2 Sept 2020, updated 10 May 2022
Part 1, the quick set-up instruction manual was provided mainly for the quick and proper set-up of the MADAR-III DataProbe and the DAS, which is the alarm systom unit for the alert team. There are available separate papers that will go into more detail about how they all work, why they are needed, how to use them and the data, etc. But for now this second paper is designed to train and inform you.

Basically the MADAR-III DataProbe is a plug and play, but not a plug and forget. You have to put the device in a spot you have selected where it won't be moved or bumped, then connect an Ethernet line to your router, and finally connected to an AC outlet.

1. PREPARATIONS BEFORE YOUR MADAR IS INSTALLED
Before your DataProbe arrives, you need to obtain an appropriate length of Ethernet cable that will reach from the device to your router. Extra footage will not hurt anything, but typically 5-6 feet may be enough. Some operators have runs as high as 25' or more. You can always run an extension cord for the power adapter but the location you select to place the MADAR unit will probably be near a wall AC outlet.

One other item that is HIGHLY recommended is part of the DAS (Detection Alert System). We use to build and sell them for about $40. Our Tech Support designed a special program for MADAR that replaced it, so all you need is the $20 USB-powered speaker from Amazon. About 30% of our sites are DAS-equipped so that they can be alerted and go outside and observe, take videos, record with night vision, etc..
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H66LGDD/

2. WHERE SHOULD YOU PLACE MADAR DEVICE
The equipment that you have in and near your room will vary depending on your lifestyle. You may have a number of devices located in your home or office, some of them plugged into your router and may not be in a high RF or EM area. Some may be near computers, monitors, printers, other appliances, maybe even near LED lights which might be turned on only occasionally (closet LED lights) and produce intermittent RF. The point is, the E-M or RF loop can mask the low geomagnetic field and make detection of an anomaly next to impossible. Once you determine you have an issue, you need to move your device out of that loop.  But sometimes it only takes inches, not feet. If possible, pick a location in your room that will be several feet away from electronics.  You need to locate a good "E-M quiet" spot by  tuning a transistor radio to the left end of the AM dial, or use an E-M meter. Walk around the room and listen to what you can pick up! You will be amazed. It is not as complicated as it sounds and we'll get you there. Your data spreadsheet will tell us how you are doing and what we need to do once you are online.

The set-up in most cases is simply plug and play. No computer is really needed. A desktop or laptop or IPad will suffice to look at the data or the MADAR Map, etc., but the dataProbe will be doing its job regardless. Some tweaking in the positioning might be required, but, before we get into the set-up there are three things to be aware of:

1) Daily NOL (Not OnLine) reports
Before, and while your MADAR DataProbe is being installed at your location, you will receive daily NOL (Not Online) notifications. Once you are online the notifications will cease. IF your unit goes offline for any reason, this is an automatic email to you, and also an NOL Report to the MADAR Operations Center here at Newburgh, Indiana to make sure the network is running at optimum capacity. Please ignore them while your unit is on its way to you and allow 24 hours for them to persist after you get your DataProbe plugged in. We build the unit and connect it to the server to test it, then disconnect it to ship it to you. The server sees this and sends out the NOL report while it is in transit.
 
2) Red registration dot on MADAR Map
During set-up or normal operation, the unit may be bumped, or for a number of other reasons go into alert mode. You'll get an alert email, a text message on your cell phone, and your blue LED on the dataProbe will come on. You'll also have your light blue registration dot on the madar.site Display Map turn "red". If this happens you need to do a system reboot. To do a reboot, unplug the power adaptor from the wall, wait ten seconds, then replug.

3) Alert notifications
Anytime your magnetometer field readings reach and/or exceed your threshold, your unit will go into alert mode. If you have an alarm panel or DAS connected you will be alerted by a loud klaxon signal for one minute. We use to have them run three minutes, but if you don't hear the one minute klaxon, chances are you won't hear the longer one anyway.

3. IMPORTANT NOTES
1) These devices are programmed for a specific latitude and longitude and assigned to only one person who is licensed to operate it.
2) They cannot be moved to another location without us knowing it. By changing the "location" we mean distances of several miles, another state, etc.
3) This device is NOT a Field Unit.
4) If you move from your current location, please notify us ASAP and give us your new street address or any other changes such as email or phone. If we program a move, your node number will have to be changed since the data history of the node goes with the location and owner. If you choose not to set up or operate the device, this is your choice, but within a specified period of time (60 days) it will be deactivated from the server and no refunds can be made.
5) If you bump the device or think you may have set it off, please send us a notice or "alibi" email so we'll not process it as a credited hit. Please include the note you got from the server which tells us who you are and when the unit was tripped.

4. SETTING UP THE MADAR DATAPROBE


Green relay terminal and set screws at upper right.
Hole recessed into enclosure with light blue Legal Shutdown Switch (LSDS). To reboot the device safely, place the end of a paper clip in the opening and depress the switch quickly. To safely shut down the device while you move it to another location (etc.) depress the switch for at least 5 seconds. This is the best way, but many of us just unplug the device from the wall.  There is some question about damaging the device that way but I haven't had a problem. Mainly because I rarely have to do a reboot and my unit is in the corner of my office and never bumped.

RIGHT SIDE
Has only the SD Card slot for the 32 gigabyte hard drive (was 16 but hard to find).

LEFT SIDE
RJ45 Ethernet Jack on left
Four USB ports stacked on the right  At this time DO NOT use any of the USB PORTS EXCEPT to connect the Amazon USB-powered speaker (DAS). DO NOT USE THESE TO CHARGE YOUR PHONE or other USB-powered device.

UPPER SIDE
Left: jack for power adapter
Right: HDMI (not in use at this time)

When your DataProbe arrives, carefully place the device flat down on the surface you selected and make sure the device and the wires won't be jogged. The slightest movement could trigger the device. Connect your Ethernet cable to your router and then to the device in the Ethernet socket on the right side of the device. On the front of the device, on the left hand corner, you will notice a very small cell-phone-like female jack. Plug the very small male connector on its power cord into this jack, then plug the adapter into the nearest 110 VAC outlet or surge protector.  Do not move the device from here on in.  DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ORIENTATION. You are powering up a plug and play device and the unit is connecting to the MADAR Server. Within minutes it will tell the MADAR server it is alive and well and it will know its environment. If something causes that environment to change, the MADAR DataProbe will go into action.

Important, you should mark or make sure that you do not use any other power adaptor or cell phone adaptor to power this device. The world is now flooded with similar power cords, but this unit needs more power to run properly.

RED LED
The red LED on the right corner opposite the Ethernet jack is the PSI (power status indicator) and should be on and steady all the time. If it blinks, this indicates the device isn't getting the 3 amps it needs to operate properly. Care should be taken to make sure that other adapters you might have lying around don't get mixed up with this particular one.

GREEN OR AMBER LED
The green LED that is blinking near the Ethernet jack is normal and shows a 10/100 Mb connection to the internet. To the right of it the amber LED indicates a 1000 Mb connection.

BLUE LED
On top of the DataProbe and to the upper right is the exposed top of the relay. When MADAR goes into alert the relay contacts close, so anything connected and using this "dry" switch will also be activated. At the same time, the blue LED comes on. The alert period, plus an additional 180 seconds, is logged on the server.

IMPORTANT
The actual alert period has been shown and proven to be MUCH longer than mentioned above. At one location the "apparent alert" lasted just seconds but the UFO sighting lasted at least ten minutes. Ops and teams should consider all alerts to be at least 15 minutes or more.

Once connected to the server you should be running with two of the three LEDs lit. The blue LED SHOULD NOT BE ON.

You don't have to, but as a courtesy, drop me a short email telling me you are online.

5. USING YOUR COMPUTER TO VIEW MAP & DATA

Go to the live MADAR Map at
madar.site/
then drag the link to your pc for easy desktop access.

REGISTRATION DOT
Once you're onsite take a look at your part of the world map and check out your blue dot.



Disregard the user and password prompts and scroll down the MADAR Display like the one above. Using your mouse you can drag the image of the U.S. up, down, left and right. Using the "+" and "-" at the upper left you can zoom in and out as you wish. Getting the whole U.S. in view is very helpful but when looking at your area it might be a tight situation with nearby nodes and you may want to pump it up a little. By now your device should be online and you should see a light blue dot at your geographic coordinates. The server displays your "Node Number". By left-clicking on ANY node you can see the "pop-up" which gives THAT LAST MINUTE'S readings.

Use the easily accessible "Sound On" box at the upper right of your screen. The default setting is "OFF".When there is an alert ANYWHERE you will hear a low volume audible "klaxon" every 60 seconds on your computer. (There may be others already on alert status and your pc audio may have to be muted most of the time).  But your DAS will shake you out of bed for 60 seconds! If you want you can put some bubble wrap around the speaker and that will lower the volume.
 
THE POP UP

All the while the datalogger spreadsheet is running with the most recent alert data displayed at the top and the beginning of the event displayed at the bottom. As you can see, once your device goes into alert mode the data rate jumps to once PER SECOND.

Column 1 is the Node number.

Column 2 is the "status" mode and the actual word "status" in the column shows when the device was armed and ready. AlertStart begins an alert and is followed by "Alert" plots ramped to 1 per second. After the alert (AlertEnd) the logging slows to 1/min once again. The alert here lasted 3 secs and the alert phase lasted an additional 180 seconds (alertStat) followed by that many lines (180) and reverting to normal "status" or "ambient" field readings.

Column 3 is the compass heading. The compass is always pointing north so the device is oriented in a direction determined by its placement. There is no need to rotate the device to have it in a north or "0" heading.

Column 4 is the geomagnetic field reading in milligaus. This is the most important reading and is the basis for the detection of an anomaly, even though we have documented over a 150 compass needle correlations.

Column 5 is the Avg. Ambient (mGa) computation. See below. *

Column 6 is the threshold set for that device. This is adjustable but should not exceed 30. Experience shows that 20-25 is the best setting IF it doesn't cause the MADAR to have false alarms.

Column 7 is the accelerometer reading and the normal is close to 1.0.

Column 8 is the date in Universal Time Code. To convert to local time go to
UTC-Chart.
 
AMBIENT READING *
Column 5 on the spreadsheet and displayed on the pop-up is the Avg. Ambient (mGa) reading and needs some additional comment.   The Ambient reading has been part of the node software for the last few versions at least.  It is used as the average normal reading of the background magnetic field.  The row in the table labeled mGa is the result of subtracting the current field reading from the average ambient reading (unsigned number).  This should normally be a low number if no disturbances are in the area.  In other words the mGa will indicate the variance from what is normal for that node and location.  If the mGa jumps beyond the trigger setting (deviation), this indicates an anomaly.  The mGa reading is NOT the current magnetic field reading.  It ONLY indicates the variance in milligauss from the norm.  Everybody's "normal" will be different depending on their location and background noise.  This was needed, we believe, to help verify that the node is setup in a quiet location and the sensor is working properly.

TECH SUPPORT LOG or NODE REPORT
We keep a tech support log (Specific Node Report) to record your status and history. If your device is running properly but you are not getting "hits", we will lower your limits remotely and reboot your device. We cannot reboot the device remotely if it is in alert mode and YOU may be asked to reboot.

CELL PHONE ALERTS
If we have your cell phone number you will receive an alert notification on that device.

EMAILS
In your application at the time of purchase you gave us your physical address, email address, and phone numbers. Make sure you gave us the email address you want alerts to go to, and try not to change this.

We are glad to have your device online and part of the world-wide MADAR System. For over half a century there was only one complicated MADAR that took up two rooms and cost thousands of dollars. The MADAR-III DataProbe is smaller than an I-Pad, gathers much more data, and is an affordable device now being used in over a 130 locations in the U.S. and foreign countries.

Fran Ridge