DEEPGEOTECH Magnetometer User Manual
The DEEPGEOTECH magnetometer is used to measure the strength of
the Earth's magnetic field, to search for magnetic anomalies and
ferrous metal. It is possible to save profiles to a flash drive
and link measurements to geographic coordinates. With a magnetometer,
you can detect metal objects hidden under the ground as well as
fractures in the Earth's surface (faults, caves). A magnetometer does
not detect nonferrous metal.
General Information
The magnetometer is a highly sensitive device. The operator
must not have any ferrous and/or magnetic objects on him (keys, a
compass, a buckle, a steel plate in boots, etc.). There should be no
noise for the device to run correctly. The magnetometer will not work
in a building, less than 200 meters away from power lines, near large
metal objects that create a strong magnetic anomaly (buildings made
of reinforced concrete). All electronic devices (mobile phones,
cameras and video equipment) must be turned off. The magnetic
field strength in various regions of the Earth varies from 60 to 40
thousand nanoteslas. See the map Full
strength of the Earth's magnetic field for the 1980s. .
The magnetometer can operate only within a narrow range of
values. Use the switch on the rear panel to switch beween ranges. By
default, the switch is set to position 3, which corresponds to the
strength of 52 000 nanotesla at the latitude of Moscow. Determine the
approximate strength of the magnetic field in your region. Switch to
positions 0-1-2 if the magnetic field strength is greater than 52 000
nT or to positions 4-5-6 if it is less than that. Control the quality
of the signal by taking manual measurement monitoring the LOST
parameter. The LOST value must be as small as possible. IMPORTANT:
Turn the switch only when the device is off! Switching ranges when
the power is on leads to the non-warranty breakdown of the
polarization circuit. It is enough to set the range just once.
Before You Start
Fill up the sensor. Since it is prohibited to send
inflammable liquids by mail, the sensor is delivered without the
active substance. Fill it up with liquid paraffin (kerosene) or
isopropyl alcohol. Charge the battery. Connect the sensor to
the central unit with the cable. Set the measurement range if it
was not done earlier. (see above) Turn the device on in the AUTO
mode for several minutes for thermal stabilization. Put the sensor
on the ground so that it does not move and orient it in the east-west
direction. The value spread when the sensor is motionless must be
within the last digit (for instance, 52001 nT - 52009 nT) or less.
Important: The best measurements can be taken when the
case of the device is grounded (the ground screw on the rear panel).
Taking into account that it is impossible to ground the case during
walking, it is recommended to connect the ground wire to the
operator's body or just hold the rear panel with your hand.
How To Operate
the Device
Slowly carry the sensor keeping it oriented in the east-west
direction. Monitor the readings on the display. Keep the same
distance to the ground within 30-50 centimeters. To neutralize the
influence of small metal objects, you can raise the sensor to the
shoulder level.
Controls:
Front Panel
LCD, functional buttons 1 and 2, navigation buttons, on/off
switch.
Rear Panel
Battery charging socket, sensor socket, measurement range switch.
Getting Started
After the device is turned on, the default
screen is displayed and the magnetometer is automatically
tested. If the self-test is successful, you can hear a sound
signal and see the LED on the control panel. If you insert a
flash drive before turning it on, it will automatically create a file
with a name like M12.CSV, where the number is automatically increased
for each new profile.
Main Menu
You can access the main menu from anywhere in the program by
pressing the MENU button. MANUAL: Manual
measurements. AUTO: Search mode. INFO:
Information about the device. MAIN SETTINGS: Main
settings. MEASURE SETUP: Measurement settings. GPS:
GPS navigator. Lower part of the screen: 1. Battery level.
Full charge is 12 volts. It shows the full charge at 10 volts, but it
is possible to work with the somewhat descreased stability of the
device up to 8 volts. 2. GPS navigator icon. If it is enabled,
measurement coordinates are saved to the file. 3. Flash drive
icon. It is shown if the drive is inserted and ready for operation.
Attention: Insert the drive before you turn on the device. Using an
SD/MMC card slows down the measurement cycle, especially if there are
a lot of files on the card and the profile file being currently used
is overloaded.
Measuring the Magnetic
Field Strength
Manually
To take a measurement, press the MEASURE button. If
there is a flash drive inserted and the navigator is on, information
about the strength, coordinates and time of the measurement will be
saved to the profile file. Samples: Interations in one
measurement. Lost: Lost interations. Sensor signal quality
indicator. If the sensor is not balanced (the range is set
incorrectly), if the parameters of the digital filter are specified
incorrectly, if the noise level is high, the Lost value increases. If
the sensor is correctly set up and functions normally, the value
varies within the range of 0 to 10. Fr: Sensor signal
frequency. nTl: Magnetic field strength.
Search Mode
Measurements are taken continuously. The histogram continuously
shows the strength values. You can detect a magnetic anomaly in real
time by their changes. When the histogram goes above or below the
dotted line, you can hear a sound signal. Due to the peculiarities of
the method, the signal increases not smoothly but in jerks with rises
and falls. As a rule, metal objects reduce the strength of the
magnetic field and the histogram goes down when they are detected.
You can judge about the size of an object by the amplitude of these
oscillations. If there is a flash drive inserted and the
navigator is on, information about the strength, coordinates and time
of the measurement will automatically be saved to the profile file.
"Analog" theme.
BALANСE button: move the chart to the center of the
screen. UP and DOWN buttons: Sensitivity. RIGHT and
LEFT buttons: Polarization impulse length.
Service Information
Firmware version, battery voltage.
Main Settings
POLAR: Polarization circuit (relay or transistor). Set by
the manufacturer. SOUND: Sound on/off. LIGHT: Lit
display on/off. GPS: GPS navigator
on/off. The use of the navigator slows down the measurement
cycle a bit.
Measurement Settings
POLAR: Polarization impulse length. It depends on the type
of the liquid being used. For isntance, it is 1000 ms for kerosene,
3000 ms for water. The longer the impulse is, the more powerful the
signal is and the more precisely it can be measured, but the interval
between the measurements gets longer. It is recommended to achieve
stable readings from a motionless sensor with long polarization (from
1500 ms) first and then reduce it controlling the stability of
readings. DELAY: Delay between the impulse and the
beginning of the measurement. Transition process supression. After a
polarization impulse, complex transition processes interfering with
the desired signal occur in the sensor. This parameter is set in
order to filter them out. 20 ms by default. MEASURE:
Measurement length. After a polarization impulse, a decaying
sinusoidal signal that needs to be measured occurs in the sensor. The
longer the signal is measured, the more precise it is, but: The
signal length depends on the type of the liquid being used. For
isntance, it is 700 ms for kerosene, 2000 ms for water. It is
followed by noise. To take a precise measurement, it is necessary to
capture as much as possible of the desired signal and as little as
possible of the noise. It is recommeded to start at 500 ms and
increase it controlling the stability of readings from the motionless
sensor. The entire length of the measurement cycle consists of
POLAR + DELAY + MEASURE + coordinate detection time + time to save
the data to the flash drive . FILTER F: Central frequency
of the digital filter. FILTER B: Digital filter
bandwidth. DEBUG: Debugging mode
on/off. Debugging information: the data stream from the sensor
is written to the file debug.csv, the data stream from the navigator
is written to the file gps.txt. Slows down the operation very much.
How to set the digital filter frequency correctly: Switch to
the manual measurement mode, measure the magnetic field strength,
remember or write down the Fr value (frequency). Go to the
measurement settings, enter the previously obtained value into the
FILTER F parameter (central filter frequency). This parameter equals
2200 Hz for Moscow. It is enough to set the central frequency just
once. FILTER B: bandwidth - the narrower the bandwidth is, the
more effective the filter cuts the noise, start from 200 Hz and
reduce it controlling the Lost parameter and the stability of
readings from the motionless sensor in the manual measurement mode.
Do not set FILTER B to less than 50 Hz.
GPS Navigator
Geographic coordinates and time. After you turn on the device,
the duration of the cold start is about 35 seconds. The cold start
may take longer depending on the conditions (cloudiness, trees). It
is recommended to turn the navigator on in Main menu -> GPS first,
wait for stable coordinate detection and switch to the search mode
without turning the power off.
Storage and Transportation
Charge the baterry after operation. It is not permitted to
store the device for a long time with the discharged baterry. Pour
out the proton-rich liquid in case of mail delivery or long
transportation. Change the proton-rich liquid once a year. Avoid
impacts and compression, use a packaging box.
Active Substance
Proton-rich liquid is used as an active substance. We
recommend kerosene or isopropyl alcohol because they have short
polarization time and the acceptable electromotive force of the
desired signal. You can try using other liquids and mixtures
containing hydrogen at your own risk: distilled water, various
alcohols, liquid paraffin, you may have to set different values for
the polarization and measurement time in this case. You should avoid
using agressive liquids and solvents (gasoline, acetone, etc.).
Flash Drive
Use drives up to 2 gigabytes inclusively. Before use, format
it on the computer using the FAT format. It is not allowed to use
other formats (FAT32, NTFS).
Charging the Battery
Plug the charger to the socket on the rear panel. The green
LED will become lit on the charger. When the battery is fully
charged, the LED will go out and the charger will be switched into
the charge maintenance mode in which it can remain permanently
without doing any damage to the battery.
Software
The DeepGeoTech Viewer program is used to visualize and
analyze the profiles the magnetometer saves to the SD card.
Open button Open the profile file. (you can select
several files). Close button Close the program. Files
window Select the profile file in the list that will be
displayed. Profile window Magnetic field strength change
chart. Double-click the chart to see on the map where the measurement
was taken. Google Map window Measurement location marked
on the map. View style list Select the chart scale. Map
View buttons Select the map type: regular, satellite, combined,
topographic.
Package Contents
Central unit -1 piece Sensor - 1 peice (magnetometer) or
2 pcs (gradiometer) Sensor cable - 1 piece (magnetometer) or 2
pcs (gradiometer) Software Charger User manual
Guarantee
The manufacturer guarantees the operation of the device and
the absense of manufacturing defects. Samples of all devices are
tested in the field and verified with a test protocol. The
manufacturer shall fix all defects caused by the manufacturer for
free within 1 year after the purchase. Contact the dealer you
purchased the device from or directly the manufacturer for warranty
and post warranty repair. No warranty service claims are accepted in
case of any violations of the operation instructions, mechanical
damages, damaged seals or any traces of unauthorized repair.
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