Radio Oceanography Laboratory Support | HFDR / Software configuration of the D-Tacq

The 4-th generation D-Tacq model ACQ1001 is a streaming device that outputs the data continuously on port 4210 as soon as it is triggered through the nc command.

1. Create the boot micro-SD card

The latest software release dtacqnnn.tgz pre-configured for the RADCELF DDS can be downloaded here. The release in un-tared form can also be browsed.

The original release from D-Tacq is on github but lacks the RADCELF-specific configurations.

As of 1 March 2025, the latest tested release is Release 627.

The configuration procedure is detailed in Upgrading the D-Tacq firmware.

use a fresh 32 Gb micro-SD card with default msdos partition table and fat32 file system
work on a linux machine with a USB micro-SD card reader
tar -xzf dtacqnnn.tgz to load onto the micro-SD card
install the micro-SD card on the ACQ1001 board and power up.

2. Connect to the console.

The D-Tacq can be reached by connecting its micro-USB console port to a USB port; the default baud rate is 115200. The only account is root and the standard password is d-t1012q:

  root# screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200
  (hit return until login prompt)

To disconnect

   ^Ak   answer 'y'

3. Set up the network

The D-Tacq comes configured as a DHCP client. It can be reached on port 22 and 80. It is desirable to set it at a fixed IP:

create /mnt/local/network with a single line
ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.12
if needed, restore DHCP:

 root# rm /mnt/local/network

4. Configure radar parameters

configure the operating parameters on the NUC, and copy the DDS initialization files to the D-Tacq:

 ruser$ scp /home/ruser/conf/radcelf_ini*sh root@dtacq:/mnt/local

reboot and verify that the DDS chirps

5. Set up CS-studio on the NUC (optional):

CS-Studio is a useful graphical tool to supplement the D-Tacq web page and to display clock, trigger and data paths and status.

It can be run locally on the NUC, and if a port-forwarding to the D-Tacq acq1001 is implemented in the router, it can be run from anywhere outside on the Internet, provided the client is properly configured.

A quick-start guide is provided here. See also the release notes.

CS-studio requires the installation of openJava 8 (more recent Javas do not work):

 root# apt -y install openjdk-8-jre
 root# apt -y install openjdk-8-jdk
 root# /bin/rm /etc/alternatives/java
 root# ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java /etc/alternatives

Download the client, install and launch:

 ruser$ wget https://www.oceanphysics.com/support/Documents/Dtacq/soft/cs-studio-4.5.9-linux.gtk.x86_64.tgz
 ruser$ tar -xzf cs-studio-4.5.9-linux.gtk.x86_64.tgz
 ruser$ cd cs-studio
 ruser$ ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre .
 ruser$ mkdir workspace
 ruser$ wget https://www.oceanphysics.com/support/Documents/Dtacq/soft/ACQ400CSS-master.tgz
 ruser$ tar -xzf ACQ400CSS-master.tgz
 ruser$ ln -s /home/ruser/cs-studio/cs-studio /home/ruser/bin/css
 ruser$ css

at startup, unselect "Ask again", and specify workspace as /home/ruser/cs-studio/workspace.

When installing from the customized iso key, CS-studio is automatically configured with a launch icon on the task bar.

Follow the tutorial for help getting started with CS-studio.

The RADCELF manual is here. The RADCELF hardware documentation is here and the FPGA firmware documentation is here here.