PT5 Reader

A command-line tool that reads Monsoon Power Monitor .pt5 capture files (PowerTool 5), exports the samples to CSV, and prints the device and capture information stored in the file.

What is inside a PT5 file

Section	Offset	Content
File header	0	Capture name, date, device serial number, calibration status, Vout setting, sample rate, captured channels (Main / USB / Aux / Marker), sample and missing counts, and average voltage, current and power per channel.
Status packet	272	Device state at capture start: firmware and protocol version, hardware revision, temperature, LEDs and status flags, USB passthrough mode, current limits, calibration (DAC, scale, zero and resistor offsets) and event code.
Samples	1024	One record per sample: a 32-bit current in µA for each captured channel, plus a 16-bit voltage whose two lowest bits are marker 0 and marker 1. Timestamps are derived from the sample index and sample rate.

Usage

Pt5Reader.exe [-f <format>] <file.pt5>
Pt5Reader.exe [-f <format>] -all
Pt5Reader.exe -i <file.pt5>

Option	Description
(none)	Export Seconds,Power_mW to a CSV next to the input file.
-f, --format	Choose the export columns (see below).
-i, --info	Print device info, capture details, averages and device status. No CSV is written.
-all	Process every .pt5 file next to the executable.
-h, --help	Show usage.

Export formats

Format	Columns
power (default)	Seconds,Power_mW
epoch	EpochSeconds,Voltage_V,Current_mA,Power_mW
vi	Seconds,Voltage_V,Current_mA
all	Seconds,Voltage_V,Current_mA,Power_mW

When both Main and USB are captured, the channel with the larger average magnitude is exported.

Download

• Windows executable (zip) — Pt5Reader.exe for Windows (.NET Framework 4.8, included with Windows 10/11). Unzip and run from a terminal.
• Source code (zip) — C# project targeting .NET Framework 4.8; build with Visual Studio.

Notes

• Based on the Monsoon Solutions PT5 reader example (Copyright © Monsoon Solutions, Inc.); the original copyright header is kept in the source.
• Some device-status fields may be inaccurate for older captures.