Avanti Ava-03 User manual

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

14-FEB-2022

PAGE 1 OF 12

1. GENERAL

The Avanti I²C Transducer Tester and PC-Interface (AVA-03) is a standalone device for

accessing ressure/tem erature transducers, which are equi ed with a two-wire serial I²C

interface. It was designed to be com atible with Quartzdyne's range of digital quartz

ressure transducers, including their V4.02 enhancements (checksum etc). U to 4

transducers can be connected simultaneously and their readings are dis layed on a backlit

LCD. There is also an RS232 ort rovided, which allows to access readings and

calibration coefficients from a PC.

2. HARDWARE DESCRIPTION

The AVA-03 I²C Transducer Tester is housed in an aluminium enclosure measuring 168 x

103 x 56mm.

Transducer Socket Pinout

Pin-1 A1

Pin-2 SCL

Pin-3 GND

Pin-4 SDA

Pin-5 +5V

Pin-6 A2

Pin-7/8/9 NC

RS-232 Socket Pinout

Pin-2 RX (of PC)

Pin-3 TX (of PC)

Pin-5 GND

Pin-

1/4/6/7/8/9

NC

There are four 9-way D-ty e sockets (A...D) for connecting u to four I²C transducers. The

connectors carry +5V, GND, SCL, SDA and two address lines A2 and A1. The address

lines are either o en (1) or grounded (0) and are coded differently at each socket: The first

socket sets A2=0/A1=0, the second socket sets A2=0/A1=1, the third socket sets

A2=1/A1=0 and the fourth socket sets A2=1/A1=1. This means that different I²C addresses

are allocated automatically for each socket, rovided the address ins are wired through to

the transducers, see the exam les shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2 below.

Figure 1: 6-wire connection, I²C address coded by the AVA-03 socket

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

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Figure 2: 4-wire connection, I²C address coded at the transducer

Important: Some versions of Quartzdyne transducers are terminated with a D-

type plug but with a different pin-out. Never plug directly into an V -03 socket!

Use a cross-over cable and double check for correct wiring.

vanti Elektronik Ltd assumes no responsibility and shall not be liable for any

damage to the transducer that might occur due to incorrect wiring.

The AVA-03 I²C Transducer Tester contains a 2 x 20 character backlit LCD for dis laying

readings and status information. A ush-button is rovided to ste through different

dis lay o tions. A further 9-way D-Ty e socket is located at the side for connecting to the

RS232 ort of a PC.

The I²C Transducer Tester runs on either the built-in 9V battery or on an external 12V

su ly. Note that the external su ly voltage must be higher than the battery voltage in

order to revent the battery from inadvertently sourcing current. Current consum tion is

a roximately 5mA when the backlight is off and a roximately 125mA when the

backlight is on.

3. LCD DISPLAY

After ower on, the AVA-03 I²C Transducer Tester dis lays its version number and

rom ts the user to ress the ush-button to ste through the available dis lay o tions.

After ressing the button, the tester dis lays the I²C address of the first transducer (the

transducer with the lowest address) together with its serial number and calibration date. A

single character (A...D) is shown as an identifier in the to right corner, according to the

current I²C address:

A for A2=0/A1=0, B for A2=0/A1=1, C for A2=1/A1=0 and D for A2=1/A1=1.

This identifier remains visible while ste ing through the following dis lays, making it

easy to kee track of multi le transducers.

After ressing the button, raw ressure and tem erature counts are dis layed as returned by

the transducer. The counts are shown as 32bit hexadecimal values. The transducers are

olled at a rate of once every 1.5 seconds. Note that the identifier letter in the to right

corner briefly blinks whenever the dis lay is u dated.

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

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Pressing the button once more advances to the frequency dis lay. Pressure and tem erature

frequencies are dis layed in Hz, under the assum tion that the transducer's internal

reference frequency is exactly 7.200MHz.

The next dis lay shows ressure in si (or bar) and tem erature in °C (or °F) using the

calibration coefficients held in the transducer's EEPROM memory.

Pressing the button again advances to the first dis lay of the next transducer, i.e. the

transducer with the next higher I²C address, showing again serial number and calibration

date. Re eatedly ressing the button allows ste ing through all available transducers in

sequence:

LCD Dis lay: Descri tion:

PRESS BUTTON TO STEP

THROUGH OPTIONS

1 Start-up Screen

A2A1 = 00 = XDUCER A

SN 000123 13-02-2022

2 Status Screen of the first transducer (lowest I²C address)

RAW-P = 0x00B60B61 A

RAW-T = 0x01C71C72

3 Raw Values

PF = 20000.000 Hz A

TF = 50000.000 Hz

4 Equivalent Frequencies

P = 11111.222 si A

T = 111.222 degC

5 Calculated P/T Values

A2A1 = 01 = XDUCER B

SN 000456 14-02-2022

6 Status Screen of next transducer, if connected Otherwise back to

Status Screen of first transducer

4. BACKLIGHT

The I²C Transducer Tester contains a backlit LCD. The backlight is ermanently on when

running on an external 12V su ly. However, when running on the internal battery, the

backlight is switched off after 30 seconds with no key ress, in order to reduce the current

consum tion. The backlight is switched on again by sim ly ressing the button. In this

case the dis lay o tion remains unchanged and a second key ress is required to advance

to the next o tion.

5. CONFIGURATION

The AVA-03 I²C Transducer Tester can be configured for different dis lay o tions. The

configuration is held in non-volatile memory. To change the configuration, the tester must

be switched off and then switched on again, while the ush-button is being ressed down.

This starts the tester in configuration mode.

There are 12 different o tions available, which can be selected in turn by re eatedly

ressing the ush-button:

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

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1: BAR-ABS/DEGC Absolute pressure is displayed in bar and temperature in °C

2: BAR-GAUGE/DEGC Gauge pressure (see paragraph 6 1) is displayed in bar and temperature in °C

3: PSI-ABS/DEGC Absolute pressure is displayed in psi and temperature in °C

This is the default setup

4: PSI-ABS/DEGF Absolute pressure is displayed in psi and temperature in °F

5: PSI-GAUGE/DEGC Gauge pressure (see paragraph 6 1) is displayed in psi and temperature in °C

6: PSI-GAUGE/DEGF Gauge pressure (see paragraph 6 1) is displayed in psi and temperature in °F

7: BAR-ABS/DEGF Absolute pressure is displayed in bar and temperature in °F

8: BAR-GAUGE/DEGF Gauge pressure (see paragraph 6 1) is displayed in bar and temperature in °F

9: PSI/DEGC/DUAL-P Absolute pressure is displayed in psi and temperature in °C Initial screen

shows pressure values of 2 transducers together (see paragraph 6 2)

10: PSI/DEGF/DUAL-P Absolute pressure is displayed in psi and temperature in °F Initial screen

shows pressure values of 2 transducers together (see paragraph 6 2)

11: BAR/DEGC/DUAL-P Absolute pressure is displayed in bar and temperature in °C Initial screen

shows pressure values of 2 transducers together (see paragraph 6 2)

12: BAR/DEGF/DUAL-P Absolute pressure is displayed in bar and temperature in °F Initial screen

shows pressure values of 2 transducers together (see paragraph 6 2)

Once the desired configuration is shown on the screen, the tester is sim ly switched off.

The tester remembers and a lies this configuration when owered u again in the normal

way.

6.1 ABSOLUTE / GAUGE PRESSURE

The AVA-03 I²C Transducer Tester can be configured to dis lay absolute or gauge

ressure (see aragra h 5 above). When gauge ressure is selected, the sequence of screens

is as follows:

LCD Dis lay: Descri tion:

PRESS BUTTON TO STEP

THROUGH OPTIONS

1 Start-up Screen

A2A1 = 00 = XDUCER A

SN 000123 04-12-2007

2 Status Screen

RAW-P = 0x00B60B61 A

RAW-T = 0x01C71C72

3 Raw Values

PF = 20000.000 Hz A

TF = 50000.000 Hz

4 Equivalent Frequencies

ATMOSPHERIC PRES: A

P = 14.500 si

5 Tare Screen: When the button is pressed again, the last pressure

value displayed is captured and applied as an atmospheric offset

until the unit is powered down

P = 0.000 sig A

T = 25.000 degC

6 Calculated pressure / temperature with atmospheric offset of

-14 5 psi applied

The tare screen is shown once only after ower-u . The atmos heric offset remains valid

until the tester is owered down. To change the atmos heric offset, the tester must be

switched off and on again. In case of multi le transducers, the transducer with the lowest

I²C address is used to determine the atmos heric offset. The same offset is then a lied to

all transducers.

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

14-FEB-2022

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6.2 DUAL PRESSURE DISPLAY

The AVA-03 I²C Transducer Tester can be configured to dis lay two ressures together on

the same screen (see aragra h 5 above). When dual- ressure is selected, the sequence of

screens is as follows:

LCD Dis lay: Descri tion:

P1 = 11111.222 si A

P2 = 12222.333 si B

1 First screen after power up: Calculated pressures P1 and P2 of two

transducers (shown here with addresses A2/A1 = 00 = A and A2/A1

= 01 = B)

A2A1 = 00 = XDUCER A

SN 000123 13-02-2022

2 Status Screen of the first transducer

RAW-P = 0x00B60B61 A

RAW-T = 0x01C71C72

3 Raw P/T values

PF = 20000.000 Hz A

TF = 50000.000 Hz

4 Equivalent Frequencies

P = 11111.222 si A

T = 111.222 degC

5 Calculated P/T Values

... B

6 as above for the second transducer

7

8

9

P1 = 11111.222 si A

P2 = 12222.333 si B

10 Dual pressure screen again

P1 is allocated to the transducer with the lowest I²C address and P2 to the transducer with

the second lowest I²C address. If more than two transducers are connected, the ones with

higher I²C addresses are ignored and not dis layed on the LCD. However their readings

remain available through the RS232 interface (see aragra h 7 below).

7. RS232 INTERFACE

The Avanti I²C Transducer Tester & PC-Interface contains an RS232 ort for direct

connection to a Personal Com uter via a 9-way D-ty e extension lead, where ins 2,3 and

5 are wired one-to-one. The tester communicates at 19200 baud with 1 start-bit, 8 data-bits

and 1-sto bit.

All commands and res onses are ASCII, so that sim le terminal emulation software (e.g.

Hy erterminal) can be used. All valid command characters are echoed. Invalid command

characters roduce a 0x07 (bee ) instead and the command is aborted. Note that the

command characters are case sensitive.

In order to revent any command characters from being lost due to inherent delays (for

instance when writing to the transducer's EEPROM), it is good ractice to send command

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

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characters one by one and to wait for the echo before sending the next character. This of

course is irrelevant when manually ty ing commands using terminal emulation software.

The following commands are im lemented:

HELP AND GENERAL INFO

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

?? Hel request 2 ??

?? Echo 2 ??

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

This command causes the I²C Transducer Tester to out ut a list of all im lemented RS232

commands, lus the FPGA identifier and status of all connected transducers.

GET A RAW PRESSURE READING (COUNTS)

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

P Pressure request 1 P

P Echo 1 P

A...D Transducer address 1 A

A...D Echo 1 A

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

00000000...

FFFFFFFF

32bit ressure count as 8

digit hex value

8 016C16C1

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

GET A RAW TE PERATURE READING (COUNTS)

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

T Tem erature request 1 T

T Echo 1 T

A...D Transducer address 1 A

A...D Echo 1 A

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

00000000...

FFFFFFFF

32bit tem erature count as

8 digit hex value

8 01C71C72

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

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GET A CALCULATED PRESSURE READING (PSI OR BAR)

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

Pressure request (lower

case )

1

Echo 1

A...D Transducer address 1 A

A...D Echo 1 A

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

0.000 ...

99999.999

Pressure in si or bar as a

5.3 floating oint number

9 1234.567

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

GET A CALCULATED TE PERATURE READING (°C OR °F)

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

t Tem erature request

(lower case t)

1 t

t Echo 1 t

A...D Transducer address 1 A

A...D Echo 1 A

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

0.000 ...

99999.999

Tem erature in °C or °F as

a 5.3 floating oint number

9 123.456

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

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READ FRO EEPRO

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

R Read EEPROM request 1 R

R Echo 1 R

A...D Transducer address 1 A

A...D Echo 1 A

0000...1FFF Start address 4 0100

0000...1FFF Echo 4 0100

00...FF Number of bytes to read

(00 = 256)

2 0A

00...FF Echo 2 0A

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

00...FF First data byte 2 8A

... ... ... ...

00...FF Last data byte 2 E7

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

OK or NO Result of o eration 2 OK

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

0000...FFFF Checksum over all data

bytes

4 0171

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

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WRITE TO EEPRO

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

W Write to EEPROM request 1 W

W Echo 1 W

A...D Transducer address 1 A

A...D Echo 1 A

0000...1FFF Start address 4 0100

0000...1FFF Echo 4 0100

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

00...FF First data byte to write 2 8A

00...FF Echo 2 8A

... ... ... ... ... ...

00...FF Last data byte to write 2 E7

00...FF Echo 2 E7

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

OK or NO Result of o eration 2 OK

< > (0x20) S ace 1 < >

0000...FFFF Checksum over all data

bytes

4 0171

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

SET SERIAL NU BER AND CALIBRATION DATE

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

SN Set serial number request 2 SN

SN Echo 2 SN

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

This command rom ts the user to enter a new serial number and calibration date. The

user can choose to kee the contents of all other EEPROM locations or to fill them with

zeroes. Once acknowledged, the firmware writes to EEPROM and u dates the checksum.

The firmware writes the serial number and calibration date into 4 redundant locations, as

introduced by Quartzdyne in Jan 2010.

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

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COPY EEPRO CONTENTS

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

EC EEPROM co y request 2 EC

EC Echo 2 EC

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

This command reads the EEPROM contents of one transducer and writes it to a second

transducer. The user is rom ted to choose the source and the destination transducer. Once

acknowledged, the firmware co ies EEPROM locations from 0x0000 to 0x00FF into 4

redundant blocks (0x0000-0x00FF / 0x0100-0x1FF / 0x0200-0x2FF / 0x0300-0x3FF), as

introduced by Quartzdyne in Jan 2010.

START CONTINUOUS OUTPUT ODE

PC SENDS TESTER

RESPONDS

DESCRIPTION BYTES

EXA PLE

CM Continuous Mode request 2 CM

CM Echo 2 CM

<CR> (0x0D) Carriage return 1 <CR>

This command rom ts the user to enter the required out ut rate in seconds, which

transducer addresses to consider (ABCD) and the data ty e required (raw, calculated or

both). The I²C Transducer Tester then starts sending data records together with ela sed

time at the rate s ecified, which can be logged to file using Hy erterminal or similar PC

software. Once started, continuous mode can only be sto ed by switching the I²C

Transducer Tester off and on again. While continuous mode is active, the rate at which

transducers are olled (and the LCD is u dated) is reduced from once er 1.5sec to once

er 2.0sec. There will also be a slight delay noticeable when ste ing through dis lay

o tions.

DIGITAL TRANSDUCER TESTER & PC-INTERFACE (AVA-03)

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8. THIRD PARTY LOGGING/CHARTING SOFTWARE

As described above, all RS232 commands and res onses contain only ASCII characters,

allowing full access with standard terminal software like Hy erterminal. For basic data

logging the AVA-03 can be ut into continuous out ut mode with the "CM" command.

If more com lex data logging or dis lay/charting functions are required, there is a low-cost

3rd- arty software available that runs on Windows PCs (see www.windmill.co.uk).

Windmill-7 data logging software includes a user configurable arser that can be set u to

suit the AVA-03 command set. Setu can be a bit tricky, but once configured the software

is easy to use. Please note however, that this is 3rd- arty software and beyond control of

Avanti Elektronik Ltd. No guarantee can be given regarding its suitability and no su ort

will be rovided.

Below are some screenshots obtained with Windmill-7 software.

Figure 3: Windmill Data Display Panels showing 2 Transducers (A and B)

Figure 4: Windmill Charting Module displaying 2 Pressures (A and B)

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Figure 5: Windmill Data Logging Module writing raw and engineering values to file

9. ACKNOWLEDGE ENTS AND FURTHER INFOR ATION

Quartzdyne is a trademark of Quartzdyne Inc.

Information on their range of digital ressure transducers can be downloaded from their

web-site at htt ://www.quartzdyne.com

The following documents are of articular interest:

DigitalTransS ec. df - Digital Quartz Pressure Transducer S ecifications

DigitalTransProg. df - Digital Transducer Programming Manual

I²C is a trademark of NXP Semiconductors (formerly Phili s).

S ecifications and a lication notes can be downloaded from their web-site at

htt ://www.nx .com

For I²C bus s ecifications refer to the following document:

i2c.bus.s ecification. df (I²C S ecification and User Manual Rev.03 / 2007)

Windmill-7 is co yright of Windmill Software Ltd (www.windmill.co.uk)

odel No. AVA-03

Serial Number

Firmware Revision

Date Tested

Signature

Avanti AVA-03 User manual

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