AMI MARINE v1.3.5.13 VDR Remote App User Guide

: June 15, 2024
: AMI MARINE

AMI MARINE v1.3.5.13 VDR Remote App

Product Information

Specifications

Product Name: VDR Remote
Compatible Software Version: v1.3.5.13
Manufacturer: AMI Marine Ltd.
Website: https://amimarine.com

Product Usage Instructions

Installing the Software on Remote Computer

Ensure that the remote computer meets the minimum system requirements specified by AMI Marine.
Download the latest software version from the AMI Marine website: https://amimarine.com/product/downloads/
Run the downloaded software installer.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.

Accessing the VDR/S-VDR System from your Remote Computer/Laptop

Make sure that the VDR/S-VDR system is powered on and connected to the network.
Launch the installed VDR Remote software on your remote computer.
Enter the necessary login credentials (if required) to access the VDR/S-VDR system.
Once logged in, you will be able to view and download the recorded data from the X-VDR, X2 Voyage Data Recorder systems, and the Non-Mandatory X-MDR Multimedia Recording system.

FAQ

Q: Can I use unapproved or unlicensed software on the VDR Remote?
A: No, using unapproved or unlicensed software on the VDR Remote is strictly prohibited. Doing so will void the warranty status of the system.
Q: Does the VDR Remote come with built-in anti-virus protection?
A: No, the VDR Remote does not have anti-virus protection installed. It is the responsibility of the installation engineers, service engineers, and system users to ensure that virus threats are not transferred to the system via removable media. Before using any removable media on the VDR Remote, it is recommended to fully scan it for viruses and malware using up-to-date anti- virus software.
Q: Who is responsible for the costs related to virus or malware infections on the VDR Remote system?
A: The party who accessed the system immediately prior to the virus or malware infection will be liable for the service costs relating to the infected system.

For the latest Software version, please find our website. https://amimarine.com/product/downloads/.

Foreword
This guide provides information for the Remote Connection and the downloading of the recorded data of both the Mandatory Type Approved X-VDR, X2 Voyage Data Recorder systems, and the Non-Mandatory X-MDR Multimedia Recording system. The guide is intended for use by ship staff and AMI-qualified personnel. Any access or maintenance carried out by unauthorized personnel may invalidate any applied warranty. All maintenance carried out to the mandatory equipment must be undertaken by a service engineer holding a valid authorization certificate issued by AMI Marine Ltd.

Disclaimer

Approved software
Only approved software may be used on AMI Marine systems. The use of unapproved or unlicensed software on any AMI Marine system is strictly prohibited. The use of such software voids the warranty status of the system.

AMI Marine software copyright
All AMI Marine software supplied be it pre-installed, supplied on USB or other media, remains the copyright of AMI Marine Ltd, which will not accept any responsibility for any damage or loss caused in whatever way by the use or misuse of the software. This copyright applies to software supplied in various formats including, but not restricted to, CD, DVD, USB memory device, email or obtained via AMI Marine’s website or download links.

Microsoft Windows copyright
All AMI Marine systems use genuine Microsoft Windows software which is subject to Microsoft copyrights.

Virus precautions

The systems supplied by AMI Marine Ltd are PC-based and it should be noted that our systems do not have anti-virus protection installed.
It is the responsibility of installation engineers, service engineers, and system users to ensure that virus threats are not transferred to the system via removable media.

Warning:

Prior to use, all removable media used on or in AMI Marine products MUST be fully scanned for viruses and malware on a PC installed with up-to-date anti-virus software.
Service costs relating to systems found to be infected with a virus or malware will be the liability of the party who accessed the system immediately prior to the virus being presented to the system.

Note:
AMI Marine cannot be held responsible for damage caused to systems by virus or malware infections.

Removable media referred to includes but is not restricted to, USB memory sticks, USB hard drives, floppy discs, CD/ DVDs, and all forms of removable media.

You may contact AMI Marine Ltd using the below details:

AMI Marine Ltd,

Unit 9 Crosshouse Centre, Crosshouse Road, Southampton, Hampshire SO14 5GZ (UK)
Phone: +44 (0)2380 480450
Email: service@amimarine.com.

Installing the Software on Desktop Computer/Laptop

(Not to be installed on the X-VDR, X2, or X-MDR System)
To install the software, simply double-click the setup file and follow the on- screen instructions.

Select Next to continue.
The installation folder may be changed to the user’s required location.

Select Next to continue.

A summary of the installation settings is displayed. Select Install to complete the installation. Select Install to continue.

Once installation is complete the VDR Remote software may be run immediately by selecting ‘Finish’.
To close the installer without running the software deselect ‘Launch VDR Remote’ tick box, then select ‘Finish’.
If the remote software is unable to connect to the system, the error message below will be displayed:

Accessing the VDR/S-VDR System from your Remote Computer/Laptop

Network Settings

The IP address of the Ethernet port of your Remote PC/Laptop should be set as per the following procedure:

Windows 7.

Right-click on the Network Icon and select ‘Open Network and Sharing Center’.
Select ‘Change Adaptor Settings’
Select ‘Network Adapter’ and select ‘Properties’.
Select ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ and select ‘Properties’.
Select ‘Use the Following IP Address’
Manually enter IP address ‘192.168.0.10’. The subnet mask should auto-fill ‘255.255.255.0’.
Save Settings.

Windows 10.

Right-click on the Network Icon and select ‘Open Network and Sharing Center’.
Select ‘Ethernet’ and then ‘Change adapter options’.
Right-click on the ‘Ethernet’ network port and select ‘Properties’.
Select ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ and select ‘Properties’.
Select ‘Use the Following IP Address’
Manually enter IP address ‘192.168.0.10’. The Subnet mask should auto-fill ‘255.255.255.0’.
Save Settings.

Windows 11.

Click on ‘Start’ and select ‘Settings’.
Select ‘Network & Internet’ then click on ‘Advanced network settings’.
Scroll down to ‘Related settings’ and select ‘More network adaptor options’.
Right click on the ‘Ethernet’ network port and select ‘Properties’.
Select ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ and select ‘Properties’.
Select ‘Use the Following IP Address’
Manually enter IP address ‘192.168.0.10’. The Subnet mask should auto-fill ‘255.255.255.0’.
Press ‘OK’ to save Settings.

Connecting your Remote Computer/Laptop to the VDR/S-VDR System

Important Note:
See the disclaimer on page 5 before connecting to the VDR/S-VDR system.
There are two methods by which you may connect your remote computer/laptop to the VDR/S-VDR system, via the LAN port on the Touch Screen Monitor (TSM) or directly from the Main Electronics Unit (MEU).

Touch Screen Monitor (X-VDR):
Using an Ethernet cable, connect your remote computer/laptop to the Ethernet Download Port on the front of the TSM.

Touch Screen Monitor (X2):
Using an Ethernet cable, connect your remote computer/laptop to the Ethernet Download Port on the front of the TSM.

Main Electronics Unit (X-VDR):

If during the installation the TSM is not connected to the MEU via a LAN cable then.
Connect to the ‘Data Download’ port of the X-VDR Main PCB, this will connect directly to the processor for data collection.

Main Electronics Unit (X2):

If during the installation the TSM is not connected to the MEU via a LAN cable then.
Connect to ‘Data Download’ port (LAN Port 5) of the X2 Main Processor Unit, this will connect directly to the processor for data collection.

Main Electronics Unit (X-MDR):
Connect to ‘Data Download’ port (LAN Port 3) of the X-MDR Panel PC, this will connect directly to the processor for data collection.

Optional Bracket for X-MDR:
Connect to the extension of ‘Data Download’ port (LAN Port 3) of the X-MDR Panel PC, this connects to the processor for data collection.

Running the Software

VDR Remote may be run from the either the Windows Start menu or the via Desktop icon (if selected during installation).

Remote Data Download

Once opened, provided the connecting PC’s LAN settings are correct as per this guide, the application will automatically connect to the VDR.
The Vessel Details are read from the VDR’s Config file and populates with the vessel name etc.
After a short time when the reading of the “Drive Scan Files” * is complete, the Remote Data selection will become available for the accessing and downloading of the data files.
Initially the LTRM drive will be displayed, as shown below:

Drive Scan Files

The VDR system scans each storage drive 5 minutes after starting up.
The LTRM every 5 minutes thereafter and once per hour for the capsules. Therefore, the data displayed in the window as ‘available for download’ may be up to 5 minutes old.
When the VDR Remote application starts it reads the Drive Scan Log files to give an immediate overview to assist performance.

Navigating the Folder Tree

Note: The example below shows “connected to \\192.168.0.4\vdr_data”.
The ‘Download Folder:’ path is the location to which the data will be downloaded on the remote computer. The default setting for this is the remote computer’s ‘Documents’ folder in ‘VDR Data’.
Using the More Options button [ … ] you can select a preferred location for ease of access.
The recorded data files are stored in a folder named ‘Archive’. Config files and Log files are held in their corresponding folders. The Master folder holds the Master Config files.
To the right of each folder, selecting the ‘ ’ button will expand the tree, and selecting the ‘ ‘ button will collapse the tree as seen below:
Expanding the ‘Archive’ folder will display Day folders, as shown below.
Folders with the or icons indicate that files are missing and there is not a complete 24 hours. This is to be expected for the current daily folder and the oldest daily folder due to routine file management.
Folders with the or icons indicate that a ‘logged incident’ exists within data saved in the corresponding folder has an incident logged.
Expanding a ‘Day’ folder will expand the tree to show ‘Hour’ folders, as below:
Expanding the ‘Hour’ folder, displays the individual compressed files stored in the folder, as below:

Viewing Alternate Drives

The data stored on all other media or Remote Drives, i.e., Fixed and Float Free Capsules etc, may be viewed only. To view the files available the ‘Select Remote Drive’ dropdown, and select the required remote drive:

Please Note:
Only data stored on the LTRM may be downloaded. Data stored on other attached devices may only be viewed. When not available for downloading the ‘Local Data’ panel is greyed out.

Download Folder

This location may be changed manually by selecting the ‘More Options’ [ … ] button, which will then open the ‘Browse For Folder’ dialog window, as below:

From here the download location can be changed to another drive or maybe to a new folder by selecting the ‘Make New Folder’ option.
As you will see from the below screenshot, the ‘Download Folder’ path was changed to D:\VDR Data and the hour folder 1300 from 28th May 2023 is selected by ticking the box

Selecting a Data Set for Download

We recommend that 1 hour of data is sufficient for a reasonable playback.
For other instances of a download e.g., after an incident for an investigation, then there must be a minimum disc space of 32Gb per 24 hours should be made available, recommended to a portable USB drive.
The downloaded files are automatically zipped into a single file to ensure that if they need to be forwarded to another interested party, then they will receive everything required for a successful playback.
The ‘Download Config File’ cannot be deselected as this is required for all downloads. Other items that can be downloaded are the Log Files, Drive Scan Files, Replay Software, and the Windows Logs.

Downloading Selected Data

Pressing the ‘Start Download’ button will begin the download process. The data will be downloaded to the location specified in the ‘Download Folder’ field, with the progress bar display the download operation, as above:
Once the download is completed, a message will be displayed, as below:

The ‘Engineer Login’ is used to access additional functionality. This is for Authorised Engineers only.

Document Issue and Revisions

Document

Issue

|

Date

| Modification Number (where applicable)

Brief Record of Change and Reason for Change

---|---|---
Iss01 Rev00| 10/01/2019| Initial Issue
Iss01 Rev01| 18/01/2019| Addition of Functionality
Iss01 Rev02| 11/07/2019| Addition of Hardware Setup
Iss01 Rev03| 18/08/2019| Addition of Functionality
Iss01 Rev04| 06/11/2019| Update of Document Title
Iss01 Rev05| 06/10/2021| Addition of X-MDR Information
Iss01 Rev06| 07/12/2022| Update of GUI for v1.3.5.12
Iss01 Rev07| 07/06/2023| Update of GUI for v1.3.5.13

NOTICE
This manual is for informational use only. AMI Marine Ltd continually strives to improve their products and therefore may be changed without prior notice. This manual should not be construed as a commitment of AMI Marine Ltd. Under no circumstances does AMI Marine Ltd assume any responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document. The equipment should only be used for the purposes intended by the manufacturer; any deviation from this will void the warranty of the product.

NOTE:
All alterations must be verified by re-authorization and approval of the complete document.