnets in them shouldn’t be used near magnetometers anyway.] When to degauss and how often? We recommend that parts close to the sensor be degaussed before every major survey event. In other words on a weekly or monthly basis or before a new survey. Remnant magnetism or “Perm” can be “picked up” (domains realigned) when the materials are static in the earth’s magnetic field for a period of time. The amount of time required to acquire a “Perm” can be from days to weeks or months depending on the magnetic “hardness” of the materials. This is also known as the materials “susceptibility”, that is, susceptibility to being magnetized. Also, magnets are everywhere, and they can easily and unknowingly ‘perm’ up parts on or near the sensor. Magnetic screwdrivers, for example, are great for holding steel screws on the end of the driver while starting them into a threaded hole, but they are bad news near any magnetometer sensors. | |||||
| What naturally occuring magnetotelluric frequencies exist? | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Gretchen Schmauder | General Electromagnetic Info | |
| If you are looking for natural magnetotelluric (MT) frequencies that are nearly always observable then you can count on the Schumann resonances. You can assume very low signal strength in the low micro Volt range. The foundational Schumann Resonance is the strongest at 7.83 Hz (around 8Hz) and it generally has a strength measured around 1 microV/root Hz in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Schumann and other lightening generated frequencies are propagated into the atmosphere, the atmosphere acting as a wave guide due to the electromagnetic signal reflecting off the ionosphere. As electromagnetic waves interact with the Earth’s surface they act as displacement currents going vertically into the Earth. These displacement currents then create secondary currents that flow horizontally in the Earth. MT signals are assumed to be plane waves since the source is far enough away to be several skin depths distant. The assumption of plane wave and multiple polarizations of the signal allows magnetotelluric calculations to be made without consideration of the source parameters. The general MT signals will come and go depending on atmospheric conditions, time of day, time of year, location, and general distant lightning activity. Signals below about 0.1 Hz are typically from the ionosphere, generated by variations in the solar winds and how they press on the ionosphere, and not by lightning strikes. Traditional deep MT measurements will use natural magnetotelluric signals from 0.001 Hz (1,000 second period) and even lower frequencies with instruments that are capable. The dominant Schumann Resonant frequencies are 7.83Hz, 14.3, 20.8, 27.3, and 30.8Hz. There exist a magnetotelluric “dead-zone” in the 800 Hz to 4 kHz range, and this dead-zone is the result of certain frequencies not being contained in the atmospheric wave guide, instead simply dissipating into space. If you are working with AMT measurements generally the limit is somewhere between 0.1 Hz to around 2 Hz but that is because of instrumentation not the existence of the fields. The Stratagem EH4 went to 10 Hz and the Geode EM3D goes to 0.1 Hz. All the power line harmonics of 60 Hz in North America and 50 Hz in other parts of the world will give strong signal but are considered noise as far as MT measurements go and need to be avoided and filtered out. Another noise problem are the world-wide very low frequency (VLF) signals that also need to be filter and avoided. VLF signals are military signals from stations around the world and they swamp out the much lower natural magnetotelluric fields. There is a geophysical method that actually uses the man-made VLF signal to detect linear conductive geologic structures but VLF are a problem for MT measurements. For more information on the Schumann Resonances, which are the predominant natural magnetotelluric currents that exist, watch the video by Geophysicist Stefan Burns below: | |||||
| Best Practices for Downloading data from ATOMs | 1 Relevance | 1 year ago | Wei Jiang | Application | |
| This is for customers of the ATOM 1C and ATOM 3C seismographs (“ATOMs”) and is intended to provide guidance on ways to improve the download behavior via Wi-Fi. The ATOMs should be removed from any enclosure and positioned with the metal base plate down and relatively close to the Access Point (AP), which will increase the signal strength available to both the Atom’s and the AP. The RF environment during data download can impact whether the ATOMs can connect and on how fast they download data. Other RF devices in the vicinity (i.e., Bluetooth, wireless cameras, other APs, etc.), can cause slower download time. If there is a microwave oven operating nearby, this can disrupt communication between the ATOMs and the AP. If you are having trouble getting the ATOMs to connect and download, try setting up the AP and laptop and then turning on the ATOMs one-by-one waiting for it to connect before turning on the next unit. Another thing that will improve download performance is connecting the laptop directly to the AP with an Ethernet cable. This eliminates all of the RF traffic between the laptop and AP. Summary: *Choose a location with the least amount of RF traffic. *Remove all ATOMs from any enclosure and place each ATOM on its aluminum bottom base plate. This is the best position for the internal antenna. *When possible, everything should at least be on the same level, off the ground, on a desk or table. The AP can even be placed higher than the ATOMs. *Each ATOM should have at least a foot of space around it and be within 10 to 12 ft. of the Access Point. Being too close to the AP is also not ideal. *The ATOMs and AP should be in the same space or room with the AP being centrally located. *Connect the Access Point directly to the Laptop with an Ethernet cable rather than using a WiFi connection between the laptop and AP. *The Access Point can connect up to 30 devices at once, but it is advisable to connect 24 or fewer. The time it takes to connect will vary from ATOM to ATOM. If after 1.5 minutes an ATOM is not found, restart the ATOM. If after another 1.5 minutes an ATOM is still not connected, it could be a hardware issue. Contact support@geometrics.com Download time may also vary from ATOM to ATOM. If an ATOM disconnects or takes a much longer time than other ATOMs to download (>30 minutes) it could be a hardware issue. Contact support@geometrics.com | |||||
| Intermittent Issue Diagnosis | 1 Relevance | 2 years ago | Rui Zhang | Hardware | |
| General information The most common symptoms of intermittent connection issues are shown below: D_CY shows a background decay signal is either much higher than normal, and/or C_CY is a flat line (doesn’t decay). Figure 1 Intermittent connection issue. Where is the failure occurring? The two most common places where intermittent issues occur are at the two ends of the Rx cable: the joint between the Rx cable and the Cart and the joint between the Rx cable and the EDA box (orange box). Now we need to identify which joint has the intermittent issue. Set up the MM2x2 in DAM mode. Collect DAM data while keeping the Cart stationary but tapping one joint. Collect another DAM data while tapping the other joint. Analyze the DAM data by plotting the “Monostatic_5” for all 12 Rx channels in Geosoft. The channels having intermittent issues will appear much noisier. If you have MatLab software, you can download the MatLab code to analyze the DAM data. Example plots are shown below. It is obvious that “ZA” channel has the intermittent issue in Figure 2 and “XB” channel is open in Figure 3 (very flat line, no noise at all). Click here to download the code: Attachment : Intermittent_noise_full.zip . If both DAM and IVS data have the same problematic channel(s), we are confident that the intermittent issues observed in IVS data are repeated in DAM data, and by tapping at that location, we are able to identify the intermittent joint. Figure 2 Intermittent "ZA" channel. Figure 3 Open "XB" channel. What to do next? Disconnect the problematic joint and clean the connectors on both sides thoroughly (using an acid brush and a can of compressed air). Reconnect and try the tapping method again. If the problem goes away (no more noisy channels), the intermittent issue is likely caused by dust. If cleaning doesn’t fix the problem, swap out the Rx cable and repeat the tapping method. If the problem goes away, it is likely caused by a bad Rx cable. If there is another set of EDA and Cart available, swap out the EDA and the Cart to identify the problematic part. If not, use the tapping location to identify the problematic part. Fill out the RMA form at . If it is the Cart, send in the whole system for inspection/repair. You can contact Geometrics for MM2x2 rental if you need to continue your work during the down time. If it is the EDA, we recommend sending in the EDA only. It will save your repair time since it is much faster to unpack/pack/ship the EDA than the whole system. You can contact Geometrics for EDA rental if you need to continue your work during the down time. Warning Please note that this tapping method should ONLY be tried when intermittent issues have been observed in IVS tests. It is NOT recommended to use it as a daily QC test because it does put extra stress on connectors and likely leads to a shortened connector lifetime if applied too often. | |||||
