ARC-GEO LOGGER Pro-Series By Tim Williams Patent Pending. Owners Manual Release Date: Thursday, June 16, 2011

Transcription

1 ARC-GEO LOGGER Pro-Series By Tim Williams Patent Pending Owners Manual Release Date: Thursday, June 16, 2011 This document is subjected to change without any notice. Please check the release date. IMPORTANT NOTICE No parts of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, electric, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission of Tim Williams. Copyright , all rights reserved. By Tim Williams Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 1

2 Description: The new Arc-Geo Pro Series loggers can log a grid pattern of any combination of X, Y up to 1000 x The logger handles all the reference points of the plot. These references are the X, Y and GPS positions along with data from the detector or input device. These data points are stored in real time on the SD Card while the grid is being walked out. Because of this new feature, append to last grid is possible. There are only 3 buttons for the logger now. These make up the 3 button menu system. The USB port is no longer needed because of the SD card. The display data layout has not changed much. Because of the added GPS data, software has to be used that allows more data fields to be used and allows the user to choose which data fields can be assigned to the plot. This unit is designed for those that wanted the added GPS and larger storage space. Because of the audio input feature of this unit there are many different types of instruments that can be used with the Arc-Geo Logger series. There are many different uses for the unit as well. Features: Daylight visible LCD. LCD backlight for nighttime use. SD Card/MMC Slot up to 1g. 200 maximum grids per site. 200 maximum sites. Maximum plot size up to 1000x1000 and any combination of X, Y up to 1000! Append to last grid. To complete or extend. 3 Button menu controls. +/- Input polarity switch. Light and easy to carry. Headphone connection. Low battery LCD indication. Rechargeable 8-AA battery pack. Water proof Seahorse case. Auto/manual logging mode switch. Auto - samples once a second as you walk. 3-year parts and labor warranty. Free software updates under warranty. DESCRIPTION OF CONTROLS POWER SWITCH: LCD SWITCH: Turns power on and off. Turns the backlight on or off. If left on will reduce battery life. Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 2

3 MANUAL/AUTO LOG: POLARITY SWITCH: Allows user to log manual or in auto mode. Set for best signal input from device. MENU/SELECT BUTTON: Used to enter the menu system and used to choose a selection. LOG YES/DWN BUTTON: Used in log mode to log in manual, and to start the log in auto. Used in menu for yes response and down control. D/VAL NO/UP: SIGNAL INPUT: HP: CHARGE: Used for dummy value in manual log mode. Used in menu for no response and up control. Cable to the detector. Audio input. Headphone output if needed. Input for the battery charger. Operation - First Turn on: When the unit is first turned on, if the card is out you will see Reinsert Card to init! Place the 1g card in the slot and gently push down. DO NOT APPLY EXCESSIVE PRESSURE! You will see INITIALIZING SD Card OK The unit is now ready to log. The normal screen shows the Y, X position and the site number on the first line. The second line shows the grid size, the data value and file number. Y1 X1 S1 G0x0 D0 F1 On the normal screen you can press the log button to see the battery condition. If you press the down button, you can see the GPS condition and the 1D, 2D or 3D lock for the GPS. The best is 3D. WAAS is only used in the USA. Before starting the grid make sure the GPS is locked in either 2d or 3d. If the GPS has problems receiving information the Arc-Geo will log. When the GPS locks it will log automatically. Menu: To enter the menu, press the menu button. The menu has 6 functions. Exit menu, create new site, change site, delete file, create new grid and clean card. Once you enter the menu you would use the up/dwn buttons to move through the selections. To select one of the menu If you press the select button on exit menu you will be back at the normal screen. If you press select on new site, a new site will be created after the yes/no response. The same is Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 3

4 true for the following menu options. Press select to start the option and then yes/no when asked. When you first enter the menu, you will see create new grid and after each option. If you do not have a site created, create new file will create the site before creating the file. All sites and files are in numeral order. When no sites or files are on the card you will see a 0 for the site and file number Site0 or File0. Remember in all cases; use the up/dwn to move and the yes/no to answer are you sure questions. To exit out of menu, press the up button till you see exit menu and press select. Create New Grid: Press the select button to start the create new grid option. Press yes when you see are you sure. You will see AGL#.txt created. Now you need to set the Y amount of the grid. You will use the up/dwn to adjust the value. The longer you hold the button down the faster the value will change. To slow down the number release the button and press it again. This is true for either the up or dwn buttons. Once you have the value set press the select button to finish the Y amount and store the value. You will see the set X:0 next. Repeat using the up/dwn to set the value and press select to save the Y value. From setting the X, Y amounts you will enter the log mode screen. This screen has the L> showing you are in the log mode. The first line has the L> log mode, Y# value, X# value, S# site number. The second line has the G:#,# grid size, D# data value, F# file value. As you walk out the grid the LCD will show you the current X, Y position you are on. Clean Card: After you have copied the files off the SD card do not delete them on your computer. Use the logger to clean the card. The logger is tracking the site and file numbers. You can delete files from the logger using the delete file option. But you cannot delete individual sites. Once you select clean card, all sites and files will be deleted off the card. You should all the data off the card you need before cleaning the card. New Site: This will create a new site folder. You should keep track of the folder that relates to the site it was created for. Exit Menu: This will exit you out of the menu system and back to the normal screen. Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 4

5 Change Site: If you have more than one site you can switch to another site folder and work on that site. Delete File: You can delete the last file if you did not grid it correctly. Then you can create it again to plot. GPS Format: You set the GPS data format to DD.MM.SS, DD.MM.MM and DD.DDDDD. Set to DD.DDDDD for gps logging. GPS Mode: Set GPS mode on or off. X,Y Mode: Turn X, Y mode on or off. GPS Log: In this mode the logger sends the data to the laptop for real time logging. The grid is not saved on the SD card in this mode. Polarity Switch: Connect the Arc-Geo mini to the detector headphone jack. Turn the logger on and press no not to add to existing grid. Turn the detector on and walk over a target. Watch the Signal LED to light. Place the detector where the LED just comes on and press the Polarity switch. You want the strongest signal position. IF the LED goes out then put the polarity switch back in the first position. You should always use the strongest position for that detector. Auto/Manual In auto mode the unit will log every second. Try to step in time with each log or keep the coil moving at a steady pace. To start the auto log, stand ready and press the log button once. The unit will log till the end of the (Y) is complete. When you are in position on the Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 5

6 next (X), press log to start. Each time you reach the end of (Y) the unit will stop and wait for you to start again. You can switch between manual and auto. But you will have to press log to start auto logging again. For example: If you are walking and come up to a tree, you could switch to manual to log the number of points needed for the space of the tree and then switch back to auto to finish the (Y). In manual mode you press the log button each time you want to take a sample. This is normally done with each step with the number of steps set to Y. Graphic Software Dummy Value Whatever software you choose to use, here are a few things to remember. When doing a survey you may from time to time run into a wall, tree or some other object in your path. You still have to do a sample in the object place. To do this, just take samples in the place/area that these objects take up in your grid. For example: If you have a tree that is on a row and the tree would take up 3 sample places, when you reach the tree press sample three times for the tree area on the grid. Note the X, Y of the tree samples. When you download the data, you can correct the data for the tree by replacing the data in the X, Y positions with the dummy value This will draw blank spaces on the grid in place of the tree. You still need to make notes of what these blank spaces were in your notes. You should always do a rough graph of the area including trees and all objects within the grid area and reference them to the software plot. Detector Types At the time of this writing, any detector with a headphone output should work with this unit. A detector should be used that will give the best target size results and coverage of the area. You can always go over the area with a smaller coil or different type detector. The Arc-Geo Logger increases depth by the interface of the headphone jack. The unit picks up signals that you may not begin to hear. Also refer to the metal detector manual for correct setting of the detector. You can try to use a splitter and wear headphone with the logger, but the logger was not designed to use a splitter. Data loss is possible and depends on the detector used. If you try a splitter turn the volume all the way up on the detector. Two Box Is the best to use for large targets and depth. Will ignore smaller targets. The TF-900 by Discovery has a metal mode and a cave mode and was used for developing of this unit. The cave mode will detect non-ferrous objects, rejecting iron! PI Also can be used for depth, but may detect smaller targets. Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 6

7 VLF Detectors with 8 to 12 coils are good for walls and floors inside houses. Also increases the resolution of the grid by logging every (coil size) These units can be set to only respond to gold and above giving even better possibilities to the user. COIL SIZES Select the coil size to fit the application. For house searching an 8 coil is fine. You would move the coil in 8 steps or the width of the coil you are using. For a deep target you should use a larger coil or a large PI coil and move the units the width of the coil or scan pattern of the unit. I log every 3 feet using a deep seeker. The Arc-Geo Logger can log many signals. Mag s and other types of treasure locators that have a headphone jack or a dc voltage output up to 5vdc can be used with the Arc- Geo Logger. GRID TYPES AND USES You can think of many ways to grid a target after you get used to using this unit. To start when you are on a new site, mark the plot areas you want to grid in a notebook for reference later. This will show how to connect the grids in the software for viewing. Depending on the site and area to log I always do a sample log. Sample Log: A sample log is a log of an area to see if there are any metals over the section of interest. The X, Y is set for X = 1 and Y set to the number of samples for that area. For example, let s say we have a mound of some type. If you are using a deep seeker, you need to find out how many steps it takes to walk across the mound from one side to the other crossing the top in the middle of the mound. This number is the Y of our sample grid. So you would make two grids that form an X over the mound. When you bring this grid into the software it will be shown as one line plot. But you will get a quick look to see if there are any metals of interest. If so then you can do a normal grid of the mound to get size and shape. Grid Shapes: Because of the shape of our mound, it would be best to slice it by taking many grids and then putting them back together in software. Because of the uneven ground you cannot use a square grid. As you walk up the mound the area increases as you slice through the mound. So depending on the height of the mound, the first Y may be 5 the next 10 and so on. You can see that you will have to determine what would be the best grid to use given the area to grid. Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 7

8 Square and rectangle grids are the easiest to do. The only problem is trees or walls that are in the grid. You still need to take the sample in those spot. You can press log for the number of samples needed to cover that area, then, continue pass that point. HANDLEING DATA It is best to copy the folder off the SD card with the files and rename the folder and files with that folder if you want to. The logger is tracking the sites and files on the SD card. All deleting and cleaning of the card should be done on the logger in the menu system. This includes creating new sites and files. If files or sites are deleted from the computer, the logger will correct for the missing sites, but not the files. The site will have to be deleted and recreate on the logger to correct the file amount within that site. Output format Y, X, DATA, LAT, LOG < Header Plot viewing programs will have to be able to input multiple columns of data. Programs like Rockworks WARNINGS Do not plug AC into the input jack! Do not open the unit for any reason. No reusable parts inside. Do not store the unit where temperatures may exceed 98 degrees. When moving the unit from a cold environment to a warm or hot environment may cause condensation inside the unit. Move the unit so that the unit s temperature changes slowly. Charge the unit when the display shows charge battery. It is not possible to recover data once it has been deleted. Always start at X1, Y1 upper left top of grid. Do not press any buttons during power up of unit. Do not use this unit during a lighting storm or when raining. The enclosure is waterproof when closed. Plotting a grid near high power lines may interfere with the metal detector response. Inspect your equipment before operating. Do not press against the LCD display. Leaving the LCD backlight on will reduce battery life. Do not erase files off the SD card from your computer. Erase them from the logger. Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 8

9 Site Log Date: Site# File# Description: Septic tank using the pro series logger along with the TM-808 in cave mode. The TM box detector was set to the automatic mode. You can see the drain field and the concentration of water near the tank. The tank is cement. Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 9

10 BATTERY CHARGING The newer units have a fast rate charge circuit, which means higher current. The charger supplied is designed for the batteries used in the Arc-Geo. DO NOT USE ANOTHER CHARGER! DO NOT CHARGE OVER 24 HOURS! The batteries will get hot some and is normal. Over charging may cause battery damage. UPDATES. Version 18.d Added to menu setting of GPS type, DMS, DMM or DDD. Added GPS mode on/off. When off the normal grid settings of x, y apply. In GPS mode to start log press log. To stop the auto logging place the mode switch to manual. The unit will stop. Position yourself and place the mode switch back to auto and press log to start. GPS MODE: 1. Press menu and the up button to set the GPS on/off, select on. 2. Press menu again and up button to select the GPS format type. 3. Before you start a grid check the GPS for a 3D lock by pressing NO button out of menu. You will see the GPS data and either 1-3D lock. 3D is the best. 4. Press menu and select create new grid. 5. You can either log in manual or auto mode. 6. Press log to start, switch to manual to stop. 7. To end the GPS mode grid press menu/select You can log as long as you want in GPS mode back and forth in a grid pattern. I will have a video on you tube soon on the pro unit with the new features. If you use the GPS data in google maps you need to add the N and W to the data. IE; N , W Google needs the N and W to work correctly. Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 10

11 To log in real time GPS mode move in the menu to GPS logging and press select. In this mode you just walk in a grid pattern or where you want. The laptop soft ware knows where you are by the gps position. When you are ready to end press the stop on the laptop soft ware. CLOSING NOTES Please read the manufactures software manuals to learn how to import data. Snuffler and other type programs can be used with the Arc-Geo logger. Look at the videos on this CD and you tube. I have included in this manual step s importing files. For those of you that are not used to dealing with files in this way will have a learning curve. Remember to set the data range from in the graphic software you choose! Also set the dummy value of The logger is a powerful new innovation in metal detecting! To the serious treasure hunter it a must to log and store information on a site! I wish the best to you. This is a great hobby! Tim Williams Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting 11