Firmware

Marotte HS: Firmware

The Marine Geophysics Laboratory is consistently testing and improving our instruments.  Firmware updates add extra functionality to the Marotte HS current meter and fix small bugs that have been identified.

The two latest versions of the firmware have been released:

Beta Release - v3.2

  • Fixes bug: In very rare instances the seconds would be recorded in the range [80-99,00-39] instead of [00-59]
  • Burst mode and delayed start have been implemented. These features require Version 3.0 of MarotteHSConfig to configure.
  • The record file extension has been changed to .TXT instead of .CSV
  • A battery alert feature has been added that safely stops and saves logging when the battery voltage falls below operable limits during a long deployment.

Tests are still being conducted to find out how much burst mode will extend battery life. Currently we estimate by around 25% with a 1:10 sampling ratio. Note that currently smoothing and decimation are not applied when processing burst mode data.

The record file extension was changed to TXT instead of CSV to avoid file corruption when using Microsoft Excel. If the raw record file was opened in Excel and then saved, the timestamps would all be corrupted. By changing the extension to TXT, notepad (windows) or textedit (mac osx) open the file instead of Excel by default, helping to avoid this issue.

 

Stable Release - v2.2

  • Fixes bug: In very rare instances the seconds would be recorded in the range [80-99,00-39] instead of [00-59].

How to update:

  1. Connect to instrument using the MarotteHSConfig software
  2. Attach a jumper to USBRST as shown below. This must be performed after the instrument is connected, otherwise you will get an error.
  3. In MarotteHSConfig, click Settings -> Advanced Settings
  4. In the Advanced Settings pop-up window click Upload Firmware
  5. Select the new firmware and click OK
  6. Close the Advanced Settings window.
  7. Remove the jumper from USBRST
  8. Disconnect
  9. Reconnect
  10. Check that Firmware Version: in the Device Status section is correct