Vectrino

A new generation 3D water velocity sensor!

The Vectrino is a high-resolution acoustic velocimeter used to measure 3D water velocity in a wide variety of applications from the laboratory to the ocean. The instrument is simple to use and the performance compares favorably with laser Doppler systems costing many times more. The basis measurement technology is coherent Doppler processing, which is characterized by accurate data with no appreciable zero offset.

What Is New?

The Vectrino is based on the same principles as the Nortek NDV, but with a leap forward in performance:

Minimized size of the electronics to fit inside the base instrument.
Reduced probe size minimizes the flow interference from the probe onto the sampling volume.
The addition of a fourth receiver improves turbulence measurements.
Increased internal sampling rate reduces measurement noise.
Increased maximum velocity range.
Probe configuration file stored on probe board simplifies a change of probes.
Integrated temperature sensor in the probe.
Parallelized receiver increases the number of samples by four (Vectrino+ firmware only).

Key Features

Detailed specifications are provided in the PDF brochure.

System:

Acoustic frequency: 10 MHz

Velocity:

Velocity range: ±0.01, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 2, 4m/s (user selectable)
Velocity accuracy: ±0.5% of measured value ±1mm/s
Sampling Rate: 1–25Hz, 1–200Hz (Vectrino+ firmware)

Sampling Volume:

Distance from probe: 0.05m
Diameter: 6mm
Height (user selectable): 3–15mm

Data Communication:

I/O: RS232. The software supports most commercially available USB–RS232 converters
Baud rate: 300–115200
Analog outputs:3 channels standard, one for each velocity component
Synchronization: SynchIn and SynchOut

Other:

Input Power: 12–48VDC
Peak current: 2.5A at 12VDC (user selectable)
Max consumption at 200Hz: 1.5W
Operating temperature: –5° to 45° C
Storage temperature: -15° to 60° C

Options:

Standard or Vectrino+ firmware (upgrade to Vectrino+ firmware is also available as retrofit)
4-beam down-looking probe on 40.cm stem or 4-beam probe on 1-m cable
12-pin IP68 waterproof (1h at 20m) or Impulse 12-pin underwater connector
10, 20, 30 or 50m cable with choice of IP68 or Impulse underwater connector
RS232–USB converter (one-to-one, four-to-one or eight-to-one)
Combined transportation and storage case

Nortek reserves the right to amend any of the above information in order to take advantage of new developments.

Please see pdf brochure for a full set of specifications.

Configuring Your Vectrino

Firmware

The Vectrino can be configured with the standard or the Vectrino+ (“Vectrino Plus”) firmware.

The standard firmware has a performance similar to that of the standard NDV/ADV®, with a maximum output rate of 25Hz.

The Vectrino+ firmware allows data collection rates up to 200Hz. Several enhancements are planned for the Vectrino+ firmware, including a separate echo sounder mode.