1. Plug the test cable’s (optional equipment) DB-9 connector into the host computer’s serial port.
2. Connect a 9V battery to the test cable.
3. Connect the instrument to the test cable.
4. Start the program by double-clicking ECOView.exe (or the shortcut). The screen below will appear.
   

Click the yellow Select COM Port button. A pop-up window will appear that allows you to select the COM port and the baud rate (19200 is standard) for meter-to-PC communication.
You can also select the COM port and baud rate from the pull-down menus in the lower left corner of ECOView.

Select the yellow Select Device File button, then choose the instrument-specific device file from the supplied CD to load. The yellow button will disappear after the device file is loaded.
You can also select Load Device File from the File pulldown menu at the top of the window.

Load the meter's standard device file, making sure the Turn Logging ON/OFF toggle button value is OFF in the Change Settings To column. Note that the button displays the action that will occur by selecting it.

Fluorometers only: Once the device file is loaded, an additional fluorometer setup tab will appear. Important: ECO fluorometers ship with two device files (See sample device files ). Loading the “standard” device file will provide data in counts. The other provides processed data in µg/l (chlorophyll) or ppb (phycoerythrin, CDOM, and uranine).

Data collection begins when power is supplied to the meter.

Viewing Data

Go to the Raw Data tab to view the scrolling data.

Select Start Data, then the Raw Data tab to view data as it is received by the host program. Use the arrow keys or the Page Up/Page Down keys at the host computer to scroll through a file. As incoming data scrolls into the main portion of the Raw Data tab, the Bytes Read button to the left will increment.

Place the fluorescent stick that ships with the meter or the flat of your hand directly in front of the sensor face. The signal value will increase toward saturation (5 V analog, +/- 16,000 for FL meters, or +/- 4100 for all other ECOs).

Select Plot Data tab to view the plotting of the incoming data. The X-axis represents sample counts and the Y-axis represents data units, which are user-selectable. You can click on the numbers of either axis and change the values by dragging. Either raw data or engineering units can be viewed.  Fluorometer measurements will be shown in raw counts if Raw Data is selected or µg/l (chlorophyll only) or ppb (parts per billion) (all others) if Engineering Units is selected.

If Engineering Units is selected, the backscatter calculation pull-down menu control will allow you to select one of the following for BB meters:
·        Beta (117)—The total volume scattering
·        Beta-Particle—The volume scattering of particles only
·        bbp—Backscattering of particles
·        bb—Total backscattering.

If Engineering Units is not selected, the backscatter calculation option is ignored and all BB data is plotted in raw counts.

Note: If you have loaded the device file for a fluorometer, the backscatter pull-down menu will not appear.

Refer to the ECOView user’s guide for details on selecting plot color and using the plot toolbar.

Press the Stop Data button to stop data collection and return the meter to "ready" status.

initial meter functionality check

retrieve and upload data