BTM UTILITY
Software USER MANUAL
Software Version 1.2 (Beta)
Windows Based – Windows XP
Polytronics Engineering Ltd.
431 Alden Road, Unit 11, Markham, Ontario L3R 3N4
Phone: (905) 305-8204 Fax: (905) 305-8216
431 Alden Road, Unit 11, Markham, Ontario L3R 3L4 • Toll Free 877.355.5550 •
www.polytronicseng.com
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 3
1. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION .................................................................................. 3
2. UTILITY HARDWARE INSTALLATION ............................................................... 4
3. CONVENTIONS AND DEFINITIONS ...................................................................... 5
4.1 THE MAIN DIALOG ................................................................................................. 6
4.2 CONNECTING ......................................................................................................... 7
4.3 SCANNING FOR DEVICES .................................................................................... 7
4.4 READING A DEVICE.............................................................................................. 7
4.5 CHANGING A CONCENTRATOR ID ................................................................... 8
4.6 OPTIONS…………………………………………………………………………...9
4.7 OTHER DIALOG INFORMATION ...................................................................... 10
4.8 SAVING CONFIGURATION FILES .................................................................... 10
4.9 CALIBRATING A DEVICE .................................................................................. 11
4.10 MANUALLY EDITING THE E2 .......................................................................... 12
APPENDIX A: VERIFYING SETUP .......................................................................... 13
APPENDIX B: TROUBLESHOOTING……………………………………………..14
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Introduction
The BTM Utility hardware and software have been designed to facilitate the
troubleshooting and setup of all BTM installations. It should be used before any BTM
system is put online. With the Utility, communication and performance of each
concentrator can be verified. It should also be used when the replacement, or addition
of concentrators is required. Initial set-up for the user selected shunt, calibration of
the individual cells, data or temperature can be also performed.
In order to operate, the BTM Utility program will require:
 RS232 - Optical Converter device
 Two fibre optic cables
 9V battery or 9V DC power adapter
 Computer (preferably a lap-top) running on Windows 98, 2000 or XP
 Com port available for BTM Utility software, or USB - RS232 adapter
 BTMUtility and USB (if used) installation CD.
1. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION
To install the BTM Utility software, follow this procedure:
1) Insert the installation CD and run the file BTM Utility Install File.exe.
2) Click OK when the message “This Setup was created with an EVALUATION
VERSION of InstallShield DevStudio” appears.
3) The InstallShield wizard will guide you through the rest of the installation.
Before the software can run however, all hardware must be installed for the system,
and for all BTM Utility hardware as well.
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2. UTILITY HARDWARE INSTALLATION
BTM Info requires an additional RS232 - Optical Converter with an additional pair of
fiber optics and power source.
First you need to establish communication between the laptop and each individual
concentrator. It is recommended to buy a RS232 – Optical converter with an
additional pair of fiber optics, and a power source. Connect the RS232 cable to the
COM1 port. We do not recommend the use of USB a device. However, if absolutely
necessary, use the RS232 - USB Adapter.
Terminate the two pieces of fiber optics as described in the Installation manual for the
BTM series monitoring system, and then disconnect the concentrators under
investigation from the system fiber optics loop.
Run the utility software and look inside the white fiber optics connector of the
powered up RS232 - Optical Converter. You should see burst of red light coming
from it. This red light is not a LASER, and it is safe for your eyes. If there is no
light, check the COM port setting and/or short pins 2 and 3 of the RS232 connector
and use a serial port communication program such as HyperTerminal to verify a
communication loop-back.
If the light is present, complete the connection of the fiber optics from the white
terminal of RS232/optical and the black terminal of concentrator and then look in the
white terminal of it. The light should be emitting from it. Now if you do not observe
a light, the concentrator is not powered-up or it is faulty.
Complete the fiber optics loop by connecting the white fiber optics housing to black
of RS232/optical converter.
You are now ready to use the BTM Utility program.
431 Alden Road, Unit 11, Markham, Ontario L3R 3L4 • Toll Free 877.355.5550 •
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3. CONVENTIONS and DEFINITIONS
Button: Buttons are 3D looking rectangles that, when clicked by a user, trigger a
specified task, usually related to its label.
Text Edit Box: A box that allows the user to manipulate text.
Dialogs: A dialog, also known as a window, refers to the entire “screen” that is used
for an interface with the user. Dialogs may contain edit boxes, check boxes, radio
buttons, buttons and other types of controls.
Check Box: A check box is a small square box that has an X inside it when it is
selected, and is empty otherwise. In a dialog, as many or as few check boxes may be
selected at once.
Radio Button: Radio buttons are small circle controls that when selected, have a
small black circle inside them. Unlike Check Boxes, radio buttons inside a dialog are
mutually exclusive, meaning only one can be selected at a time.
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4.1 THE MAIN DIALOG
Below is a complete view of the BTM Utility’s main dialog.
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4.2 CONNECTING
The optical loop check automatically checks to see if there is communication. There
are three states. NA, OK, and Fail. NA is displayed when the program is started and
there is no connection detectable. When communication is working OK is displayed.
If communication is broken at any time after communication has been established,
FAIL is displayed.
The next step is to click Open Port. This will attempt to connect to the devices. If
communication fails you likely have to select a different COM port. Select the
correct port and try again. When communication is opened the Open Port button will
go grey, and you will see ‘connected’ in the dialog box.
4.3 SCANNING FOR DEVICES
To scan for the devices connected to the computer, click on the Scan for Devices
button.
This will search for any attached devices and update the combo box next to the
Device List label, with the IDs of any found devices. It will also update the DEVICE
LIST TOTAL, with the number of devices found by the scan.
4.4 READING A DEVICE
To read the voltages of specific concentrator, enter the device ID in the device ID edit
box.
To do this you can either enter the number directly, or select the device from the
device combo box.
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Next click the Read Data button. Now all data edit boxes will contain the voltage
current and temperature data readings from the device. These data boxes will be
updated almost every second with new readings from the device.
4.5 CHANGING A CONCENTRATOR ID
All concentrators must have unique addressing number. The user can change these
ID number when necessary. An example of such a situation is when a new device is
added. This device must be given a unique ID number.
Enter the device ID of the device, which is to have its ID changed in the DEVICE ID
NUMBER exit box.
Enter the new concentrator ID in the New Concentrator ID edit box. The valid range
for IDs is 1-125 Never enter zero. This would change the mode of operation to test
the mode, which is difficult to operate. Only a highly skilled operator should do this.
Be careful not to have two or more concentrators with the same ID number..
Click the Change Dev ID button.
This will change the ID. It becomes necessary to Scan for devices once again to
update Device ID fields.
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4.6 OPTIONS
The options allow the user to modify the certain aspects about the system. There are
currently five options.
 Low voltage Type
 MAX/MIN Mode
 15 Inputs
 BTM FS
 Hex Mode
Low V Type: To select whether the device being read has high or low voltage, the
appropriate selection must be made. If the device is between 2 to 4 Volts, select low
voltage by selecting the button. If the device is between 6 to 12 Volts, select high
voltage by unselecting the button
MAX/Min Difference: This setting displays in brackets, next to the current data
reading, the difference between the maximum and the minimum value (in millivolts)
for the specific reading that has occurred since reading began
15 Inputs: Is used when there will be 15 inputs, and 15 intercell inputs per
concentrator.
BTM FS: This must be selected when there is a FACTSTAR connected in the
system. This option will automatically become selected during the system scan if
there is a FACTSTAR present.
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4.7 OTHER DIALOG INFORMATION
Loopback: Displays whether the communication path is working correctly
Errors: Count of general communication errors that have occurred
CS Errors: Number of check sum errors that have occurred
Iteration: The amount of iterations of sent data
SERIAL#: The device serial number.
4.8 SAVING CONFIGURATION FILES
Before discussing how to calibrate a device, there is a method of saving the original
and adjusted value. The easiest way is by clicking the Auto Save feature.
When this is checked every time you make a change to the calibration of the unit
whether through the calibration method 4.9, or the manual method section 4.10, there
is a file saved to the hard disk defined by the Active working folder. This file can be
used as a backup. If you wish to change this folder where the file is saved you must
click browse. You must open a file in the new folder in order to change this
directory.
If you wish to restore the backup you must go into the E2 content window section 4.7,
then click Restore CFG From File. Here you can select the file you wish to restore.
The auto save feature only saves a backup for the currently selected unit. If you wish
to make a backup of the entire system you must click
This will make a separate file for each concentrator in the system. The files will be
stored as XXX_XXX.cfg where the first 3 X’s are the instance number and the
second 3 X’s are the id of the concentrator between 1 and 127.
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4.9 CALIBRATING A DEVICE
To calibrate a device, the device must currently be connected to the battery, and
reading of the cell voltage must be steady. Switch to the read status. See 4.3 to learn
about reading from a device. As the read status occurs, the data edit boxes are
continually updated with new data. If a data edit box is selected, the data in that box
does not update with the rest of the edit boxes until the focus is removed from that
box. In order to calibrate each reading, select the edit box for the specific reading to
be calibrated, and replace the number currently inside with the actual reading
measured.
Continue with this process for all of the other readings that you wish to calibrate. A
small asterisk will appear beside the JAR number, after editing the number. The
number of asterisk’s will tell you how many times the value has been edited. After
you are done calibrating the device you must click the Adjust Readings button for the
program to update.
Enabled
.
If the calibration is successful, you should now see the new values displayed for each
JAR that was calibrated.
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4.10 MANUALLY EDITING THE E2
A complete view of the E2 Edit dialog box.
To manually edit the E2 first put the device ID in the device ID edit box.
Next click on the Dev CFG button.
This will bring up the E2 Dialog. The E2 dialog box has an edit box for each byte in
the E2. To change an E2 value, enter the new value, in hex, into the corresponding
text and the click on the Upload CFG button.
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Appendix A: Verifying Setup
Once installation is complete, the Utility's main menu will appear. Pay attention to
the LOOPBACK field on the right of the screen. It should display OK. If this is not
the case, wait 1 minute and if the content of this field does not change, this means that
there is a communication problem. Refer to appendix B: Troubleshooting for advice
on how to proceed.
Once you see “OK” follow these steps:
 Check to see if there are any errors in communication. From the main screen
chose “communication check” (“G”); The program will send bytes of
information through the installation and check to see that it receives the same
information back as was sent. If all go as it should, the Error(s) field should
remain at “00”. If some errors occur, refer to the troubleshooting section on
how to proceed.
 Locate concentrators by choosing option 6: “Scan for concentrators” (simply
pressing 6 executes this function as well). This function will search for
concentrators using their ID number(s), or TRX number(s) in ascending order.
This number should be identified on the top cover of each concentrator. You
will be able to see each concentrator number on the screen as well as the total
number of concentrators found.
While scanning for concentrators, you may have noticed that the total number of
concentrators detected by the program is greater than the number of concentrators
present. This is because the program reads the number of logical concentrators. One
physical concentrator can be split into two logical concentrators. This splitting is
only necessary if the concentrator is assigned to measure more than 15 jars. It is
because of this splitting that you will not find two separate concentrators with
adjacent ID numbers.
For example, you may receive 2 physical concentrators; one is identified as
concentrator 1 and the other concentrator 3. If your installation is designed such that
each concentrator will only measure 12 jars, then concentrator 2 and 4 will still exist,
but both will measure zero voltage. However, if each concentrator was designated to
measure 20 jars (20 being the maximum number of 12V jars one physical
concentrator can monitor), then concentrator 1 would measure jars 1-15, concentrator
2 would measure jars 16-20, concentrator 3 would measure jars 21-35, and jars 36-40
would be monitored by concentrator 4.
In setting the operation of the system is therefore advisable to use only odd ID
numbers for numbering of the physical concentrators
If the program cannot identify any concentrator(s), then refer Appendix B:
Troubleshooting on what to do. Once the program is finished scanning for
concentrators, pressing ESC will take you back to the main menu.
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Appendix B: Troubleshooting
The following section is a step-by-step instruction on most common problems.
It is highly recommended that you first check the following items:
 Concentrator(s) are powered on and operating. Check for the blinking red
LED.
 Termination of the fiber optic cable (see Installation Manual for more
information.)
 Routing of the fiber optic cable.
All connection should be from Input to
Output.
 Power to the optical to RS-232 Converter is good.
 Connection between the converter and the computer is correct.
 Communication port on the computer is correct, i.e. COM1.
Remember that the board will not power up unless it is connected to a string of
batteries. All the trouble-shooting is done using the BTMUtil program.
Concentrator is not blinking
LED on the front panel is not illuminating at all.
 Make sure that power switch is ON (lever pointing upwards).
 Check the input voltage on the front terminal block of the Concentrator between
connectors 1 and 4, 2 and 4 (must be 120V and not exceeding 300V dc);
 Check the polarity of the power input (negative must be connected to pin 1 and
positive to pin 4).
 Make sure that connectors 4 and 5 are shorted.
LED on the front panel is dim.

If no BTM system is connected to the concentrator (no communication) and the
device have been on more than 30 seconds, it performs full scans with preset time
intervals (10 – 600 seconds). Turn the device off (wait 5 seconds) and turn it on
again – device should blink with 2 seconds intervals 5 times and then go into the
slow scan mode again.
Concentrator is blinking but no communication.
Run the Util32 program and verify that LOOPBACK field displays “OK”.
Verify that the RS232 to Optical Converter is connected to COM1 (if you do not
know which port is COM1, switch them).
 Verify that LED on the RS232 to Optical Converter is ON (power is applied
to the converter).
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







Verify that signal is present on the Optical Converter.
Disconnect fiber optical cable from RS232 to Optical Output (white/blue
device) and observe red light burst approximately twice per second. If you do
not see the light, the COM port is not functional or is not COM1. Switch the
COM port. Try to restart Windows and run BTMUtil again.
Signal is present on the output of the Optical converter but still no
communication.
Take a small piece of fiber-optical cable (3 –5 inches) and connect the
converter output directly to its input (white/blue to black). If still “NO ECHO”
is displayed (make sure that you do not have USER INPUT field active, e.g.
you selected function 7 and have not yet entered the Concentrator ID number),
either PC serial port is defective or RS232 to Optical Converter needs
servicing.
Communication is OK appears when directly connecting Optical Converter
Input to Output but no Communication if Concentrator is included in the loop.
Check that the fiber-optical cable is terminated as recommended.
Check that Optical Converter output is connected to Concentrator input
Check that every device in the optical loop connects its output (white/blue) to
the next device input (black).
Undo at every concentrator its fiber-optical input and visually observe intensity of the
light (BTMUtil must be running, use option G). If the light burst appears dim, the fiberoptical cable is mechanically damaged (sharp bended or internally fractured).
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