SARAD ROOMS Software

from version 1.2.0

Introduction

The SARAD ROOMS software enables the comprehensive presentation of recent measurement results from instruments like the Radon Scout (all types), Thoron Scout, and RTM1688-2 when they are connected to a network. These instruments are polled periodically, and their results are displayed in a dedicated box for each instrument. This solution offers several key advantages:

High security level: No cloud service is required, ensuring all data remains under the owner's control.
Bidirectional communication: The network connection can also be utilized by Radon Vision for remote control, configuration, and data download.
Plug & play: Within a local network (or VPN), no network administration is necessary.

Structure of the Network

The network connection for one or more instruments (connected via USB, RS232, or Net Monitors – ZigBee wireless) is established using the small and inexpensive IP-Box or an alternative existing computer. The Instrument Server software runs on this hardware. Another server software, the Registration Server, must be active on a computer within the network. All instrument servers periodically communicate with the registration server to report their addresses. The registration server maintains a list of all instrument servers and their connected instruments. ROOMS fetches this list from the registration server to obtain the addresses for requesting recent results through the instrument servers. The Instrument Server, Registration Server, and ROOMS can be installed on different computers or on a single computer.

Get Started

The server software and ROOMS must be installed on the desired computers (for the IP-Box, the software is pre-installed). The registration server must be started first. Within a local network, only the network name of the computer where the registration server is running is required. This network name (e.g., "REGISTRATION_SERVER" in the example) must be entered into the corresponding input lines of all instrument servers and ROOMS (indicated by red circles in the original document).

ROOMS Configuration

After clicking the menu item "Configuration → Registration Server", a dialog window will appear with an input line for the registration server name.

Screenshot of the "Registration Server Access" dialog. It shows fields for "Registration Server", "IP Address" (displaying "REGISTRATION_SERVER"), and "Port" (displaying "50001"). The "List of connected Instrument Servers" section is empty.

Instrument Server Configuration

The text entered into the "Registration name" field (e.g., "My Office" in the graphic) will later appear as the measurement location in the result box. To register an instrument server immediately, the "Notify to registration server" checkbox can be toggled off and then on again (otherwise, registration occurs automatically after ten minutes). The phrase "could not notify" will appear in the "Server event log" if the network name of the registration server is invalid or the registration server has not yet started. If all settings are made correctly, the list view within the registration server should contain the instrument server.

Screenshot of the "SARAD instrument server 3.10.2" dialog. It shows "Instrument server data port: 50003". The "Server event log" lists "Server started!" and "Could not notify". The "Registration at registration server" section includes "Registration name: My Office", "Notify interval: 10min", and a checked "Notify to registration server" box. The "Registration server IP address" field shows "REGISTRATION_SERVER" and the "Registration server port" field shows "50002".

Screenshot of the "SARAD Registration Server" dialog. It displays "Registration port: 50002" and "Allocation port: 50001". The "Connection Log" shows an entry for an instrument server connection and disconnection. The "Instrument server allocation" section lists an entry with a date, time, registration name ("My Office"), IP address ("192.168.10.107"), and port ("50000").

Instruments are connected to the instrument server computer (or IP-boxes) via USB, RS232 interfaces, or Net Monitors – ZigBee wireless. For Net Monitors, the SARAD ZigBee coordinator needs to be connected to the IP-Box. The baud rate of the ZigBee coordinator must be set to 9600 baud. Please note that the USB driver (available on the SARAD website) must be installed, and the assigned port numbers must be in the range from COM1 to COM30 (refer to the manual Radon Vision for more details). To check whether an instrument is connected, the instrument server can be closed and restarted. After that, all detected instruments will appear in a list box.

Now, the periodic call for data can be started by clicking the "Start" item in the ROOMS menu. It may take some time until the results appear on the screen, depending on the number of instrument servers and connected instruments. Additional instruments connected later to a running instrument server will be detected automatically during the next call by ROOMS. It is possible to add new instrument servers at any time; it is only necessary to enter the name of the registration server as described above.

Summary Start-up Sequence

Start the registration server.
Start instrument servers and enter the network name* of the registration server. This name must be entered only the first time – a message pointing to a failed connection might appear because no valid registration server name was entered previously.
Remove and then re-apply the hook in the "Notify to registration server" check box.
Start ROOMS and enter the name of the registration server. This name must be entered only the first time.
Click "Start" in the ROOMS menu.

* The network name of a computer is displayed in the Windows system control panel under the "System" item.

ROOMS Functionality

The result boxes of the connected instruments are scaled and arranged automatically. The number of displayed boxes is limited solely by the resolution and size of the display.

ROOMS can be toggled between full-screen and window mode by double-clicking the green window background. The menu disappears in full-screen mode.

It is possible to define a global alert threshold for the Radon concentration. If a measurement result exceeds this limit, the value will be shown in red numbers. Click the menu item "Configuration → Alert Threshold" to enter the threshold.

The refresh interval can be changed via the menu item "Configuration → Refresh Interval". The shortest possible setting is one minute. If a large number of instrument servers and instruments are integrated into the network, one minute may not be a sufficient period to poll all instruments. Use a larger interval in such cases.

All user-configured settings will remain valid after restarting the software.

The periodical call for results can be started and stopped using the "Start" and "Stop" menu items.

Easy Testing

To become familiar with the system's functionality, it is recommended to test it on a single local computer. All three components—Registration Server, Instrument Server, and ROOMS—should run on that computer. Enter "localhost" instead of the network name for the connection.

Connections Through the Internet

In case of internet connections, the used ports must be forwarded by the router to the various network clients. This task should be performed by the network administrator. Because global internet addresses are changed periodically, it is required to provide at least one static internet address for the registration server. More detailed information is available in SARAD's application note AN-008, "Internet based measurement networks for SARAD instruments," which can be found on their website.