IDENtools Version 2.0.0 Tutorial

IDENtools 2.0.0 incorporates a new Access database, BRstatNEW.mdb. This change was made to allow collection and recall of all data displayed on the Brstat screen. Data that was collected under previous versions of Brstat will be viewable using the BR Data tab in IDENtools. All data collected by Brstat 5.0 will be stored in the new database. The Brstat screen will be used to search and display stored data. You may search the following fields. Site Name TX Freq TX Freq by HEX Color Code RX Freq BR VSWR (all readings equal to or greater than) Antenna VSWR (all readings equal to or greater than) Also a problem with saving data when the comport # was greater than 5 was fixed. Terry Miller MWR RF Ops. Support 216-276-4116

Changing the comport # In the upper left corner of the opening screen click on CommPort. In the Communications Settings window select the comport # then click OK. The comport # is stored in Program Files\IDENtools\Data\ comport.txt The current comport # will appear in the lower right corner of each application screen.

Opening Screen.

The buttons on the right can be used as Meta Keys. If the Off Line EBRC/Quad button is selected, the buttons function will change to be used with a BR in the test mode. If ISC 2 or ISC 3 is selected the functions will be set for use with the ISC. The Power Control Off and Power Control On buttons control the Power Reduction option. This function does not work on SR13 systems. The Open and Close buttons allow a log file to be opened to capture data. The BR Report button executes a script to capture all BR data to the log file. The tabs at the bottom of the screen are used to select additional applications in IDENtools.

Brstat Screen.

Brstat is used to collect data from a BR. The BR can be online or offline, if offline you will be prompted to reset the BR and it will be placed in the test mode. Data is collected by clicking on the [Start] button or pressing Enter. Once all the data is collected the channel activity will be updated at a one second rate. As activity is detected on a channel the Interconnect, Dispatch, DCCH, and TCCH windows will be highlighted. If the [RABID Test] box is clicked the RABID alarm counter will be incremented each time the channel activity is updated. Pwr Fwd and Pwr Ref at the left of the screen displays readings at the rear of the BR, the readings on the right are for the antenna connection. The yellow Pwr Cntrl button allows the power reduction option to be controlled on non-PCCH channels. The window to the right of the button will display the status of the option.

The above section of the screen displays the Kit # and Model # of all FRUs in the BR.

[Start]: Initiates data collection of a BR. [Test Another BR]: Once you have viewed and or saved the current screen data this button is used collect data on additional BRs. You will be prompted to move the data cable to the next BR. [Dekey When Clear]: If this is not a PCCH or SCCH BR the program will monitor the channel traffic. When no traffic exist on the BR, an intrusive_dekey command will be sent to the BR. This can be used to test for multi-carrier intermod or noise floor problems. Once the BR is dekeyed, the button function will change to [Rekey BR], this will allow normal reactivation of the carrier. [Save]: Clicking the button or Alt S will allow you to save the displayed data. To allow for standardized naming convention the name can be up to 20 characters long. Once you have entered the name and pressed Enter you will be prompted to move the data cable to the next BR. If you have already saved data at this site, the name will appear in the window and you only need to press Enter. [Next]: Once you have done a search for data, this button will appear to allow viewing of all additional matching data. [Delete]: Clicking this button deletes the record currently displayed on the screen. To delete additional records use the arrows above the [Delete] and [Save] buttons to move to the record and click [Delete] again.

[Reset When Clear]: If this is not a PCCH or SCCH channel, the program will monitor channel traffic. When the channel is clear the BR will be reset. Once the reset is initiated the software will place the BR in the test mode so it will not take a new load. The opening screen will appear for testing of the BR. [RABID Test]: Once checked the RABID alarm counter will be updated each time the channel activity is updated. (See RABID Alarm Counter for additional information) [Quit]: Clicking this button or pressing Esc will close Brstat. The small window at the bottom right displays the comport number. The right and left arrows in the Saved Data box allows manual navigation through the stored data. Database search.

Any of the blue buttons can be used to search the stored data. Once a button is clicked the search window will appear. Enter all or part of the data to be found. i.e. to find all BRs with frequencies that start with 861, type 861 and Enter. To view the rest of the records matching the search string, click on the [Next] button at the bottom of the screen. To find all VSWR readings that are greater than a selected level, type in the level i.e. 1.5 and press Enter. A window will appear when there are no additional matches to the search string.

Any alarms that are stored in the BRs alarm buffer will be displayed in this window. Notes can be added in this window, the note will be saved with the BR data.

The RABID alarm counter is incremented whenever there is traffic on a receiver branch that has a diversity imbalance of 15db or more. In other words if the RSSI level on one or two receivers is 15db lower than the other and there is a dispatch, interconnect or data call in progress, the counter will be incremented. If the count changes (up or down) from one sample to the next the window will be red. If there is no change in the count the window will be green. By disconnecting a receiver cable at the multicoupler you can verify the cable is connected to the proper receiver. The receiver window for that cable should turn red and begin to increment. It has been found that you can find some problems in the transmit path that cause the receiver to desense i.e. bad connectors and antennas. This is usually indicated by the counter continuously counting up to several hundred and then resetting back to zero. The counter must increment to 960,000 before an alarm will be sent to the OMC and a page is generated.

Any VSWR reading >1.3 will appear in yellow while any reading >1.6 will be in red. The yellow [Pwr Cntrl] button allows you control the Power Reduction option, this will not effect traffic on the channel. The window to the right will display the status of the option. BR Type will be either Quad, Legacy or Pre-97.

The Channel activity window displays calls that are currently in progress, this information is updated at a 1 second rate. The information at the right represents the TX and RX frequencies, HEX code, BRCID and channel activity. As the channel activity is detected (interconnect, dispatch, DCCH and TCCH) the windows will turn blue. The BRCID is particularly important when using Uplink Analyzer since in a Quad the BRCID #s are not necessarily in sequence.

IMUview Screen:

IMUview collects data from an active or Sloaded ISC to display EAS status and other information. When used with an active online ISC the EAS status is displayed when there is a change of state. An alarmed state is represented as a red icon, green indicates the alarm has transitioned to a cleared state. Yellow indicates there has been no change in state since the program was started. By placing the mouse pointer over the alarm name the alarm number and punch block location will be displayed. Once an alarm is detected this display changes to an alarm counter displaying the number of times there has been a change of state for that alarm. If the ISC is in the Sload mode the alarm points will be scanned sequentially and all alarm statuses will be displayed, there need not be a change of state for the alarm status to be displayed.

At the lower right of the screen, information about satellite status and PEG data is displayed. The top number is the number of satellites that are visible to the antenna while the lower represents the number that is being tracked with good data. These windows are updated when there is a change in the count. If the antenna is disconnected the windows will turn red indicating a loss of sync and the oscillator is free running. The PEG data is displayed to the right, this information is sent from the ISC once every 10 minutes. The two upper left windows represent the number of dispatch and interconnect calls that have been processed in the previous 10 minutes. The upper right is the time and date of the last ISC reset whether it was a download or an unscheduled event. The lower left is the average of all 10 minute periods since the last reset while the lower right is the total number of calls since the last reset.

The text window displays all ISC MMI activity. The [Save] button stores the alarm status in the \Data directory under Pmdata.mdb. The window in the lower right is the comport number.

Bradd Screen:

The Bradd screen is used to program single BRs or all BRs in a new install. When you select an address from one of the buttons on the left of the screen you will be prompted to power up the BR and press the reset button. Once the operation is done, the window on the right will display the results of the programming. If you dont wish all receivers to be enabled, use the boxes in the top center to select the branches to be enabled.

To program all BRs in a new site use the pull down windows to select the number of BRs in each sector. Once you have selected the number of BRs and the receiver configuration, click the [Start BR Programming] button. Connect the computer cable to the first BR and follow the instructions on the screen. After each BR is programmed, the buttons on the left of the screen will turn green, move the cable to the next BR and power it up. After each sector is complete the sector window will turn green.

The [Omni] button changes the BR numbering scheme to the NRO standard (1-1 thru 1-6, 2-1 thru 2-6 and 7-1 thru 7-1). The [NORCAL / Partners] button changes the sector configuration numbering. The Cabinet and Position windows display configuration for BR that is being programmed. Once all programming is complete you will be prompted to check that all receiver cabling from the multicoupler is properly connected.

RSSIvoice Screen:

This program, in conjunction with a SU (need not be a registered unit) can be used to test receiver functionality on a BR. This program is primarily design for use with fiber optic systems (LGC & ADC) but can be used at a standard EBTS site. First you must select the type of SU you will be using in the upper right corner of the screen. Once you have selected the type of SU you can choose the frequency to be used during the test. Next select the receiver branch in the upper left (this can be changed anytime during the test). At the bottom of the screen you may set the power output of the BR under test. This would only apply if you were doing a far field test at a normal EBTS site. When you click the [Start] button you will be prompted to power up the BR and press the reset button. To place the SU in the factory test mode, press the following key sequence.

* # * [menu] [menu] [menu]

Once the graph appears on the screen press [Start] on the SU. The screen on the SU should display RSSI, BER and SQE readings. At this point press [Tx on] to turn on the transmitter of the SU. If In Progress appears and does not change to RSSI readings, the SU is not receiving the BR. The problem may be that the SU and BR are not set to the same frequency. If the BR and SU are setup properly the graph on the screen will display the RSSI, BER and C+I. The raw data from the BR will be displayed in the window at the top of the screen. The window in the center of the screen displays data and notes that will be stored in the Excel file. Each line of data is assigned a test number if you need to scroll back in the data.

At the bottom of the screen the [Restart] button is used to start a new test. The slider is changed from power control to time delay, the time between test can be adjusted from 5 to 60 seconds. The [Add Note] button can be used to add comments to a specific test, this note is added to the Excel database. If you would like to do remote testing using an additional SU, an audio cable can be made to connect the laptop to a SU. One end has an 1/8 inch phono plug and the other is 5mm, the connection is straight through. The cable is plugged into the headset connector on the laptop and the other to the headset connector on the SU. Use the volume control on the laptop to set the audio quality. By setting the SU in Auto Answer you can call the unit from the field and monitor the output readings from the BR.

DTS History:

This application is used to gather information from the DTS CSU. Once connected to the CSU and the application is start, this warning message will appear verifying that you are connected to the CSU.

The next window will prompt you for a site name, if the one displayed is correct, press Enter. Once all the data is collected the screen will appear as above.

The window in the upper right of the screen displays the total error count for the TI and NI side of the CSU since the last reset. The [Clear Alarm History] button is used to reset the counters to zero. Allowing the error count buffers to fill up can cause problems with the CSU, the buffers are 64K. [Update]: This button rereads the buffers and displays the new count. If the count has changed the window for that error count will be red. [Loop Off]: Using this button will prevent the CSU from being looped up remotely. If someone sends a CSU loop up command, both the CSU and ISC will loop up. If they send only one loop down command, the ISC will remain looped up. Setting this option to OFF prevents that scenario. [CSU Maint]:

If a pattern is selected and the [Start Sending] button is clicked, the test pattern will be sent from the NI port. If this is an active site, call processing will stop. [Loop Up]: This button will cause a loop to be placed on the NI port of the CSU. This will stop call processing.

[Disable External Loop Back]: This button performs the same function as the [Loop Off] button on the error count screen. The text window in the lower right displays any real time errors that occur. [CSU Config]:

CSU Configuration is used to view and change options in the CSU. To make a change to the configuration, click on the arrow beside the option and select the new parameter. Next click on the [Reconfigure] button, making this selection will stop all call processing while the change is being made. The most important option on this window is the Master Clock, it must be set to Network.

Time Slot Status:

This window shows the current status of the 24 timeslots of the T1. If any slots have been slot shifted for a split T1 i.e. Microwave use, the slots that are shifted will be red. Changes to the status cannot be made with this application. 24 Hour History:

The graph shows error counts in 15 minute increments for the previous 24 hours. The timeline at the bottom of the chart gives the time of the occurrence. The data displayed is for the NI side of the CSU. If you wish to look at errors coming from the ISC, click on the TI button on the right.

Sload Screen:

Once you start the application you will be instructed to connect the data cable to the ISC and turn the power on. The program will decide which controller it is connected to (ISCII or ISCIII) and proceed accordingly. If it is an ISCIII the install command will be issued and the test buttons will appear on the right of the screen. If it is an ISCII the screen above will appear and the hex file download will occur. The progress bar on the right displays the status of the download (takes about 29 min.). Once complete the program will log into the ISC and display the test buttons.

Br Data Screen:

If you wish to review data saved in an earlier version of Brstat you must use this screen. The only search available with this screen is for Site #. Click on [Find] and type in the site number, use the arrows to step through the site data.

IntroductionHelp or Comments

Changing the comport #Opening ScreenBRstat ScreenAction ButtonsDatabase SearchAlarm WindowRABID Alarm CounterVSWR ReadingsChannel ActivityFRU Kit and Model #'s

IMUview ScreenText WindowSat. & PEG Data

BRadd ScreenSector ProgrammingBR Numbering

RSSIvoice ScreenData CollectionToolbar

DTS HistoryError CountCSU MaintenanceCSU ConfigurationTimeslot Status24 Hr. History

Sload ScreenBR Data Screen