Level Developments SOLAR Series User manual

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
Hello Angles...
A First Use Guide to the SOLAR Product Series:
RS485 Interface with
LD Standard Communication Protocol.

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
Who Is This Guide or?
The purpose of this guide is to show the correct procedure for connecting and using the SOLAR
inclino eter with a Windows PC for the first ti e.
This docu ent can be followed by users of all skill levels including absolute beginners.
What products can I apply these instructions to?
This guide can be used for any SOLAR products (including 360° variants) that feature the RS485 interface
with Level Developments command set. All applicable part nu bers will start with “SOLAR” and end with
“RS485”.
Note: If you are using a “SOLAR- … -RS232” or a “SOLAR- … -RS485M” product
please search for your full part nu ber on our website and download the
docu ent that specifically applies to your device as shown below.
Part number: Communication Type:
“SOLAR- … -RS232” RS232 Interface with LD standard co unication protocol
“SOLAR- … -RS485” RS485 Interface with LD standard co unication protocol
“SOLAR- … -RS485M” RS485 Interface with ModBus RTU co unication protocol
Additional Information:
Take care while aking all connections. To avoid da aging your product, do not allow any wires to
ake contact with anything you do not intend (especially a source of power).
Once your connections have been ade and the unit is responding correctly, please refer to the product
datasheet for the full co and list(s) and ore infor ation about the co unication protocol.

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
Step 1: Ensure You Have a Working COM Port (Hardware).
To co unicate with the inclino eter you’ll need a USB to RS485 adapter that’s configured for or natively
2-wire (half duplex), these can be found inexpensively online and for this guide we’ve used the
“Hjel slund USB485-STISO” product:
Hjelmslund have now replaced this product with the USB485-STIXL
the onl difference to our model is the larger screw terminals.
Step 2: Ensure You Have a Working COM Port (Software):
On your co puter go to “Device Manager” which can be accessed via the control panel:
Follow the anufacturer’s instructions to install your driver and check that it has installed properly as
shown below:

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
The na e & port nu ber that’s auto atically allocated to the USB to RS485 device can vary. Make a note
of the port nu ber that the device is allocated. Our exa ple device is using “COM10” so this is the port
nu ber we would use to co unicate with the inclino eter.
If the COM device sy bol looks like this: then you will need to troubleshoot the device driver proble .
(A good place to start is the website for the anufacturer of the hardware).
Step 3: Connect the Inclinometer wires to the USB COM Port:
Full RS485 connections for the SOLAR inclino eter are as follows:
SOLAR
Wire Colour
Solar Wire
unction
Connects to…
( unction) Note
Red +ve Power Input +ve Supply
(12 to 30V)
Don’t connect to
power source yet
Blue 0V Power input &
RS485 GND
COM GND
& 0V Supply
Don’t connect to
power source yet
Yellow RS485 + RxD / D-
Green RS485 - TxD / D+
We’ve extended the connection fro the screw ter inal block of our USB device to ake connection the
Inclino eter easier. This also allows us to connect the (inclino eter’s) blue wire to both the “Gnd” point of
our USB device and our Power supply 0V.

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
Step 4: Connecting the Inclinometer to the Power Supply / Power Source:
Ensure the power source is switched off & connect the Inclino eters red wire to the +Ve node.
The power source should provide between 12V ( ini u ) & 30V ( axi u ).
If you are using a battery or have no on/off option available then leave the red wire disconnected for now.
Connect the blue wire to the 0V (-Ve) node of the power source whilst it’s still connected to the Gnd point
on the USB-RS485 device as shown in the illustration below.
There are any ways to achieve this & for this de onstration we’ve used the extension cable shown on
the previous page with stackable banana plugs, a si ple straight-through connections box & spring
ter inal posts. Here is our co plete setup:
Once you’ve ade all of the necessary connections you can switch on the power source or connect the red
wire to “+” if using a battery.

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
Step 5: Connecting an Inclinometer to the Level Developments Inclinometer App:
We reco end using the inclino eter app before atte pting to create your own ore advanced
co ands, this ensures that you have the correct connections and your hardware is working as it should.
Download and install the application fro our website:
https:// .leveldevelopments.com/ p/ p-content/uploads/soft are/Inclinometer_App.zip
Run the Inclino eter App and select the port nu ber that was
deter ined earlier in Step 2.
By default the inclino eters baud rate setting is 38400(bps),
ensure this is selected and click on “Connect”.
You should now see angles being displayed on the screen.
Step 6: Sending Your Own Commands Using a RS485 Terminal / Serial Monitor Program:
To create your own co ands you will need a serial onitoring application. For the purpose of this
de onstration we are using Docklight but there are any to choose fro . The layout and terminology
used in your terminal program may vary.
A free trial version of Docklight can be downloaded fro https://docklight.de with so e inor li itations.
Please see their website for ore infor ation.
Open your application and locate the project settings window. In Docklight this can be accessed by double-
clicking the highlighted area below or going to tools, project settings.
You can then change the COM channel (port nu ber) to atch the value deter ined in step 2.

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
The default baud setting for all SOLAR sensors is 38400, with
8 data bits, 1 stop bit and no parity.
Click OK then open the port by clicking on the  button:
Once the port is open, the  button should be visible as
shown below:
The  button can then be used to close the port if required.
(Note: the port can only be open in 1 application at a ti e).
You can now begin to create the co ands to send to the Inclino eter. To do this go to Edit,
Edit Send Sequence List…
This will open the window shown below. You can see that we’ve given our first co and a description
(highlighted) and created our first co and in the sequence window.
By default all SOLAR inclino eters are set to respond in 32bit signed integer ode which can’t be read by
eye, so the first co and we will send to the device is “setoasc”. This will change the output (response)
ode to ASCII for at.
Note that all send sequences in the LD co and set ust be 7 bytes long and lower case.
Once you have filled in the send sequence press OK.

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
This will save the new co and into the sequence list as shown below. You can now send the co and
to the Inclino eter by clicking on the “—>” button. This will print the co and “setoasc” (Tx) into the
onitor window & and the inclino eter should respond (Rx) with “OK” to indicate success.
You can now create a 2
nd
co and to request the angles fro the Inclino eter.
Open the “Edit Sequence List…” as shown before and click on the “>” button to go to a new blank
co and.
Create the new co and “get-x&y” as shown below then click on OK.
(If you are using a SOLAR-360-X-RS485 use the command “get-360” instead)
Send the new co and to Inclino eter by clicking on the “—>” button.

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How2_SOLAR485.pdf V1.0
A First Use Guide for Solar Inclinometers Using the RS485 Serial Interface.
The inclino eter should now respond with an 18byte string in the following for at:
±xxx.xxx,±yyy.yyy<CR>
(For 360° products this ill return a 9 byte string such as ±025.430<CR>)
& That’s It!
You can now use the “get-x&y” co and to read angles fro your Inclino eter and these techniques to
build on your collection of send sequences using the full list of co ands as described on the product
datasheet.
If you need more information or have a query relating to the use of your SOLAR inclinometer, please get in touch ith
[email protected]om & ill be happy to assist you.