I'm just sick and tired of dealing with their crap. They have lots of good features, like being small, light and easy to calibrate, I can only assume effective in monitoring for what we are looking for. Anyways, they also have the capacity to datalog. Nice feature, unforunetely that is where the nice features end. First of all, the radios we use around here interfere with the sensor... sending your readings through the roof. So if you have it clipped to your vest, and you decide to contact someone on the radio.. it start going off. Very annoying. Also, the datalog collects this data and records it. So sometimes the data says that you were exposed to 10 ppm or something like that. That's bad. Also, downloading the little bastards is a pain. They interface with IR port on your computer. Which I guess is ok.. if the damn things worked. For some strang reason They decide to "unexpectedly terminate' your connection every time. And not at the same place.. no they tease you by downloading a little bit more each time.. UNTIL THEY TERMINATE ONCE AGAIN!!! This is very frustrating. Now the optimistic among you might say, "Why Dave, just keep trying until it'll finally download." Well you know, I have been for the past 2 freaking hours! So frustrating. I got so fed up I even called Biosystems to see if they knew about this problem and how to fix it. So I called, and the gentleman I talked to said.. "oh yeah, the old monitors don't communicate with laptops very well, do you have a desktop?" First of all, I didn't know laptops and desktops used different IR ports or frequencies. I mean.. IR is IR right? I've connected my laptop to a printer using IR before.. maybe laptops just use a different frequency.. whatever. But yeah.. you know when these monitors I have sitting in front of me were made.. september.. 2004! So in the last two months they have determined the monitors they has been making were bad and didn't work with laptops and have since made new ones that do. So I went and downloaded all their latest software and firmware. Guess what, these monitors have the latest things on them. So where does the problem arise? Maybe it is too bright in the room.. though my understanding of physics made me want to cry when I turned off the lights and over up the little transfering unit with a piece of paper in hopes it'll work better. Result: nothing. Second thing I tried. Notice the little translucent window in the top middle of the monitor.. yeah that is where the IR comes out.
(fear the mad paint skills)
Anyways that "window" is more like a doorway into HELL. It doesn't seem to very clear at all. So I thought, why not just take it apart and expose the IR LED to all the glory of the IR port on my laptop.
(picture might not be safe for work)
I was about to allow these two devices to make sweet sweet invisible love.. taking the cover off one of them.. sliding it up next to my laptop.. putting on some Barry White (this is all in the manual I swear..) and just for decency sake I did turn the lights down and left the room. Anyways, I came back.. and one of them decide that it didn't want to get it on. Not sure which one it was.. but one of them decided to leave.. and the other just sat there shooting its lonely IR beams into the night.
I'm currently downloading the Beta version of the software.. apparentely there is a glitch in the programing which turns off the IR in the ToxiPro unexpectedly and thus what was creating my errors. I don't know why they didn't just tell me that the first 3 times I called. Oh well. The download will be done soon, I'll be able to call the office and claim victory over the dreaded ToxiDevils.. not all will praise me. That or my boss will just be like, good job, here is your reward.. being ON CALL! Actually I'm not on call.. and I should be able to arrange a way to stay with some friend over the holidays. I'll make it work.
Barge is still loading.. I'll keep you posted.
Later
3 comments:
Are those Devil horns, glowing red eyes, and fangs on the ToxiPro in the middle picture? Awesome.
My chemistry interpretation of your problem is that the room you are doing the IR transfer is in is filled with volatile organic compounds which contain functional groups that absorb IR light. Quit huffing esters, open and window, and you'll be alright. Really, more likely the software is sketchy.
VOCs?!?! I can monitor the crap outta some VOCs. I doubt it is that though.. but maybe it is. Let me go set up a monitor to ruin some VOCs' shit and we'll see what happens with the sweet IR loving.
Later
I was just joking. I seriously doubt there are VOC's in your room. I'm just coming up with wild chemical explanations to (not) help solve your interface problem. If there were lots of VOC's in your room would probably be able to smell them. Or be getting high. Or be blowing yourself up if anything sparked. Gotta love volatile organics. They usually either smell strongly, affect you physiologically, explode, or any combination of the three.
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