Solar Light FAQ's

Frequently asked questions and Technical information:

> Downloadable Technical papers featuring Solar Light products

> Downloadable Application notes

> Submit your warranty registration for your Solar Light products.

> Warranty Details for your Solar Light products.

> How do I set up Windows Hyper Terminal for use with Solar Lights products?

> Communicating with a 501, PMA2100, PMA2200, MICROTOPS II® remotely via a modem.

> Common conversions

> Where is Solar Light Located?

> Download instruction manuals

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> If you are having technical difficulty with a Solar Light Company product, please e-mail info@solarlight.com or call 1-215 517 8700 with details of the equipment used and the specific problem

How do I set up Windows Hyper Terminal for use with Solar Lights products?

1) Connect your PMA2100, 501 recorder, or MICROTOPS® to an available serial port on the back of your PC with the cable supplied with your instrument.

1) In hyper terminal create a "new connection". This can be done by clicking the Hypertrm.exe icon or via the menu within HyperTerminal "File:New Connection".

2) Type in a name for the connection (i.e. PMA2100, etc.).

3) Under "connect using" select "Direct to Com2" if your available comport is com2 otherwise select the appropriate comport.

4) Set "Bits per second" to 2400 for the PMA2100. For MICROTOPS® and 501 recorder, set to same rate as the instrument.

5) Set "Data Bits" to 8.

6) Set "Stop Bits" to 1.

7) Set "Flow control" to None.

8) In the File menu click Properties. When the Properties box appears go to the settings tab. Under Emulation select VT100.

9) Under "File" menu select "Save As" and save the configuration file to a convenient folder.

Hyper terminal should now work for PMA2100, 501 recorder and MICROTOPS®.

You can create a shortcut to the configuration file and put it on the desktop or in a convenient folder, this makes life a bit easier.

The configuration files typically have a naming convention of *.ht where the star is the name you chose when setting up the new connection.

Communicating with a 501, PMA2100, PMA2200, MICROTOPS II® remotely via a modem.

This example assumes a U.S. Robotics Sportster 33.6k or 56k external faxmodem

A) Ensure the modem is turned OFF

B) On the back of the modem set the dip switches as follows:

1 - Down (Data Terminal Ready Override)

2 - UP (Verbal result codes)

3 - Down (Display result codes)

4 - UP (Echo offline commands)

5 - UP (Auto answer enabled)

6 - UP (Carrier detect normal)

7 - Down (Load factor defaults)

8 - Down (Smart mode Enabled)

C) Connect the modem to a PC serial port using a modem cable and turn the modem ON

D) Using a communications program such as HyperTerminal, or ProComm, send the modem the following initialization string:

AT&R1&N6&U6S0=1&W&Y

if the initialization succeeds, the modem returns "OK"

E) On the back of the modem reset the following switches:

3 - UP (Suppress result codes)

4 - Down (No Echo)

7 - UP (Load default profile)

F) Turn the modem OFF then ON again

G) Connect the modem to the instrument's serial port with the modem cable

H) Set the recorder's baud rate to 9600.

I) Plug an analog phone line into the modem

You can now communicate with the instrument by dialing the above mentioned analog phone line using a second modem and a communications software package.

Breakdown of Initialization string

AT Modem attention characters

&R1 Modem ignores RTS and turns CTS on when ready to receive synchronous data

&N6 Fixes highest connection speed to 9600 baud

&U6 Fixes lowest connection speed to 9600 baud

S0=1 Modem set to auto answer on 1st ring

&W Stores configuration to user profile 0

&Y Sets user profile 0 as default

NOTE: Phone line must be analog, have a dial tone, and have its own phone number.

Normally my Microtops sunphotometer reports higher AOT at shorter wavelengths but on some occasions, AOTs are approx the same at several wavelengths.

You are probably in a very low AOT environment. When AOTs are extremely low the difference in AOT between wavelength channels, especially in the IR, can be less than the accuracy of the instrument.

Common conversions:

MED (minimal erythema dose) Conversions

1 MED/HR = 0.05833 W/m2 (erythemically effective)

1 MED = 210 J/m2 (erythemically effective)

1 MED/HR = 2.33 UV Index

SED (standard erythema dose) Conversions

1 SED = 100 J/m2 (erythemically effective)

Ref: CIE S 007/E-1998

Radiance Conversions:

1 lux = 1 meter-candle = 1 lumen/m² = 1 candela steradian/m²

1 foot-candle = 1 lumen/ft²

1 lumen/cm² = 1.464129 mW/cm²

1 mW/cm2 = 10 W/m2