MWD Memory Access

Reference Guide

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Document #: D2008 Rev. B

Bench Tree Group, LLC

www.benchtree.com
 COPYRIGHT
If this document is distributed with software, firmware, and/or hardware that includes an end-user agreement, this
document, including the software, firmware, and/or hardware described, is furnished under license and may be used or
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The content of this document is for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed
as a commitment by Bench Tree Group, LLC. Bench Tree Group, LLC assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors
or inaccuracies that may appear in the informational content of this document.
This document may contain references to materials from third parties whose copyright must be acknowledged by obtaining
the necessary authorization from the copyright owner(s).
Copyright 2016 Bench Tree Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT

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This document contains certain formatting conventions that are intended to help you distinguish important information from
the actual text.
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Conventions used in this document
The conventions that are used in this document are described in the table below:

Convention Description
Italic Italic font is used to emphasize certain words, terms, and references within the text.
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Bold Bold font is used for software related functions and options, these include:
 Windows  Menus and Menu bar options
 Panes  Tool bar options
 Buttons  Named Text Fields
 File and directory names
Note A note emphasizes important information or helpful tips.
Caution A caution indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, can result in
possible damage to equipment and minor to moderate injury.
Warning A warning indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, can result in
serious injury or death.

Revision history
This section is intended to provide you with the revision history of your document. The Revision History table lists the
following information and will be updated with each new release:

Document Part # Revision Description Release Date

D2008 B Minor updates 4/2016

 Document #: D2008
MWD Memory Access

MWD MEMORY ACCESS

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Bench Tree’s Memory Access Utility enables you to download and analyze all the data your Directional
Module has recorded while it was downhole. The instructions in this reference guide do not include the
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installation of the software. For instructions on how to install the software, refer to the MWD Utilities
Software Installation Reference Guide (P/N: D2003). The information in this Reference Guide is listed
below:
Equipment needed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Before you get started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Starting the MWD Memory Access Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
MWD Memory Access Utility overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Menu bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Tool Memory Statistics pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Tool Date and Time pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Tool Register Data pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Memory Status table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Accessing and downloading your tool’s memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Opening files in text format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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 MWD Memory Access
Equipment needed

Equipment needed
The following equipment is necessary to access the memory of your Directional Module:

Equipment Part Number Description

3100521 Laptop

Bench Tree MWD Utilities

ft 0960050
Suite
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0900161 Tool Programming cable
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Bench Tree Receiver

0900080-5 This example shows a
BTR-Cω

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 MWD Memory Access
Before you get started

Before you get started

This section provides a brief overview on how to setup your equipment to access the memory of your
Directional Module.
1. Connect your receiver to your laptop or PC using an ethernet cable or a wireless connection.
2. Connect the Tool Programming cable to your receiver.
3. Connect the other end of the Tool Programming cable to the uphole end (6-pin/4-socket connector)
of your Directional Module, as shown in Figure 1.
Directional Module Connector of the Tool Programming cable
(P/N: 0900161)

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Figure 1: Connecting the Tool Programming cable to the Directional Module
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4. Turn on the power to your laptop or PC.
5. Turn on the power to your receiver.
You are now ready to start the MWD Memory Access Utility.
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 MWD Memory Access
Starting the MWD Memory Access Utility

Starting the MWD Memory Access Utility

Assuming that you have setup your equipment as described on page 3, follow the instructions in this
section. For instructions on how to setup a connection between the receiver and your laptop or PC, refer
to Setting up a wired connection (recommended) on page 14 or Setting up a wireless connection on
page 16 of the MWD Utilities Installation Reference Guide (Doc #: D2003). Then continue with
Accessing and downloading your tool’s memory on page 17.

Before you start the MWD Memory Access Utility, make sure that all other Bench Tree
Note
MWD Utilities are closed.

To familiarize yourself with the MWD Memory Access Utility first, refer to the MWD Memory Access
Utility overview on page 6.
1. On your desktop, double-click on the Bench Tree Group folder, as shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 2: Bench Tree Group folder

The Widows Explorer opens, displaying the MWD Software Suite subfolder, as shown in Figure 3.
2. Double-click the MWD Software Suite subfolder.
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Double-click this folder.

Figure 3: MWD Software Suite subfolder

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 MWD Memory Access
Starting the MWD Memory Access Utility

The Windows Explorer opens, displaying the content of the MWD Software Suite subfolder, as
shown in Figure 4.

ftFigure 4: Content of the Bench Tree Group folder

3. Double-click on the Memory Access Utility shortcut, as shown in Figure 5.

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Double-click to open the

Memory Access Utility.

Figure 5: Open the Memory Access Utility

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 MWD Memory Access
Starting the MWD Memory Access Utility

The Memory Access window opens, immediately followed by the Retrieving Status Information
from the Tool window, as shown in Figure 6.

Main screen of the

Memory Access
Utility.

Retrieving Status
Information from
the Tool window.

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This pane displays the files
that are being retrieved.
This pane displays the already
retrieved files.
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Figure 6: Initial Memory Access screen

As the progress bar displays the status of the data retrieval, the table in the Memory Access window
immediately populates with the tool’s available files. The Retrieving Status Information from the
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Tool window closes when the retrieval process is completed.

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 MWD Memory Access
Starting the MWD Memory Access Utility

Your screen should look similar to the one shown in Figure 6.

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Figure 7: Memory Access window displays data from the DM

The Memory Access window displays all the files that are available on your Directional Module. For
an overview of the MWD Memory Access Utility interface, refer to MWD Memory Access Utility
overview on page 6. To save your tool’s data to your laptop or PC, refer to Accessing and downloading
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your tool’s memory on page 17.

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 MWD Memory Access
MWD Memory Access Utility overview

MWD Memory Access Utility overview

This section describes the different panes and menu options of the MWD Memory Access Utility
window shown in Figure 8.
 Menu bar
 Tool Memory Statistics pane
 Tool Date and Time pane
 Tool Register Data pane
 Memory Status table
Tool Data and Time pane

Menu bar

Tool
Memory
Statistics
pane

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Register
Data pane
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Memory
Status table
(tool data)
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Tool
Connection
Status icon

Receiver
Connection
Status icon
Figure 8: Memory Access window displays all downloaded data

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 MWD Memory Access
MWD Memory Access Utility overview

Menu bar
The Menu bar consists of three menu options of which each contains a roll-down menu that enables
you to perform various tasks within the MWD Memory Access Utility. This section provides a
description on the options that are available.

Figure 9: Menu bar

File menu
The File menu changes in accordance with the selected file or files. The example in Figure 9 indicates
that batt was selected in the Memory Status table.

These two options are not available,

Click to copy the battery file to disk.
because the batt file is already open.
Click to copy all listed files to disk.

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While powered up, the tool
continuously records data. To
Clicking either one of these two options
will zero out the tool’s memory
accordingly.
Clicking either one of these two options
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update to the latest recording, click will erase the memory associated with
on one of these two options the file(s) and then close the file(s).
accordingly. Once a file is closed, no data is being
recorded. To start recording again you
must open a file.
Click to access the directory
designated to automatically store Click to view the files last copied.
the memory data of each tool by
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serial number.
Figure 10: File menu options when batt is selected

The example in Figure 10 shows the File menu after multiple files were selected in the Memory Status
table.

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 MWD Memory Access
MWD Memory Access Utility overview

In this example, multiple files (not all

files) were selected in the Memory
Status table. The options available in
this menu have changed accordingly.

Figure 11: File menu options when multiple files are selected

Memory Viewer

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The Memory Viewer window converts and displays the transferred tool memory data files. Each data
file can contain up to 10,000 lines of data and displays as a separate tab inside the Memory Viewer
window. The readable data file is automatically saved as a *.txt file and into the same directory where
the raw memory files are stored. To see the content of a specific data file, click on the corresponding tab.
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Menu bar

To view the data

of a file, click on
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one of these tabs.

Figure 12: The Memory Viewer window

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 MWD Memory Access
MWD Memory Access Utility overview

Command menu
Click to set all data files of your tool to Synchronize the date and time of your
zero. Because this option does not free tool with the date and time of your
up any space, we recommend using laptop or PC.
Format File Memory instead.
Click to update the status of each file.

Click to erase all data on the tool to free

up space so fresh data can be written to
the tool. We highly recommend this
option.

Figure 13: Command menu options

Help menu

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Click to see whether your laptop or
PC is connected to the receiver.
Click to open a Help file specific to
the MWD Memory Access Utility.
Click to view receiver and software
version.
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Figure 14: Help menu options

Tool Memory Statistics pane

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The Tool Memory Statistics pane shows the total amount of memory in kilobytes and the
corresponding percentages of good, bad, and lost bytes.

Figure 15: Tool Memory Statistics pane

Total The tool’s total number of bytes available for memory logging.
Good The number of bytes that are usable for recording data.
Bad The number of bytes that are not usable for recording any data.
Available The number of usable bytes in memory that have not yet been assigned for memory
logging of any type of data.

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MWD Memory Access Utility overview

Lost The number of bytes that are currently unavailable for memory logging use. However,
after formatting, these bytes can become available in the future.
Allocated The number of allocated bytes for all open data types.
Bad Chains The number will always display 0 (zero).

Tool Date and Time pane

The Tool Date and Time pane displays the most recent status update. If the tool’s time does not match
the time of the computer, then a warning flag ( ) displays next to the date, as shown in the example in
Figure 15. The time of the tool and the time of your laptop or PC must be synchronized. To synchronize
the time of the tool with the time of your laptop or PC, click on the Set Tool Time button.

Click the Set Tool Time

button to synchronize the tool
with your laptop or PC.

ft Figure 16: Tool Date and Time pane

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Tool Register Data pane
The Tool Register Data pane contains manufacturer dependent register information. Contact the
manufacturer of the downhole processor to obtain this information.
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Figure 17: Tool Register Data pane

FSSR Displays $0b000000 once it is formatted and $03000008 during the formatting
process. When you click on Format File Memory, watch the value change to
$03000008. Wait for it to change back to $0b000000 to ensure that the tool is
completely formatted.

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 MWD Memory Access
MWD Memory Access Utility overview

Memory Status table

The Memory Status table lists the recorded statistics for each available file type. You can right-click on
any row of the table to access the File menu.
 To select several rows in succession, you can click on a row, hold down the mouse button and drag
the mouse all the way to the last row that you want to include.
 To randomly select some rows and not others, click on a row, then hold down the Ctrl key while
clicking on additional rows.
When the rows are highlighted, right-click to access the File menu or go to the Menu bar.

Data ft Figure 18: Memory Status table

The type of data that was recorded while the tool was downhole.
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Status Displays the current recorder state for each type of data. There are four possible
states:
- Open
- Closed
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- Full (GE specific)
- Fault (GE specific)
Recorded Bytes Displays the total number of bytes that were recorded and stored to the internal
memory of the tool. This is the same number of bytes that you must copy from
the tool to copy the entire data file.
Recorded Records Displays the total number of records required to hold all of the recorded data.
Allocated Bytes Displays the amount of bytes reserved in the tool’s memory for this particular
type of data. The value displayed in this column should always be equal to or
larger than the value of recorded bytes. If there is not enough memory left to
allocate more bytes, then the tool is unable to record more data and the file is
considered full.
Allocated % The value displayed in this column shows the percentage of memory that is
reserved for each type of data, out of total memory.
Copied Shows whether the data was copied from the tool to the laptop or PC since the
last status update. The possible values are Yes and No.
Time of Status Displays the last date and time on which the status record was updated.

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 MWD Memory Access
MWD Memory Access Utility overview

Memory File Data definitions

atfa This is a GE-specific log file that records every aTFA (Toolface Angle) that is pulsed out
by the tool.
avar This is a GE-specific log file that records the corrected individual accelerometer values
along with the calculated gravity field strength, every time a survey is taken.
batt Records the maximum and minimum battery voltage (VDC) that is measured by the
processor and includes date and time stamps.
cdir Records the corrected accelerometer, magnetometer, and temperature values, every time
a survey is taken.
circ Records the total hours of circulation and is constantly updated.
dird Records the following data every time a survey is taken:
- Inclination
- Azimuth
- Magnetic Field
- Dip Angle
- Temperature

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- Gravity Toolface Angle
- Magnetic Toolface Angle
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- Gravity
evnt Records the following event messages:
Message Event
aTFC block was written Changed a setting in Auto Toolface controls
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Auto toolface type change to gravity Inclination met or exceeded IncT
Auto toolface type change to
Inclination fell below IncT
magnetic
BatC block was written Changed a setting in Battery Monitor controls
Bus fault A temporary error occurred on the qBus line
Bus fault cleared qBus line recovered from a temporary error
Change in BattSR status register Battery Status Register has a new hex code
Change in device’s qDFR Fault Register has a new hex code
Change in device’s qDWR Warning Register has a new hex code
Date/Time changed since Midnight update of date&time, with Status
initialization (GE specific) Register hex code
Date/Time initialized from startup
Date&time were set twice (due to Bus Fault)
(GE specific)

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 MWD Memory Access
MWD Memory Access Utility overview

Date/Time initialized from startup

Midnight/manual update of date&time
(Bench Tree specific)
Date change (GE specific) Date&time were set manually
DirC block was written Changed a setting in the Directional controls
DLC block was written Changed a setting in DownLink controls
Downlink status change command# The tool downlinked with a command number
FlwC block was written Changed a setting in Flow Evaluation controls
Changed a setting in Gamma Acquisition
GamC block was written
controls
Changed a setting in Gamma Recorder
GRC block was written
controls
Changed pulse width/survey sequence#/
MPT mode parameter change
toolface sequence#

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MPTC block was written

Site block was written

Changed a setting in Mud Pulse Telemetry
controls
Changed a setting in Job Site controls
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A new node number appeared on the qBus
Status change from offline to online
line
Status change from online to offline A node number disappeared on the qBus line
Still Alive Flag The tool is still powered on and operational
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The tool became master of qBus
Switch to master mode
communications
The tool became a slave within qBus
Switch to slave mode
communications
System flow change from Off to On The tool switched into Flow On state
System flow change from On to Off The tool switched into Flow Off state
System Reset The tool powered on or tool power interrupted
Memory Access could not interpret the event
Unknown Event
hex code
ZTFA! command was entered The tool was high-sided

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 MWD Memory Access
MWD Memory Access Utility overview

gama Records Gamma counts in whole numbers from 0 to 255 every time toolface/logging
sequence encounters a gamma word.

Note The GSF (Gamma Scale Factor) is applied.

gamr Records Gamma counts (in floating point numbers), as determined by GaRM and
GaAA. Depending on the GaRM variable, the GaRM provides the following recording
options:

GaRM GaAA Result

0 Off Do not record to GamR
0 On Do not record to GamR
Record every time toolface/logging sequence encounters a
1 Off
gamma word
1 On Record every GUpT seconds
2
2
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On
Record every GaRi seconds (during Flow On only)
Record every GaRi seconds (during Flow On only)
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3 Off Record every GaRi seconds (during Flow Off only)
3 On Record every GaRi seconds (during Flow Off only)
4 Off Record every GaRi seconds (during Flow On and Flow Off)
4 On Record every GaRi seconds (during Flow On and Flow Off)
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Note The value is not affected by the Gamma Scale Factor.

grav Records the total gravity of the tool every 12 seconds or each time the Orientation
sensors are read.
gvar Records generic variable values from third party tools, each time the tool receives a
generic variable command over the qBus (for example: GV1 = 1.0).
plsr Recorded number of pulses that were transmitted by the processor to the Pulser.
rpmr Records tool RPM once per minute (Bench Tree DPU2 specific).
shkr Shock and vibration recording. Records the number of shocks per second over the last
minute in lateral and axial directions. Also records the average acceleration energy the
tool detects (Bench Tree DPU2 specific).
tele Compressed data that is sent to the surface. (Used by Bench Tree for failure analysis.)
temp Total amount of time the tool has spent within each temperature range (10°C ranges).

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 MWD Memory Access
Accessing and downloading your tool’s memory

ttmp Bench Tree specific temperature file. This file lists the temperature readings that were
collected and recorded in 6-minute intervals.
udir Records the uncorrected accelerometer, magnetometer, and temperature sensor values
every time a survey is taken.

Accessing and downloading your tool’s

memory
The MWD Memory Access Utility is an easy to use application that provides a very simple process to
access and download your tool’s memory. If you have not already opened the MWD Memory Access
Utility and need instructions, refer to Starting the MWD Memory Access Utility on page 4.
Once you have opened the MWD Memory Access Utility, the application will automatically begin to
establish a connection to the Receiver. Immediately after the connection is established, the MWD
Memory Access Utility accesses your tool’s memory, which is displayed in the Memory Status Table

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of the Memory Access window, as it is being uploaded. Refer to Figure 5 on page 5.
When the upload is complete, your screen should look similar to the one shown in Figure 18.
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Figure 19: Memory Access window displays the retrieved data

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 MWD Memory Access
Accessing and downloading your tool’s memory

1. To download all of your tool’s data to your laptop or PC, go to the Menu bar, click on File and
select Copy All Files to Disk, as shown in Figure 19.

Click on File.

Select Copy All Files to Disk.

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Figure 20: Click File > Copy All Files to Disk

To download only some of the files listed, click on a file, then press and hold the Ctrl key while
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clicking on additional files that you want to download. See the example in Figure 20.
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Figure 21: Multiple files are selected for download

To download a group of files, click on the first file, then press and hold the Shift key while clicking
on the last file of the group. See the example in Figure 21.

Figure 22: A group of files are selected for download

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 MWD Memory Access
Accessing and downloading your tool’s memory

Go to the Menu bar, click on File, and select Copy Selected Files to Disk, as shown in Figure 22.

Click on File.
Select Copy Selected Files to
Disk.

Figure 23: Click File > Copy Selected Files to Disk

The Memory Viewer window opens while the tool’s data is downloading to your laptop or PC, as
shown in Figure 23. The amount of tabs displayed in the Memory Viewer window depends on

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whether you have selected all files or just some.
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Figure 24: All downloaded files are displayed in the Memory Viewer window

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 MWD Memory Access
Accessing and downloading your tool’s memory

Opening files in text format

To open any of the files displayed in the Memory Viewer window in text format, follow these steps:
1. Go to the Menu bar of the Memory Viewer window, click on File and select Open Download
Directory.
The Windows Explorer opens and displays a folder that contains dated subfolders. Each subfolder
contains the files that were downloaded on a particular date.

If your data does not display, refer to MWD Utilities Installation and Setup Reference
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Guide (P/N: D2003).

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access the dated subfolders.

Figure 25: Windows Explorer displays the folder into which all data files are downloaded

Your screen should look similar to the one shown in Figure 25.
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2. Double-click on the folder that you want to access.

Double-click on any of these

folders to access the data files.

Figure 26: Dated subfolders

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 MWD Memory Access
Accessing and downloading your tool’s memory

Your screen should look similar the one shown in Figure 26. Notice the two different file types,
*.txt and *.raw. The *.raw files are compressed versions of the *.txt files and can only be opened
in the Memory Access Utility.

Figure 27: All downloaded files for the particular date are displayed

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3. To view a file in a text editor, such as Notepad, double-click on one of the *.txt files.
Or
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Provided you have the latest version of Microsoft Excel, you can open a *.txt file in Excel
(Figure 27), which enables you to convert the data to graphs, as shown in the example in Figure 28
on page 22.
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Figure 28: Display data in Excel

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 MWD Memory Access
Accessing and downloading your tool’s memory

The example in Figure 28 shows a graph of the temperature recording.

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Figure 29: Temperature data converted to a graph
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After you have downloaded your tool’s data make sure to format your tool’s memory to
Note
free up space for the next run.
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 Bench Tree provides companies with superior products and support,
blending the solid methods of tenured industry professionals with
fresh perspectives and technologies for today’s evolving rigs.

We believe our goal is the same as yours; we strive for your success.
We do this by offering 24x7 live support, compatibility with most
MWD equipment, extensive 3rd party repairs and service, short lead

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times, client education and training, certified technicians, strict
quality inspections, and above all else, the ability to understand and
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respond to your individual requirements.

Bench Tree looks forward to setting new industry standards for

quality products and service.
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4681 C.R. 110 Georgetown, Texas 78626

Phone: +1-512-869-6900 | Fax: +1-512-233-0968 | [email protected]

© 2014 Copyright Bench Tree Group, LLC. Information subject to change without notice
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