Guide to first use of the software

Summit Acquisition Tool

Index
1 Introduction..............................................................................................................1
2 Summit Acquisition Tool .NET......................................................................................1
2.1 Initial Settings....................................................................................................2
2.2 Data acquisition................................................................................................10

1 Introduction
This guide describes the procedure to follow to set up the acquisition software in order to
collect seismic data. It can also possibly help to solve possible problems due to an incorrect
configuration of the various parameters.
The steps to follow to make the software ready for acquisition will be illustrated, without
however going into too much detail on the meaning of the various parameters set gradually:
for a more complete guide of the various functions of the software, please refer to its manual.
This document assumes that a cable with 24 connectors to which 24 geophones are associated
is connected to the seismograph. It is assumed that a 12V battery has been connected to the
instrument and that all the necessary connections have been made to proceed with the
acquisition from the PC.
It is possible to generalize the following instructions, in fact if, for example, you are acquiring
with 12 channels / geophones, you can always follow this guide simply by replacing the
number 12 with the number 24 that will be mentioned in each phase.

2 Summit Acquisition Tool .NET

Below are instructions for using the "Summit Acquisition Tool .NET" acquisition software.
This is not to be confused with the old version (the non .NET one) which is no longer
compatible with new operating systems.
Note that the number indicating the version of the "Summit Acquisition Tool .NET" software
may be lower than the version of the "Summit Acquisition Tool" software (old) since the new
version is to be considered a complete rewriting of the program with consequent zeroing of the
version counter. Knowing therefore that the old program stopped at version 3.1.1, one should
not think that version 1.5 of the "Summit Acquisition Tool .NET" is more backward, since it is
much more recent.

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2.1 Initial Settings
The following instructions help the initial configuration of the program, allowing the subsequent
phase of acquiring seismic data.

1. Open the program, it will be in exactly the same configuration as it was when it was last
closed. This, for example, allows you not to necessarily repeat the following
initialization phases for each construction site or in any case for voluntary / involuntary
closure of the program. Note that the program is also able to remember the location
and name of the last file acquired, so as to know how to continue the work that was
interrupted.
2. If the program has never been used before, the following window should appear, then
press “OK”. Otherwise, for all subsequent times, proceed using the Menu \ Survey \
Create New ... command.

3. The screen that appears asks the user where he wants to place the project file
(“Survey”) and the files relating to the seismic data that will be acquired. It is strongly
recommended to pay close attention to the default values, or better to change them to
something more easily remembered. This is to avoid subsequent difficulties in finding
your job. Setting simple values like in the figure below could help a lot. Then press the
"Next" button to confirm.

4. A new window is then shown which you must pay attention to. It is very important to
remove the check mark from the “Use Pochet PC for Allocation” item if present. Then
press “Next” to confirm.

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5. It is possible to return to check the status of the check mark of the previous window
later using the command Menu \ Commands \ Allocation Via Pocket PC.
6. The compilation of a table containing information relating to the construction site is now
proposed. This can also be ignored. To go further, press the “OK” button.

7. The automatic control system intervenes by showing a new window which in practice
warns of the need to set the serial number of the seismograph in the software. Then
press “OK”. This message may not appear if you have already used the software
previously or in any case if the serial number of the seismograph has already been
specified, however this does not mean that it is possible to avoid checking that the
settings are correct (therefore see below to find out how to recover information in the
next window at any time).

8. A very important window is shown, so be careful at this stage. In the left column press
the “Compact Unit” button. Then enter the "Client #" and the "Serial #" as they are
written on the plate glued to the side of the seismograph. Press the “<< Add” button to
confirm, the written numbers should appear in the white space on the left. Finally, press
the “OK” button to go further.

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9. The previous window is available at any time via the Menu \ Set Summit Units…
command or via the keyboard button “F2”. For example, should you notice that you
made a mistake in entering the serial number, just select it in the white background list
on the left and press the ">> Remove" button to eliminate the error. In fact, a typical
careless error is the insertion of the serial number under the heading "Remote Unit" and
not under "Compact Unit".
10. The main software interface has a panel on the left which should list the channels inside
the seismograph. The entire table will contain 24 rows, one for each seismograph
channel. The “Address” column will refer to the serial number of the seismograph: the
first element of the list will be exactly the serial number followed by a '1'. In the
example in the figure, being the serial number of the seismograph "171 25", the
indication "171-251" is shown in the first line. The following elements will gradually
increase the last digits with a strange numerical sequence, similar to the one in the
figure.

11. The "Line" and "Station" columns of the table must be carefully checked. The "Line"
column should contain the value "1" for each row. While the "Station" column should

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 contain values from "1" to "24" in ascending order. When using the software for the first
time and probably every time the serial number of the instrument is changed, these
values will have to be reset, otherwise there should be no need.
12. To proceed with the modification select all the lines. Right-click on any row and then
from the drop-down menu that appears select the command “Select” and then “All” as
shown in the figure. At that point click again with the right button on an element of the
table and select the command “Assign Station (s) ...”.

13. A window like the one in the figure will appear. Fill in the "Line #" field with the number
"1", the "Station #" field with the number "1" and make sure that the "reverse station
order" field is deselected. Then press “OK” to confirm.

14. The table should update as desired, see figure.

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15. The 24 geophones with triangular symbols are drawn in the "Spreadd" tab of the
bottom panel. These will be placed on a horizontal line, at the left end of which the
number "1" is written, as previously specified in the "Line" field # ”In the“ Assign
Station (s) ... ”window.

16. On the right side of the interface there is a panel where you can specify many useful
parameters. At the bottom of this panel select the “Shooting Parameter” tab. Check
that the values relating to category “1. Receiver Location ”are as shown in the figure. In
fact, here it is confirmed that you want to place the geophones on a line that we call "1"
and that you want to use all 24 channels of the seismograph.

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17. The parameters of the following categories “2. Receiver Options ”,“ 3. Receiver Gaps
”and“ 4. Source Location ”are not fundamental and can be left at the initial values
which are reproduced in the figure below for safety.

18. The parameters of category “5. Data Output ”are interesting. Here you can check (and
possibly change) the folder on which the files that will be acquired are saved, see
"Output Directory". This information was originally specified when creating the project
(or “Survey”). You then have the possibility to specify the name prefix of the files that
will be generated, see “File Name Prefix” which by default is “Shot_”.

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19. In the previous screen there are also two further parameters to pay attention to during
the seismic data acquisition phase. The “Shot Number” indicates the index of the next
file that will be captured (ie note that that file is not currently saved on your computer).
This value can also be changed at any time at will, especially to help number the
acquired files with a logic that helps to better sort the data; but it is to be used with
caution to avoid losing part of your work by overwriting previously acquired files (in this
case an alarm window will still be shown by the program before proceeding, see figure).
Finally, the "Auto Save" parameter, which allows you to automatically save data to a file
every time a recording ends, it is advisable to keep it on "True" in order to avoid
forgetting to manually save data, with the risk of losing part of your job.

20. All the previous operations could be performed even without actually having the
seismograph connected to the computer, since these were only configuration operations
of the acquisition software. On the other hand, the time comes to verify that the
connection with the seismograph is such as to allow the real acquisition of seismic data.
21. Then connect the seismograph to the computer using the appropriate USB cable. Also
connect the 12V battery (well charged) to the seismograph, a led on the seismograph
should confirm the presence of power. If something in the following operations does not
behave as expected, it will be necessary to check that you have correctly followed all
the steps shown above and that all the connection cables are correctly connected.
22. After a few moments, the rows (previously red) of the “Seismic Channels” table in the
panel on the left of the program interface should change color, becoming blue. As
shown in the figure.

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 23. The drawing below relating to the 24 geophones should also be updated so that the red
triangular symbols all turn green as in the figure. For this, however, check that the
software is continuously listening to the seismograph, that is, that the “Start” button is
pressed.

24. At this point it is also possible to verify that the 24 geophones are actually transmitting
signals to the seismograph. To do this, select the “Noise Monitor” tab in the bottom
panel, and press the “Start” button. It may be useful to select the “Active Spread” item
from the drop-down menu called “Monitor” next to the “Stop” button. Before connecting
the seismograph to the computer, 24 cylindrical columns of minimum height should be
displayed, usually around -150dB. While with the seismograph connected, depending on
the intensity of the signal present on the various geophones, it should be possible to
view something similar to the second figure below.

Figura

25. Once you have verified that the “Noise Monitor” is working correctly, it is necessary to
stop the continuous updating by pressing the “Stop” button. Otherwise you are blocked

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 and no longer able to interact with the various functions of the program. It might also
be suggested to press the “Stop” button on the “Spreadd” tab, probably so you should
also have less battery consumption.
26. The program is now ready for the next phase of data acquisition.

2.2 Data acquisition

1. To specify the acquisition parameters, simply consult the “Recording Parameter” tab
located in the right panel of the program interface. The most important categories are
“1. All Channels ”and“ 2. Regular Channels ". The other categories handle advanced
parameters. If you are interested in using the parameters not covered in this document,
please refer to the in-depth information in the official program guide which can be
consulted using the Menu \ Help \ Complete Help Document command.

2. Using the parameters present in “2. Regular Channels ”you can set the sampling
frequency, or rather the sampling time“ Sampling Interval [ms] ”. You can also decide
the duration of the recording using the “Recording Time [ms]” parameter.
3. Note that it will not be possible to acquire recordings for unlimited times due to the
internal memory of the seismograph: in fact, a limit of 120 000 samples (ie 120 “Kilo
Samples”) is given for each trace. This means that by sampling with a "Sampling
Interval [ms]" equal to "1/4" it will be possible to record signals for 3 seconds (or
"Recording Time [ms]" equal to "3200", automatically bringing "Kilo Samples" to
"12.5", which is below the limit) but it will not be possible to go beyond about 30
seconds of recording, or "Recording Time [ms]" equal to "30720" (which is equivalent to
having "Kilo Samples" equal to "120" ). If you had instead "Sampling Interval [ms]"
equal to "1" it is possible to set recordings up to just over 2 minutes (ie "Recording
Time [ms]" equal to "122880")
4. Finally, through the “Pre Trigger [ms]” parameter it is possible to include in the
recording a few milliseconds of signal prior to the moment in which the trigger signal
arrived. This is in case you want to have recordings that do not start immediately with
the signal due to the source but instead with a little silence (of a known duration).
5. In the category “1. All Channels ”there is the useful“ Stacks ”parameter. This usually
has a value of "1" and means that you want to save the signal of each seismic source
on file. If, on the other hand, you set the “Stacks” parameter to higher values, such as
“5”, “10” or even “20”, it means that you want to save the sum of the contributions of
multiple source activations in a single file. It should be noted that in the acquisition
phase it is possible to save on file, if you are already satisfied with the situation, the
data relating to a number of stacks that does not yet reach the preset limit; therefore it
is deduced that an accurate a priori planning is not necessary, on the contrary it can
almost be convenient to set a very high number of “Stacks” and then manually

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 interrupt the acquisition process each time, for convenience, in an intermediate phase.
6. Fill in the table with values similar to those shown in the figure for a refraction seismic
acquisition. We will want an extremely dense sampling ("Sampling Interval [ms]"), of
the order of a tenth of a millisecond, and we will be interested only in the first part of
the signal where only the P waves are present ("Recording Time [ms]" not much great).

7. If you want to perform a MASW acquisition, the parameters could instead be set as in
the following figure. You can sample at a frequency lower than that used in the previous
case ("Sampling Interval [ms]" higher than the previous case), and you will be
interested in a time window ("Recording Time [ms]") a little wider for also correctly
record S waves.

8. Finally, here is a REMI case in the figure. The sampling time (“Sampling Interval [ms]”)
can also be larger, but surely you will be interested in very large time windows
(“Recording Time [ms]”).

9. To proceed with the data acquisition you will have to interact with the “Acquisition
Console” panel located at the top of the program interface.

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10. Pressing the “Trigger Enable” button activates the seismograph sensor which has the
purpose of starting recording when the seismic source is activated. After about a
second the button just pressed is disabled and at the same time the “Trigger Cancel”
and “Trigger Force” buttons are enabled. From this moment on the seismograph is
waiting for the trigger signal. Pressing “Trigger Cancel” disables the current state and
returns to the initial state. On the other hand, by pressing "Trigger Force" the recording
of the seismic signal starts immediately even if the trigger signal has not yet arrived
(this function is useful for the acquisition of microtremors or passive signals where in
fact there is no seismic source to connect the trigger to) .

11. Once the trigger signal has arrived, after a few seconds a preview of the acquired signal
will be displayed in the central panel of the program. In the meantime, other buttons
are enabled in the "Acquisition Console" panel. If the “Auto Save” function is “True” the
“Save Record” button will not be enabled, otherwise just press it to save the new file,
however the “Shot Number” counter will increase. The “Undo Record” button cancels
the saving of the file by moving the “Shot Number” counter by one unit.

12. If a number of “Stacks” greater than “1” had been set up, then when the trigger signal
starts the acquisition, the situation shown in the following figure will occur. That is, the
system will not require the “Trigger Enable” button to be pressed but this will
automatically be active. The entire acquisition may be abandoned by means of an
“Abort Record” forcing all stacks to be repeated. The acquisition of the stacks can be
concluded in advance and what has been acquired up to that moment can be saved on
a file using the “Finish Record”. Furthermore, from the second stack onwards, the
“Stack Undo” button will also be active, allowing the removal of the last acquisition from
the summation with the other stacks.

13. In the previous case it will be possible to monitor the number of acquisitions already
aggregated and the number of total stacks that must be reached simply by observing
the indication that is shown on the left of the buttons in the "Acquisition Console" panel.
Once the preset stack value has been reached, the program will automatically proceed
with saving the file (if “Auto Save” is “True”), the “Shot Number” counter will increment
and the “Trigger Enable” button will be enabled again.

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