UniData Communication Systems Neon 2000 Series User manual

Manual
Neon 2000 Family
Neon Remote Terminals (NRT)
2018F Inmarsat Family
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC
Rules in the U.S.A. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment
is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not
installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to
correct the interference at his own expense.
This equipment has been tested for compliance with European regulations as follows:
Application of Council Directive:
2004/108/EC
Standards to which Conformity is declared:
EN-61000-6-1:2001
EN-61000-4-2:1995
EN-61000-4-3:1995
EN-61000-4-4:1995
EN-61000-4-6:1996
ENV-50204:1995
Any changes or modifications to this equipment not expressly approved by the manufacturer Unidata Pty Ltd could void the
user’s authority to operate this equipment.
Revision History
File name/Revision Date Author & Change Details Checked/
approved
Unidata Manual - Neon 2000 Family Remote Terminals and
Modules issue 4.0 25/09/2013 MP – Reformat for web site
Unidata Manual - 2018F Inmarsat NRT Family - 28 05 2015.docx 28 05 2015 PC – Major Update
Unidata Manual - 2018F Inmarsat NRT Family – 09 06 2015.docx 09 06 2015 PC – Reviewed
Copyright © Unidata Pty Ltd 2000-2013. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted,
transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any spoken or computer language, in any form or by any means.
Electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise, without prior written permission of Unidata Pty
Ltd 40 Ladner St, O’Connor Western Australia 6163.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0Neon Technology and Modules Overview........................................................................3
1.1Neon Remote Terminals .....................................................................................................4
1.2Typical Neon Measurement System ...................................................................................5
1.3The Internet.........................................................................................................................5
1.4Satellite Packet Data Service..............................................................................................5
1.5NRT Internal Architecture....................................................................................................6
2.0Summary of Neon Remote Terminals...............................................................................7
2.12018F Neon Remote Terminal – Ethernet with M2M Modem.............................................8
2.22022E Neon Remote Terminal – 3G & USB with M2M Modem .........................................8
3.0NRT LED indicator ..............................................................................................................9
4.0Satellite Airtime Resellers................................................................................................10
5.0Inmarsat NRT Satellite Antenna Pointing.......................................................................11
6.0SIM Card Installation.........................................................................................................13
7.0NRT Installation.................................................................................................................17
7.1Equipment Required..........................................................................................................17
7.2Install or replace the NRT in the cabinet...........................................................................17
7.3Connect and Turn ON Power............................................................................................18
7.4Point the Inmarsat Antenna...............................................................................................19
7.5Confirm Satellite Connection.............................................................................................19
7.6Initialise the NRT...............................................................................................................20
7.7Confirm NRT has completed its Initialisation ....................................................................21
8.0Attaching an External Power Supply ..............................................................................22
9.0NRT Power Requirements................................................................................................23
9.1Internal Power ...................................................................................................................23
9.2External Power..................................................................................................................23
9.3Internal Lithium Battery Life...............................................................................................23
10.0Troubleshooting................................................................................................................24
10.1NRT Not Communicating With Neon Server.....................................................................24
10.2Check Hughes Connection Status and Signal Strength....................................................26

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References
This manual should be read in conjunction with the associated StarlogV4 User Manual
which describes the setting up of logging schemes for NRT terminals as well as all other
Unidata Data loggers.
This manual should also be read in conjunction with the Neon Server Documentation which
is available in PDF form from the Unidata web site and is also available as help screens
within the Neon Server system.
The NRT Terminal User Manual, the StarlogV4 User Manual and the Neon Server User &
Administrator Documentation form part of the documentation suite for the overall Neon
System.

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1.0 NEON TECHNOLOGY AND MODULES OVERVIEW
Neon is a system for collecting measurements from field instruments and transmitting the
measurements to a central system for data recording, analysis, reporting and data transfer
to other external systems.
The Neon system also provides facilities for data collection, analysis, reporting and field
measurement equipment and management within specified areas as defined by the
system. Examples of this include country wide access, regional access and different
access levels according to the rights and privileges of users, e.g. supervisor level,
manager level, coordinator level and read only user level. The Neon System is suited to a
range of uses such as environmental monitoring of remote instrumentation and automated
industrial and utility metering.
The Neon system may be offered on a system basis, with the customer purchasing the
server and a software license from Unidata, or can be provided on an application service
basis where the customer pays a service fee for Unidata to run the application on a
Unidata central server.
Overview of the Neon System

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1.1 Neon Remote Terminals
There is a range of different Neon Remote Terminals available. This manual confines
itself to presenting details of the Inmarsat family of NRTs.
While the models may be different, and the interfaces available in various models are
different, the basic operation of all Neon Terminals and Modules is the same.
Inmarsat Neon Remote Terminals
FTS
Modbus RTU
Neon Server
Inmarsat
Satellite
Ground Station Internet
Corporate
Firewall
LaptopPC
Modbus
Slave Sensor
or PLC
Local Area Network
Typical Neon Measurement System

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1.2 Typical Neon Measurement System
The figure above is an example of a Neon installation showing an NRT connected to a
Water Level Instrument. Every day the NRT will send, via the Inmarsat satellite network
to the Neon server, a “packet” of information containing the data in raw format. The Neon
server extracts the raw data from the packet. The data is then stored on a secure server
until the client accesses the data using a standard Web Browser.
1.3 The Internet
The Internet provides the transport mechanism between the Neon Servers and the
telecommunication provider gateways. This means that NRT units can be used anywhere
in the world.
1.4 Satellite Packet Data Service
There are several low earth orbit and equatorial orbit packet data service providers. The
Ethernet Family of Satellite NRTs uses the Inmarsat system.
The Inmarsat system provides IP (Internet Protocol) connectivity via the international
Inmarsat GEO Satellite network from any location on the globe, except the Arctic and
Antarctica. The Inmarsat system is used by Ethernet models of NRT.

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1.5 NRT Internal Architecture
The NRT Internal architecture is shown below. It contains two discrete sections,
A LOGGER section where the terminal connects to the field transducers and the logging
scheme, scan rates and diagnostics are managed.
The StarlogV4 support software allows a user to generate a logger scheme which defines
transducer information, logging scan rates, logger interval etc and various engineering unit
definitions. These files are called, for example the LDR and KBD files.
A COMMUNICATOR section which deals with communications to the server. This section
contains, for example, a scheduler component and the modem component, either a
Cellular Network modem or a Satellite Network modem. The communicator manages
functions such as the reporting interval, the number of communications attempts per
communications session, etc.
The StarlogV4 support software allows a user to generate a configuration file for the
Communicator section, called an FPO file in which the user sets the required
communications parameters.

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2.0 SUMMARY OF NEON REMOTE TERMINALS
Neon Remote Terminals (NRT units) are small, ultra-low power microprocessor-based
devices designed to collect data from data loggers and SDI-12 instruments. This data is
then sent via Cellular Networks or Satellite packet data to a Neon server on a
programmed schedule or as required for alerts.
The NRT also incorporates a fully-programmable data logger so that simple analogue and
digital signals may be directly connected and recorded.
NRTs are classified according to the communications network over which they
communicate. That is as either: Terrestrial (Cellular), Satellite (Globalstar or Inmarsat) or
Ethernet.
There are many different models of Neon Metering Modules.
Plastic case models are referred to as Neon Remote Terminals (NMMs),
Plastic case models with an LCD are referred to as Neon Remote Modules
(NRMs) and
Metal enclosure models are referred to Neon Remote Terminals (NRTs).
This manual refers to all NMMs/NRMs/NRTs as NRTs because all 2018F’s are NRTs.
All Neon Remote Terminals are small self-contained units in compact cases that connect
to sensors in the field, collect readings from those sensors and transmit the collected data
to a central Neon server. The type of network over which the collected data is transmitted
varies from model to model.
The Neon central server system can be provided either on a Neon Data Service basis or
on a Neon Client System basis. Both provide a central computer system to monitor and
receive data from many Neon Remote Terminals in the field.
All Neon Remote Terminals are designed to automate collection of remote data from
environmental monitoring, industrial measurements and utility metering via a
communications network from any location within the network coverage area.
Fully bi-directional communications are possible via the Neon server. Data can be
collected directly and the Neon module can be programmed from any internet connection.
The Neon modules also support integrated logging or automated collection of data from
an external data logger.
All Neon Remote Terminals utilise built-in modems that support packet data. They have
long battery life and low operating costs through use of advanced microcontroller
technology.
All Neon Remote Terminals provide Input /Output functions as standard, including analog
and digital inputs and SDI-12 data logger interface. There is also Modbus support via a
partial implementation of the Modbus protocol, which allows for reading from and writing
to specific registers within the Modbus RTU on an RS485 connection. Further details are
available on request.

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2.1 2018F Neon Remote Terminal – Ethernet with M2M Modem
The 2018F Ethernet NRT with M2M Satellite Modem is a
small self-contained metal cased Neon Remote Terminal
that communicates with the Neon server via the Inmarsat
satellite network.
2.2 2022E Neon Remote Terminal – 3G & USB with M2M Modem
The 2022E 3G & USB NRT with Satellite M2M Modem is
a small self-contained metal cased Neon Remote
Terminal that communicates with the Neon server via
either a 3G cellular network or via the Inmarsat satellite
network.
This allows connection to the Neon server from any
location on the globe with either cellular telephone
network access or satellite access.
The 2022E NRT can automatically fail over to the other
interface when one route fails.
The Ethernet port can also be used to connect a Unidata
high resolution camera.
The USB port can be used to connect additional
supported accessories.

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3.0 NRT LED INDICATOR
The simplest indicator is the red LED which is visible in the window of the unit.
On first power on the LED will be brightly on (not flashing) for 10 seconds indicating the
unit is in the process of being reset. Do not interrupt this initial start-up process. If the
initial start-up is interrupted you should power down, wait a few minutes, and then power
up again.
Slow flashing bright LED. One flash per second indicates the NRT is
establishing a network connection via the internal modem. This process takes
approximately 10 to 20 seconds.
Fast flashing bright LED. 3 to 5 flashes per second indicate the PPP session is
running and the NRT is communicating through the internal modem to the host
server. If the NRT is programmed to hold the PPP session open all the time, i.e.
the always on mode, the LED will continue to flash at this rate.
Slow brief flashing (dim) LED. One dim flash every Scan Interval (typically every
5 seconds) indicates normal NRT operation (sleeping). No communication is in
progress. The NRT has been programmed to log data and will only establish
communications at the defined reporting interval with which it has been configured.
Very occasional bright single flash. This indicates the scheme is actively
logging rather than sleeping at that particular time. If you have a scheme which
has a 5 second Scan rate and a 1 minute Log Interval, you will see dim flashes
(indicating sleep) every 5 seconds (i.e. every scan interval), then one bright flash
on the minute, indicating that a log is in progress. This cycle repeats at the Log
Interval, hence the LED will brightly flash every 1 minute.
When the NRT periodically communicates with the Neon server, the LED will
slowly flash as it establishes a network connection, then
quickly flash while it actually communicates with the Neon server (uploads log
data, downloads its scheme, processes queued commands, etc), then
slowly flash as it disconnects from the network
The durations of each stage will vary according to the telemetry type of the NRT and how
much data is transferred between the NRT and Neon server.
If an NRT has been configured on the Neon server to Auto Cold Boot, then after the 10
second start up illumination, the NRT will immediately start a normal comms cycle, as
previously described, following the normal slow flashing, fast flashing, slow flashing cycle.

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4.0 SATELLITE AIRTIME RESELLERS
Inmarsat airtime needs to be purchased from one of the many Inmarsat resellers in
Australia. Unidata can assist in discussing requirements with airtime providers.
Unidata does not recommend any particular one. Unidata purchases airtime from the
highest tier reseller and they are the most likely to offer the best airtime pricing. Please
contact Unidata for a referral.

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5.0 INMARSAT NRT SATELLITE ANTENNA POINTING
Inmarsat satellites are geostationary satellites that appear to not move in the sky. This
means that provided the satellite antenna is correctly pointed, NRT access to an Inmarsat
satellite is essentially guaranteed.
Inmarsat M2M satellite modem antennas are very directional in order to achieve high
gains and therefore better signal strength. It is therefore crucial that Inmarsat satellite
antennas are properly pointed.
There are web sites on the internet that provide satellite pointing tools. There are also
iPhone and Android apps to help in this regard.
One useful website is http://www.dishpointer.com/. The site allows you to enter the site’s
location (as an address, GPS coordinates or using the Google maps applet) and specify
the satellite that you are trying to locate. In Australia, the satellite to select in the
dropdown list is the “143.5E INMARSAT 4-F1” satellite. The web site will then indicate the
correct antenna elevation and azimuth to use. See example picture below.

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Another method of pointing the satellite antenna is to use the Hughes M2M modem’s built
in web interface. The Hughes M2M modem has an inbuilt GPS receiver, so provided that
the modem has a GPS fix, it will display the received signal strength and the optimal
antenna elevation and azimuth. The signal strength indication can be used to fine tune
the antenna direction for maximum received signal.
It is not necessary to use both antenna pointing methods - either will do.

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6.0 SIM CARD INSTALLATION
This procedure describes the installation of a data SIM into Hughes satellite modem.
When the Unidata satellite system is delivered to site it may be necessary for the
commissioning personnel to fit the data SIM card. This is a simple process and will be
described below with the aid of several pictures.
Process
The Hughes satellite modem requires the installation of the data SIM prior to operation.
This is best done prior to the system being powered up.
Locate the Hughes modem in the system. Shown with red box

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Unscrew the mounting hardware to release the Hughes satellite modem. The mounting
hardware may not always be the same in the above photo.
Locate the SIM card cover and remove screw to access the SIM card holder.
Be careful not to pull on any connected cabling.

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Hughes modem with the SIM card cover removed.
Insert the SIM card with the notch orientated as above.

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Ensure the SIM card is fully seated in the holder as in the picture above.
Re-assemble the system using a reverse of the above procedure.
Ensure all cabling is still intact and that no wires have been pulled out of their connectors.
Once the satellite modem is mounted back into position, the system set up and
commissioning documentation can be followed.

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7.0 NRT INSTALLATION
The following section provides guidance through the steps needed to bring these Satellite
telemetry systems on line in the field to commission Neon Remote Terminal systems.
Normally an NRT would have been initialised in the Unidata factory as part of the system
manufacturing process and would already be set up on a Neon Server. The system
should start working normally when power is applied in the field.
This document also contains diagnostics procedures that can be followed should the
system not automatically come on line.
In order to perform the diagnostics tasks, StarlogV4 software must be installed onto a field
laptop for use in the event the system has not already been initialised onto a specific
Neon server. A separate companion document describes how to install and use
StarlogV4.
Whenever problems are encountered during this commissioning process, Unidata should
be rung for assistance.
7.1 Equipment Required
Ethernet cable
Serial cable and USB-to-RS232 converter
Compass
Field Laptop with StarlogV4 software
7.2 Install or replace the NRT in the cabinet
Be sure to connect all cables.
Connect the FTS to the NRT.
Connect Power to the FTS
Ensure all appropriate wiring is connected to the FTS.
Connect an Ethernet cable from the NRT to the Hughes satellite modem.
Open up the NRT case / take the lid off the case and remove the insulating tabs on
the lithium batteries (this allows the NRT to use the lithium batteries for emergency
power).
Make sure the Normal/Config switch is in the correct position.
Solar / low powered systems: switch is in NORMAL position.
Gen set / high powered systems: switch is in CONFIG position.

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7.3 Connect and Turn ON Power
Turn on Power to the NRT and Hughes satellite modem.
The NRT Power switch will usually be a DIN rail mounted switch.
Check that the red LED light is lit on the grey terminal, this will indicate the satellite unit
has 24 Volts power.

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7.4 Point the Inmarsat Antenna
The Inmarsat antenna is directional and must be pointed in the right direction.
Refer to section 5.0 for details.
7.5 Confirm Satellite Connection
When initially powered on or reset, the Hughes Modem’s three green LEDs will progress
through a sequence of flashing and solid lights. The modem may also be reset by holding
in the modem’s black Function (reset) button for 10 seconds.
One can also briefly press and release the Hughes satellite modem’s Reset Button any
time the LEDs are off to check the Hughes satellite modem’s status. The three LEDs
should come on after a few seconds delay.
Check the power by pressing the black Function (reset) button on the Hughes modem for
10 seconds.
The three green LEDs should then come on in the following sequence:
1. Solid Power light indicates the unit has power.
2. The GPS light flashes while the unit attempts to acquire a GPS fix. The antenna
does not need to be pointed correctly for this to succeed (as many GPS satellites
are available) but the antenna must have a clear view of the sky. A solid GPS light
indicates a GPS fix has been obtained.
3. The NET LED flashes as the modem attempts to connect to the Inmarsat satellite
network. The antenna must be pointed correctly for a connection to occur. A solid
NET light indicates the unit has connected to the Inmarsat satellite network.
If the NET LED remains flashing, the instructions in section 5.0 Error! Reference source
not found.should be followed to accurately point the Inmarsat antenna using the signal
strength information measured by the Hughes modem itself.