EIS data

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JimB
Posts: 87
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:52 am

EIS data

Post by JimB »

I am working with just a EIS, no EFIS. I want to record and download data during test flight.

I see there is EISLog software. How do I use this?

How do I get and record the serial data from EIS? Can I just connect to a laptop serial port? Do I need both serial in and sreial out from the EIS?

Any help appreciated.

Jim Butcher
GRT_Jeff
Posts: 802
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:11 am

Re: EIS data

Post by GRT_Jeff »

You can connect the serial output from the EIS (pin 11, green/black wire) to a laptop serial port (pin 2 in a standard serial male DB9) along with a ground (pin 5 in a standard serial DB9). The EIS is always sending data in normal operating mode, so there are no settings to change on the EIS. Run the EISLog software and select the serial port and any other options. The window will update with the newest data at the top. The data is displayed as columns of numbers. The default is to keep only one sample every second. If you want more frequent data you can enable the option to keep all samples. When you have all the data you want, you can save the data to a file from the File menu. It is not saved automatically.

If you don't need to see the data live, you can buy a serial data logger to collect the data during flight, and then play back or open the log files in the EISLog program.
JimB
Posts: 87
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:52 am

Re: EIS data

Post by JimB »

Thanks Jeff. Any suggestions for a suitable serial data logger?

Jim
GRT_Jeff
Posts: 802
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:11 am

Re: EIS data

Post by GRT_Jeff »

We don't have experience with them, and I never received feedback on how well they did the job, but here are some that customers have mentioned looking at to give you some ideas.

Anticyclone Systems AntiLog
Acumen Instruments DataBridge SDR
SerialGhost

For the ones that record files, as long as the files don't have any extra formatting in them, the EISLog program can read them as raw serial data files. Any similar product should work as long as it doesn't change the format of the data. If you end up getting one, let us know how it works.
MolsonB
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:53 am

Re: EIS data

Post by MolsonB »

Does anyone have a sample data transmission ?
I have the serial data EIS protocol document, but a sample data packet would help a lot to figure things out.

*Edit
After digging around, I found a demo file that has EIS info. Below is a working sample data transmission.

Code: Select all

FE FF FE 09 D3 01 73 01 90 01 84 01 8B 00 4E 00 4F 05 34 05 AB 05 66 05 5E 00 4E 00 5C 00 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 8E 00 72 56 CE 00 71 00 C9 4A 00 09 00 0C 00 0F 00 F0 00 3B 01 0F 00 00 00 18 1C 00 00 00 00 00 00 6C 62
I spent the better part of the night, trying to figure out the checksum calculation based on the protocol documentation (not the clearest). I'm not sure I completely have it right, but I think it works.
Checksum (data summed and result complimented) is transmit here - 1 byte. The checksum
does not include the header, but does include the "SPARE" word. The checksum is a single,
8-bit byte.
I converted each hex to dec, added each dec together, then grabbed only the first byte (8 bits), and inverted it.
Example, for the value above, adding them would give Hex 0B 9D. Grab only the first byte (9D), then inverting it gives 62.

Kind of a weird way to calculate the checksum by not using the complete number. A simpler approach like Vertical Power exclusives ORs (XOR) all the bytes, then inverts it. That way the value always stays 1 byte (8 bits) in size.
MSletten
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:01 pm

Re: EIS data

Post by MSletten »

GRT_Jeff wrote:For the ones that record files, as long as the files don't have any extra formatting in them, the EISLog program can read them as raw serial data files. Any similar product should work as long as it doesn't change the format of the data. If you end up getting one, let us know how it works.
Most serial data loggers have to be set up with the correct parameters (Baud rate, Bits, Parity, etc.). Can you tell me what the EIS outputs?
GRT_Jeff
Posts: 802
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:11 am

Re: EIS data

Post by GRT_Jeff »

9600 8N1 (8 data bits, no parity bit, 1 stop bit)
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