Transcript:
"In this video, we show you how to commission a site. Commissioning is the process of associating MDTs to apartments and ensuring the data received matches the physical meter readings. We recommend you watch the Getting Started with the CIT video if you have not already viewed it. We will be starting with a new DCAP and a box of MDTs. The commissioning process is greatly simplified with an inexpensive barcode scanner, but we will show alternatives if you don't have one.

The first step is to power up the DCAP and connect it to the internet. While the DCAP is powering up, add the DCAP's access code to your site list. Click 'Add Site' and enter the Access Code located on the side of the DCAP or on the packaging. You can use the barcode scanner here, give the site a name and then click Save. Once the DCAP status LED is green, click on the new site entry and click the Connect button at the top. The connection is successful when you see the site summary screen. The Connect button now becomes a Disconnect button.

First, you will want to enter the site wide data such as a name for the DCAP, the Time Zone it resides in, and the Street Address and Zip Code of the property. When entering the Zip Code, the CIT looks up the City and State for you. Next, set up the daily Report Time and who should receive the data. Right click in the white area to add, edit, or delete recipients. From this menu, you can also force the DCAP to generate a daily report to test your setup but first you will need to save the email settings to the DCAP. Finally, you can configure alerts and the separate list of recipients. The Quick Set button quickly enables the alerts you wish to receive. With that done, we are ready to commission the MDTs.

If you are doing a large site with hundreds of apartments, you hopefully already have a spreadsheet with the list of apartment and building identifiers one unit per row. We will start with this file. We also recommend downloading our import template located in the Resources section of our website under Application Notes, AN-111-A Commissioning CSV Import Template. Our template uses the column headings that exactly match the CIT making the final import process very easy. Remove the sample data and instructions from the template file leaving only Row A then copy the relevant apartment information from your file to the appropriate columns in the template file. Now, we need to add radio IDs from each MDT to the spreadsheet. Using the barcode scanner, put the cursor in the Radio ID cell next to Apartment A, scan the barcode on the MDT, then using a sharpie or premade labels, put Apartment A on the MDT. Continue through the rest of the MDTs. A 200-unit property takes less than one hour to complete. Save the file as a .CSV file and keep it around as a configuration backup file for the site.

To import the configuration and upload to the DCAP, go to CIT, Import Meter Reading Configuration Data, CSV data, and select a CSV file. Make sure you are connected to the site at this point. A window pops up with the import data, select the first line of actual data, ignoring the header row. Since you are using our template file, each column will be automatically associated with the correct field. If you don't use the template, you can assign each column to the appropriate field by selecting it in the header row dropdown list. When all looks good, click the Import button then save to the DCAP using the Save button.

There are other ways to commission an MDT or Repeater. One way is to drag an uncommissioned device, displayed with a yellow triangle icon, from the Network Tree over to the bottom blank row and the Device tab. You will need to click the Uncommissioned Units radio button in the Network Tree Filter to see them. When you drag the icon over, it will turn into a green check mark and generate a new row where you can enter the appropriate information. Another way is to right click on the yellow icon in the Network Tree and select Add this Uncommissioned Device. Again, this adds a new row in the device tab and turns the icon from yellow to green.

One final way to commission a device is to type the Radio ID directly into the blank line at the bottom of the device grid. This method might be used if the DCAP and MDTs are installed but the Repeater network is not. Note that this order of installation is discouraged. When you finish typing, the icon changes to a binocular since this DCAP has never received data from this new device. If you need to change the MDT into an already commissioned location, it is easy to do the swap by dragging the new Uncommissioned MDT on top of the old Radio ID. Note, you should record a new IMR when changing a Pulse MDT since a new MDT Count will start at zero. As always when you make changes, make sure to click the Save button so the DCAP is updated. Until you click Save, you are only working with data in CIT memory.

Once the device tab information has been entered, use the blue meter tab to enter data about the utility meter. Here, you can set the Count Factor, Utility Units, and even meter information such as the Serial Number. Many of these settings will be common to every meter and it is easy to update everything in one step. Double-click within a column such as the Count Factor to select all rows and enter the value at the bottom. Click the Update Selected Cells to make the change.

To change settings of individual MDTs such as updating the IMR, change the Edit Mode. The default is Multi-Cell for mass updating like we just performed. Changing this to Single-Cell will enable single cell changes. As always, click Save after making any changes. Take note of the dropdown showing the different sensors types. In most cases, there will only be one sensor type such as Pulse_Totalizer_1. But sites with dual input MDTs or sites with multiple MDT models, for example, a mix of Encoded and Pulse, this dropdown will show all the types installed on the property.

One more note regarding Repeaters. Once you power up a Repeater, it will start doing it's job. It does not need to be commissioned in order to work. However, we highly recommend you commission them so you have its location information and can receive alerts if it loses power. This concludes a review of how to commission a site. For additional training on how to use Tehama Wireless hardware and software, please reference the Resources section of the website."