Digital Load Measurement System

DLMS-NetWork
V 1.0

USERS MANUAL

This document intended to guide the user to install,

configure and use the DLMS-NetWork software.

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CONTENTS
CONTENTS...................................................................................................................................................................... I

1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................................1

1.1 FEATURES..............................................................................................................................................................1

1.2 MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS...............................................................................................................1

2 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION...................................................................................................................................2

2.1 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE ............................................................................................................................2

3 CONNECTIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS..........................................................................................................3

3.1 CONNECTIONS......................................................................................................................................................3

3.2 DEVICE COMMUNICATIONS .............................................................................................................................4

4 CONTROL BUTTONS OVERVIEW .........................................................................................................................6

5 CALIBRATION ............................................................................................................................................................7

5.1 CALIBRATION OF DIGICELL LCA-X, LCA-D, DC-XXX SERIES DEVICES...................................................7

5.2 CALIBRATION OF DIGICELL DLT SERIES DEVICES.....................................................................................8

6 DEVICE SETUP ...........................................................................................................................................................9

6.1 SETUP OF DIGICELL LCA-X, LCA-D, DC-XXX SERIES DEVICES..................................................................9

6.1.1 IDENTITY PARAMETERS ................................................................................................................................9

6.1.2 DISPLAY PARAMETERS................................................................................................................................10

6.1.3 INPUT PARAMETERS....................................................................................................................................10

6.1.4 OUTPUT PARAMETERS................................................................................................................................12

6.1.5 COMMUNICATIONS PARAMETERS ............................................................................................................13

7 LOGS............................................................................................................................................................................14

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1 INTRODUCTION
DLMS-NetWork is software that provides a visual user interface for monitoring and maintaining and calibrating
multiple DigiCell device.

1.1 FEATURES
Plug sensing
- Automatically detects device type and provides calibration and setup regarding the device connected.

Visual user interface

- Simulates the visual properties of the device connected for display and basic control buttons.
- Provides easy device setup interface by Windows standard property window.
- Easy device calibration method.

Logging
- Logs display values to text file in level triggered basis as data logging.
- Data logging may have delay in order to ensure the data is setup after a load change.
- Data to be logged to a database file with device IDs.
1.2 MINIMUM SYSTEM REQIREMENTS

Hardware
- Pentium Family CPU 233MHz or Higher
- 32MB RAM (higher recommended)
- 10MB harddisk space (higher space recommended for data logging)
- 800x600 high color or true color graphics adapter and compatible monitor
- Hardware COM ports
- RS232C/RS485 converters for port
- CD-ROM Drive (required only for installation)

Software
- Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP operating system

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2 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION

2.1 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

1- Close all open applications running and insert the install CD into CD-ROM Drive.
2- The Setup utility will normally run automatically. If it does not run (your CD-ROM may be configured not to run
applications automatically) then click My Computer on desktop, click CD-ROM icon next and run Setup.Exe from
CD.
3- Setup will copy the files necessary for installation to the temporary folder automatically and will prompt a warning
about closing the other applications, click OK if there is no application currently running.

4- Setup will prompt for the directory for installation, you may change it by “Change Directory” or you may leave it
as default and continue to installation by clicking the icon button on the left of window.

5- Setup will install all necessary files and registry automatically and prompt when installation finished.
6- Your computer may need to be rebooted after the installation, the prompt will ask to reboot or do it later, rebooting
that time strongly recommended, the software may not work properly if prompted and run without rebooting.
7- The DLMS-NetWork icon will be added to start menu after the installation.

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3 CONNECTIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS

The physical connections must be established and the communication parameters must be specified properly to
establish a link between the PC and the DigiCell device. PC acts as DCE and Digicell devices functions as DTE in
communications.
3.1 CONNECTIONS
DigiCell series communicate by ModBus protocol. DigiCell series those have RS232 interface port can directly
connected by a three-wire communications cable to PC. DigiCell devices that have RS485 port need to be connected by
an RS232/RS485 converter.

Digicell series with RS232 ports also communicates

by the ModBus protocol. ModBus protocol supports
many devices can be connected to same
communication line as a bus in case physical
communication layer supports multi-drop
connections.
3 wire RS232 cable
PC DigiCell
RS232 interface does not support multi-drop
communications, thus only one device can be
connected to same line at a time even if ModBus
Figure 1. Connection for RS232 port Digicell devices
communications used. The RS232 cable can be
obtained by the manufacturer.

RS485 is a multi-drop communications layer but an RS232/RS485 converter must be devised to connect an RS485 bus
to a communications port of a PC in order to match the electrical signals and direction of communication information
flow. A compatible RS485/RS232 converter can be obtained by the manufacturer.

PC
Converter
#1 #5 #33 #45

Attention: RS485/RS232 conversion is a complicated process that includes the data direction control. Many third party
RS232/RS485 converters have a data direction control based on special functions of PC side communication ports or
may have incompatible delays to run with DLMS software. Third party converters may not function properly with
DLMS software except those suggested by the manufacturer.

DLMS-NetWork can communicate with any of the devices on a multi-drop bus by changing the configuration of PC
communication parameters of the software, but not at a time. As a convention of ModBus protocol, all devices on the
same bus must have the same communication parameters.

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3.2 DEVICE COMMUNICATIONS

DLMS_NetWork screen appearance.

DLMS-NetWork can communicate with Digicell devices and can also communicate with the other computers on the
network via TCP/IP protocol. There are two seperated communication setups.

• Local Devices

This section defines the local devices that connected to the PCs comm port(s). Before modifying any port or device
settings, please make sure that “Work Offline” box checked.

After making communication offline (“Work offline” mod), make comm port settings.

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• Network Devices

Once a device has been detected, the simulated LCD display will indicate the load, status of stability and zero upon
current actual status.

All buttons will be enabled if the program key is enabled by the device. The calibration button (-C-) may remain
disabled with cross over it if the program is disabled by the device.

The device will not go into the online mode if the communication port and parameters selected differ those of the
device. The default communication parameters of DLMS-NetWork software matches factory default communication
parameters of DigiCell devices. The common adjustment will be the communication port selection if communication
parameters of either the software or the device is not modified on purpose.

Please follow the steps below to establish a successful link between PC and the device;
1- Connect the DigiCell device by appropriate cable to the communications port of PC.
2- Power-up the DigiCell
3- Run DLMS-NetWork software
4- Click the following PC communications button to popup the PC communication settings window.
5- Select the communications port that the device is connected to the PC. This option is COM1 by default. You may
need to change it to appropriate port if it is being used by another device.
6- Click Apply and check the panel in background if the communication established successfully, there may be an
error message if any inappropriate port is selected. Try another if you are not sure which port is being used.
7- Click OK when finished. A temporary offline condition will occur within a second and the connection will be
saved automatically after clicking OK button.

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4 CONTROL BUTTONS OVERVIEW

Control buttons provide Zero, Tare operations, device setup, calibration, PC communication settings and logging
preferences. The general functions are depicted below, please see the referenced section for details.

USER ZERO
Available only when online. Provides the functionality to set the gross value to zero when clicked. User zero
can be operational in certain limits and conditions and may result to a warning message that this operation
cannot be done if the conditions of measurement are not appropriate for this operation. Please see device manuals for
conditions for zero operation.

TARE TOGGLE
Available only when online. Toggles tare between Gross and Net/Tare mode. Clicking this button will result
the current captured value as the tare value and the net value is being displayed. Clicking this button when a
tare value is already captured will result the tare to be cleared and gross value displayed until a new tare value captured.
Tare functionality is limited to certain conditions and a warning message may be displayed if tare function cannot be
done at that time. Please see device manuals for conditions for tare operation.

CALIBRATION
Available only when online and the program key is on. Reads current calibration data from device and pops
up the calibration window. The calibration windows functionality depends on the device type. Refer to the
“Calibration” section of corresponding device type. The program key is a hardware key on the device that is not
accessible without sealing the device off. This button will be disabled by a white cross on it when the program key is in
off position. Please refer the device manuals for the position of the program key.

SETUP
Available only when online. Reads current setup from device and pops up the setup window. Some
information are protected by the program key and will not be written after the setup. Setting up all available
information will require the program key is in on state. Please refer to Device Setup section for further information.

PC COMMUNICATION PARAMETERS
Enables the user to change the parameters that the personal computer use in communications to a device. The
communication port, baudrate, framing properties and device ModBus number can be selected by the following
window pops up after clicking this button.

The port must be selected as the port that is connected to the device. The values; Protocol, Baudrate, Parity, Data Bits
and Stop Bits must match the device connected. HB Modbus Address is an ID of the device being communicated and
must match the correct address which the device is being identified for either the device on the bus or a single device
connected. The address ranges 1 to 255. OK button saves selected parameters and closes the current window. Apply
does the some without closing the current window. Cancel leaves settings as last Apply or OK clicked.

LOGGING OPTIONS
Enables the user to modify logging options. Please refer to Logging section of this document for details.

SYSTEM INFORMATION
Opens an about dialog box and displays software information about DLMS-Virtual Panel. This window also
includes rated values of DigiCell if connected at the time this button clicked.

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5 CALIBRATION
Calibration process differs in digital input DigiCell devices, such as DigiCell DLT and analog input DigiCell devices,
such as DigiCell DC-xxx, LCA-X or LCA-D. Digicell series with digital input can communicate with multiple analog
input DigiCell devices and the calibration process covers the corner calibration as well as overall calibration. DigiCell
series those use analog inputs calibrated only as overall calibration.

DLMS-NetWork identifies the device automatically and pops up the related calibration window if the
calibration button clicked. This button is enabled only if the program key is ON on the device. Please see the
related device manuals for where the program key is located on the device.

5.1 CALIBRATION OF DIGICELL LCA-X, LCA-D, DC-xxx SERIES DEVICES

Once the calibration key pressed the software will read existing calibration data and the calibration history and will pop
up the following window.

The green box indicates the current gross

value measured and changes dynamically
with the current load on the scale.

The calibration process must be performed

by following the steps described.

1- The zero must be acquired from the

input. Thus the scale must be unloaded
first.

2- Clicking the “Click here & Set Zero”

button will record the current input as
the zero and write back it to device
memory. This operation may take a few
seconds that all buttons will be disabled.
The green indicator will display zero
after this operation completed.

3- The scale must be loaded to a certain

load to enable the system measure that
load and calculate the gain factor.

4- The load on the scale must be entered as the reference of current load that will be used in calculations.

5- Clicking “Click here & Set Load” button will result the calculations performed and written back to the device. This
may take a few seconds to done. The green indicator will display the entered load after the write-back.

6- Clicking the Close button will update the calibration history of the device and will close the window if calibration
changed.

These steps may be repeated until a proper calibration accomplished.

Attention: Steps in calibration cannot be undone. It is necessary to complete all steps before closing the window in
order not to lead an uncertain state of calibration.

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5.2 CALIBRATION OF DIGICELL DLT SERIES DEVICES

This feature is supported by the software but not documented since DigiCell DLT series are in development in time
manual is being published. Contact to the manufacturer for updated manuals if the DigiCell DLT device is being used.

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6 DEVICE SETUP
Device setup enables the user to maintain major parameters of DigiCell connected. The parameters ranges from the
read-only device serial number and ROM Version to Display unit, output set points and communication parameters
regarding the device type.

Parameters differ in digital input DigiCell devices, such as DigiCell DLT and analog input DigiCell devices, such as
DigiCell DC-xxx, LCA-X or LCA-D.

Parameter functions will be explained in brief within this manual, please refer to device manuals for detailed functional
descriptions. Some parameters can be updated only if the program key is ON on the device. Please see the related
device manuals for where the program key is located.

DLMS-NetWork identifies the device automatically and pops up the related setup window when the Setup
button clicked.

6.1 SETUP OF DIGICELL LCA-X, LCA-D, DC-xxx SERIES DEVICES

The setup window has 5 group of parameters:

Identity: Parameters those identifies the device.

Display: Parameters those effect how the device displays the measurements.
Input: Parameters those control the measurements at device input
Output: Parameters those are related with hardware outputs of the device.
Communications: Parameters those specify how the device communicates on the bus.

6.1.1 IDENTITY PARAMETERS

Serial Number (Read-only)

The serial number that has been
specified during production.

ROM version (Read-only)

The version of device software.

Customer code (Read-only)

A code for some system specific
behaviour. 0 or 255 in standard
systems.

Calibration Counts (Read-only)

The number identifying how many
times device has been calibrated. This
number incremented each time when
calibration made.

PC Calibration Software (Read-

only)
The ID and name of the software that
used for last calibration process.

Calibration Date (Read-only)

The date of calibration if known. The
date is updated each time after
calibration by PC software. The time
may not be known if the device has
been calibrated by its own user
interface.

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6.1.2 DISPLAY PARAMETERS

Decimal Point
DigiCell devices provide measurements
in fixed-point form. The position of
decimal point can be selected by
decimal point selection box.

Display Unit
Display unit is only used for user
interface of built-in device display and
for PC software. The unit has no
computational function. It can be
selected to appropriate unit by the
selection box.

Scale Type, “e” and “Max” values

Scale Type specifies how “e” will be
handled. Can be choosen from Single
Interval , Multi Interval and Multi
Range.

“e” value is the increment or decrement

of displayed value when load changes.
“e” value is based on the least
significant decimal digit of
measurement value, i.e. the display
value will increase or decrease by 0.02
if decimal point is selected as 1.00 and
“e” selected as 2.

The device uses only one “e” value for all range if Single Interval selected. It displays the Maximum alert message over
the Max value with a tolerance.

On Multi Interval or Multi Range selection, two “e” and “Max” values will be available for selection as “e1,e2 and
Max1,Max2”. Basically e1 is used for measurements below Max1 value and e2 is being used above Max1 value. Max2
value corresponds to the alert value.

The difference between Multi Range and Multi Interval is the behavior of output when Max1 exceeded and fallen
below. The e1 is used below Max1 and e2 used above Max1 in Multi Interval Scale Type, the “e” value that is being
used returns to e1 if the measurement falls below Max1. The Multi Range option provides “e” value not to return to e1
state when measurement falls below Max1 unless measurement is actually zero with a tolerance.

6.1.3 INPUT PARAMETERS

Input parameters are devised for input measurements stability regarding to the input bridge ratio, environmental
conditions and load change characteristics. The filtering mechanism and its parameters plays a major role for input
measurement stability. The input filter of Digicell devices are adaptive for fast load changes. The combined behavior of
Filter Size, Filter Tolerance and Filter Escape Counts parameters are explained as adaptive filter behavior below;

The adaptive filter behavior: The filtering mechanism is based on the average of measurements collected respectively
and accumulated to FIFO method memory. The size of the FIFO (in number of measurements) varies 1 to the Filter
Size specified. Each measurement from the input is compared to the current value that has been filtered and the last
measurement from input enters to the FIFO filter directly if the difference between last measurement and the filter
value is less than the Filter Tolerance value. The measurement is disregarded if it exceeds the difference and counted as
a possibly inappropriate value (i.e. caused by mechanical vibration or electrical noise from the input). The count is reset
after first in-range measurement and the last measurement enters to the FIFO filter. The FIFO completely cleared and
restarts with last measurement acquired if the count of inappropriate values exceeds the Filter Escape Counts value.
The number of values in FIFO filter will grow from 1 measurement to the number of measurements specified by the
Filter Size parameter.

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A proper input stability is based on the followings that can be specified.

Input Range
Specifies the input Wheatstone bridge
ratio in mV/V. Selection of the proper
range is important since the input of the
device will go into overflow state and
produce an error when the bridge ratio
becomes higher than the selected value
or the measurement will loose accuracy
if selected excessively higher than the
bridges maximum ratio.

Filter Size
Filter size is the number of
measurements that is buffered and used
for calculations during filtering. The
greater the value the more stable
measurements got and measurement
speed reduces. The lower the value the
lower stability got and the device will
respond faster to a change in its input.

Filter Tolerance and Filter Escape

Counts
Specifies the behavior of the system for
adapting to fast load changes. The
value of Filter Tolerance is in Internal
counts (ranges from 0 to 1,048,576)
that stands for the input measurement
resolution of internal analog to digital
converter. Attention: These values must be selected lower when filter size is small. Excessive Filter Escape Counts
values may cause excessive delays in all conditions, this value must be used with care.

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6.1.4 OUTPUT PARAMETERS

Output parameters are devised to control of the device hardware outputs such as relays and analog output.

Relay outputs
Determines setpoints and setpoint
conditions for devices that support
relay outputs. “Above or equal“ or
“Below” options are selectable and can
be based either on net value or gross
value. The units of setpoints are
determined by the common
measurement unit set by Display Unit
from Display Tag.

Analog Output
Determines the measurement/output
ratio of analog output to value
measured. Analog output can be
selected to be based on Net value or
Gross value.

The “From” value corresponds The

value “0” displayed and “To” value
corresponds to Maximum value (Max
or Max2 value specified by Display
tag). The analog output decreases with
increasing load if “From” value is
lesser than “To” value.

The difference of “From” value an “To” value must be greater than 3mA’s. Values above 25mA and the difference
below 10mA may cause loss of accuracy at output.

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6.1.5 COMMUNICATIONS PARAMETERS

Communications parameters are used to specify how the device communicates with the PC.

Please pay attention for following warnings before setting this parameters;
1- Do not confuse PC communication parameters with Communications Parameters. PC communication parameters
that accessed by panel button directly specifies the PC side of operation.
2- Specifying incorrect parameters may result access problems to device.
3- Never change communication parameters if more than one device are operating on the same bus.

Protocol
Specifies the major ModBus option.
RTU protocol is a binary protocol
that devices detect the message
termination by a specified time delay.
ASCII protocol is a text based data
transfer and the termination
characters are standard Line Feed and
Carriage Return ASCII characters. In
brief RTU is faster than ASCII since
the amount of data flow requires less
bytes to communicate. ASCII method
is supported by Digicell family since
a PC is not essential as a master
device, PLC and third party
equipment can also be used for this
purpose.

Baudrate, Parity, Data Bits and Stop

Bits
Specifies the framing for
communications. Some combinations
are not allowed by DigiCell devices.

Following combinations of framing are not supported;

- RTU protocol with 7 Data Bits
- No Parity, 7 Data Bits, 1 Stop Bit
- Even or odd parity, 8 Data Bits, 2 Stop Bits
Delay
Initial delay before a ModBus package sent by the device. This feature supported for slow response DCE devices or
slow protocol converters. Mostly specified as zero for PC environment.

Time-Out
Operates for different purposes regarding RTU or ASCII mode is being used. It specifies the termination duration of
the package when operating in RTU mode. It specifies the cancellation time-out if a premature package met while
operating in ASCII mode.

ModBus Address
The address of the device on the bus. Must be specified properly even if only one device operates on bus of RS232
physical layer used for communication.

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7 LOGS
Logs are intended to be used not only for recording the measurements to a text file but also the events the user done by
the software.

Logs can be enabled or disabled, each item can be selected to be logged. To maintain with logging controls the
Logging button must be clicked to open the following window.

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