Using the Hotwire Anemometer

Owned by
Stephany Nicole Paredes Pineda
Last updated: Feb 01, 2016
9 min read

This documents tells you how to use the anemometer and its software. The software comes in a CD that is inside of the Anemometer's case. There is also an instruction manual an a USB cord that will enable you to connect the anemometer to your computer.

Amprobe TMA-21HW

Hotwire Anemometer Guide

Installation of the HWA Software

To install the HWA software to your computer you must:

  1. Insert the Installation CD to your computer. This CD only works on Windows XP or newer versions.

  2. A pop-up window will appear. Do not run the .exe program. Open the CD files.
     
  3. On the CD folder you will see the following:

     

    Click on the Software folder.

  4. Once in the folder, click on Setup. A pop-up window will appear, click on Allow or Yes to allow the program to proceed with installation. 



  5. Once you allowed the program to proceed, the installation wizard will appear.
    Click Next on every instance. 



    Your setup is. 

  6. Your setup is complete.

 

Opening the Software
Once you installed the software, follow this set of steps to use the anemometer with the computer.

 

  1. Turn on the Anemometer.
     
  2. You must connect the Anemometer via USB to your computer and wait until Windows installs the appropriate driver.
     
  3. Go to the Device and Printers to view the Devices connected to your computer. 



  4. Once you are in the Device and Printers window, click once in the Anemometer device icon.



  5. Right Click and Select Properties to find out the COM port the device is using. 



  6. Close the window.
     
  7. Open the HWA software. 

  8. A tiny pop up Window will appear. 

  9. Select the COMPort your device is connected to and click OK.
     
  10. A window like this one should appear. This is the anemometer’s display. 
    This display shows the anemometer’s current readings.

 

Using the Software

  1. Now that we have the display on, you can select the PC sampling rate by clicking on the wrist watch icon and introducing the time interval in seconds. 

     

  2. You can switch the temperature units by clicking on the C to F icon. 

     
     
  3. If you want to change the air velocity units, click on the Wind icon until you find the desired units. Available units: Knots, ft/min, m/s, Bft, km/hr, or miles/hr.
     
     
     
  4. You can also modify the anemometer’s set up by clicking on the Tool button.

    A pop up window will appear and you can introduce the values you desire for every option.



    Click OK when ready.
     
  5. Click on the Square button to introduce the duct properties. It takes some time for the pop up window to load the first time.

    Note: The unit system will be the one that you selected for the velocity units. 

     
     
  6. Click on the Data Logger icon to read the data that has been stored in the anemometer.



    A pop up window will appear. 

     

6.1.  Click on the Test ID number you want to see. Another window will open only if there is recorded data in the selected ID. You can see if that ID has been used by looking under the Memory column.

6.2.  Once you open a Test ID data, you can save the data in .hwa format by clicking the Save button.

This data can be later imported to excel.



   

7. The control Panel shows exactly the same display and controls as the physical anemometer. To access this feature, click on the Control Panel icon. 



8. You can also clear a memory by clicking on the Clear Memory icon. 

 

       8.1.  A drop down menu will appear. Select the Test ID memory data you want to erase and then click OK to erase the data.
 
 

9. The list display shows the real time readings of the anemometer in a list format. You can also save this data as a .hwa document. Access the list data window by clicking on its icon.

 

9.1.  A window of the readings will appear, click on the save button when you are ready to save the data. 

 

10. To record data, click on the save button on the main window.  

10.1  Name the file and click Save. 

 

10.2  Once that window closes, the anemometer starts recording.
 
 

10.3  Click on the Stop icon to stop recording.  

11. If you want a graph, open a saved data file you want the graph for and then click on the graph icon. A chart should appear.   

Convert data to Excel

As you may have noticed, when saving files with the anemometer’s software it does so with a .hwa extension, which can be converted into an Excel file. 

If you are opening this data from a Mac Computer, you can change de extension of the .hwa file to .xls so that Excel lets you open it. 

         You can do this by renaming the document as: document_name.xls 
           

          

 Convert data

  1. Open Excel
  2. Open a Blank Workbook.
     
  3. Go to Files.
     
  4. Click on Open.

     
     
  5. Select the document you want and click: Open.
    Note: I    n windows, you must select the option of showing: All Files when trying to open this document.  
     
     
     

  6. The Text Import Wizard should appear. 
    Mark the Delimited option as shown in the picture.

     
     
  7. Click Next.
     
  8. Choose Tab as the delimiter as shown. 

     
     
  9. Click on Next.
     
  10. Select the General column data format.

     
     
  11. Click on Finish.
     
  12. Your Excel document should look somewhat like this:
     

 
Setting up the Anemometer Manually

  1. Click on the Power button (Yellow)
  2. To set the units of the velocity measurements, press the set button. Use the up and down arrows to scroll between: Knots, ft/min, m/s, Bft, km/hr, or miles/hr.
  3. Press the Return key below Set to store your preferred units.
  4. Next, you are prompted to do a Flow Set up. You can choose between 4 types: Round duct (O), rectangular duct (     ), duct area (Area), and K factor (Kf). You can scroll between these options by using the up and down arrows.

    Note:The Kf value is the number by which the meter multiplies the velocity measurement to display volume.
     
  5. Once you selected the type of duct, you need to introduce the necessary dimensions by using the up, down, right, and left arrows to modify the numbers.
  6. Press the return key to store your data input.
  7. After you are done with the Flow setup, the anemometer prompts you to set time. On the lower left corner, you will see a D:H on which you can scroll to with the right and left arrows. To modify day (D) and hour (H), you can use the up and down arrows. On the lower right corner, you can modify minutes (m) and seconds (s) using the same procedure.
  8. Press the return key to store this configuration.
  9. Now, you must set the time constant (TC). Use the up and down arrows to modify this parameter. The time constant is an averaging period; if you are having fluctuations, an increase in the time constant will slow them down.
  10. After setting up the time constant parameter, you must select the INTV (interval) time. This is the time it waits, in seconds, to take data recordings.

    For example:  If you select 02 as the INTV value, the anemometer will record data every two seconds.

    Note: This configuration will work only when using Test IDs from 5 to 9, which corresponds to the Auto Data Memory and Read Mode. (Make this a hyperlink explaining the different types of Memories).
  11. Press the return button to save the interval information.
  12. To indicate the Auto Power off Setting Mode use the UP and DOWN arrows to select a time from 1 to 50 minutes to auto power off the anemometer. If you wish to disable this function, select the --m option.
  13. Press the return button to save the configuration that you just selected.
  14. Now, you are prompted to select the backlighting time, use the up and down buttons to select the number of seconds or --s to disable this function.
  15. Press the return button to save this configuration.
  16. The next step is to introduce the barometric pressure. Use the Up, Down, Left, Right buttons to introduce the actual barometric pressure value. The units are in mmHg.
  17. Press the return button to save the current value.
  18. The last Step is the calibration mode, you can find more information about how to calibrate the anemometer in the User’s Manual Page 7.
  19. The setup is complete.

Memory Modes

The anemometer designates certain Test ID numbers to different modes.

Manual Data Memory and Read Mode (Test IDs from 1 to 4) 

  1. Push Test ID to navigate between test ID numbers.

  2. Select a Test ID from 1 to 4.

  3. Press AUTO MEM to record a reading. Do this every time you want to record data. The limit of data recordings is 99.

  4. If you want to read the data you have collected, select the Test ID you are interested in reading and then press READ.

  5. Use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate through the data.

  6. Press VEL%RH to switch between Velocity Readings and Relative Humidity.

  7. Push the MX/MN to circulate the memory between the MAX and MIN air velocity and air flow readings and an average (AVG) of all samples.

  8. Press the READ button for 2 seconds to exit the READ mode.

Auto Data Memory and Read Mode (Test IDs from 5 to 9)

  1. Push Test ID to navigate between test ID numbers.
     
  2. Select a Test ID from 5 to 9.
     
  3. Press AUTO MEM to record a reading, an INTV symbol and the interval time will be displayed. The anemometer is now recording data at the interval you selected when setting up the anemometer. 
     
  4. Press the AUTO MEM button to exit this mode. The max amount of recording per ID is 99.
     
  5. If you want to read the data you have collected, select the Test ID you are interested in reading and then press READ. Use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate through the data.
     
  6. Press VEL%RH to switch between Velocity Readings and Relative Humidity.
     
  7. Push the MX/MN to circulate the memory between the MAX and MIN air velocity and air flow readings and an average (AVG) of all samples.
     
  8. Press the READ button for 2 seconds to exit the READ mode.

Clearing the Memory

  1. Turn off the Anemometer.
     
  2. Push and hold down the AUTO MEM key then turn on the anemometer to enter the clear memory mode. You should see the CLr no symbol on the display.
     
  3. Select the Test ID to be cleared using the Test ID button.
     
  4. Press the UP button to select YES.
     
  5. Push the AUTO MEM key to clear the memorized data.

  6. Press the return key to exit the clear memory mode.




 

 

 

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