DMK-DMG Data Logger

I154 GB 0510

SOFTWARE MANUAL

INDEX

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Minimum resources of the PC ........................................................................................................................ 2
Installation ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Activation of the PC - DMK connection ..................................................................................................... 3
Basic principles ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Main window ............................................................................................................................................ 4
System configuration ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Important note: ......................................................................................................................................... 9
Display menu .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Data Log ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Graphs .......................................................................................................................................... 11
Front panel .......................................................................................................................................... 13
Password .......................................................................................................................................... 14
Communication menu ................................................................................................................................... 15
Online .......................................................................................................................................................... 15
Offline .......................................................................................................................................................... 15
Modem Call ................................................................................................................................................. 15
Hang up ....................................................................................................................................................... 16
Parameters menu .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Basic setup ................................................................................................................................................ 17
Save-Load-Print.......................................................................................................................................... 18

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Introduction
This software allows to configure and manage data logged by a DMK40 multimeter or by DMG800-DMG900
multimeters equipped with EXP 10 30 or EXP 10 31 memory module.
Using the DMK-DMG series multimeter data logger software, you can:
• Set the measurements to be sampled and the sampling time.
• Display the data downloaded from the DMK-DMG in MS-Access format.
• Convert the MS-Access tables acquired by the DMK-DMG multimeter in ASCII or MS-Excel text format.
• Plot graphs of the measurements sampled.

Minimum resources of the PC

• ®
Windows 98/2000/XP operating system
• Graphic card with a minimum resolution of 800x600; 1024x768 or higher is recommended
• A free standard RS232 serial interface (COM:)
• 64Mb of RAM
• ®
Pentium class or higher processor
• CD-ROM drive for installation

Installation
For installation, you need a PC with the operating system already installed and running and the program
®
setup CD. You should also have at least a basic knowledge of the PC and be familiar with Windows
operating system commands.

1. Close all applications running

2. Insert the CD in the drive
3. From the root directory, start the DmkLog_Setup.exe program
4. A window is displayed asking you to specify the directory in which you want to install the program. To
change directory, enter the new name in the specific box.
5. Follow the instructions provided. If a message is displayed indicating that there are more recent files
present on the PC than those being installed, maintain the files already present (answer YES or ‘keep’ to
the prompt)

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Activation of the PC - DMK connection
To run the program, the PC and the DMK-DMG multimeters must be able to exchange data on the serial link.
To activate the connection, carry out the following operations:

1. Make sure that the PC you intend to use has an available and free RS-232 serial interface port. The
serial ports are usually identified with the COM: code and usually range from COM1: to COM4: even
though most of the PCs available on the market have only two serial ports (COM1: and COM2:) which
can be identified by their 9-pin male receptacle connector. To use the program, you must first of all
identify which port of your PC you intend to use; remember that, in some cases, one of the serial ports
may already be occupied by the mouse
2. Configure the software for use of the port selected; you can do this during the initial installation phase or
subsequently using the Configuration-Options-General menu (see the specific paragraph). The default
serial port is COM1: set to 9600 baud, no parity.
3. Set up the RS-485 network, i.e. connect the Rs232/Rs485 converter to the PC and then all the
multimeters to each other and to the converter as indicated in the Connection diagrams paragraph
below. Comply scrupulously with the polarity of the Rs485 cables.
4. We recommend use of a Rs232/Rs485 converter furnished by Lovato. If you intend to use another type
of converter, Lovato will be unable to provide assistance in the case of wiring problems and to assure
correct functioning of the 485 network. In any case, the converter must be insulated and must have an
enable line automatic control circuit.
5. From the keypad of each multimeter, access the parameters of the serial interface (see the Addendum to
the manual furnished with the appliances) and set a different serial address for each multimeter starting
from 01 onwards. Check that the speed and parity settings all the multimeters match those of the PC.
6. At this point, you can run the program. If the wiring and the settings are correct, the connection with the
DMK 01 will be activated automatically.

In the case of problems…

If the connection does not work (when you try to switch to Online, the program issues a beep and switches
automatically to Offline), check the following points carefully:

• The number of the COM: port of the PC used must match that programmed in the Configuration-Options-
General-Serial port settings window.
• The communication speeds set on the PC and on the multimeters must match. For the PC, the speed is
selected in the Configuration-Options-General-Serial port settings window.
• For the DMK40, it is selected with parameter P.42 (see Addendum).
• For DMG800-DMG900 see parameter P07.n.02

When using RS-485 interface:

• If several multimeters are connected through a RS-485 network, they must be programmed with different
serial communication addresses (01, 02, 03 etc.).
• To set the serial communication address of the DMK40, program parameter P.41.
• For DMG800-DMG900 see see parameter P07.n.01
• The connection polarity of the multimeter and of the converter to the RS-485 bus must be correct (all the
A terminals on one conductor and all the B terminals on the other).
• The maximum distance between the two most distant devices on the RS-485 bus must not exceed
1000m.
• All the converters must be correctly powered and configured (see the instructions sheets attached to the
appliances). In particular, the PC side converter must be programmed in automatic switching mode
(data).

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Basic principles
The operation of this software is divided in the following steps:
Configuration – Using the PC software, the user defines which data must be stored in the multimeter
memory and how often these data must be sampled.
Sampling – The multimeter is disconnected from the PC. It samples the measurements itself and stores
them in its flash memory as a set of records, each one with time and date (supplied by internal real time
clock).
Downloading – After some time the user connects again the PC to the multimeter and downloads the data
from the flash memory to the PC disk. On the PC, data will be saved in a MS-Acces table that can be shown
using the software or used for further reporting/processing.

Main window
The main window of the program contains all the menus and the toolbars for access to the various functions.
As they may modify the configuration of the software, some of these functions are protected by a password
and are therefore disabled when the program is started. The main window is illustrated in the figure below
showing the most frequently used controls.

Fig 1.1 – Main window

Window type Toolbar for fast Manual start and stop Selection of the
menu for data access to settings of the acquisition multimeter in a
settings and and displays system of the RS485 network
display multimeter selected

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System configuration
To configure a data logging system, a project must be opened or a new project must be created.

To do this, open the File window and select New or Open. Create or open the file required. The file opened
is in Ms-Access format and contains all the information regarding the data logging system.
To access configuration, enter the password which, after installation of the program is, by default, LOVATO.
Click on the password menu, enter Lovato and then confirm with OK.
System configuration is a very important phase as regards definition of software functioning. In particular, if
several multimeters are connected, attention must be paid to programming the parameters of each DMK
connected to the network.
Before explaining the various functions of the program, the configuration window is illustrated below listing
the function of all the settings. A more detailed explanation of the purpose of each setting will be provided in
the following chapters.

Fig. 2.1 - Configuration-Options-General

Selection of
the language Settings of the
of the serial port of the
program. PC

Correct
multimeter date
and time based
on daylight
saving or
standard time
setting.

Type of graphic
representation Set the multimeter
of the data log. connection to be
by modem.

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 Fig. 2.2 - Configuration-Options-Multimeters (for DMK series)

Total number of Adds a new Removes a

Multimeter multimeters multimeter in the multimeter from
currently selected configured configuration of the configuration
the network of the network

Address of the Selects the

multimeter previous/next
multimeter

Enables/disables
serial
communication with Selects the
the selected multimeter model
multimeter.

Stop data-logger
when memory is full.

Description of the
multimeter. This
identifies the
Measure associated multimeter and
to threshold. will be displayed
in the selection
boxes, in the
alarms, in the data
See Note 1 log etc.

See Note 1

Note 1: For example, if threshold 1 is greater than threshold 2, the datalogger begins recording when
threshold 1 is exceeded. When the value of the selected measure is less than threshold 2, the
datalogger is stopped. The two thresholds can be inverted. In that case, the datalogger will trigger
when the value of the selected measure is less than threshold 1 but when it increases to greater than
threshold 2, the datalogger will stop.
If the selected measure indicates all three phases, it is sufficient the measure value of one of the
three phases is greater than threshold 1 to trigger the datalogger. The same procedure is done to
stop the datalogger.

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 Fig. 2.2 - Configuration-Options-Multimeters (for DMG series)

Total number of Adds a new Removes a

Multimeter multimeters multimeter in the multimeter from
currently selected configured configuration of the configuration
the network of the network

Address of the Selects the

multimeter previous/next
multimeter

Enables/disables
serial
communication with Selects the
the selected multimeter model
multimeter.

Stop data-logger
when memory is full. Description of the
multimeter. This
identifies the
multimeter and
will be displayed
in the selection
boxes, in the
alarms, in the data
log etc.

Data recording
mode.
See note 1.

Note 1: Data logging can be always ON (controlled only by the user) or can be controlled by the status of an
internal variable of the DMG. In this case, select the type of variable (LIMITS, INPUTS, OUTPUTS,
BOOLEANS, REMOTE etc.) and the channel number of the variable. For example, if variable LIM3
of the DMG is connected to a minimum voltage threshold, select LIMITS and channel number 3.
When voltage is lower than the threshold set in the multimeter, then LIM3 will be active and data
logging will run. When LIM3 is false, data recording will stop.

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 Fig. 2.3 - Configuration-Options-Data Log

If this checkbox is selected, the energy samples will be

Sampling period, that is Shows the
carried out in synchronization with the real-time clock of the
Interval of time between multimeter real time
PC.
saving of one record and clock.
For instance, if the sampling time is 1 hour, the sampling will
the following.
be done at 0:00, 1:00, 2:00 etc.
If this checkbox is not enabled, the sampling could be done at
0:33, 1:33, 2:33 etc.

Time used by the Set Real time

memory to be filled clock of
according to the set multimeter
measures and the
sampling time.

Selects the
measure to be
sampled
Selects the multimeter
from which to sample

Selects the type of

sampling for the
Adds the selected measure (DMG
measure to the list of only).
variable to be sampled. INST = value of the
measure at the
moment of
sampling
AVERAGE=
Eliminates the item
average value in
selected from the list.
the sampling period
Note:
MIN = minimum
if a field is eliminated
value reached in
from the strucutre of the
the sampling period
Data collection
MAX = Maximum
database, the currently
value reached in
saved record is lost
the sampling period

List of the
measures that will
be sampled from
selected
multimeter
Transmits the settings made. Receives the settings Saves and confirms the
Note: on transmitting the saved in the multimeter. settings.
settings, all the data saved in
the multimeter will be lost

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Figure 2.4 - Configuration-Options-Modem Index
If the software is configured for connecting via modem, it is possible to store a list of the various installations,
that is a list of places where a multimeter network with modem is installed. For each installation, the user can
define a code, a name and the corresponding phone number of the modem on the field. This way, when
wanting to connect with a particular installation, it will be possible to dial it directly from this list. For each
installation it is possible to define if one or more units are installed and associate an initial page to be loaded
once connection has been established.

Installation Description of Phone number

code. They must installation of modem to be
all be different. called

Number of DMK
units connected
to the modem.
To enter a new
record, first click
on New, fill the
fields and then
click on Add.

To eliminate a
record, first
select it in the
To modify an
table, then click
existing record,
Remove button.
first select it
from the table,
then do your
modification in
the field above,
finally click on
Update.

Important note:
Normally the user connects its multimeter network to the PC without modem. This allows to configure each
multimeter, defining the name, etc (this are the configurations that are entered in the Configuration-Options-
Multimeters window, see figure 2.2).
When using modem connection, all this setting can be used only if the remote connection is done always to
the same network, that is, if there is only one record in the Modem index because the user dials always the
same number. In this case, the couple of modems are used to reach a longer distance, but the
communication is the same as for direct connection.
The concept changes if there are more than one networks in the field. In this case, each network may be
different from the other, having different number of multimeters, working with different voltage etc.
The user can select one installation, connect to it and see the multimeter status, then disconnect and dial
another phone number to connect to another network.

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 View menu
Data Log
The variables defined in the Data Log configuration page (Fig. 2.3) are downloaded from the multimeter by
pressing the Download data key. The same data are saved in an Ms-Access format database.
The data collected can be displayed in table form with the View-Data Log menu or clicking on the matching
icon on the toolbar.

Fig. 3.1 – View-Data log

Sampling date Number of Values of the

and time records selected variables sampled

Extracts the Opens the Displays all Permits export of Deletes the Starts Opens
values within a window for the record the data selected data downloading of the graph
specific interval specification of of the in ASCII or Excel selected data from window
of time from the interval of time database text files from the multimeter to
the database. to be selected database PC

Download data
To download data from the multimeter, click on Download data button. The new data can be added to the
existing ones, adding them at the end of the database table. If the database table is not empty, and some of
the records in the multimeter have already been downloaded (already present in the database table), the
software asks if the user wants to duplicate the records with same date/time or if only the new records must
be downloaded.
The download phase may take several minutes, depending on the amount of data stored in the multimeter
memory and from the serial speed / type of interface that is used for downloading.

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Graphs
The data collected in the Data log databases can be displayed in the form of graphs (trend). This provides an
immediate view of the trend of the most important measurements or the possibility of comparing the values
of two different parts of the system in the same graph. To open the window of the graph, select the View-
Graph menu from the datalog window.
This type of graph is very similar to that of an oscilloscope. The time is indicated on the X (horizontal) axis.
The horizontal time scale is common to all the measurements displayed and is shown with indication of the
sampling date and time.
Using the specific Select period button, you can select the display start and end period.

Fig. 5.1 – View-Graph

Bright color = data

sampled

Selects the measurement to To scroll the Selects start/end of Prints the window
be associated to the red graph horizontally display displayed
trace

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View – Log status
With this option the window in picture is recalled, showing the status of the currently opened data log
session. The same window is displayed when the user closes the software in order to avoid quitting the
program leaving the data recording stopped (red cell in the last column). Closing also the Log status window
will completely end the software session.

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Front panel (DMK series only)
You can display a 'virtual' representation of the front panel of the DMK on the monitor of the PC using the
remote control software. When you access this window from the Display-Front Panel menu, the front panel of
the DMK is shown, with real-time display of the readouts and leds in their current status. Clicking with the
mouse on the keys, you can select the measurements and functions in the same way as on the physical
multimeter. However, you cannot access those functions (such as parameter programming, reset counters,
etc.) that require simultaneous pressing and/or holding down of the keys.

Note:
The quality of the graphic representation of the front panel may vary according to the graphic resolution of
your PC and/or the monitor settings used.

Fig. 7.1 – View-Front panel

Name of the
multimeter
selected

Real-time Clicking on the

display of the keys has the
status of the same effect as
readouts and on the real
leds panel

Password
When the program is started, some of the functions are disabled. You can enter the password that permits
access to all the functions, in particular those listed below, from the Password menu:

• Modification of the settings of the remote control

• Modification of the password
• Elimination of records from the Alarms and Data collection databases
• Access to the page editor
• Modification of the setup parameters of the multimeter connected

Fig. 8.1 – Password

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At the time of initial installation, the password is LOVATO. You can record a new, personalized password
subsequently, clicking on the New password button and then entering the new password you have chosen
twice consecutively.

Fig. 8.2 – New password

Communication menu
Online
The Communication-Online menu allows to re-establish the serial link after it has been stopped by the user
with the Offline command. When clicking Online, the software executes a complete scan of all configured
multimeters, to verify their status.

Offline
With communication-Offline the user has the possibility to temporarily suspend the serial communication link
between the PC and the multimeters network.
This command is to be used when, for instance, it is necessary to modify the network wiring or when DMK
are to be switched off. The System Offline status is displayed on the main page Toolbar (at the bottom of the
main window).
The system passes automatically in Offline mode when the user opens the Configuration window.

Modem Call
To connect to one or several multimeters via a couple of modems, it is necessary to select the Modem
connection checkbox in the Configuration-Options-General window. Selecting modem communication will
automatically change the communication protocol used by the software, from the standard Modbus RTU to
Modbus ASCII, which can be used with modems. From the user point of view, the difference between those
two protocols is only a little slower speed in case of the ASCII protocol, due to its length that is double than
the RTU and the modem modulation that requires also a certain amount of time.
When the program is configured for modem communication (see Configuration-Options-General window) it
automatically shows the modem call dialog after it has been started, because it is not possible to
communicate with the multimeter before dialing the phone number of the remote modem. The same window
can be opened manually using Communication-Modem call menu or the dedicated pushbutton on the
toolbar.

Figure 8.3 - Communication-Modem call

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Once the window illustrated has been opened, from the pull-down box choose the name of the installation
with which you want to be connected. The names entered in the Modem index during configuration will be
displayed. Once the choice has been made, the corresponding phone number appears in the box below.
Click the Dial button to start the connection procedure.
At this point the program will instruct the modem to make the call. While waiting, the sliding blue bar of the
maximum time allowed for making the connection will be seen (1 minute). The modem called will take the
line and exchange the usual handshaking messages with the answering modem. At the end of this
procedure, if everything has been carried out correctly, the PC status bar will show a message informing the
user that connection has taken place and the program will switch automatically to the Online mode. If any
errors occur, carefully check the connections and if necessary follow the Troubleshooting guide given in
appendix A of this manual. Normally connection is not critical since very common and absolutely standard
procedures are used. With the Break button it is possible to block the calling procedure, while Hang up ends
a communication already in progress.

Hang up
This command interrupts a modem connection, closing the telephone line. It is the equivalent of hanging up
the handset in an ordinary phone call. It is carried out automatically every time you exit the program.

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Parameters menu (DMK series only)
You can view and modify the setup parameters of the multimeters from the specific Parameters menu. This
method of accessing DMK settings is handier and more immediate compared with direct access from the
front keypad of the multimeters as, using the PC; the following are displayed:

• Code of the parameter

• Description in the language set
• Value set
• Graphic bar or drop-down box with possible options

The parameters have been grouped in four menus that reflect the organization described in the operations
manual and in the Addendum of the DMK. The following four menus are available:

• Basic setup (basic settings such as CT, VT ratio, etc.)

• Advanced setup (settings of the digital outputs)
• Capacitor overload setup (parameters relating to the capacitor protection function).

Basic setup
Fig. 9.1 – Parameters-Basic setup

Code of the Description Numeric value of the parameter. Highlighted in Graphic bar.
parameter yellow if different from the factory-set default Drag this with the
value. Double clicking on this box, you can set the mouse to modify the
parameter with the numeric keypad setting

Transmits the values Receives the values Resets the factory Drop-down box Closes the
displayed to the DMK and from the DMK and default values with possible setup window
saves them. displays them in the options
Enabled only with password. window

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Save-Load-Print
You can save the values of the setup parameters (of all four menus) on your hard disk in ASCII text file for
fast, easy reloading in another multimeter. This function is particularly useful when programming a set of
multimeters with the same settings or when you want to file the original settings of a system. To save the
parameters on disk, select the Parameters-Save to file menu and enter the name of the file. This type of file
has an .PAR extension. To reverse the operation, i.e. to transfer a file from PC to the DMK, use the
Parameters-Load from file menu.
Using the Parameters-Print menu, you can also print the settings and then file these together with the other
documentation of the system

PENTIUM is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation

WINDOWS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation

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