Highlander VDR

USER GUIDE
VOYAGE DATA RECORDER
Model: HLD-B2/HLD-S2
Code HLD16 SS3

Version V1.3
Date 2008.02
BEIJING HIGHLANDER DIGITAL RECORD

TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Highlander HLD-B2/HLD-S2 VDR/SVDR User Guide
Notes and Updates
Revisions:
Date Ver Issue by Description
2006.08 V1.0 Gang H Created
2007.06 V1.1 LianCaiGao Modification of AMU and DCU according to
improved designs
2007.10 V1.2 M Qian Modification
2008.02 V1.3 Jinzhan Gao Modification
Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

Address:A605-606, SPTower Tsinghua Science Park Building, Beijing, 100084, P.R.China
Tel:+86-10-82678888 Fax:+86-10-82150083
E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] www.highlander.com.cn
2/12
Content
1 QUICK GUIDE......................................................................................................... 4
1.1 SYSTEM CONTROL UNIT (SCU) ............................................................................. 4

1.1.1 Incidents/Accidents ....................................................................................... 5
1.1.2 Alarms/Warnings.......................................................................................... 6
1.1.3 Annual performance test (APT) .................................................................. 7
2 REGULATIONS ....................................................................................................... 7
2.1 PURPOSE OF VDR................................................................................................... 7

2.2 CARRIAGE REQUIREMENTS AND DATA ITEMS TO BE RECORDED .......................... 7
2.3 RESISTANCE TO TAMPERING AND CONTINUITY OF OPERATION ........................... 8
2.4 OWNERSHIP OF VDR INFORMATION ..................................................................... 8
2.5 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE TEST (APT) .................................................................... 8
3 INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS ............................................................................ 9
3.1 DOWNLOAD TO AN USB STICK ............................................................................... 9

3.2 DOWNLOAD TO A TEMPORARILY LAN CONNECTED EXTERNAL LAPTOP ........... 10
4 ALARMS AND WARNINGS ................................................................................ 10

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1 Quick Guide
The VDR is designed to work automatically without any break or supervision at all.
The only reasons to care about the VDR are
At incidents to remember to save (back up) and transfer data to another memory.
At alarms or warnings, if any, to find out what reason(s) have caused the alarm or
the warning.
At the annual performance test which also is a service of the VDR that assures that
the VDR functions correctly and will do so for at least another year
We recommend to read the chapter “VDR System Description” and the detailed guide
below, particularly the Accident and Incident paragraph, which is necessary to know by
heart at a stressed incident or accident situation.
1.1 System Control Unit (SCU)

LCD Display
Power Fault LED

MIC Fault LED
Record Fault LED
Bit Error LED
Warning LED
Buzzer
Mute Back-up Page Up Page Down Decrease Light Increase Light
Figure 1-1 Front Panel of the System Control Unit
The SCU is mounted embedded on the front door of the VDR Main Unit, the optional
RSCU (remote system control unit) shall be placed at that position on the bridge from
which the vessel is normally navigated. The RSCU have the same functions as SCU. The
LCD displays and LEDs can be dimmed with the two dimmer buttons down to the right.

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The panel of SCU contains 5 indicators, 6 buttons, 1 buzzer and 1 LCD display．The
table below describes the function of each component:
Name Function
Power Fault indicator To indicate input power fault. When all the ship’s
power connected to PSU are (is) lost, this indicator
will be light.
MIC Fault indicator To indicate MIC self-test fault.
Recording Fault indicator To indicate recording fault.
Bit Error indicator To indicate bit error.
Warning indicator To indicate any connecting fault with other ship
equipments.
Buzzer To send out sound when there is any alarm or
warning.
Mute button Used to mute the buzzer.
Backup button Used to backup data or log files.
“+” button Used to watch next section of information.
“-” button Used to watch previous section of information.
Decrease light button Used to decrease lightness of indicators and LCD.
Increase light button Used to increase lightness of indicators and LCD.
LCD display To display detail information of system alarm or
warning.
1.1.1 Incidents/Accidents
Normally, by using the SCU Back-up button. (Press and hold button for 5 seconds), the
user can order the VDR to start to back up the information recorded to an USB Memory
Stick automatically
Do not forget to transfer data as soon as possible from the USB memory stick to
another computer memory, to prevent the data to be erased by mistake and to make the
USB memory stick available for new incident/accident recording.

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The on-board standing orders at incident and accident shall include the relevant back-
up procedure, including instructions for how to get access to the USB memory stick in
the locked VDR Main Unit.
Regarding procedures at investigation onboard from authorities after accidents, please
refer to paragraph 3 below, and << Investigative Authorities Guide>>.
1.1.2 Alarms/Warnings
At an alarm or warning there is a sound which can be muted with the button down left
of the SCU. One or more corresponding LED(s) (Power, Record, Mic, Bit Error or
Warning) will light and the LCD display will show information about the alarm.
The top line tells the total amount of contemporary warning and alarm messages
and the number of warning or alarm which is displayed now. At more than one message
the numbers can be scrolled by using the “ + ” and “ – ” buttons.
The next line (or next two lines) tells information of what kind of alarm or warning
that is running.
The last line of the text display gives the current system date and time.
Total Num. of
Alarm/Warnin
The ID of present
Alarm/Warning Displayed
Details information
of present
Alarm/Warning
System Time
(hour-minute）
System Date
(month-date）
Figure 1-2 Diagram of Warning/Alarm Messages

Note:
(1) An Alarm indicates a serious error occurred in the VDR system, e.g. lost main
power, PDU disconnection, record fail, microphone(s) self tests fail etc.. A warning

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normally indicates the fault in the equipment connected to the VDR system, e.g. any
serial channel is disconnected.
(2) When a unit which also is an item to be recorded, is turned off intentionally,
e.g. the radar or the speed log, there is automatically a warning. This is a normal
procedure telling that the VDR is not recording according to its configured set-up.
(3) Once every 12 hours there is a short beep from each microphone. This is also a
normal procedure to assure a normal operation of the audio recordings on the
bridge.
1.1.3 Annual performance test (APT)

A certificate affirming that the VDR has passed the APT must be kept on board to
certify to inspecting authorities that the VDR is working properly. The test is normally
performed together with other annual classification works of the vessel. See further
paragraph 2.5 below.
2 Regulations
2.1 Purpose of VDR
According to IMO, the purpose of a Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) is to maintain a
store, in a secure and retrievable form, of information concerning the position, movement,
physical status, audio, command and control of a vessel over the period leading up to, and
following, an incident having an impact thereon. This information is for use during any
subsequent investigation to identify the cause(s) of the incident.
2.2 Carriage requirements and data items to be recorded

Further IMO [SOLAS] has regulated that all ships (fishing ships excluded) over 500
gross tonnages engaged on international voyages shall be fitted with a VDR.
z Older cargo ships built before 1 July 2002 can have a simplified VDR (S-VDR),
meaning that at least Date and Time, Ship position, Speed, Heading, Bridge Audio,
Communication Audio, Radar Main display or AIS, shall be recorded by the VDR
and stored in Final Recording Memory (FRM) and protected by PDU. (If more
bridge information is available as IEC 61162/NMEA data signals, it must be
recorded.)
z Modern cargo Ships (built after 1 July 2002), all passenger ships and all ro-ro
passenger ships must have “full” VDR, meaning that more information available
on the bridge must be recorded and stored in the FRM/PDU. Such additional

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information is Echo Sounder, IMO mandatory bridge alarms, Rudder

order/response, Main engine and Thruster order/response. If these ships are
enjoined to have indicators on bridge for Status of Hull- Watertight- and Fire-
doors, Acceleration and hull stresses Wind speed and direction, that information
must also be recorded and stored.
2.3 Resistance to tampering and Continuity of operation

The equipment is designed, as far as practicable, so it is not possible to tamper with the
data.
Any attempt to interfere with the integrity of the data or the recording is recorded by
the VDR. The recording progress must not be interrupted. If the ship’s AC power and DC
emergency power are all lost the VDR proceeds recording the bridge audio for two hours.
The VDR automatically starts full recording again if power comes back.
The VDR Main unit must be locked and the key shall be kept by a dedicated officer e.g.
the Master or Safety Officer of the ship. The recording must be terminated only
During essential maintenance purposes whilst the vessel is in port, or
When the vessel is laid-up.
All breaks and other interruptions in the normal VDR operation are recorded in special
log and event files, which are not erased after 12 hours.
2.4 Ownership of VDR information

IMO has regulated that the ship owner will, in all circumstances and at all times, own
the VDR and its information. However, in the event of an accident special guidelines
would apply (see IMO MSC/Circ1024 in paragraph 5 Annex). The owner is responsible,
through its on-board standing orders, for ensuring the timely preservation of relevant
recorded evidence. Further the owner of the ship shall make available and maintain
instructions necessary to recover the recorded information. During the course of an
investigation, the investigator shall have custody of the original VDR information in the
same way that the investigator will have custody of other records and evidence under the
Code for Investigation of Marine Causalities and Incidents.
The procedure how to save and download data is described below in paragraph 3
Incidents and Accidents. How to replay data is described in <Playback Guide>. A special
instruction for investigation officials is described in <Investigative Authority Guide>.
2.5 Annual performance test (APT)

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IMO has also regulated in SOLAS that the VDR system, including all sensors, shall be
subject to an annual performance test. The test shall be conducted by an approved testing
or servicing facility to verify the accuracy, duration and recoverability of the recorded
data. In addition, tests and inspections shall be conducted to determine serviceability of
all protective enclosures and devices fitted to aid location. A copy of the certificate of
compliance issued by the testing facility, stating the date compliance and applicable
performance standards, shall be retained on board the ship.
3 Incidents and Accidents

If an incident or accident occurs, it is required that the PDU data are copied to another
memory to prevent automatic erasing after 12 hours (“last minute in-oldest minute out”).
Data stored on the PDU (IEC 61996 4.5.1.Operation) can be copied to other memory
with different methods:
Download to an USB stick. Action initiated from SCU.
Download to a temporarily LAN connected external laptop. Action initiated from
the external laptop computer.
Download to a LAN connected external ship computer. Action initiated from the
external computer.
Download by a direct connection from the PDU to an investigator computer.
3.1 Download to an USB stick

An USB stick can be connected to the USB socket in the VDR MU. When an USB
stick memory is connected to MU, system will find it . All 12 hours data on PDU can be
downloaded to it by proper operation until the memory has no empty space.
After a USB stick is connected to MU for 30 seconds, press Back-up button for 5
seconds, the display will show “System is backing up data”:

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Figure 3-1 Backing up the data
When the backing-up is finished, there is a display saying: Backing up end .
Figure 3-2 End of backing up
If the USB stick is not connected, the SCU will display “Back up error No Disk”.
If the USB stick has no enough space, the SCU will display “Back up error Disk Full”.
3.2 Download to a temporarily LAN connected external laptop

Please refer to “Investigative Authorities Guide”.
4 Alarms and warnings

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Any alarm status indicates some specific VDR malfunction, which should always be
investigated to provide guidance to relevant action.
Any Warning indicates an abnormal status of the VDR, which the Officer on Watch
must be informed about.
The explanation and troubleshooting help for alarm/warning are listed in the table
below.
Principal rule: In case any alarm/warning appears (excluding backup error), please
press the “Increase Light” button together with the “Decrease Light” button on the SCU
panel to initiate the self-checking function. If the alarms/warning disappears by doing so,
it means that the alarms/warning occurs casually. Otherwise, it needs to take other actions.
Alarm /Warning description Explanation Required action

Warning: Video #N Sync Lost Missing image sync Check video connection cable.
signal. Check radar is on.
Warning: Back up ERROR No No memory stick or Wait for some minutes and try
Disk memory stick connection again.
fail, or the system is Connect memory stick correctly
identifying the memory
stick
Warning: Back up ERROR USB stick has no enough Replace a USB stick with larger
Disk Full free space. capacity;
or Remove USB stick, delete data
and replace it in the MU.
Warning: Serial #N Inactive. Serial interface is not Check the connected serial
connected to VDR equipment is on;
correctly, or the Serial Check serial connection cable;
channel has no data. Contact Highlander

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Alarm /Warning description Explanation Required action

Alarm: Mic XX Error Microphone (s) self tests Is the alarm recurrent? Single self
fail. test can fail due to simultaneous
high noise e.g. other alarms.
Manually self test the microphone.
Check connections to the
microphone. Replace the
microphone(s).
Alarm: Frame Grabber Fail The Image Grabber has Check the CHP file.
not been initialized Check the serial number of VMU.
correctly.
Check Image Grabber connection
to the mother board.
Alarm: Power Failure Both the AC and DC Check the power connections.
power are not in use. Check the power switch on
switchboard.
Contact Highlander.
Warning: AC Failure. The AC power is not in Check the AC Power connection.
use. Check the power switch on
switchboard.
Contact Highlander
Warning: DC Failure. The DC power is not in Check the DC Power connection.
use. Check the power switch on
switchboard.
Contact Highlander
Warning: Battery Break. Battery is not in use. Check connections and switch of
the battery.
Warning: Battery Low The voltage of battery is Contact Highlander.
too low.
Alarm: PDU Disconnected PDU connection failure. Check PDU LAN cable.
Check PDU power cable.
Contact Highlander.
Alarm: PDU Bit Error Bit Error Contact Highlander.

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USER GUIDE

VOYAGE DATA RECORDER

Code HLD16 SS3

BEIJING HIGHLANDER DIGITAL RECORD

Notes and Updates

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

1.1 SYSTEM CONTROL UNIT (SCU) ............................................................................. 4

2.1 PURPOSE OF VDR................................................................................................... 7

3 INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS ............................................................................ 9

3.1 DOWNLOAD TO AN USB STICK ............................................................................... 9

4 ALARMS AND WARNINGS ................................................................................ 10

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

1.1 System Control Unit (SCU)

Power Fault LED

Mute Back-up Page Up Page Down Decrease Light Increase Light

Figure 1-1 Front Panel of the System Control Unit

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

Figure 1-2 Diagram of Warning/Alarm Messages

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

1.1.3 Annual performance test (APT)

2.2 Carriage requirements and data items to be recorded

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

information is Echo Sounder, IMO mandatory bridge alarms, Rudder

2.3 Resistance to tampering and Continuity of operation

2.4 Ownership of VDR information

2.5 Annual performance test (APT)

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

3 Incidents and Accidents

3.1 Download to an USB stick

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

Figure 3-1 Backing up the data

When the backing-up is finished, there is a display saying: Backing up end .

Figure 3-2 End of backing up

3.2 Download to a temporarily LAN connected external laptop

4 Alarms and warnings

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

Alarm /Warning description Explanation Required action

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

Alarm /Warning description Explanation Required action

Beijing Highlander Digital Record Technology Co., Ltd.

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