CPSM

Installation Instructions
V12

Revision Date
15/07/2013

Abriox Limited
Imperial House
Imperial Park
Newport
NP10 8UH

www.abriox.com

Technical Support
+44 (0) 2921 250094
1. CONTENTS

1. Contents ............................................................................................................................................... 2

2. About ................................................................................................................................................... 3

3. Prerequisites ......................................................................................................................................... 3

3.1 Dedicated PC ............................................................................................................................. 3

3.2 Operating System....................................................................................................................... 3

3.3 USB GSM Modem ....................................................................................................................... 3

3.4 SIM Card ................................................................................................................................... 3

3.5 CPSM Software .......................................................................................................................... 3

4. CPSM Location ...................................................................................................................................... 4

5. Installing the GSM Modem ..................................................................................................................... 5

6. Installing CPSM ..................................................................................................................................... 6

6.1 Installing CPSM from a Downloaded File ...................................................................................... 6

6.2 Installing CPSM from CD-ROM ..................................................................................................... 6

7. The Installation Process ......................................................................................................................... 7

8. Running CPSM ....................................................................................................................................... 8

9. Selecting the Modem ............................................................................................................................. 8

10. Creating a New Database ..................................................................................................................... 9

11. GSM Signal Strength .......................................................................................................................... 10

11.1 Testing the SIM Card .............................................................................................................. 11

12. Updating the CPSM Software .............................................................................................................. 12

12.1 Backup Existing Database ....................................................................................................... 12

12.2 Uninstall Existing Software ...................................................................................................... 12

12.3 Install Latest Version of CPSM ................................................................................................. 12

12.4 Connect to Existing Database .................................................................................................. 12

13. FAQ’s ................................................................................................................................................ 13

14. Notes ................................................................................................................................................ 14

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2. ABOUT
MERLIN CPSM is a database software package for displaying, archiving and exporting data from MERLIN Transformer Rectifier Monitors (MERLIN
TR’s) and MERLIN Test Post Monitors (MERLIN POST’s). It also provides full remote configuration of all units via GSM.

Monitors can be configured to send their data to two HQs - this can be useful where CP Engineers are located in different offices – or even in
different countries.

Each HQ requires its own copy of CPSM; changes made to MERLIN Monitors at one HQ are automatically updated at the other HQ with a full audit
trail of all changes made to the system.

A CPSM Viewer is also available which allows third parties to view MERLIN data only.

CPSM and the CPSM Viewer are distributed uniquely by Abriox.

3. PREREQUISITES

3.1 Dedicated PC
To run CPSM successfully you will need a dedicated PC that is permanently switched on. It does not have to be dedicated purely to CPSM and
can run other applications although this is not ideal. We recommend a dedicated CPSM machine to eliminate any potential issues or possible
conflicts with other running software.

Minimum hardware specification: Recommended hardware specification:

Processor: 1GHz Processor: 2GHz+
Memory: 128MB RAM Memory: 1GB+ RAM
Hard Disk Drive: 100MB Free Hard Disk Drive: 10GB+ Free
Display: 800 x 600 Resolution Display: 1024 x 768 or Higher Resolution
Controller: Keyboard and Mouse Controller: Keyboard and Mouse
Other: Free USB Port Other: Free USB Port

3.2 Operating System

CPSM has been designed and developed to work on Windows XP and Windows 7. Windows Operating Systems Pre Windows XP and Vista
are not supported due to lack of modem driver support.

NOTE Installation of the CPSM software must be carried out under a Windows Administrator account. Day to day running can be achieved under
a limited Windows User account.

3.3 USB GSM Modem

This will normally be supplied by Abriox with the system. Other GSM modems may work but operation/support is not guaranteed. Before installing
the CPSM software, ensure that the GSM modem is installed and fully functional. Refer to the modem’s installation guide for instructions on how
to do this.

3.4 SIM Card

The modem SIM card is usually supplied by Abriox along with the modem. If you have chosen to supply your own SIM card, ensure it is on a
network that has good coverage in your area.

3.5 CPSM Software

The latest version of the CPSM software can be downloaded from www.abriox.com or supplied on CD ROM if requested.

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4. CPSM LOCATION
Deciding where to locate the CPSM system depends on several factors such as security, access and practicality but the main concern is the GSM
signal.

The CPSM system consists of a PC running Windows XP, a USB GSM Modem, a SIM Card (offering the best signal for your location) and the CPSM
Software. It is vital that a strong GSM signal is achieved in order to run the CPSM system. A weak GSM signal can cause problems ranging from
modem crashes, lost messages and unnecessary retries for installed MERLIN units.

We recommend you check GSM coverage before deciding on a physical location for the system. This can be achieved by inserting the SIM card
(of your chosen network) into a phone and checking the signal in the location of where the CPSM system will be situated.

In the example below a company have decided there are two possible (practical) locations for the CPSM system; a second floor office and a top
floor office. Using a mobile phone, the signal levels were monitored in the offices where the CPSM system could potentially be located. SIM cards
tested were Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile.
When testing in the second floor office, all SIM cards appeared to be suffering a low
signal, however, when relocated to the top floor the signals were greatly improved.

In this example, Orange has the best GSM signal when situated on the top floor of
the building, therefore, Orange would be the ideal network for this particular area
and the top floor is the most suitable location for the CPSM system.

Coverage and signal strength depend on a lot of factors and official network cover-
age maps don’t necessarily reflect the coverage you may actually get.

Unfortunately we cannot recommend a specific network because coverage varies place to place and each installation has unique properties that
can affect the GSM signal.

Building materials, electrical equipment, pylons, elevation and location are some of the factors that can affect the signal strength. The best meth-
od for finding out which network to use is simply a case of checking which network provider offers the best signal in the CPSM location.
Once you have decided which network to use, the physical location of the CPSM system can also affect the signal.

In the example here, Orange were found to offer the best signal for the area. Choosing a physical location can also affect the strength signal you
receive.

Office 1 = Very low signal

Office 2 = Full signal
Office 3 = Low signal

Based on this short survey, Office 2 would be the best location for the CPSM system.

Whilst you may get a full GSM signal outside the office building with one particular network,
you may find that the signal once inside the building is not feasible. If this is the case you will
have to choose another network that gives a better signal internally. Testing the GSM signal
with a phone is sometimes the only way you can help decide which network to use.

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5. INSTALLING THE USB GSM MODEM
If you are using a third party GSM modem, please refer to the manufacturers’ installation instructions. The following installation procedure is for
supplied RB-24i GSM Modems only.

Install SIM Card Connect Antenna Connect Power Connect USB

Insert the SIM card in the modem (if not already installed). To open the SIM card tray, press the yellow button in and gently pull SIM card tray
out at the same time. Seat the SIM card neatly in the tray and push the tray back in until it clicks.

Connect the antenna to the SMA connector, ensuring it is not cross-threaded.

Connect the power supply to the modem and turn power on.

Finally, connect the modem to the PC using the supplied USB cable.

If you have the driver installation CD, insert it now. If you do not have the driver CD, the latest modem drivers can be found in the support sec-
tion of our website (www.abriox.com), you will need to download and save the driver on your PC (save it in My Documents or somewhere where
you can easily find it).

As soon as the USB is connected to both the modem and the PC, Windows will detect the device and should launch the ‘Found New Hardware
Wizard’.

In the first screen, select ‘No, not this time’ and click ‘Next’.

In the next window choose Install from a list or specific location’ and click ‘Next’.

Now choose ‘Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install’ and click ‘Next’.

In the next window, choose ‘Show All Devices’ and click ‘Next’.

In the next window, click ‘Have Disk’, you will need to browse to either the CD or location
of the downloaded driver files.

The wizard should now display ‘Motorola USB Modem’, click ‘Next’.

If you are prompted by a warning advising you the driver is not digitally signed, click
‘Continue Anyway’. Windows should now install the driver for the modem.

Congratulations! The GSM modem has been installed.

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6. INSTALLING CPSM

Previous versions of CPSM must be uninstalled prior to installing the latest version!

Installation must be performed under a Windows Administrator account!

6.1 Installing CPSM from a Downloaded File

*IMPORTANT* - The modem must be installed prior to CPSM installation

Download the latest version of the CPSM software from the support section of our website (www.abriox.com). Save the file to your desktop for
ease.

The setup files are compressed into a zip file. Windows has its own built in zip utility, simply double click the file and then select ‘Extract all files’.
This will launch the Extraction Wizard.

Click ‘Next’ on the first screen. In the second screen, to ease installation, keep the default directory in the wizard and click ‘Next’.

In the final window, tick the box ‘Show extracted files’ and click ‘Finish’. This will open a new window displaying the installation files.

Double click the setup.exe file to launch the CPSM installation. See section 7 for the installation process.

6.2 Installing CPSM From CD-ROM

*IMPORTANT* - The modem must be installed prior to CPSM installation

If installing the application from a CD-ROM, insert the disk and the auto-run mechanism should automatically start the installation program. If it
does not, open ‘My Computer’, right-click on the CD/DVD drive and select ‘Open’ or ‘Explore’.

The installation files can be found in the root directory of the CD.

Double click the setup.exe file to launch the CPSM installation. See section 7 for the installation process.

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7. THE INSTALLATION PROCESS
The installation process has been designed to be as simple as possible and requires very little input from the user. Installation must be per-
formed under a Windows Administrator account although the day to day running of CPSM can be carried out via a normal user account.

Additional Components
The latest version of CPSM requires some additional components to be installed. If these are not detected the installer will prompt you to install
them.
2 3
1

1) Click the ‘Install’ button to install the required components.

2) Tick the box to agree with the licence terms then click the ‘Install’ button. The installer will start to install the required
components.
3) Click the ‘Finish’ button when complete.

CPSM
With the additional components installed, the installer will now start to install the CPSM software. Follow the on-screen instructions.

4 Click the ‘Next’ button to start

the CPSM Setup Wizard.
5 Click the ‘Next’ button.

6 After reading, and agreeing with

7 Select the folder to install CPSM in.
the terms of the Licence Agree- By default it will be installed under
ment, select the ‘I accept the C:\Program Files.
terms in the license agreement’
check-box and click the ‘Next’
Tick the box for ‘Everyone’ and click
button to continue.
the ‘Next’ button.

8 Click the ‘Next’ button to start 9 Click the ‘Close’ button to finish the
installation. CPSM installation.

A progress bar displays the instal- Congratulations! The CPSM software

lation progress. is now fully installed.

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8. RUNNING CPSM
By default the application should automatically start up with Windows. This is due to the installation program placing a shortcut to the CPSM ap-
plication in the ‘Startup’ area of the Windows start menu. It is not recommended to disable/remove this as the PC should be permanently on and
running CPSM. If it is removed from the Startup menu then a Windows Update, Power Failure or accidental user error resulting in a PC restart will
not automatically restart the CPSM application on boot up.

If it has been removed, to restart the CPSM application you will need to manually launch CPSM.

The CPSM application can be started by either double clicking the ‘MERLIN CPSM3’ shortcut on the Desktop, or by clicking: Start – All Programs –
Abriox Limited – MERLIN CPSM3 – MERLIN CPSM3.

9. SELECTING THE MODEM

Once the CPSM software has been installed, you need to tell CPSM which port your modem is connected to. You will only need to do this once
because the software will remember which port is being used by the modem.

On starting CPSM for the first time it will prompt you to select a modem or, if this doesn’t happen, from the main screen in CPSM, click ‘Settings –
Select Modem Port’.

In the new window that pops up, select the modem you installed prior to CPSM and click ‘Test’. This checks the CPSM software has detected and
can communicate with the modem. If all OK, click the ‘Use’ button to select the modem and close the window.

If you have several modems listed, the ‘Device Name’ should correspond with the modem you have installed. In the case of the RB-24i GSM USB
Modem, it should show as ‘Motorola USB Modem’.

If you continue to experience difficulty in selecting the modem, check you have installed the drivers correctly and that there are no conflicts in
Windows Devices. Contact your IT department for further help if required. Reinstall the drivers following the manufacturer’s instructions if neces-
sary.

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10. CREATING A NEW DATABASE
If CPSM is installed on a standalone PC with only one hard drive (C:\), the database can be created and saved anywhere on the computer. To
save confusion and ease locating the database for backups, ‘My Documents\CPSM Database’ is an accepted location, although the database
should, ideally, be saved on another drive (an additional internal hard drive).

If CPSM is installed within a network environment we recommend you save the database on a local server (which has regular automated back-
ups). You can also manually backup the database by copying the database file to a safe place located on another PC, server, CD, DVD or USB
memory stick. As with any business data, regular backups are vital to ensure the data can be retrieved in the case of fire/corruption/damage/data
loss. Backing up the database is simply a case of copying the database file (.mdb file) to another location or burning it to a CD/DVD. How often
this is performed is governed by your company policy, although we recommend a monthly backup at the very least.

Please note that if the database is installed on a server within a busy network you may experience a short delay in refreshing the CPSM infor-
mation.

As with any software or application run in a networked business environment, there may be certain restrictions set by your IT department. The
CPSM software has been developed to run under any account although it can only be installed with administrator rights. For further assistance on
creating accounts in Windows, network installation or backing up data, talk to your IT department.

To create a new database, from the CPSM software click ‘File – Connect to Database’.

1 Click the ‘Next’ button to start 2 Click the ‘Create’ button.

the Database Setup Wizard.

3 Browse to the location you wish 4 Click the ‘Next’ button.

to save the database in and enter

a name.

Click the ‘Save’ button.

5 Click the ‘Finish’ button.

Congratulations! You have now

created a new CPSM database
that is ready to use.

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11. GSM SIGNAL STRENGTH
In the CPSM software, the current GSM signal strength is displayed in the bottom right-hand corner. Ideally you should be looking for four green
bars. In practice this is hard to achieve due to the many factors that can affect the signal.

Green bars = Signal is good

If you have green bars showing, this means the GSM signal is good and you should not experience any problems with GSM communications.

Yellow bars = Signal is low

If the bars are yellow, this means the signal is low and you should, ideally, be looking to relocate the modem to increase the signal strength or
consider using a high-gain GSM antenna. A poor signal can cause a number of problems and should be rectified as a priority.

Red bar = Signal is very low

A red bar indicates a very low signal. This can and will cause problems. In this situation you are advised to:-

• Relocate the system to pick up a better signal

• Try using a high-gain GSM antenna

• Change the SIM card to a different network

Full Red/Grey bars = No communications

Red/Grey flashing bars indicate no signal or the modem has failed or lost connection. If this is the case, make sure you have the correct modem
selected in ‘Settings – Select Modem Port’.

If problems still persist exit the CPSM software by clicking ‘File – Exit’. In the window that pops up, click ‘Shutdown’. Disconnect both the power
lead and USB lead to the modem and leave unplugged for 10 seconds then reconnect. Restart the CPSM software and try again.
If you are still experiencing problems and are sure the modem is functioning correctly you may need to try:

• Check all cables are connected and securely fitted.

• Check the SIM card is working (test in a phone).

• Reinstall the modem drivers.

• Test the modem (please refer to manufacturers documentation for instructions).

• Check for conflicts within Windows Device Manager.

If everything has been checked and verified and problems still exist this could indicate a problem with the actual modem itself. If, in the unlikely
event, this is the case, please return the modem for diagnosis and repair/replacement.

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11.1 Testing the SIM Card
To test the SIM card in a phone, close the CPSM software, turn off the power to the modem, disconnect the USB cable and remove the SIM card.

Insert the SIM card into a phone (phone must not be locked to a particular network) and check the signal level. The higher the bars, the stronger
the signal.

If the signal level is very low, try using a different SIM card (from another network) and check to see if the signal improves.

If you find the signal is better with the other network this may be the best network to go with.

Example
If you have an existing Vodafone SIM card and are experiencing a very low GSM signal, you may find that installing an Orange/T-Mobile/Other
SIM card greatly improves the GSM signal.

Signal level very low Signal has improved Signal vastly improved

In this example, Orange offers the best signal strength and would therefore be the best network to go with.

NOTE
If you do change the SIM card in the modem, you will need to update the HQ number for all units reporting into CPSM. The SIM card number
installed in the modem is the HQ number for your system.

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12. UPDATING THE CPSM SOFTWARE
If you are currently running a previous version of CPSM this must be uninstalled first. Before uninstalling the application, make a backup of your
existing database.

12.1 Backup Existing Database

We recommend you make a backup of the existing database prior to installing the latest version of CPSM. To make a backup simply copy the
existing database to another location.

E.G. Copy the file ‘Default Database.mdb’ (or ‘your-database-name.mdb’ if you have chosen to create your own database) to another location on
your computer or server. We recommend you create a folder called ‘CPSM Backup’ and copy the file there.

12.2 Uninstall Existing Software

Please ensure you have uninstalled any previous versions of CPSM before installing the latest version.

Previous versions of CPSM must be uninstalled prior to installing the latest version!

12.3 Install Latest Version of CPSM

Follow steps given in section 6 (Installing CPSM).

12.4 Connect to Existing Database

With CPSM installed and running, click ‘File - Connect to Database’.

1 Click the ‘Next’ button to start

the Database Setup Wizard.
2 Click the ‘Browse’ button.

Click the ‘Next’ button.

3 Browse to the location you saved 4
the database.

Click the ‘Open’ button.

5 The software will determine 6 Congratulations!

if your database needs updating
in order to work with the version You have updated and
of CPSM. If this is required, click connected to your existing
the ‘Update’ button. CPSM database.

Click the ‘Finish’ button.

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13. FAQS

Can I use a laptop computer instead?

In theory yes but in the practical sense, no. Laptops are not suitable because they are almost by definition, turned on and off and moved from
place to place – this could mean that data or alarms from MERLIN TR’s or MERLIN POST’s could be missed. Moreover the GSM signal changes
with location and it is important that the CPSM PC has good signal strength. Laptops generally run a lot hotter than PC’s due to their compact
design. Running a laptop 24hrs a day, 7 days a week is not recommended and could potentially damage the internal hardware.

I’m running Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2K/Vista, why can’t I use CPSM?

CPSM has been designed and developed to run on Windows XP and Windows 7. USB modem driver support for operating systems prior to Win-
dows XP is very limited.

I’ve installed everything but cannot get any signal?

If everything has been installed correctly this could be indicating a poor GSM signal. Try relocating the modem. Even a few inches can make a big
difference in signal strength. If you are still unable to get a decent signal you may need to consider the use of a high-gain GSM antenna, relocat-
ing the system to gain a better signal or changing network provider.

Where can I get the latest version of the CPSM software?

Please visit the support section on our www.abriox.com. You will need a valid username and password (as given on your Licence Certificate) to
enter the download section.

What port is my modem connected to?

If you are unsure as to what port the modem is connected to, in the CPSM software, click ‘Settings – Select Modem Port’. If you have several
ports listed, the ‘Device Name’ should correspond with the modem you have installed. In the case of the Motorola modem, it should show as
‘Motorola USB Modem’. Select the modem and click the ‘Test’ button. The software will advise you if it has been successful in communicating with
the modem. Once the correct modem has been selected and tested, press ‘Use’.

I’ve restarted my PC but CPSM hasn’t started?

By default the installation should create a shortcut on the desktop, double click the ‘MERLIN CPSM3’ icon to start CPSM.

Alternatively, click ‘Start – All Programs – Abriox Limited – MERLIN CPSM3 – MERLIN CPSM3’.

I have an internal modem already, will this cause problems?

No, although you may need to eliminate this when selecting the correct modem in ‘Settings – Select Modem Port’.

I am unable to install CPSM!

Please ensure you are logged in under a Windows Administrator account and that previous versions of CPSM have been uninstalled before run-
ning the new installation.

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14. NOTES

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