What do the Error and Status codes mean?
The (pre-)midlife instruments (Aquadopp, Aquadopp Profiler, AWAC and Vector) all output two multiple bit binary coded words describing the instrument state. The following explains the meaning of each bit in the Error and Status words. The bits within the words count from right to left starting with zero.
Error code:
The bit is set ("1") if there is an error condition and cleared ("0") if ok.
Bit 7 - Coordinate transformation: If the compass fails and the system is set to ENU the system will output XYZ and this bit will be set.
Bit 6 - Sensor: Vector: The tilt sensor is not responding. Aquadopp: The CT sensor (serial only - eg Seabird) is not responding.
Bit 5 - Beam number: A problem has occured with the beam order.
Bit 4 - Flash: An error has occured in the primary system flash memory and the system may not be able to reboot.
Bit 3 - Tag bit: There has been an error in the processing, an internal buffer is overflowing.
Bit 2 - Sensor data: One of the sensors is not operating correctly.
Bit 1 - Measurement data: An error has occured with some element of the processing, the data is probably corrupted.
Bit 0 - Compass: The compass does not respond. If the system is in ENU mode it will default to XYZ, and a value of 90 degrees will be displayed.
Status code:
Bits 7 and 6 - Power level: These bits reflect the power level setting, i.e. how much acoustic energy the instrument transmits into the water. This is set by the user in the deployment planning dialog when configuring the instrument.
Bit 7 Bit 6 Power level
0 0 High
0 1 High -
1 0 Low +
1 1 Low
Bits 5 and 4 - Wakeup state: These bits indicate the wakeup state of the instrument. There are four different ways that can cause a wakeup of the instrument and hence there are two bits in the status field that identify the wakeup source.
Bit 5 Bit 4 Wakeup state
0 0 Bad power
0 1 Power supplied
1 0 Break
1 1 Real Time Clock (RTC)
Bad power status is used when the input voltage to the instrument during normal operation is so low that the instrument may no longer operate correctly. The hardware is then held in a reset state until the voltage reaches an acceptable level. It is typically caused by a broken cable or a faulty power supply.
Power supplied is the status code when power is applied to an instrument. To get this status code the power must typically be removed for a few seconds. Removing power for just one second will typically be indicated as bad power.
Break status indicates an instrument reset because a break was received on the communications port. The break is used when the software communicates with the instrument. This will typically be status code in the first data record in an online measurement.
Real Time Clock status shows that the internal clock in the instrument caused the wakeup. To reduce the power consumption the instruments enters sleep mode between measurements for most setups. The internal RTC will ensure that the instrument wakes up at the appropriate time and this is indicated in the status byte.
Bit 3 - Roll: This bit indicates if the instrument roll angle exceeds the tilt sensor operational range limits.
Bit 3 Roll
0 Ok, valid data
1 Out of range, invalid data
Bit 2 - Pitch: This bit indicates if the instrument pitch angle exceeds the tilt sensor operational range limits.
Bit 2 Pitch
0 Ok, valid data
1 Out of range, invalid data
Bit 1 - Scaling: This bit indicates the scaling of the velocity output and depends on the velocity range setting (Vector only). If the instrument is set to use the highest ranges the least significant bit is 1 mm/s. For the lowest range it is 0.1 mm/s. The purpose of varying scale factor is make sure we utilize as much as we can of the dynamic range that is inherent in the system. This is all transparent if you use the Vector program to convert to ASCII because the data reported in the ASCII files is in engineering units. If you develop your own programs to read the binary data files, the variable scaling needs to be taken into account.
Bit 1 Scaling
0 1 mm/s
1 0.1 mm/s
Bit 0 - Orientation: This bit indicates the orientation of the instrument.
Bit 0 Orientation
0 Up
1 Down
Note that for the Vector the instrument is defined to be in the UP orientation when the communication cable end of the canister is on the top of the canister, ie when the probe is pointing down. Be aware when the Vector is running in Continuous mode, the Vector needs to be oriented in the correct orientation when starting measurements – up/down orientation will not be updated while measuring.
Comments
1 comment
I have an older Nortek vector 300m. After converting .vec data file to ascii using nortek v1.39.09 software, I got the following in the .SSL file. I am wondering what 08 error code is referring to. I don't see it here or in the manual.
Date and Time Ecode Scode Level Description
1/8/2021 00:00:00 00 31 Info First measurement
1/8/2021 00:00:22 08 31 Error Tag bit error
1/8/2021 00:00:57 08 31 Error Tag bit error
The .HDR file below. Thanks for the help.
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