External sensors on Nortek's dopplers

We have one Aquadopp Profiler and three AWACs in hand. We are purchasing two OBS3+ sensor, to be delivered in July 06, which will be integrated with the dopplers. The question is how. From the short description found in http://www.nortekusa.com/hardware/MicroCAT.html, integrating external sensors onto Nortek's doppler system is possible. Can anyone describe how this is done?

Aquadopp with MicroCat

Hi there

If your external sensors analog, you can feed the analog signal into any of your Nortek instruments (0-5 V).  The only serial instrument that has been interfaced is the Seabird MicroCat.

Most of our instrument are shipped with an internal harness that will allow you to read data from up to two external sensors.  You can also power the external sensor with power coming from a Nortek instrument.  All you have to do is to make sure you get the right cable from your analog sensors to the instrument.  Please refer to the manual for more details.

Good luck " />'>

Best regards, Atle Lohrmann

Hi there Urchinman !

Interfacing turbidity sensors to Aquadopps and AWACs is a snip.
If you need any help, just give us a call at IXSURVEY in Edinburgh, Scotland.
By the way , you may care to check out Seapoint Sensors Turbidity Meter Sensor - it uses less power than others. I have to declare a vested interest - we distribute Seapoint.

Kelso Riddell - IXSURVEY, Edinburgh.

Hi Urchinman,
Something to keep in mind is that the Aquadopp software does not account for external sensors when calculating battery usage and deployment duration. I have used an aquadopp with an OBS-3 before, and the OBS-3 is relatively high drain (compared to the Seapoint), and my deployments were cut short pretty dramatically. I would allow at least 50% extra battery capacity, e.g., if the software tells you you need 200% of a 50wH battery, you may want to install 300%, just to be sure.

Kurt