10 Setting up depth output to an external system

Your EK80 system can export depth information on a dedicated communication port (serial or Ethernet). Use the Depth Output page to set up the relevant output parameters.

Prerequisites

This procedure assumes that:

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You have a vacant interface port on your Processor Unit.

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You are familiar with NMEA and other relevant datagram formats.

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You know how to set up the parameters for serial and local area network (LAN) communication.

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The interface port is set up with the correct communication parameters.

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The EK80 system is turned on and operates normally.

Neither tools nor instruments are required.

Context

The EK80 system can export the information on several datagram formats. You can export several formats simultaneously, as each of them is handled independently.

Procedure

Connect the peripheral system to an available communication port on your computer.

This is described in the Installation Manual.

Open the Operation menu.

Select Output.

Observe that the Output dialog box opens. This dialog box contains a number of pages selected from the menu on the left side.

On the left side of the Outputs dialog box, select I/O Setup.

Observe that the I/O Setup page opens.

Observe that the available serial interface ports on the Processor Unit are listed.

Set up the relevant serial or Ethernet (LAN) communication parameters.

On the I/O Setup page, select the port you want to set up.

Select Setup to open the Serial Port Setup or LAN Port Setup dialog box.

Set up the relevant communication parameters.

On the left side of the Output dialog box, select Depth Output.

Observe that the Depth Output page opens.

Select Processed Data to Output to open the page.

Select which depth datagram to export.

Select the communication port you want to use.

Choose which channel to use as source for the depth information.

"Best practice" is to use the lowest frequency. In this context, the term channel is used as a common term to identify the combination of transceiver, transducer and operating frequency.

Select Add to start export of the chosen data format.

Once an output type has been defined, it is listed in the Installed Outputs box on the left side of the page.

If you want to check the communication parameters, select Inspect Port.

Note

You cannot make any changes here. To change the communication parameters, use the I/O Setup page. The I/O Setup page is located in the Installation and Output dialog boxes.

If you want to check the data flow on the selected port, select Monitor.

Make sure that there is data traffic on the output port (shown in the Tx Data box).

The Port Monitor dialog box provides one text box for incoming messages (Rx Data), and one for outgoing messages (Tx Data). Use these boxes and your knowledge of the data communication to investigate the datagrams. The Port Monitor dialog box is a tool for debugging purposes. It is neither required nor intended for normal operation of the EK80 system.

Select Apply and then Close to save all the parameters and close the Output dialog box.