Welcome to the setup guide for Qualer Direct, the direct communication utility for tools such as scales, balances, and other laboratory tools. This application allows your devices to communicate with your computer to transmit reading data into a selected field. Configuring your connection requires an understanding of your device's communication protocols often found in the tool's user manual.
Download Qualer Direct from the Service Manager.
Experience our latest improvement with this V2 BETA:
Download Qualer Direct V2 BETA
Profiles
Select Auto-Connect to use a connected device. Once you configure/finalize a device profile, click "Add" to save your configuration. The library of profiles listed under Mettler Toledo and Sartorius offer some examples of how to configure the listed models and may be a good starting point for your device.
Device Information
Where to Acquire:
This information typically comes from the tool's user manual or directly from the tool itself.
Manufacturer: Brand or creator of the device.
Model: The specific model of the device.
Device Id: This can be found on the Qualer Web under the corresponding tool.
Communication Settings
Where to Acquire:
Your device's manual should have this technical information. If you're unsure, consult the manufacturer or your IT department.
Com Port: Select the appropriate communication port your device is connected to.
Baud Rate: Determines how fast data is sent over a communication channel.
Parity: This is an error-checking method. Common options include None, Odd, Even, Mark, and Space.
Data Bits: This can be 5,6,7, or 8 – representing the size of the data.
Stop Bits: Number of bits to indicate the end of a byte; select between 1, 2, or 3.
Auto-connect on Startup: When checked, the tool will automatically try to connect on system startup.
Handshake: Method to ensure data transfer integrity. Options include None, XOn/XOff, Hardware, or Both.
Formatting
Where to Acquire:
Understanding formatting requires some familiarity with regular expressions, which help determine how your device's data is read. Each device might have its specific format.
Input Expression:
Example for Mettler Toledo MT5: "\w([0-9.]+)"
Example for Mettler Toledo MCP150: "[^\t]+|\t(?=\t)|\t$"
The input expression is constructed using regular expressions. In layman's terms, it’s a way to specify patterns in text. For instance, "\w([0-9.]+)" means that it's looking for a word character followed by numbers and possibly a period. Qualer Direct uses regular expressions to parse readings from your device and to remove extraneous data from the data stream.
Multi-Channel: Check this if your device has multiple channels of data input.
Channels: Specify the number of channels your device has or the number of channels you want Qualer Direct to read.
Stop token: An indicator to signal the end of data input. Some devices use "_" to indicate the end of data readings.
Decimal precision: Specify the number of decimal places you want your data to have.
Conversion multiplier: Use this if your data needs to be scaled.
Commands
Where to Acquire:
This typically comes from your device's user manual. The commands allow Qualer Direct to interact with your device.
Read command: The command to get data from your device.
Send read command: Check this if you want to send the read command automatically.
Post command: Command sent after reading data. For instance, if using the "Auto Tare" feature (explained below), the command for "Tare" will be input here.
Send after each measurement: If checked, send the post command after every measurement.
Auto Tare Feature:
The "Auto Tare" command in Qualer Direct allows the user to automate the tare command to be returned to the balance after data readings. Configuring this requires the model-specific tare command. Once identified, open Qualer Direct on your PC, accept updates if any, then click "Setup". Input the appropriate "Post Command" and enable "Send after each measurement".
Remember, setting up communication tools requires precision. It's always a good idea to test a few times to ensure data integrity. If you encounter any issues, consult the device's manual or reach out to its manufacturer for technical support.