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Configuration 6

2.3

Hardware Configuration

2.3.1

Configuring NMEA0183 hardware

NMEA0183 GPS and RTK Receivers

The most important device required for this software to work, is a GPS or RTK receiver.

At this moment, all GPS and RTK receivers with a NMEA0183 compatible data output are supported.

The GPS is used to get position, elevation, course, speed and information on GPS quality and / or precision.

When using a RTK receiver in RTK fixed mode, you should be able to get

real time tide information as

well.

In order to connect a GPS receiver, you need to have at least one available serial port. If there is no port available, you can add a serial port by using an USB-to-Serial converter or a NMEA0183 data combiner equipped with an USB port.

Because an USB-to-Serial convertion can cause minor delays (latency) in the serial communication, we recommend to use a multiport serial adapter instead.

Multiport serial adapters are available as PCI cards as well as PC-Cards for use in laptops.

In addition to NMEA0183 data over a serial device, Hydromagic is able to read NMEA0183 data over

TCP/IP connections.

This allows you to transfer data over for instance an Ethernet or WiFi connection. Protocols supported are TCP and UDP.

When using such a converter, make sure it is connected at the time you are going to configure the GPS.

When you have no control on which sentences are sent by the device, it is recommended to only select

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7 ActiveXperts Hydromagic 7.0

the GGA and VTG options in the NMEA0183 settings.

NMEA0183 Echosounders

Most echosounders these days do support their own proprietary output format as well as the more standardized NMEA0183 protocol.

If your echosounder does not support the NMEA0183 protocol, you should be able to configure it using one of the

plug-ins shipped with Hydromagic.

In order to connect an echosounder, you need to have at least one available serial port. If there is no port available, you can add a serial port by using an USB-to-Serial converter or a NMEA0183 data combiner equipped with an USB port.

When using such a converter, make sure it is connected at the time you are going to configure the sounder.

In addition to the serial communications setup, you also have to check the

echosounder offset configuration .

Supported NMEA0183 sentences for GPS devices

Hydromagic is able to decode the following NMEA0183 sentences used by GPS and RTK devices:

Sentence

$GPGGA

$GPGLL

$GPGSA

$GPGSV

$GPRMC

$GPVTG

$GPZDA

$PTNL,GGK

Description

Global Positioning System Fix Data, Time and Position

Geographic Position - Latitude and Longitude

GPS DOP and Active Satellites

Satellites in view

Recommended Minimum Navigation Information

Track Made Good and Ground Speed

GPS Time

Trimble RTK positioning data and ellipsoidal height

Supported NMEA0183 sentences for sounders

Hydromagic is able to decode the following NMEA0183 sentences used by echosounder devices:

Sentence

$SDDBK

$SDDBS

$SDDBT

$SDDPT

Description

Depth below keel

Depth below surface

Depth below transducer

Depth and keel offset

(C) 2015 ActiveXperts Software B.V.

Configuration

To add a NMEA0183 compatible device to the configuration, select "Preferences..." from the "Options" menu and select the "Devices" tab:

Configuration 8

In the devices tab, click the "Add..." button to load a NMEA0183 plugin.

You can load a maximum of four NMEA0183 plugins at the same time.

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9 ActiveXperts Hydromagic 7.0

Next, select the first available NMEA0183 plugin in the "Select Device" dialog that appears after clicking the "Add..." button

Device Settings

After the plugin has been loaded, a configuration dialog is displayed where you can pass the required information to the plugin.

(C) 2015 ActiveXperts Software B.V.

Connection Type

(C) 2015 ActiveXperts Software B.V.

Configuration 10

11 ActiveXperts Hydromagic 7.0

The NMEA0183 plugin supports two types of connection types: serial and TCP/IP.

When a device is connected through an USB or serial connection, you select the "Serial" option.

In cases where the device is connected using an Ethernet cable or WiFi connection, you have to select the "TCP/IP" option from the "Connection Type" drop down box.

When switching between the "Serial" and "TCP/IP" connection type, the function of the edit and selection boxes in the "Connection" section will change as can be seen in the two screen shots above.

Serial Port

Use this drop down box to select the COMxx number of the serial port the device is connected to.

This can be either a regular serial port, or a virtual serial port, which are used with USB to Serial and

Bluetooth adapters.

Serial Speed

The default serial baudrate for NMEA0183 devices is 4800bps. However, some hardware use other speeds (for instance, an AIS receiver will use 38400).

When configuring a RTK receiver, the serial speed can sometimes deviate from the standard. 9600,

19200 and 38400 bps are mostly used on these devices.

Serial Format

You can leave this setting at it's default value. Devices that use NMEA0183 protocol with other settings are very rare.

Socket Type

Use the "Socket Type" dropdown box to select the TCP/IP protocol used. Possible values are "TCP" and

"UDP".

Please refer to the hardware vendor on which option is supported. Most devices support both protocols.

Host IP

The IP address of the device. This value is required only for TCP connections.

For UDP connections, just provide a valid port number.

Host IP Port

Enter the IP (TCP or UDP) port number the device is listening on here.

For most wireless NMEA0183 devices, the port 10110 is used, which is the reserved port for NMEA0183.

Latency

Latency (sometimes called lag) is the time between a measurement has been made (for instance a position fix, or depth) and when the serial data is received by the application.

If this value is know for a certain device, you can enter it here to get more accurate soundings.

NMEA0183 Settings

Talker ID

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Configuration 12

Use this option to filter NMEA0183 sentences by talker ID. It sometimes happens that both echosounder and GPS devices are transmitting GPS sentences, in this case you can either select the GPS or echosounder by specifying "GP" or "SD" in this field.

Sentences

To select which NMEA0183 sentences will be decoded, and which ones will be ignored on this channel, click the "Select sentences..." button.

The dialog that appears allows you to select which sentences are used. For most GPS devices, selecting only the GGA sentence will suffice.

If you choose to use the heading and speed calculated by the GPS device, you should also select the

VTG sentence.

For a echosounder, you should use either the DBS, DBT, DBK or DPT sentence.

Testing the device(s)

When everything has been configured correctly, and the device has been turned on, you should have some green values in the data view window.

(C) 2015 ActiveXperts Software B.V.