DISTELL Fish Fatmeter User manual



WelcometoyournewDistellFishFatmeter.

Thisquick‐startguideisdesignedtogetyouupandrunningwithyourDistellFishFatmeterquicklyand
easily.

TheFatmeterisacomplexpieceofscientificequipment,however,so
wedorecommendthatyoutaketimetoreadtheUserManualso
thatyoucanunderstandhowtogetthebestoutofyourmeter.

Wealsorecommendthatyoutakesometimetoreadoverour
websiteathttp://www.distell.comwhereyoucanfindalotof
informationonhowthemeterworksaswellasalistofFrequently
AskedQuestions.

Ifyouhaveanyproblemsthenyoucancontactoursupportdepartmentviathewebsiteorusingthese
details:

Distell,OldLevenseat,Fauldhouse,WestLothianEH479AD,UK
Phone:+44(0)1501770124Fax:+44(0)15017702424Email:[email protected]




1. TheFatmeterkit

Eachkitincludesanadvicenotethatliststhekitcontents.PleasecheckyourFatmeterkitcarefullyandifany
itemsaremissingordamagedthenpleaseinformeitherDistellorthedistributorwhereyoupurchasedthemeter.
2. YournewFatmeter




3. Chargingthebatteries



4. Switchon

Selected
calibration
Numberof
samplestomake
anaveragevalue.
PressRead/Yesto
takereadings.
PressReset/Noto
enterthemenu.
Makingchoiceswith
theYes/Nobuttons.
5minutes
Allow5minutesforthemeter
tostabiliseafterpoweron.
Switchthemeteron
usingthepowerswitch.
Connectthepower
supplytothemeter
socket.Afullcharge
cantakeupto12
hours.
12hours
Sensorhead
Powerswitch
Data/charging
socket
Read/Yes
button
Reset/No
button
Display
Printeditems:User
manual,calibrationcharts,
calibrationcertificate,etc.
Checkpad
CDROM
Carrycase
USBcable
Charger/
powersupply
Fatmeter
FishFatmeterQuick‐StartGuide

5. Testwiththecheckpad




6. Takingsamples




7. Menustructure
EachmenuoptionisdescribedindetailintheUserManual.

Selectaproduct
calibration.


*Setthedateandtimeon
themeter.

Selectaresearch
calibration.


*Enterarentalkey
suppliedbyDistell

Changethenumberof
samplestaken.


SendtheReference
calibration

Downloadsampledatato
acomputer.


Clearallstoredreadings

Uploadanewcalibration
tothemeter.
*Dependentonmeterconfiguration

8. Installingsoftware
TheCDROMcontainstheDataManagementSystem(DMS)anddrivers.Thesoftware
requiresMicrosoftWindows.

TheDMSallowsdatatobedownloadedfromthemeterviatheUSBcablesupplied,and
thedatacanthenbeexportedtoaspreadsheetordatabase.

Toinstallthesoftware:
•inserttheCDintoyourcomputer;
•browsetotheInstallationFilesfolder,thentheDataManagementSoftware(DMS)
folder;
•runDMSInstaller.exeandfollowthepromptstocompletetheinstallation.

ThiswillsetuptheDMSonyourcomputerandwillalsoinstalltheUSBdriversfortheFatmeter.



9. UsingtheDataManagementSystem
ConnecttheFatmetertothecomputerusing
theUSBcablesupplied.

Oncethemeterisconnected,theUSB
driverswillcreatea‘virtualserialport’,
normallyCOM4.

StarttheDMSprogramandselect
PreferencesfromtheEditmenu.Hereyou
canselectthevirtualserialportthatthe
meterwillcommunicatethrough.Theexact
nameoftheserialportcanvary,butyoucan
choosefromalistuntilyoufindtheright
one.

Ifyouhavedatarecordedinthemeterthenyoucandownloaditbyselecting
DownloadhistoricaldataontheDownloadmenuthen,ontheFatmeter,findthe
DownloadmenuandpressRead/Yes.ConfirmthedownloadbypressingRead/
Yesagainatthe‘StandardD/L’promptandyoushouldseethedatabeingloadedintotheDMS.

Note:ifthedataisnotdisplayedintheDMSthenitmaybethatyouneedtotryadifferentserialport.

OncethedataisintheDMSyoucanaddnotestoeachsetofdata,printthedatainreportform,andexportittoa
CommaSeparatedValuefile(.CSV)readytoimportintoaspreadsheetordatabase.

TheDMShasothercapabilities,andyoucanexploretheseintheUserManual,suppliedwithyourmeter,andin
theTechnicalManual,whichisavailablefromtheDistellwebsiteandontheCD‐ROM.


Beforeusingthemeter,butafterthemeterhaswarmedupforfiveminutes,
taketestreadingsonthecheckpadsuppliedwiththemeter.Verifythatthe
readingshownonthemeteriswithinthetoleranceshownonthecheckpad.

Forexample:
Checkpad
RESEARCH‐1
Testvalue34.9(+/‐2.5)
Ifyourmeterisconsistentlyoutofrangeonthecheckpadthenitmayneed
tobereturnedforservicing.ChecktheUserManualformoredetails.
InRange
3
Outofrange
2


Followthemeasurementprotocolonthe
CalibrationChartforthefishyouare
analysing.Thechartsaresuppliedwithyour
Fatmeterandtheyshowthemeasurement
sites,numberofsamples,etc.
Makesurethatyourelease
theRead/Yesbuttonbefore
liftingthemeteroffthefish.
Displayshowswhichsampleisbeingtaken.
PressandholdRead/Yestobegin.
Displayshowscurrentsamplereading.Release
Read/Yeswhenthereadingisstable.
Normallyeightsamplereadingsaretaken.
Theaveragevalueisshownonthedisplay.
PressRead/Yestomeasureanotherfish.