Safe Training Systems SMF4 User manual

Safe Training
Systems Ltd
SMF4
Portable Fluorimeter
Operating Guide
V.2.03

Instrument Controls
•The S F4 has two control
pads, an alphanumeric keypad
and a navigation keypad
•To select the required letter
from the alphanumeric keypad
press the key once for the first
letter, twice for the 2
nd
etc.
Please note that the 0 key if
pressed twice will display a
space.
•The navigation keypad is
used to move between the
menus using the up & down
arrows, and to move within
menu items by using the left
and right arrows.
Trigger
button
On / Off
button OK button
enu
Navigation
buttons

Instrument Information
• When the instrument is first powered on the battery icon is displayed, the home
screen will then appear and the battery charge status may show almost empty. The
instrument will then make an assessment of the battery charge remaining and
display the actual charge status after a couple of minutes. When the charger is
connect the home screen will display CHARGING, when the battery is fully charged
the instrument will turn itself off. Please note that with the charger connected you
cannot turn off the instrument until unplugged.
• The S F4 has built in battery saving software to facilitate the longest possible use
between charges. The instrument will therefore power down after a period of 10
minutes of inactivity. If the instrument is in a logging mode this will continue
unaffected. In order to wake the instrument press the on/off key – the home screen
will then be displayed. The instrument will also turn off the backlight after a period
of 5 minutes of inactivity – to wake the instrument press the down arrow key.
• It should be noted that whilst in logging mode the instrument set up cannot be
changed, i.e. the logging interval, sensitivity, time/date, upload or delete data
functions will not operate. To change any of these functions press Stop Logging,
change the required parameter and then press start logging to resume.

Start up Screen
The start up screen is displayed
briefly on power up and displays
the following information:
• Serial Number
• Software version no.
• Time
• Date

Home Screen
After the start up screen is
displayed the Home screen
appears. This screen displays
the following information:
• Counts reading
• Sensitivity setting
• Battery status icon
• enu icon
• Charging (if connected to the
charger, note the battery icon
is not displayed when
charging)

Software Revision
• If your instrument is version 2.03 or greater the instrument will
have 2 additional items displayed on the Home screen.
• 1) the temperature of the instrument is displayed in degrees
Centigrade (this is also output in the data log against each record.
• 2) The sample number generated each time the instrument is
triggered is displayed to indicate that the sample has been logged to
the instruments memory.

enu Operations
There are 3 menu screens accessed
from the Home screen by using
the down arrow on the navigation
key pad.
The menus allow setting of the
following options:
• Set Sensitivity - High/ ed/Low
• Zero Calibration - On/Off
• Backlight timer - On/Off
• Logging - Start time & Interval
• Upload & delete data log
• External Logging – On/Off
• Location & Reference
• Time & Date
• Set Backlight intensity

Setting Sensitivity
• The S F4 offers a range of 3 sensitivities,
HIGH, EDIU & LOW. This enables
monitoring to be carried out in a variety of
different conditions where the amount of
contamination present may vary
considerably.
• The Sensitivity level is selected from the
main menu by pressing option 1. for LOW,
2. for EDIU and 3. for HIGH. The screen
will then reset to the Home screen and the
sensitivity will be displayed under the
counts reading as below

Zero Calibration
• The S F4 has a zero calibration
function to remove background
from the count figure displayed.
To use this function place a cell in
the holder containing the
background sample and press
no.4 on the menu screen.
• The screen will return to the home
screen and the counts display will
read 0000. Subsequent readings
will then be displayed having had
the background subtracted.
• To remove the zero calibration
press no.5 from the menu list – the
Home screen will then appear and
the next reading will not be
adjusted for background.
(note- turning the instrument off
does not remove the zero
calibration)

Backlight
• The instrument has a backlight
timer function to help maintain
maximum battery life.
• To select the backlight from the
main menu press 6, the display
will show backlight timer on. The
backlight will now turn off after 5
minutes operation – press any key
to turn back on.
• To turn the backlight timer off (ie
to have the backlight constantly
on) select 6 again from the menu.
The display will now show
backlight timer off.
• Please note that to preserve
battery life the S F4 will
automatically turn off after 10
mins of inactivity when the
backlight timer is on. Press the
ON key to activate the display.

Logging
• The auto sampling function allows the
instrument to be used to record a set of
readings over a specified time period
using a flow cell provided by the user.
• The instrument can capture up to 2000
records provided the memory has
been cleared before sampling begins.
• To access the logging setup press the
down arrow to access the first menu
and then press the down arrow again
to access the 2
nd
menu screen.
• There are 2 logging options, you may
either set a logging interval and then
manually start the log – or you may set
an interval and a time and date for the
instrument to start logging.

anual Logging
• To start logging immediately,
complete the following actions.
• From the 2nd menu screen select no.3
LOGGING INTERVAL.
• Enter the interval using the keypad
and use the arrows to move the
cursor to the next digit as required,
press OK to save.
• If you wish to write the data
immediately to a pc from the 2nd
menu screen select no.6. The screen
will change to show EXTERNAL
LOGGER ON (note in this mode
only the reading will be output to
the pc).

anual logging
• To set a location use the down
arrow from the menu screen to
reach the final (3rd) menu page.
Select no. 1 and use the keypad to
enter the location, press OK to
save.
• To set a unique reference repeat
as above selecting no.2 from the
menu and press OK to save.
• To start the log running, select
no.1- START TI ED LOGGING
from the 2nd menu. (note you
cannot manually trigger the
device whilst in logging mode).
• To stop logging select No.1 again
from the 2nd menu which will now
show “STOP TI ED LOGGING”

Timed Logging
• To set a timed logging sequence repeat the
procedure for manual logging but DO NOT
use the START TI ED LOGGING option.
• Instead from the 2
nd
menu screen select no.2
–LOG START TI E/DATE.
• The desired time and date can now be set
using the keypad, press OK to save.
• The Home screen will now show that
logging is on and the interval selected.
• The S F4 may be turned off, the logging
will start, and continue, without the display
being on.
• To stop logging select no.1 –STOP TI ED
LOGGING from the 2
nd
menu screen
• Please note that the S F4 will also write the
data to its internal memory until such time
as the available memory is used up,
therefore after a data logging exercise it will
be necessary to clear the memory ready for
the next sampling procedure.

Upload and Delete data
• To download the data from the S F4 connect the
RS232 cable to the USB adapter and connect to the
PC which has had the terminal programme set up.
• From the 2
nd
menu select No.6 to turn on -
EXTERNAL LOGGER.
• Connect to the S F4 via the terminal programme
and ensure that you can receive data.
• On the 2
nd
menu screen select No. 4 -UPLOAD
DATA LOG.
• The screen will now show how many records there
are to download, press OK to start the download.
• Once downloaded the screen will revert to the
Home screen.
• To delete the data from the S F4 select no.5 -
DELETE DATA LOG. The number of files to be
deleted will be displayed. Select OK to
permanently delete the internal stored files. The
screen will revert to the Home screen on
completion.

Set Time and Date
• To set the internal clock select
option 3 from the 3rd menu screen.
• Use the keypad to enter the time
in 24 hour format, the > arrow on
the navigation keypad moves the
cursor between digits.
• The date is set for UK format of
DD/ /YY.
• Once completed press OK to save,
the screen will return to the menu.

Set Backlight intensity
• To select the intensity of the
backlight go to the 3rd menu screen
as shown opposite.
• The desired backlight level can be
selected by pressing 4 (low),5
(medium) or 6 (high) as light
conditions dictate.
(please note that the backlight has
a significant drain on the battery so
where possible the low (4) option
should be used)