User Manual

SGD-SB2025NT-TUM, Part 2
Jan 12 Page 13 INTRO TO ET
1 INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGINEERING TERMINAL
1.1 E NGINEERING T ERMINAL O VERVIEW
In the context of engineering, the ET is the primary source for control and monitoring of a Solar
Network for both Analogue and P25 systems. It must be stressed that the ET is not designed for
use by a control operator; a bespoke supervisory application or Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP) is best suited for that task.
Basic connection of the ET is to the front panel USB (Type B) connector. The Solar 2 unit uses a
four port USB interface module and, on connection to the PC, four new ports will become available
on the PC. Of these, only three ports can be ever be used as each of the main internal modules is
connected to one of the ports when fitted; i.e. one port is reserved for the TM and two ports are
reserved for each of the NI.
The TM also supports a network connected ET, which allows remote diagnostics and monitoring
(subject to network permissions), however, the initial TM configuration can only be made with a
locally connected ET.
1.2 ET A PPLICATION P ACKAGE
A common software application package services all hardware builds of Solar 2 units. The
software application will automatically determine the type of module to which it connects and
present the corresponding status window for that module; i.e. a TM or a NI. The software
application package is available as zipped downloads from the web site at
http://www.teamsimoco.com/downloads. This is an executable file that operates under the
Windows™ operating system. It does not require an installation process and may be copied freely
but remain the intellectual property of Simoco.
Whilst the ET software application is a single, common package, the TM ET and NI ET effectively
operate as two separate independent entities and, for the sake of clarity, will be treated as such in
this manual. If the user needs to connect to two units of either type at the same time this is
perfectly legitimate but requires that two instances of the software are run at the same time.
This can be achieved by making a second copy of the software and placing it in a different folder
(directory) on the PC to the first copy. This is necessary so that each copy can keep its own
configuration (ini) file, which contains the default settings that will be used by that instance of the
software and allows the folders to be suitably named to help minimise any confusion.
1.2.1 Traffic Manager ET
The TM ET software provides both system monitoring and access to the system configuration
parameters. Engineering control of every NI is an inherent feature and being able to remotely
access the system through the TM ET is a major benefit.
1.2.2 Network Interface ET
The NI ET software services NIs operating in both Central and Station mode. The style of
presentation is different for the Central and Station functions; there is also a style for units that are
not assigned (not yet configured) as either. The style to be used with a particular NI will be picked-
up automatically.
1.3 C ONNECTING T HE ET A PPLICATION
When the ET application is started, an opening window will appear as shown in Figure 2 overleaf.
At the bottom of the opening window on the Status Bar, the TX and RX indicators, when they are
lit, show that the serial communications to the PC is active. Also displayed on the Status Bar is the
ET Application part number and version (see Figure 1 overleaf).