Take me home
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: PDL1 to PDL4 Datalogger
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: PDL5
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: CDi2/PDL6, the PDL that Wasn't
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0:
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: Pembina Lake Erie Datalogger
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: P5 Switcher
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: P7 Switcher
PDL/CDi History Version 2.0

PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: ZDL5 Switcher
Zzzz...
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: CDi3.FTe Switcher
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: CDi3.RMe Switcher
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: Remote 900 MHz RF Link
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: CDi99 Libby Flow Meter
Why follow industry, when you can lead it?
What became the PDL and eventually the CDi really started in 1981 with a datalogger called MICAPS1 built by a small St. Catharines, Ontario company called PathTechnics. The equipment was designed to record thousands or pipe-to-soil readings over buried pipelines and those are coated in order to minimize the potential for corrosion. In order to prevent future corrosion active Cathodic Protection systems are installed, active generally meaning a Direct Current rectifier and some anodes, protecting an isolated section of pipeline. PathTechnics, back then, was way ahead of its time simply because "Industry Standard" involved writing down, on paper, thousands of readings and then handing in a bunch of pages to the secretaries at the office, who would then type the information into a DOS spreadsheet. It took days before the engineers had a usable chart about the general condition of the pipeline. A CIS, Close Interval Survey, requires a reading every 21/2 feet. That's how things were done back in 1981, 35 years ago. Here is the chronological history for those interested. Adam, 2016-2018.
The PathTechnics Era
1984 PathTechnics Micaps1
1986 PathTechnics CR1
1989 PathTechnics CDL200
  • 1981 - Four guys, MONENCO Engineers, 2 from Quebec, 2 from Ontario, start PathTechnics, industry is Corrosion
  • 1982 - Prototype MICAPS1 built
  • 1983 - MICAPS1 patent applied for
  • 1984 - MICAPS1 main product, sales to TransCanada, 16 other countries, Adam gets into Niagara College as a mature student, age: 24
  • 1985 - MICAPS1 main product, sales to TransCanada, 16 other countries
  • 1986 - PathTechnics CR1 is built, 2 from Quebec split and become Corexco, Adam busy at his summer job
  • 1987 - MICAPS1 surpassed by CR1, CR = Computerized Recorder
  • 1988 - CR1 main product, Adam out of Niagara College, age: 28
  • 1989 - Company goes public, Adam hired Jan 1989, as Technical Services Supervisor or is it manager? CDL200 is built, CDL = Computerized Data Logger, 200 = nothing, obviously not named by Adam because "datalogger" is one word for him, MICAPS1 patent granted
  • 1990 - Life good for most of the year, SmartPlex is built, lots of develoment and learning but PathTechnics out of business end of 1990, sold to Corexco for peanuts, hard times Dec 1990

Conclusion: Patent applied for in '83, patent granted in '89, patent describing something utterly useless and obsolete by the time it was granted, inescapable conclusion is patents ONLY enrich the lawyers, what a racket!!! Don't believe me? See Don Lancaster's Case Against Patents, website here

The Humble Beginning of SingleChips
  • 1991 - Adam starts SingleChips in April, buys SmartPlex for $1, SmartPlex development, only one old PathTechnics client
  • 1992 - SmartPlex development, relationship with only client falls apart by summer, only client pulls the plug, hard times after Aug 1992
  • 1993 - Hard times

Conclusion: NEVER have all your eggs in one basket...

The Pembina Years
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: Pembina Lake Erie Datalogger
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: PDL1 to PDL4 Datalogger
  • 1994 - Hard times first 8 months, Adam fixes VCRs for a living, 61 Southworth was a video store in '94 and Adam was in the doghouse, checkout the next link, Pembina needs some assembly help, déjà vu #1 on August 8th, hired on the 10th, to "assemble" the "Industry Standard PLED" company elephants, I mean dataloggers, $12/hour, no retainer, no contract, LoggerLand 1
  • 1995 - Pembina, LG, no retainer, no contract, big raise, let's build our own data logger, conspicuous absence of logos in this PDL1 proposal, dopey sopey is trying his tricks, company can't afford to pay Adam more than $15/hour, but it can afford to pay 15K for this "industry-standard-hunk-of-junk from Alberta that never saw water, I mean batteries held together with duct tape, couldn't fit it in the PLED cylinder, HART thing fiasco, manual? we need one of these, what a nightmare, here is a zip file with pertinent files and the xls file with the test results, desperate need for someone to believe in what I'm doing down here, maybe one of these people: PortC office employees 1995/05
    1994 and 1995. Original datalogger on the left. Improved wiring version on the right.The black box on bottom left is a Multi plunger lift. The cream coloured thing next to it is the 8-bit-resolution datalogger. The green boards attached to the orange connectors are range amplifiers. They were necessary due to the very low resolution (8 bit) of the A/D converter in the datalogger. They required 24 Volts and that explains the 2, 12 Volt batteries wired in series.
    1995. Loggerland1. Older 1994 datalogger on the left with point to point wiring, improved one with CPC quick-connects on the right.
    1995. Datalogger production line at Loggerland1 in Port Maitland.
    1994. Loggerland1 floor.
    Winter 1994. Frozen dataloggers on Sarah deck.
    Could be 1994-1998. Good thing there is a crane on this boat...
    1997? Memory fails me but I think there were multi plunger lifts in the SS cylinders. The aluminum PDL is there to record flow.
    1994-1995 Winter. Going out on the Sarah
    Ian on the Sarah, 1994 - 1998.
    Dale on the Sarah, 1994 - 1998.
  • 1996 - Pembina, LG, no retainer, no contract, "PLED" work continues but proves to be a dead end, very short conversation @ PortC office:
    CD: When you finish doing, whatever it is you are doing down here, and go out there and be a big shot and..., you're not going to forget about us "little people", are you?
    AG: You got it, CD... "When and us", not "if and me", sounds sincere to me, PDL1 proposal approved, PDL1 board, PDL1 design, PDL1 built by October, 2 of the PDL1's installed in the lake in November
  • 1997 - Pembina-TLM, LG, no retainer, no contract, PDL1's found alive and well in the spring, what if Adam bolts?, CD puts up a big fight to invite the "contractors" to LG's retirement party, and that's against "Company Policy", but actually wins!!!, and subsequently everybody including the "contractors" had a great time at the Ukrainian Hall in Welland, "PLED" now really expensive 316SS fish habitat, Pembina conveniently "forgets" about their contractual obligations and "bolts" out of the lake without paying for PDL development, but Adam gets a scope, a multimeter and a frequency generator, so rapid PDL development continues, PDL2 Board, PDL3 Board , LG retirement, letter to Hibby, answer is: "we don't do that", LTB warning from National Semiconductor, maker of the NSC800, the CPU chip in the PDL. LTB = Life Time Buy = Buy any amount while you still can. So SCi bought 100 of them... on the Pembina account of course

    Conclusion: R&D never really stops for us R&D people.
    1996. Loggerland1 bench. Computer running RTMS (daddy to WinRTMS) and aluminum box with PDL1 board in it. This very simple setup has proven extremely reliable and versatile... most are still around.
    October 1996. Loggerland1. First ever aluminum boxes with PDL1 boards in them were eventually installed that year and found alive and well in the spring of 1997. You know the rest of the story...-
    1997. Loggerland1 bench. The aluminum box was lengthened by someone to accommodate the solenoid.
    1997-1998. Almost certain this was the intermitter at 100N. Worked for as long as it could. Maintenance subsequently proved almost impossible.
    Thankfully, maintenance personnel is never far...
    1997-1998. Could be the 90C junction intermitter.
TLM "Hibby the Hatchet Man" Kills LoggerLand2, and the PDL, and "Switching"...
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: CDi99 Libby Flow Meter
About the Trustco-Fiasco in 1998 and the resulting destruction: From section 3.2, in the PDL/CDi Bible: "A major intermitter project was installed on the Trustco line immediately after the Talisman purchase of Pembina. The project was considered a failure due to unsustainable gas flow in some locations. Poor location selection and valve timing were also problems, with boat visits to each site required to set new cycle times and collect data. The recorded flows did show, however, that the intermitter principal worked in several locations (that total production with downtime was greater than total production without the intermitter)."
So Hibby was mad his $half a million project was a failure, but it is important for people to know Adam was only responsible for the boards, the firmware running on the boards and the software running on the computer, all of which worked fine, yes the "future start" command to synchronize the intermitters was active in 1998, the Trustco-Fiasco was done with PDL4 boards, the so-called PDL5 boards we still use today are PDL4 boards with a faster crystal, all PDL5s prior to 2006 were built with PDL4 boards, the first and last actual PDL5 boards were built in 2006. What became clear after the Trustco-Fiasco was that this had to be turned into this, we needed to do plenty of mechanical work, those aluminum boxes were imposible to work on. Anyway, the resulting destruction would not be reversed until 2006 when Franko Tanko showed up and helped kick the switching stuff into gear again.
  • 1998 - TLM, Hibby, no retainer, no contract, Loggerland2, rapid PDL development, PDL4 board and PDL manual, give us an arm, a leg, and your first born please, I don't think so, Trustco-Fiasco, away from the lake after September @ fish farm in Pt Ryerse, switching concepts around the lake now dead but lake-related development continues in a fish farm
    Summer 1998. Loggerland2 bench. Note there are: 2 actuators, 2 solenoids, 1 PDL4 board, and a battery mounted permanently on the wall.
    Summer 1998. Loggerland2 shop floor. Single-actuator Trustco junctions.
    Summer 1998. Loggerland2. Gas storage vessels.
    Summer 1998. Dock. Removed dual Trustco junction.
    Summer 1998. Loggerland2. Pre-wired buoys.
  • 1999 - TLM, Hibby, no retainer, no contract, away from lake the whole year @ fish farm in Pt Ryerse, CDi99 which is also known around here as CD rain cheque and Windows software get developed here at the fish farm, while in the mean time Port Maitland LoggerLand 2 is trashed along with the PDL, goodbye PDL and goodbye loggerland2, hello loggerland3 and hello CDi
    1999. CDi99 (PDL5) Prototype
    2000. CDi99 (PDL5) Digital Output Box
    2000. Piggyback board with 8 isolated DO (Dissolved Oxygen) amplifiers. Only half board shown.
    February 2000. 2 CDi99 (PDL5) controllers at a research fish farm in Lindsay, Ontario
    Summer 2000. 3 CDi99 (PDL5) controllers at a fish farm in Port Ryerse, Ontario
    May 2001. CDi99 (PDL5) Flowmeter on the rig
    April 27 2011. A little beat-up but still here!!!
    April 2012. CDi2(P6) is used to calibrate CDi99(P5)
    April 2013. CDi2 on its way to becoming CDi4...
    Conclusion: Hibby: How many of these LoggerLand things do we have? Just one? (You know, along the line, "How many boat captains do we have? Just one? - Brilliant!!!)
The Indonesia Factor
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: PDL5
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: CDi2/PDL6, the PDL that Wasn't
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: P5 Switcher
Zzzz...
  • 2000 - TLM, no retainer, no contract, away from the lake @ fish farm in Port Ryerse until July, JD gone, $50/hour here and there after Danster tests with aluminum plunger lifts and Danster paper presentations, here is the html version, Adam builds the CDi2.P6 with a z8s180 processor to replace the NSC800N in the PDLx boards, on his own time, at his own expense
  • 2001 - TLM, no retainer, no contract, $50/hour here and there, Port Maitland station prototype sample 1, sample 2, sample 3, Some P5s, Olympia Restaurant lease, CDi2.P6 development, CDi99 Libby Flowmeter, 10 P5 (PDL5 Windows software, eventually renamed WinRTMS), the two downhole recorders from LoggerLand2, ~10K each, magically appear on the rig, apparently under new ownership
    April/May 2001. First Dry CDi99.P5, PM Station
    April/May 2001. First Dry CDi99.P5, PM Station
    April/May 2001. First Dry CDi99.P5, PM Station. Please note the worst possible transmitter was purposely used, so that it would change with temperature. The point is BOTH pressures change with temperature, differential value unaffected.
    Winter 2001/2002. First Wet P5s, Susan Michelle
    Winter 2001/2002. First Wet P5s, Susan Michelle
    Winter 2001/2002. First Wet PDL5s, Susan Michelle
    2003. First wire isolation method.
    2005. Original solar  buoy...
    2005. Original solar  buoy with some ice...
  • 2002 - TLM, no retainer, no contract, Danster plunger lift presentation in Calgary, Olympia lease, CDi2.P6 development, 20 P5 (WinRTMS) #11 to 30, Loggerland3 operational but a little different than the other Loggerlands, Sorensen visit @ Loggerland3, SCi $2,400/m after July, CDi2 gets tested on the Andrea Marie, WinRTMS replaces the old DOS software SCiRTMS, take 1 and take 2
    Summer 2000. CDi2.P6 memory board
    Summer 2000. CDi2.P6 memory board
    July 2002. CDi2.P6 prototype
    July 2002. CDi2.P6 prototype
    July 2002. CDi2.P6 prototype
    July 2002. CDi2.P6 prototype being tested on the Andrea Marie
  • 2003 - TLM, SCi $2,400/m, Olympia Restaurant lease, 10 P5 (WinRTMS) #31 to 40
  • 2004 - TLM, SCi $2,400/m, Low Frequency stuff, here is some of it, Olympia Restaurant lease, 9 P5 (WinRTMS) Methanol Injectors #41 to 46, 54 to 56, 10 P5 (WinRTMS) #47 to 53, 57 to 59, wild rumors TLM will "bolt" from the lake eventually, many full time "contractors" naturally want to become "employees", divers' union, divers become employees, some of us stay on as contractors and some of us find out our job has become redundant immediately after the Christmas party which we had been invited to attend, but had ultimately chosen not to
  • 2005 - TLM, early January CD redundancy?, "It was a corporate decision", yeah right! TLM can afford to turn 20 or so divers into employees, but it can't do the same for the "contractor" Receptionist whom was actually running "Accounts Payable" as early as September, 1995, hi Janice, thank you for being so kind to me back in the day, Jan 28 PO, (special PO), SCi $2,400/m, 4 P5 (WinRTMS) Plunger Lift #70 to 73, 10 P5 (WinRTMS) #60 to 69
  • 2006 - TLM, SCi $2,400/m, Franko Tanko on the scene, January meeting at Ross's house about switching, rapid development, 15 P5 (WinRTMS) #74 to 88, 3 VR, Variable Reluctance, NPT, (Switcher), 3-cylinder, gas lift Injectors #89 to 91, 2007 drilling program cancelled, but switching is resurrected after being dead since 1998, initial Switcher software development starts here because of the gas lift injectors
  • 2007 - TLM, SCi $2,400/m, Switcher software development, 13 VR, NPT, (Switcher), 3-cylinder, Gas Lift Injectors #92 to 104

    Conclusion: Lucky for the "Indonesia Factor" I didn't hear what had transpired at PortC office in early January 2005 until the Spring of 2007, this whole story would have a very different ending if I had heard in time, and all this "corporate decision" did is hurt someone in a "kick them when they're down" fashion, but life goes on and I admit it, I do get some pleasure thinking someone was ultimately outsmarted four years before they even showed up down here, see 1996 above. Yeah, holding people back from achieving their potential was developed into an art form in there, the anger somehow kept me together for the next four years, and that's exactly what the digital stuff by mid-2011 is... distilled anger. You can't change the past, but you can sure change the future. So, they liked lots of my prototypes, at prices below parts cost, PDL5 parts cost was just under $6,000, sold for $5,000 because I considered them prototypes, which of course is the reason I never printed any ID on them. And so, it was really the Olympia Restaurant that supported the R&D... Why did I put up with this? Because I know what this is, here is a simplified pictorial for those who don't, time to adopt the Keller Philosophy: Son, you are free if you do not have to suck up to asses. You are rich when you can tell them that. You are wise if you do not have to tell them anymore.
Goodbye TLM
  • 2008 - TLM, new boss, SCi $2,400/m, $5,000/m after June 2008, goodbye NPT, hello machine cylinder, 3 VR (Switcher) Plunger Lift #105 to 107
  • 2009 - TLM, same new boss, SCi $5,000/m, start of CDi3.P7 digital switcher development, 7 VR, machine cylinder, (Switcher), 2-cyl., Plunger Lift #108 to 114, prototype master and remote modem work for Port Alma, prototype modem board
    Spring 2009. Prototype modem boards
    Spring 2009. Prototype master modem assembly
    Spring 2009. Prototype master wiring
    Spring 2009. Prototype remotes and battery packs
    Spring 2009. Prototype remotes and battery packs
    Spring 2009. Prototype remote battery before and after potting
    Spring 2009. Prototype remotes
    Spring 2009. Original prototype remote
    Spring 2009. Final prototype remotes
  • 2010 - TLM - Dundee, 3-year CONTRACT, heavy CDi3.P7 development, Keller mania, Morpeth tower 900MHz dish antenna installation, trouble in paradise, I mean trouble with the CNC machine shop, I mean CNC shop gone!
CDi3.P7 Board
CDi3.P7 Chargers
CDi3.P7 Charger and Memory Boards
PVC Frame
Assembly Detail
CDi3.P7 Boards
Fall 2010.Master modem power supply and master modem
Fall 2010.Master modem power supply and board
Fall 2010. Master modem
Fall 2010. Master modem power supply
Fall 2010. Master modem assembly for antenna mast
Fall 2010. Dish 900MHz antenna
Fall 2010. Dish 900MHz antenna assembly
Fall 2010. Up she goes!
Conclusion: Goodbye TLM, hello uncle Ned
Hello Dundee
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: P7 Switcher
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: CDi3.FTe Switcher
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: ZDL5.FTe Switcher
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: CDi3.RMe Switcher
PDL/CDi History Version 1.0: 900 MHz RF Link
  • 2011 - Dundee, goodbye CNC shop, hello Steve-O-Meister, lake datalogging operations go digital and that's a major event, can finally see light at the end of the tunnel, digital switchers finally get delivered and installed in June, Keller-digital CDi3.P7s 115 to 119, Port Alma remote/master modem stuff and tower/rotor/antenna installation
    Dec 2011. Port Alma tower, top section in the shop
    Dec 2011. Port Alma tower, top section in the shop
    Dec 2011. Port Alma tower, stripping the old tower
    Dec 2011. Port Alma tower, new tower section
    Dec 2011, Port Alma. A couple of more sections go up
    Dec 2011, Port Alma pre-assembled tower section goes up
    Dec 2011, Port Alma last piece to go
    Dec 2011, Port Alma tower top piece in place
    Dec 2011, Port Alma dish in place
    2011, 900MHz testing on the KJ

  • 2012 - Communications and internet work, Port Alma remote stuff, PVC box assembly finalization, repairs, cylinders, VR differential stuff gets replaced by Keller differential transmitters, déjà vu #2 here, universe says: wake up you idiot!!!, so I did but it took a while, all working switchers get removed just before winter to get batteries charged, well, nobody really believes they are going to make it through winter...
    Recovered penetrators and five new check valves
    Tubing is cut ahead of time...
    Compression caps attached...
    Hastelloy differential housings assembled...
    5 differential housings...
    Old cylinder with new "plug" on lower left...
    Another view...
    Ready for electrical....

  • 2013 - Flyport internet work, all removed-before-winter switchers get installed, not a single one works and that means solenoid trouble, solenoids in the freezer, 3-year contract expires but doesn't get renewed and someone in middle management discovers http://www.singlechips.com...
  • 2014 - Rochester, Ontario internet and communications work, solenoids figured out after Adam turns solenoid calibration into science, switchers installed again late spring and summer, P5 switcher firmware 6214, PortC office gone, well, nobody will miss the place as it had morphed into PortD last decade or so, you know, "D" for "Downer"...
  • 2015 - More switcher upgrading, Flyport Pro work, Switcher3 work, Lake Road Map, all switchers installed mid-2014 are still clicking away in late 2015
  • 2016 - Switchers got through consecutive winter #2, Zombie Data Logger (ZDL) work, sample1, sample2, sample3, 2 new boards, CDi3.P7 and CDi3.LE, goodbye reading cylinder and goodbye to all kinds of things, CDi3.FTe morphs into something else so lake Erie R&D finally finished, in a synchronistic manner of course...
    2016.09.30. Done!
    2016.09.30. Single Kellers
    Sunrise on October 6th, 2016 in Erieau, Ontario. "I've been here before... I'll be back for more..."
    PDL/CDi "Tree"

  • 2017 - Switchers got through consecutive winter #3, breaking all kinds of records in the process, ZDL5 Switcher in the works, you know, these ones come from the PDL cemetery, ZDL5.FTe switcher prototype installed June 9th, ZDL5.RMe under development, ZDL5.FTe proves out in the field, time to put some road signs in the lake Erie tech roadmap document,
  • Original idea, around Halloween 2015
    Original VR switchers from 2007 #97 and #98
    DS1386 RTC comparison
    Original board and potting
    Close up. RTC and backup batteries have been removed
    Sides potted, external backup battery
    In the box
    Potted
    All done!
    Thank you TLM!
    Thanks again, TLM!
    so SCi makes it into row 17 in the August 15th list of unsecured creditors, and that is a major breach of trust on a personal level, unfortunately, but then again, it isn't Dundee Energy over at FTI, it is DELP and DOGL over at FTI, so time for the PDL to finish becoming ZDL, and time for the ZDL Simple Flowmeter, technical support and licensing permanently terminated for Dundee, as of 2017/11/21, further, individuals who survived the summer 2014 PortC office closure and who were also TLM employees in January 2005, cannot have anything to do with this technology, equipment and programming, ever, at any price.
  • 2018 - Goodbye "offshore" and goodbye "marine", hello corrosion, goodbye "Switcher3", hello CDiComm and hello CDiChart, goodbye Singlechips Inc., hello Singlechips International Research Society AKA SCi.RS, FlyportPro becomes internet plunger lift, Loggerland4 finally active end of March, Loggerland5 now in sight, operation "flip the plastic" successful June 7th, new looks for the elbows...
So how much has really gone into this? Well, it is difficult to come up with an exact figure, but it has taken over 20 years to get this project to where it is today, so let's try two methods:

Method 1: Accoding to the Danster, in section 1.1 of the PDL/CDi Bible there was "close to a million in installations" before 2000. From 2000 to 2007, $700,000 in equipment was built for $200,000 for a combined figure of close to a million, and that does not include diving, important in R&D-heavy times. From 2008 to 2010, $200,000 in equipment was built for $180,000, much better balanced, combined costs close to half a million. So, a million before 2000, a million and a half during the TLM era, and another half million during the Dundee era. So, 3 million has gone into this, excluding diving, and excluding money to other parties like upgrades, etc., since 2000. So final figure pretty close to 4 million.
Method 2: If one excludes the 10 or so PathTechnics years, it is 20 years x 200K, or 4 million. If one adds 20 or so man-years for PathTechnics development, it would definitely appear that as of the end of 2011, a minimum of 5 million or equivalent has gone into this.

Conclusion: One way or another a minimum of 4 million has gone into this, 5 million would be a more realistic figure over the years, the AFE that started all this in 1991 was $110K... all that remains of this original AFE is this, I think there were 16 of these "plastic" ones, and then in 1993 there were 16 more stainless steel ones, PLEDs, no sign these ever existed except some pictures, at least half a million in equipment before 1995, so sure, there will be objections but I remind people this is field-proven technology, there was plenty of trial and error, plenty of diving, plenty of everything else, and lots and lots of passion. In any case, those objecting are always welcome to build their own system... or alternatively wait for some imaginary "Industry Standard" to magically appear... any day now!!!

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