USER GUIDELINE FOR DFM CONTINUOUS LOGGING PROBE

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1 USER GUIDELINE FOR DFM CONTINUOUS LOGGING PROBE 1. PROBE INSTALLATION GUIDELINE 1.1 INTRODUCTION Installing the DFM Continuous Logging Probe (to be referred to as the probe) is an easy process if you have the correct tools. In this to-the-point guideline we will briefly discuss where to install the probe, what tools to use, and how to do the installation. 1.2 WHERE TO INSTALL THE PROBE In deciding where to install the probe we need to look at the following: Changes in soil texture A sandy soil, for example, will have different soil water dynamics to a loam soil. Demarcate, as best you can, the soil textural variations on your property. This will give you an indication of how many probes you may initially need to consider acquiring Crop type Different crops have different water requirements. You will need to choose which crops you want to monitor Crop variety Citrus, for example, has a number of varieties with each having its own soil water requirement. You will need to choose which varieties you want to monitor Crop age and size This is another consideration you will need to look at. 1

2 1.2.5 Representative site Within a soil textural type, group as many blocks or orchards as you can which are of similar type, variety and size. Now choose one that is going to be your indicator block or orchard and, within this chosen block or orchard, choose a representative plant or tree. You can, at any time, install additional probes should you find individual blocks or orchards within a group that are not performing as expected. 1.3 INSTALLATION TOOLS Two different installation pipes may be used to install the DFM probes HOLLOW STEEL PIPE ( soft soils) This steel pipe should have an outer diameter of between 26 and 28mm, and should be approximately 1200mm long for the standard 800mm probe. A steam pipe (stoompyp) is a good choice as it is very strong and will last for many installations. At one end of the pipe cut out a section ±20mm long and ± 15mm wide as per Fig. 1 below. This allows removal of ground with a screw driver or similar tool. Fig. 1 2

2 We now need to drill a hole (± 11mm diameter) through the steam pipe just below the dolly to fit a handle.

3 At the other end of the pipe we need a dolly (fig. 2) so that the pipe can be hammered into the soil. This is a piece of solid steel, cored at one end to fit snugly over the pipe. Fig.2 We now need to drill a hole (± 11mm diameter) through the steam pipe just below the dolly to fit a handle. When the pipe has been hammered into the ground we will need this handle to remove it. The finished auger will look similar to the one in Fig. 3 below. Fig SOLID STEEL PIPE (this option works for both soft and hard, dry soils) 3

A 28mm-070M20-EN3B BMS steel pipe is a good choice as it is very strong and will last for many installations.

4 This steel pipe should have an outer diameter of between 26 and 28mm, and should be approximately 1200mm long for the standard 800mm probe. A 28mm-070M20-EN3B BMS steel pipe is a good choice as it is very strong and will last for many installations. Grind a point at one end to assist when driving the pipe into the soil (Fig. 4). Fig. 4 At the other end you will require a dolly and handle as discussed above. The finished product will be similar to that shown in Fig. 5 below: Fig. 5 4

1.4 ADDITIONAL INSTALLATION TOOLS An 8 lb hammer If you make use of the hollow tube you will need a long, wide (± 7mm) screwdriver to scrape soil from groove at the bottom of the tube.

5 1.4 ADDITIONAL INSTALLATION TOOLS An 8 lb hammer If you make use of the hollow tube you will need a long, wide (± 7mm) screwdriver to scrape soil from groove at the bottom of the tube. Approximately 1 litre of soil slurry (consistence of a double thick milkshake) per probe. The slurry is used to create an uniform contact between the probe and the soil. A 1 Litre jug for pouring slurry. Water (± 2 litre) Pruning shears to provide installation space. 1.5 PREPARING THE SLURRY Use a 20 l drum and gather some top soil similar to the soil where you will be installing the probes. A fine grade sandy loam soil will work well for most soil types. Medium to coarse grade sand will not mix properly and will clog the installation hole. Use a hand drill with a mixing attachment (Fig. 6) Fig. 6 5

6 Add water and thoroughly mix to create a smooth slurry with a consistence which is neither blobby nor too runny. A consistency similar to a double-thick milk shake should work well. 1.6 INSTALLING THE PROBE Hammer the steel pipe into the ground to the required depth. The hole should be slightly deeper than the length of the probe shaft. Keep the installation pipe moist to prevent the soil from sticking to it. If you are using the hollow pipe, don t hit it too deep as you will need to scrape the soil out as you go along. Likewise, if you are using the solid pipe turn the pipe every few hits to ensure that it does not become too difficult to remove. If it gets difficult to turn, remove the pipe and pour a little water into the hole. If the soil is hard or dry or both, pour some water into the hole between hits. Not too much as free water in the hole will dilute the slurry and the probe will tend to float. When you get to the required depth, remove the pipe and slowly pour ± 0.5 litre of slurry into the hole. If you pour too fast you may create an air lock which will prevent the probe from attaining its required depth. Slowly push the probe into the ground while rotating it backwards and forwards. Never force the probe into the ground as the resin inside can crack and permanently damage the probe. The slurry needs to be pushed out to the soil surface, evenly all around the probe shaft. If it does not get to 6

7 the surface, remove the probe and add more slurry. If the slurry keeps disappearing down the hole, you may have encountered a mole burrow. Try re-installing at another spot. Only insert the probe shaft. The head section should be exposed above ground. 1.7 WAKING UP THE PROBE Once the probe has been installed it will have to be woken up as they are shipped in sleep mode Check that the date and time on your Handheld Logger is correct Press MENU Scroll through the menu options till you get to Option 7 Setup Logger Press ENT. This will display the date. (If the date is incorrect, press ENT again. Type in the correct date and save this entry) Press the DOWN ARROW to display the time. (If the time is incorrect, press ENT again. Type in the correct time and save this entry) Don t forget to communicate with the correct probe. This is done by typing the probe number in on the logger, as follows: Press MENU Type in a zero, followed by the probe number Press ENT To take the probe out of sleep mode: Press MENU Scroll through the menu options till you get to Option 4 Set Probe Date Press ENT 7

8 The logger will search for the probe and download the correct date Press MENU Scroll through the menu options till you get to Option 5 Take Reading Press ENT This will force the probe to take a reading. Wait about 30 seconds for this to happen Press MENU Scroll through the menu options till you get to Option 2 Load New Data Press ENT This will download the latest readings from the probe onto the logger Steps 6.3 & 6.4 will need to be done for each new probe you have planted into the ground. 1.8 CONCLUSION Always remember we are installing an expensive piece of equipment that is not designed to withstand harsh treatment. Keep the probe in its bubble wrap while transporting it. During the installation process, never force it into the ground. If there is a root obstructing the process, rather make another hole. Sometimes the slurry filling process causes an air lock. Again, don t force the probe. Gently and slowly bob the probe in and out of the slurry until the air lock dissipates. Once the probe is in the ground it will have to be protected against damage from animals and human beings. An effective way to do this is to make a square cage of 30mm x 30mm consisting of four 12mm to 15mm round steel legs with diamond mesh welded around the outside. If you decide to cover the top, diamond mesh will be a good option. 8

9 Finally, please bear in mind that the probe consists of electronic components. Electronics and water don t go together. In order to avoid water damage, always ensure that the probe cap fits snugly over the o-ring. 9

2. DFM PROBE UTILITIES USER GUIDE 2.1 TAKE READINGS Press any key to switch logger on. Make sure the DFM-CLP screen is showing. If not, press the Menu key until it does show.

10 2. DFM PROBE UTILITIES USER GUIDE 2.1 TAKE READINGS Press any key to switch logger on. Make sure the DFM-CLP screen is showing. If not, press the Menu key until it does show. Press F1 to take the reading. If you pressed Menu to get the DFM-CLP screen, you may have to press F1 twice. After pressing F1, the logger will search for the probe. It may find the probe instantly and begin downloading, or it may take up to 10 seconds to find the probe. The probe searches for a signal every 15 seconds so it depends where it is in its search cycle. Once the logger has taken the readings, it will beep to indicate so. The logger has a menu button which we use when a problem arises or as a diagnostic tool. 10

Open the download icon (picture of logger in top left of menu bar).

11 2.2 DUMP DATA Once back in the office open Probe Utilities program from your desktop. Switch the logger on (press any key on the logger). Open the download icon (picture of logger in top left of menu bar). Click Find Logger dialogue box (some computers find it immediately without doing so). The logger date, time etc. plus a green Dump dialogue box will show once connected. 11

The software will indicate when the dump is complete.

12 Click the green Dump box to start download procedure. The download is slow so may take a while if there is a lot of data. You will notice a blue scroll bar on the right hand side indicating the download progress. The software will indicate when the dump is complete. The logger does not have an off switch; it switches off automatically after a while. Then download is complete, click the Refresh button and then the Close button (bottom right of screen). 2.3 SETUP SCREEN Double-Click on a site (Left Hand Side of screen). 12

/h), Flow Tempo (mm/h), and System efficiency (%).

13 The Setup screen will appear. In the middle block on the left hand side we can enter the Block ID, Variety, Valve, Size (Ha), Flow rate (m 3 /h), Flow Tempo (mm/h), and System efficiency (%). The block below this will be filled in if you are using long range radios. In the centre of the screen we can choose depths for each of the root zones we wish to view (Root Zone, Top Roots, and Buffer Zone). This is done by clicking the relevant blocks. 13

If we fill in the normal irrigation hours for the three separate

14 Once we have made any changes, we must save by clicking the green tick at bottom left. If we fill in the normal irrigation hours for the three separate root zones, the program will indicate the hours of irrigation required as at the most recent downloaded reading. 14

15 2.4 VIEWING GRAPHS Click on the Graph icon (2 nd icon from left at top of screen). We will be mainly interested in viewing the Level Graph and the Sum Graph. These can be viewed by clicking on the relevant dialogue box. The Level Graph shows us what is happening at each depth over a chosen time period. Soil water content is shown on the Y-axis, and Date and Time on the X-axis. Each depth is represented by a colour which can be viewed at the bottom RHS of the screen. Here you can close or open the different depths by clicking the relevant tick box. 15

16 When we open the graphs, the readings will always show one week s data (see image above). To view a longer time frame we click on the blue magnifying glass at either top right or bottom left of screen and choose the time frame to view, e.g. 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 month (see image below) etc. By right-clicking anywhere on the graphs we can zoom in to acquire a better view of the data. We usually zoom between 40 and 60% for level graphs. When you do this, the data may disappear off the screen. Normal-click on the graph and a hand image appears. Move this up, down, left or right to position the data. While in the Level Graph, we can click on the Chooser dialogue box next to the top right magnifying glass and choose Temperature to view the temperatures at each depth. The colours for the different depths are the same as for the level graph with the exception that we have a surface temperature sensor which is shown as a 16

black line. This graph can also be zoomed in 10 degree increments by right-clicking on the graph. Again, you will have to normal-click to get the hand showing so that you can position the data.

17 black line. This graph can also be zoomed in 10 degree increments by right-clicking on the graph. Again, you will have to normal-click to get the hand showing so that you can position the data. In the Sum Graph, the value of each sensor we have ticked in the setup screen for each root zone is added together. This sum value is shown as a single line for each root zone. The graph below shows all three root zones with their agronomic Full (or upper RAW Readily Available Water) and Refill (or lower RAW) parameters. These Full and Refill parameters can be set by rightclicking on the graph and choosing set upper RAW or set lower RAW. 17

18 We can add or remove graphs by clicking on the Chooser dialogue box (next to the magnifying glass ) and selecting or de-selecting the relevant graphs. The graph beneath excludes the Top Roots and shows only the Root Zone and Buffer Zone. 18

19 2.5 READINGS SCREEN All the raw data is shown on the readings screen. This data can be seen by clicking the Z icon. The readings screen look like this: The readings for each site can be viewed by clicking on the relevant site. 2.6 % SCREEN The % screen allows for a quick determination of water content without working through all the graphs. 19

20 For the sake of uniformity we always refer to our Full point (or upper RAW) as 0% extraction, and our Refill point (lower RAW) as 50% extraction. Columns 5, 6 and 7 show the extractions (in %) for the three root zones. Site G 24 MM (arrowed) shows extractions of 28.0% in the root zone, 68.1% in the top roots, and 12.1% in the buffer zone. Remember that 50% extraction is our refill point. This means that for site G 24 MM the top roots are too dry and require filling up, the root zone is midway extracted and the buffer zone is still wet at 12.1% extraction. If we look further to the right, we will see that this site requires 2.08 hours of irrigation, today, and has used its water at a rate of 0.6mm/day. Site G 45 MM has a root zone extraction of %. This means that the root zone is saturated as it is wetter than our Full parameter. Each site is also colour-coded for quick observation. Brown is too dry, Blue is too wet, and Green means we are in the Full to Refill operating band. 20

2.7? SCREEN This facility still requires some programming so we will ignore it for now. 2.8 IRRIGATION RECORDS SCREEN View this screen by clicking on the 6 th icon from the left.

21 2.7? SCREEN This facility still requires some programming so we will ignore it for now. 2.8 IRRIGATION RECORDS SCREEN View this screen by clicking on the 6 th icon from the left. The one with the water droplet. In this screen we can record all our irrigations. If we have filled in the Ha, m 3 /h, and the mm/h in the setup screen, our irrigation hour input will convert to m 3 and mm automatically. To do this, highlight the relevant site (listed on LHS). Now type in the irrigation date without separators e.g for 20 th February The irrigated hours 21

22 can be typed in as 0400 for a 4 hour irrigation (again, no separators). 2.9 CLIMATE SCREEN Open this screen by clicking on the icon with the sunshine symbol (7 th from the left). Here we can record ETo (evapotranspiration) and rainfall BATTERY CONDITION Open this screen by clicking on the battery icon (8 th from the left). 22

Here you can view the battery status for all the probes. 2.

23 Here you can view the battery status for all the probes BACKUP SCREEN IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE REGULAR BACKUPS!!! To create a backup, open the stiffy disk icon (9 th from left). This is the screen you will see: 23

It is strongly recommended that you save this backup to an external

24 To create a backup, click on the CREATE BACKUP dialogue box on the RHS. The backup will appear as the current date, highlighted, on the LHS. It is strongly recommended that you save this backup to an external flash drive. Before creating the backup, have the flash drive connected. 24

25 The newly created backup appears, highlighted on the LHS. Now click the send to dialogue box at bottom left of screen. You have a choice to send to Disk or Mail Recipient. If you wish to save the backup to your flash drive, click the Disk option. Now select the flash drive you are going to save it to. Normally you will click on My Computer then removable disc, and then click save. You can also send the backup via to your consultant. Do this by clicking send to and then selecting mail recipient. Your will appear with the backup as an attachment. Simply insert your consultant s address and it will be sent when next you open your programme. If you have sent the backup to your consultant, he/she will review the data and make changes to your settings where relevant. These changes will be ed to you and should be saved in the following folder: C:\Program Files\DFM Probe Utilities\Data. When prompted, click yes to overwrite the existing files LICENCE DETAIL Clicking on this icon (10 th from left) allows you to view your license detail. 25

26 2.13 EXIT This is the last icon (the green door). Click on this to exit the programme. 26

3. DFM CONTINUOUS LOGGING PROBE MAINTENANCE GUIDE The DFM probe is powered by a long-life battery. In addition it has a radio card for transmitting the data.

When this happens the radio card will have to be removed and cleaned with methylated spirits. This ongoing maintenance is not difficult and can be carried out by you or your staff. Fig. 3.

27 3. DFM CONTINUOUS LOGGING PROBE MAINTENANCE GUIDE The DFM probe is powered by a long-life battery. In addition it has a radio card for transmitting the data. Every 8 or so months the battery will have to be replaced. The radio card will periodically accumulate static electricity and at some stage will stop transmitting. When this happens the radio card will have to be removed and cleaned with methylated spirits. This ongoing maintenance is not difficult and can be carried out by you or your staff. Fig. 3.1 shows the probe head and its cap. The cap must fit over the o-ring (arrowed) when you have completed the maintenance. Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 shows the battery and radio card. At the bottom of each is a section that protrudes (arrowed) so they can only fit in one way. 27

If you look into the probe head, the visible part of the battery can only face one direction (Fig. 3.4). Fig. 3.4 3.

28 This is how they look when they have been fitted together (Fig. 3.3) The battery fits into the base of the probe head the same way as the radio card fits into the battery. If you look into the probe head, the visible part of the battery can only face one direction (Fig. 3.4). Fig TOOLKIT A toolkit consisting of the following items is recommended: Multi-meter Reset tool Battery card (remove an old battery from its base) to assist with installing a battery Head torch Medium sized screw driver Long nose pliers Spray bottle containing methylated spirits Roll of toilet paper 28

29 Spare batteries One or two spare radio cards 3.2 MAINTENANCE PROCEDURE Hold the probe head firmly and twist off the cap. Remove radio card, spray it with meths and wipe it clean with some of the toilet paper. Connect the reset tool to the battery and the cleaned radio card to the reset tool. Set the multi-meter to DCV 20 and connect the leads to the red and black connectors. Switch it on and take a reading. This will test the battery while it is powered up and the voltage should read 2.8 or higher (???). If the reading is too low, change the battery. Now press the red button on the reset tool to reset the probe s firmware. The green light should flicker quickly and then flash twice. 29

30 If the reset light behaves in any other way, try resetting again and if this does not help, remove the battery and install it again. 4. TROUBLESHOOTING 4.1 Logger does not detect probe or indicates a download error Try reading again Clean the radio card with meths to remove static Use the reset tool and multi-meter to check the battery voltage and exchange the battery if the voltage is too low. Reset the probe using the reset tool If you are satisfied that the battery has sufficient power and the problem persists, try swopping the radio card. Check the logger battery power and exchange if flat If all the above fail, contact your agent or DFM Software Solutions for advice 4.2 Logger screen fades and/or black stripes show on screen Check the logger battery Voltage. If it is below??? volts, replace it. If you have replaced the logger battery, the logger will need to be reset. At the bottom of the green wiring board??? (just above the battery) you will see a white X. Use two ends of a paper clip and connect the two bottoms of the X. This will reset the logger. 4.3 Reset flash flickers, is inconsistent, or does not flash at all Check the probe head for signs of water damage 30

31 Check the bottom connector of the battery for signs of wetness which generally shows as a blueish/green powdery deposit If there are no signs of water damage, try another battery and reset again. If problem persists, contact your agent or DFM Software Solutions 4.4 Probe sensors reading zeros??? 4.5 Sensors flat-lining (this will be seen in the Utilities graphs)??? 4.6 Water in probe head You will see visible signs of water in the probe head, or a blueish/green powdery deposit on the bottom battery connector Return the probe to DFM Software Solutions 4.7 Excessive battery consumption Replace the battery and the radio card 4.8??? 5. OTHER 31

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DFM Software Solutions cc Highly Specialized End-User Applications for the Agricultural Market Tel / Fax: (021) 904-1154 PO Box 537, Eerste River, 7103 Email: dfm@dfmsoftware.co.za CK2000/035440/23 124