Knowledge Base

Category: SurvCE|PC / SurvCE / Equipment
Topic ID: 609
Title: Depth Sounder Summary
Created: 2009-12-23Last modified: 2009-12-23
This is in regards to using Carlson SurvCE with a Robot or GPS receiver to do hydrographic surveys using a Depth Sounder.

Click here for a PDF document:
Depth Sounder Summary.pdf


!!! PLEASE NOTE:  For SurvCE 2.62 and higher we offer a "Generic NMEA" option with NMEA 0183 DBT and NMEA 0183 DPT support !!!

If the depth sounder has a 9pin female RS232 cable and it can send out a generic NMEA 0183 string in a DBT or DPT format then we should be able to support it in SurvCE to combine the depth sounder readings with GPS or Robotic equipment.

If the manufacturer, dealer or customer can email support@carlsonsw.com an Ascii Text sample of the NMEA 0183 Output or Sample Output from the Depth Sounder using a laptop with Hyperterminal connected on Com1 to the Depth Sounder we can usually tell if these strings of code are supported by Carlson.

Generally speaking most people would need to use a data collector with 2 DB9 Com ports such as the Carlson Surveyor+ unless they have a Bluetooth GPS or Robot solution in which case they can use Bluetooth to connect to the GPS or Robot then use the Com1 9pin cable to connect to the Depth Sounder.

***Generic NMEA {requires SurvCE Version 2.50 and higher}
Sample String:
$SMDBT,39.5,f,12.0,M,6.5,F*09
$SDDBS,39.5,f,12.0,M,6.5,F*09
$SDDBK,39.5,f,12.0,M,6.5,F*09
$SDDPT,12.0,0.0*65


$XXDBT,xx.x,f,xx.x,M,x.x,F
In this sample the 2nd and 3rd "XX" characters are always ignored and the x's are the depth reading - this string contains all three values for Feet, Meters and Fathoms

$XXDPT,xx.x,0.0*65
The 2nd and 3rd characters "XX" are skipped and ignored and the x's are the depth reading - this string only contains values in Meters










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***Hydrotrac HT97001 Depth Sounder {DESO25 I/O format}
Sample string:
DAxxxxx.xx_mCRLF
DBxxxxx.xxftCRLF
DA00018.10 m
DB00022.70ft

"DA" is skipped, x's are the depth reading, ft or _m is the setting 
for Feet or Metric to determine what mode the depth sounder is in, 
"CRLF" is a carriage return line feed

***Please Note: In SurvCE 2.53 or higher we allow the Hydrotrac 
to be set for "High Frequency" to accept only the "DA" values or 
"Low Frequency" where it only accepts "DB" information


***Horizon Depth Sounder {generic NMEA 0183}
2 Sample Strings:
$SDDBT,xxx.x,f,xxx.xx,M,xx.x,F 
X's are the depth reading = this string contains all three values for Feet, Meters and Fathoms

$SDDPT,xx.x,0.0*65
X's are the depth reading - this string only contains values in Meters


***Odom Digitrace
Sample String:
_DTE_xxxxxCR
Were the _ is a space, DT is skipped, "E" shows if there is an error or it will simply be a space,
xxxxx is the Depth Reading to two decimal places where **120 = 1.20 
{leading zeros are suppressed}


***Sonarmite {requires SurvCE 2.61 or higher}
Sample String:
1 0.48 0 0 0 8.9 115 0
"Old Sonarmite" format:  id_depth_roll_pitch_heave_battery_quality_flags


***Ohmex Sonarmite String for Output option of NMEA 0183 DBT {requires SurvCE 2.50 or higher}
Sample String:
$SMDBT,2.16,f,0.66,M,,*62par

The "SM" after the $ sign gets ignored in when using the "Generic NMEA" depth sounder model so its able to use the depth values properly


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!!! PLEASE NOTE:  Carlson Software DOES NOT provide tech support for creating custom RS232 9pin cables and the entry below is for informational purposes ONLY !!!

Here is a Wikipedia article with information on generic RS232 9pin connections.
 
According to the Wikipedia article on RS232 cables at the link below this is the chart of Industry Standard pinouts of a DB9 RS232 cable connection:
RS232 Wikipedia Article
Links:
Attachments:
DepthSounder_Summary.pdf
Keywords: