StarFish Scanline Software User Guide
Contents
1. ADAS SS INS SCANLINE SOFTWARE USER GUIDE VERSION 2 1 CONTENTS e Ta 2 Important Safety I nstructionsS ue REENEN KEEN E KEE ENEE EEN E EE EK NEE KREE NEEN 3 TECHHICal SUD DOME EEN 3 Installing SCAMNMG wcsiiccncsSiiededissideerwnsnedaansdarestdeneessudedodeetddeeessednneen ten esieecederes nian 4 Uninstalling KT ln sissa a a a 4 Understanding EE E ln E 5 THC U tg eg 5 PIOW S Cane e EE 6 Operating MOC E 6 Hardware EE 6 Dae SOUT EE 6 RI EE G lle 6 WTC CUS EE 7 Using Scanline For The First Time ccccccceeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeseeeeeneeeaeeueaseuseneeeaseuseaensanas 7 GOMMOUnAIOMN Wiza EE 7 Start Page Ge QUICK LINK EE 7 Hardware Managem eN siiinisccascncaicsssasincasimidiadednesdGencdeawnedaawstaaneeeswendesendeccaenienon 8 Adding a new Hardware Device cece e ee ee ee eee ee eee eee e ceed teed EEE ESSE EEE EEE EEE 8 REMOVING a Hardware DEVICE ENEE 9 Changing Hardware Settings ccc isiecettecssleusdniadevsayeisduseutecesbeusinaddausee nin tacanhaccasens ss 9 Hardware Devices eg EEN 10 Altimeter NMEA O1 G3 acccs2tchiesscnsesevsscaduertderatohds ieniededssraduecthureiiiiesseaiadetcxads 10 GPS NMEA OTS EE 10 Heading UNMEA 0163 EE 11 Starfish 450 Starfish 452 Starfish DEE sees gedu EES Eek EEN KSE REECH ENEE 11 S Eed EEE IEE ee Ee egent 11 Velocity NMEA 013 EE 11 Data S urce ET d E 12 Dae COR ee 13 Data Logging and Playback ccsscccscccesccccscccesccecsecceseceeuencessuesuesceususesescesaucuuens 13 Ara e EI Data2. Changing Hardware Settings section REMOVING A HARDWARE DEVICE Click Next and on the Choose a task page select Remove an installed device e The wizard will show you a list of installed hardware devices Select the device to remove by clicking it then click Next to proceed e When asked to confirm the removal of the device click Yes to continue e Once a device has been removed the Add Hardware wizard must be run to reinstall it and any settings must be reconfigured e Click Finish to complete the wizard The originally selected device will now have been removed from the Device Manager CHANGING HARDWARE SETTINGS Note Each hardware device has settings that can be modified to control its behaviour and performance However care should be taken before modifying some of these settings as they may produce unexpected and undesirable results e Click Next and on the Choose a task page select Configure and manage installed devices e The wizard will show you a list of the installed devices and their current status Select the device you wish to configure from the list and click Next to continue e The wizard will show you several management erpe options for the device iii o Change Settings chose this to view and BERN modify the individual device settings i o Default Settings choose this to restore E Saan the device back to the state
3. Display Area wet ows tees i E Situ mh Wem Heal Pe abe rens kor br ches HESS Dr 31 Te GE Rom Dini ab a Deed thei Raat Tops Ra bleed pe VS T1 P Apa rma Thio ISIH or p yriabin Hagh Ee asi Thaif Ab Sea eel ee ge ren A Cep Dee teen Sieg oi rm emm pog orien baren at P red bes br z Fam at Seabed keng Sege he rezeri DN es el athe re Bech Fan goa Bs ete biora tart Th we Be Haze Aradabir iniia Fade Status Bar Widget Bar The actual contents and layout of the application may differ slightly between your current set up and the figure above but in general the user interface contains the following parts e The Ribbon Bar and System Button located along the top of the display provide quick access to functionally related groups of commands and controls Clicking the round red system button will display a menu containing commands relating to files creating opening exporting etc while clicking on the tab headings will change the groups of command buttons below then For simplicity in the rest of this guide function buttons on ribbon tabs will be documented in the format lt TabName gt lt ButtonName gt e The Display Area occupies the central section of the Scanline window and is used to display the data plotters for connected hardware devices as well as web browser windows and the application s Start Page e Widget Bars are located on either side of the display area and c
4. E 13 Recording a Ee el 14 Playin a Kelte gege ee AE 15 Displays Ze Data PIOtee rs isisisi ARAN ENKEN ele ele Age ENN ge E Ae 16 CHOOSING The EE 16 SESC NEP IOE EE 16 EDON IS sire e E age ee eee teens 16 Gain Contrast and Range Control 17 Plotter Display Een de EE 17 Status Bar AfOrimavlon tte eege ett gert 18 PSOE PIO EE 18 Widget Bal issos aE AAEN ARAA EEEE OAREN AKAN EKRAR 19 CONOUG deed EE 19 ele TEE 19 Data Console MEIER ices ccei cn deed Eege Ai 19 Data Manager e et 19 GPS Satellites Widget EE 20 Hardware Manager e e TE EE 20 LOG SCANS VV NOG Eeer eenaa tsecnt oes use nue dace ee saan nebo ake a 20 LOG Player Widget EE 20 Vessel Details Widget 28 ENKU NENNEN NENEdENNEN stones ENEE KOENEN EEN EN NEEN NENNEN EEN KN NN EN Environment amp Display Options sek NK K ENEE EEN NEE ENKEN ER EE EE EEN EE K Eu 21 Bian dE 21 vec EE ER Exporting Date sienak Ea Ee dee EEN SEN Se dE geleed 22 vielen die BR EE ER PNP TG A AN EE 23 IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Before using your StarFish Seabed Imaging System please read and follow the safety instructions highlighted at the start of the StarFish System User Guide Throughout this document the following symbols are used to indicate special precautions or procedures you should take note of WARNING This symbol indicates a warning you should take special note of to avoid bodily injury and damage to your equipment CAUTION This symbol denotes precautions and proce
5. be quickly added Widgets that are already visible on another bar will be greyed out as a widget cannot appear in both bars at the same time The order of the widgets in each bar can be modified using the Configure Bar option at the bottom of the appropriate pop up menu Widgets are displayed vertically in the widget bars Clicking the title of a widget will either collapse or expand its panel below This is useful to save display space when certain widgets are not required If the height of the visible widgets exceeds the display height a scroll bar appears allowing the appropriate widgets to be scrolled into view restore the widget bars back to either an empty or default state It is recommended that one widget bar i e the left be used for management or configuration functions Such as the Hardware Manager Data Manager Data Console etc while the other bar be used for information display Such as the Log Player GPS Satellites Vessel Details etc This way when configuration is completed the entire widget bar can be quickly hidden maximising the available display space WIDGETS DATA CONSOLE WIDGET SC Time EE The Data Console widget helps diagnosing problems with connected hardware The console display shows a text representation of all recorded sensor messages as they are received into or played back from a log file s lw The NMEA Data button displays only NMEA raw data messages to a
6. for GPS derived positions e Sidescan this source contains the acoustic Scanline information from Sidescan sonar devices e Velocity this source contains the velocity speed information of the vessel sonar e Waveform this source is used for debugging and analysing the waveform data captured by sonar devices Scanline provides several methods to help you choose the sources of data that will be further configure and manage your hardware e Use the Data Manager controls that can be displayed by clicking Setup Options and then clicking on the Data tab D e Use the Data Manager Widget for further details see Data Manager Widget The figure opposite shows the typical layout of the Ce Depth Starfish 450 id 1 v data manager controls 6 Heading Starfish GPS ld 21 Clicking on each heading will display a list of available Ce Position Starfish GPs a2 v installed hardware devices that produce the Ce Satellite Starfish GPS ld 2 associated type of data 6D Sidescan Starfish 450 ld 1 v The indicator graphics to the left of each heading will GD Velocity Starfish GPS d 2 M rotate as data of that type is received or retrieved SE from a LogFile and passed into the display plotters None Starfish GPS Id 2 Velocity NMEA 0183 Id 6 Clicking None in a data source selection menu will prevent any data being passed into display plotters This can be used to turn o
7. it was originally CS installed with E o Disable amp Start choose these to prevent the device from producing data or re enable the device if you had previously disabled it o Update Firmware choose this to start the firmware upgrade wizard This option is only visible on devices that Scanline supports the firmware for e Click on Change Settings to continue Z 10 e The device will temporarily be put into a disabled AS SEA state and the settings window for the selected Starfish 450 device will be shown Starfish 450KHz sidescanning sonar The settings window consists of a properties list Properties with expandable sub sections showing the a settings that may be modified and to the right p oo Sa OTe aimee of each heading is the associated value Data Id 1 e The settings for different device types are Enabled True discussed in further detail in the Hardware Devices section Swap Channels B e For enabled non greyed out values the Threshold Level settings may be modified in the same way as a Ge JN standard text box or drop down list Default Settings Update Firmware Threshold Level The signal level in decibels that will tigger a detection of the seab Help for each of the settings is available at the bottom of the window when each setting is selected Apy 11 Cancel e Click on the Apply button to accept any changes you have made and restart the d
8. may need to select which sources of data should be shown in each plotter display Normally Scanline will automatically select the first source of each data type provided but in situations where several hardware devices have been added that each output the same type of data you may have to specify which one you wish to use For example if a GPS device has been added it will produce Position Heading and Velocity information However if a Compass device has also been added it too will provide Heading information and so Scanline will need its Heading source setting to the Compass device so the more accurate information is used These settings are stored along with the hardware settings in each LogFile Scanline supports the following sources of data e Depth this source is produced by altimeters echosounders and from sonar devices extracted from the acoustic echoes giving the distance from the device transducer to the first echo of the seabed e Heading this source contains the heading of the vessel sonar relative to true north e Position this source contains the position in UTM coordinates of the vessel sonar e Raw this source normally contains the raw data from serial devices such as NMEA instruments and is mainly used for debugging and diagnostic purposes in the Data Console Widget e Satellite this source contains the GPS satellite constellation and signal strength information plus fix details
9. quick and easy method to view the state of the attached hardware devices and add additional devices or removed existing ones by means of the tool button at its top right To permanently disable a device from producing data select the device in the list and click the Stop button To adjust the hardware settings of a device such as serial port settings sonar performance etc select the device and click the Settings button the device will be disabled while the settings are adjusted LoG DETAILS WIDGET The Log Details widget allows extra information about the LogFile to be collected and stored for future reference LOG PLAYER WIDGET The Log Player widget provides the same functionality as that given by the Log tab on the Ribbon Bar and the quick Status Bar controls When playing back a recorded LogFile the speed of playback and position in the file can be adjusted by means of the slider controls For further details on reviewing LogFiles see the Playing a LogFile section Positions Signal Strengths Fix Details 3D fix from 12 satellites 3 21 16 6 1 Fix taken at 13 08 42 Starfish 450 A Starfish 450KHz sidescanning sonar Stopped Error The USB port could not be opened K Title Sample Log File Author Starfish Recorded 03 12 2008 11 01 57 Comments Position 13 08 43 1 0 J Speed x
10. the wizard 23 Ga Sloarrishh Copyright Notice Copyright 2010 Tritech International Limited amp Blueprint Design Engineering Limited all rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by means electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of Blueprint Design Engineering Ltd The information contained herein should be applied to this product only and no responsibility is taken for the use of this information when applied to other products Neither Tritech International Ltd or Blueprint Design Engineering Ltd or their affiliates shall be liable to the purchaser of this product or third parties for losses costs damages or expenses incurred by the purchaser or third parties as a result of accident misuse abuse modification of this product or a failure to strictly comply with the operating and maintenance instructions Trademarks Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation Other product and brand names used within this document are for identification purposes only Tritech International Limited amp Blueprint Design Engineering Limited disclaims any and all rights in those marks Specifications and information contained in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Tritech International Limited or
11. 8 0 J VESSEL DETAILS WIDGET Turen The Vessel Details widget is used to display the 10 7 BIER position heading and velocity of the vessel using data ZC NW recorded from a connected GPS device other devices E tw lt 423 Ba E gt such as Compasses or Velocimeters will only also Ce 3 display their results under the relevant heading CAA The format and units of measurement used for the bieg readings can be adjusted using the controls under the 3 2 kn Setup Ribbon Bar tab Position Lat Long 54 22244000 N 002 94066000 W ENVIRONMENT amp DISPLAY OPTIONS Most environmental and display options can be quickly viewed and changed by selecting the Setup tab on the Ribbon Bar or more comprehensive options are available by UNITS The Units group on the Setup Ribbon Bar tab allows you to quickly select between metric or imperial measurement units and numerical formatting styles for data to be displayed in The available categories of measurement units format are e Depth amp Range These settings control how depth and sonar range data is displayed select from metres feet or yards The measurement units used for Velocity of Sound reads are determined from this selection e Distance These settings control how navigational distances are displayed select from metres kilometres feet yards or miles e Heading These settings determine how heading bearings a
12. Blueprint Design Engineering Limited UM 125 P00057 04 P N BP00057 4 For Scanline Version 2 1 August 2010
13. G strings to be decoded depending on device capabilities E gt HEADI NG NMEA 0183 el The heading compass device decodes fields from the NMEA messages to allow logging heading information from external vessel instrumentation e Input Data NMEA HDG HDM HDT RMC amp VHW string via serial COM port e Output Data Sources Heading amp Raw data e Settings Com Port Standard settings required for serial communication devices Port name baud rate parity etc NMEA Decoding Flags to allow HDG HDM HDT RMC or VHW strings to be decoded depending on device Capabilities Manual Magnetic Values to provide magnetic deviation and variation Offsets required when decoding HDM data STARFISH 450 STARFISH 452 STARFISH 990 These devices provide control over the relevant StarFish series electronics Top Box module e Input Data Proprietary binary data stream via USB port e Output Data Sources Depth Sidescan amp Waveform data e Settings Depth Detector The sonar computes depth data dynamically when LogFile data is displayed on the screen averaged from the results of both channels These settings control the signal level threshold and minimum target length that the signal must exceed the threshold for for a depth detect to occur A damping factor parameter allows glitches to be reduced where larger parameter values will produce smooth
14. an enter the properties of the water you re surveying in temperature salinity depth and calculate the sound velocity to ensure sonar measurements are displayed accurately e Logging Setup you can choose the behaviour of the log recorder and player when opening and creating new LogFiles START PAGE amp QUICK LINKS Having completed the Configuration Wizard the Start Page provides the ideal starting point if you re unfamiliar with Scanline At its top a series of quick link buttons will allow you to configure Scanline and get up and surveying as quickly as possible Additional links also will take you into the online help system for more detailed information on using Scanline as well as our web pages for further technical and product support HARDWARE MANAGEMENT Before data can be viewed or recorded into a LogFile Scanline must first be configured to communicate with the attached external hardware devices such as the Sonar GPS Compass etc The first time you run Scanline the Configuration Wizard will take you through setting up your basic hardware requirements However Scanline provides several methods to help you further configure and manage your hardware e Use the Hardware Manager controls that can be displayed by clicking Setup e Use the Hardware Manager Widget for further details see Hardware Manager Widget the on screen instructions to complete the task you re
15. ardware devices are correctly connected and configured you should be able to see them display their data in Live mode Once the file has been created additional hardware devices cannot be added e Check that the Data Sources are correctly selected e Check that you have sufficient storage space for the file For normal side scan sonar data and GPS data you will require approximately 1Mb of space per minute recorded e Familiarise yourself with the area you are working in and identify any potential hazards to you or that you may pose to others around you To record a log file you can use the following toolbar buttons on the Ribbon Bar Log tab or shortcut buttons on the status bar of Log Player widget e Record Starts recording in the current new log file and prompts to create one if one is not open e Stop Stops the current log file from either recording or playing back until the record or play button is clicked again Does not close a log file e Close When you have finished recording to your file close it by click clicking on Close LogFile Note Once you have closed a log file that you have been recording to you will not be able to record any more data into it PLAYING A LOGFILE To play back a previously recorded log file click the system button on the Ribbon Bar and select Open LogFile If any other log file is currently open or recording you will be prompted t
16. d by the Sidescan plotter the highlighted area shows which section is currently being viewed Additional controls are available in the Depth tab on the Ribbon Bar e Warning Depth Alarm This control and edit box allows a warning proximity depth alarm to be enabled and adjusted When the current depth goes shallower than this value the depth plotter will flash yellow and the user should be aware that water is getting shallow The warning depth level is shown on the plotter by a dotted yellow line e Critical Depth Alarm The critical proximity depth alarm works in a similar fashion to the above warning alarm except the plotter will flash red and the user should either remove the sonar from the water or take correcting action with the course of the vessel The critical depth level is shown on the plotter by a dotted red line L HN DUU UDU Cp WIDGET BARS CONFI GURI NG Widgets are small display panels that are used to provide extra functionality or data displays in additional to the main display area in the Scanline application Scanline supports two widget bars down either side of the main display area where each bar can hold a variety of widgets that are chosen by the user depending on their preference and requirements of the current survey job The widget bars can be shown or hidden by clicking on the appropriate button in the Clicking the bottom part of either button will display a menu of widgets that can
17. dures you should take note of to avoid damage to your equipment NOTE This symbol denotes special instructions or tips that should help you get the best performance from your StarFish system TECHNICAL SUPPORT For technical support enquiries please email support starfishsonar com and for other support contact details including website telephone etc please refer to the Product Support section of the accompanying Starfish System User Guide If you think you have found a bug or have any other operational issue please report it to us at the technical support email address above and we will endeavour to fix it as quickly as possible in the next software release Where possible and appropriate please include as much detail as you can about the issue including e The current software version you re using displayed on the software splash screen during loading e The hardware details of the system you are running Scanline on e The circumstances under which the error occurs e And the text of any messages displayed on screen Lag X L S INSTALLING SCANLINE Note Do not connect the sonar USB electronics to the PC until the Scanline software and drivers have been installed this will simplify the install procedure If you connect the hardware first the drivers may not be present when required and you will have to manually install them To install Scanline onto your compute please follow th
18. e one of the Scanline export converters to output the data in different formats suitable for use in third party analysis software the System button Export menu e When the Wizard starts click Next to proceed to the format selection page e Choose the type of file you want to export to from o CSV Comma Separated Values An ASCII text file that can be easily imported into spreadsheets or custom software data processing See the online help files for further details on the CSV format o STE Extended Triton Format A binary file commonly used for topographic analysis e Click Next to proceed after making your selection e Choose the source log file if one isn t already open and the file to export the data into by clicking on the appropriate Change buttons e Click Next to proceed and if required adjust the sources of data that will be exported e Click Next again to review your choices If you need to make any changes before starting the export use the Back button to go back through the Wizard otherwise click Next to start the export e The progress bar will show the state of the export Depending on the size of the source log file and the format you are exporting to this process may take several minutes If you wish to abort click the Cancel button otherwise wait for the wizards Complete page to be displayed e Click the Finish button to close
19. er depth transitions Sonar Operation Flags to allow HDG HDM HDT RMC or VHW strings to be decoded depending on device Capabilities Manual Magnetic Values to provide magnetic deviation and variation Offsets required when decoding HDM data STARFISH GPS The Starfish GPS device provides a simple interface to the Starfish GPS accessory using the SIRF Star II1 chipset e Input Data NMEA GGA GLL GSA GSV RMC amp VTG strings via serial COM port e Output Data Sources Position Velocity Heading Satellite amp Raw data Z e Settings Com Port Standard settings required for serial communication devices Port name baud rate parity etc VELOCI TY NMEA 0183 The velocity speed device decodes fields from the NMEA messages to allow logging velocity information from external vessel instrumentation e Input Data NMEA OSD RMC VHW and VTG strings via serial COM port 11 e Output Data Sources Velocity amp Raw data e Settings Com Port Standard settings required for serial communication devices Port name baud rate parity etc NMEA Decoding Flags to allow OSD RMC VHW or VTG strings to be decoded depending on device capabilities DATA SOURCE SELECTION Once you have added and configured your hardware devices Scanline will record all device data into its LogFiles However for display playback you
20. es of the main display area To save screen space Widgets can also be rolled up by clicking on their title bar and some widgets can be resized vertically to enlarge their display area these Widgets have thicker bars along their bottom edge For further details on configuring the display Widgets see the Widget section of this guide USING SCANLINE FOR THE FIRST TIME CONFIGURATION WIZARD When you run Scanline for the first time following its installation the Configuration Wizard will automatically start It is recommended on first use that you complete this wizard to fully configure The wizard will take you through a series of steps that allow you to easily change the operating parameters and setup of Scanline to your needs and get you up and scanning as quickly as possible It is split into the following sections each with its own on screen instructions e Hardware amp Data Sources check boxes allow you to quickly add commonly used hardware or go into additional hardware configuration pages and then choose the required data sources if your setup is more complex e Display Setup a series of checkboxes and controls let you configure the display plotters and choose which widgets you want to use and where they will appear e Units and Format on these pages you can choose the units to use for measurement amp velocity and the format to use for bearings and positional values e Velocity of Sound where you c
21. ese steps Insert the Scanline software CD into your computer The installation menu automatically de displayed if auto play is enabled on the operating system but if not run the ScanlineMenu exe program located in the root directory of the software CD From the menu as well as installing the Scanline application you may also choose to view product documentation or install individual components for additional hardware devices Select Install Scanline to start the main installation wizard If required the wizard will install any required components such as the Microsoft NET framework and Data Access Components before it continues This process may take several minutes Follow the remaining instructions in the wizard to install the Scanline software You will be prompted to choose the type of StarFish system you are using this allows the correct documentation and start menu links to be setup Once the installation wizard completes the Adobe Reader installer may run if you have selected this option from the customised setup The Adobe Reader is required to view the product manuals and other PDF documentation provided on the Scanline CD Finally once you have successfully installed the software you should connect and configure the hardware as described in the accompanying StarFish System User Guide booklet or Quick Start sheet Access to the product documentation if insta
22. evice or the Close button to close without saving any changes HARDWARE DEVICES amp SETTINGS This section summarises the available devices that Scanline can communicate with their Supported input data output data source types they support for use in the Data Source Manager controls and any additional settings required to control them ALTIMETER NMEA 0183 This device allows an external NMEA compatible serial altimeter echosounder to be connected and provide accurate depth data into the system e Input Data NMEA DPT strings via serial COM port e Output Data Sources Depth amp Raw data e Settings Com Port Standard settings required for serial communication devices Port name baud rate parity etc NMEA Decoding Flag to allow DBT strings to be decoded depending on device capabilities GPS NMEA 0183 The GPS device provides a generic interface for NMEA compatible GPS navigation systems The output data types produced will vary depending on the NMEA sentence decoded but generally RMC is most commonly used e Input Data NMEA GGA GLL GSA GSV RMC amp VTG strings via serial COM port e Output Data Sources Position Velocity Heading Satellite amp Raw data e Settings Com Port Standard settings required for serial communication devices Port name baud rate parity etc NMEA Decoding Flags to allow GGA GLL GSA GSV RMC or VT
23. fault Scanline operates in Live Data Mode unless you instruct it to record or playback a LogFile Closing a LogFile that is open will return Scanline to live mode The current operational mode of Scanline is shown in the title bar of the application along with the filename of any open LogFile The icon at the bottom right of the status bar will turn yellow and rotate to indicate the reception of data 13 OX TI If data is not being displayed as expected check the device is connected correctly in the Hardware Manager and not showing any error Should the data still not display use the Data Manager controls to check the appropriate sources of data are selected for each plotter RECORDING A LOGFILE To record a new log file click the system button on the Ribbon Bar and select New LogFile This will close any currently open log and prompt you for the file name and storage location of the new one By default a file name will be chosen containing the current date and time If you wish you may modify the name before clicking the Save button to start the log file immediately recording The status bar will show recording activity in the bottom left red data indicator Ae o WR When a new Logfile is created the current hardware data source and environmental measurement units velocity of sound etc settings will be stored into the new file Before recording a log file e Check the h
24. ff features such as the depth overlay on the Sidescan plotter DATA COMPILATION When data messages are received either from the hardware or during log playback they need to be collated together such that Sidescan sonar information can be related to the relevant position heading and velocity of the vessel and sonar To achieve this Scanline uses a Data Compiler that collects and temporarily stores the last received Position Heading Velocity and Depth sensor messages Only when a Sidescan message is received are the other collected messages then passed as a single message to the relevant display plotters However for this reason if a Sidescan sonar isn t connected or no source is specified for the Sidescan type you may observe data being received in the Data Manager displays but not see any data appear on the display plotters i e Depth display DATA LOGGING AND PLAYBACK As previously discussed Scanline always operates in one of three modes e Live Data Mode where data from the sonar and other hardware is presented in real time on the various display plotters but is not stored e Record Mode where the live data is shown as in Live Data Mode but also stored into a LogFile on your computers hard disk e Playback Mode where data recorded from a previous session in a LogFile may be reviewed analysed and exported into formats that can be used in other 3 party applications VIEWING LIVE DATA By de
25. id in determining the correct operation of an attached GPS or other NMEA device DATA MANAGER Wi DGET Depth Starfish 450 fd 3 The Data Manager widget allows the user to choose the source of sensor messages to be used in the Ce Heading Starfish GPS ld 1 v display plotters Position Starfish GPS fld 1 v Click each heading to display a menu of available data Ce Satellite Starfish GPS id 1 sources for that category 6 Sidescan Starfish 450 fd 3 When data from the specified source is received the icon to the left of the heading will animate to show the Ce Velocity Starfish GPS ld 1 MM frequency of received data 6D Waveform Starfish 450 ld 3 we For further details on data sources see the Data Source Selection section 19 20 GPS SATELLITES WIDGET The GPS Satellites widget is only used when a GPS device is attached that produces satellite constellation sensor messages The identification position availability and signal strengths of the satellites is shown in the widget and further details of the fix type and time are displayed at the bottom e A red colour indicates the signal strength is too low for that satellite to be used e A dark blue colour indicated the data is present but not being used in the computed GPS solution e A light blue colour indicates the satellite is being used in the GPS solution HARDWARE MANAGER WIDGET The Hardware Manager widget provides a
26. in will stop the playback e Forward 1 Moves the playback position forward by 1 in the log file e Forward 10s Moves the playback position forward by 10 seconds in the log file 15 DISPLAYS amp DATA PLOTTERS CHOOSING THE DISPLAY Use the buttons on the Display ribbon tab to select the content and function of the main display area with Scanline At its top a series of quick link buttons will allow you to configure 5 e Start Page The Start Page provides a good starting point if you re unfamiliar Scanline and get up and surveying as quickly as possible Additional links also will take you into the online help system for more detailed information on using Scanline as well as our web pages for further technical and product support The RSS news feed links at the bottom of the page will keep you up to date with the latest news from the StarFish product family including new products trade shows amp conferences distributors software and firmware updates e Web Browser The Web Browser display is used to help you navigate to the online resources provided from the StarFish website such as additional technical and product support software updates and the online image gallery e Plotters The Plotters page is the main view used when performing a Survey with Scanline You can use the option buttons in the Plotters group on the Display ribbon tab to determine which p
27. isplay responds to a different type of data sidescan heading position velocity depth etc and normally Scanline will try to automatically select the best data source available However occasionally you may want to override this and so Scanline provides several methods to help you choose the preferred hardware device that will be used These are discussed further in the Data Source Selection section of this guide DISPLAY PLOTTERS When viewing live or replayed data the main display area of the application switches into Plotter Mode to show the information graphically The Display tab in the Ribbon Bar provides a selection of controls that can be used to control the overall function of the display area and choose which plotters are available Different plotters will show data from one or more sources such as depth and sonar information on the Sidescan plotter so understanding the above concept of Data Sources and configuring these correctly is important Plotters in the main display area can have a static Snapshot of their contents taken and saved into an image file on the hard disk For further details of this please refer to the Snapshotting Displays section of this guide WIDGETS Widgets provide additional controls or information displays relating to the currently open LogFile in Scanline A variety of Widgets is available and can be displayed in either of the widget bars that sit on both sid
28. l make the image appear brighter but may also make the background noise or hiss appear on the display especially at larger ranges Typically for getting started a Gain of around 30 or 28dB should be used Contrast represents the span of the incoming signal when shown on the display palette Larger values mean it requires a larger signal for the brightest colour to be displayed while smaller values mean the brightest colour is shown for smaller Signals Hence decrease the contrast to make potential targets appear brighter than the background and increase the contrast if the background levels on the sonar image are too bright Typically for getting started a Contrast of around 30 or 38dB should be used Range controls how much data is collected and displayed for each ping of the sonar As sound travels through water at approximately 1500 metres per second increasing the range will slow the data collection down as the sonar will need to wait longer for echoes from distant targets The units in which Gain Contrast and Range are expressed can be chosen from the Environment options window tab However the toolbar text boxes will accept values in any units if the unit suffix is also entered PLOTTER DISPLAY CONTROLS Show Recorded Settings amp Range These controls toggle how the gain contrast and range settings are applied to the display When checked the display is drawn using the values of the contro
29. lled links to the Starfish website and the software uninstaller are also available from the Start menu program folder you specified as Scanline installed Check the StarFish product support website at www starfishsonar com support support htm regularly to download the latest software versions and enhancements as they become available UNINSTALLING SCANLINE Should you wish to uninstall the software you may use one of the following methods Select the Uninstall Starfish Scanline icon from the program folder in the Start Menu Alternatively double click the Add Remove Programs icon Windows XP or Programs and Features icon Windows Vista Windows 7 the Windows control panel and select Starfish Scanline from the list of installed programs Click Remove and follow the on screen instructions UNDERSTANDING SCANLINE THE USER I NTERFACE When you run the Scanline application you will be presented with a user interface that will look similar to the figure below Ribbon Bar Gotten started a View Live ats bt bara hr ey Let ee terior whe mj ut reg baimei ma ba Laien perg riaj ba fe kp F i Bra gF riaria F sa i mad ere er Conbcut ale wam j teense rf a naw bouf a Born G i ae a oe rene miae erg el ec fe Gebei we lh re VM iere StaiFish onbe d i Play back a logilo fy Fare ip api fup Sim ah epee do Erop meet La hee pper br keieetei ien e pec a immer eed pie pede eberws s oars
30. lotters are visible and in use SIDESCAN PLOTTER The Sidescan display plotter is used to graphically view the data collected by the StarFish Sidescan sonar and optionally overlay any collected depth data onto this depending on the attached hardware For more information on understanding Sidescan sonar images please refer to the StarFish System User Guide section on Understanding A Sidescan Imagery An All the Sidescan Plotter controls can be accessed from the Sidescan tab on the Ribbon Bar CHANNELS channels are active transmitting and are displayed in the plotter Sometimes if e Dual Port Starboard These controls determine which sonar channel or operating in closed proximity to a dock wall or shore it is useful to disable a channel and remove reflections from the opposite channel The available channel control buttons for Gain Contrast and Range will be changed depending on the channel mode selected mode even though the Gain Contrast and Range controls will then change O e Always Dual Selecting this option will force the Sidescan to stay in dual channel 16 depending on weather Dual Port or Starboard mode is selected GAIN CONTRAST AND RANGE CONTROLS Gain determines how the incoming signal is mapped to the display palette where more intense received echoes will display as a brighter colour Therefore increasing or adding gain to the sonar wil
31. ls that were specified when the data was recorded otherwise the current control values are used These controls are only available when a log file is being played back Scan Direction These controls determine the orientation of the display drawing and which side of the display new data is added These are useful for aiding in the interpretation of the display relating to the boat Display Stretch The stretch controls allow the displayed data to be magnified or stretched by a factor or x1 x2 or x3 These functions are useful for changing the aspect ratio of targets on the display and aid in their identification Palettes The palette drop down list Standard allows you to choose which set of Se colours you would like to use on the ES Sidescan display a Brown Some users find that the high contrast non linear palettes are better at highlighting targets against the sea bed textures High Contrast Bronze Ocean Inverted The inverted palettes are useful in direct sunlight as light background colour improves viewing contrast Negative Solar N Ki t L 18 STATUS BAR I NFORMATION In addition to the commands available on the Ribbon Bar the Status Bar at the bottom of the Scanline application window will display vessel and target information for the sonar data beneath the mouse pointer Depending on the date available to the plotter the type of information it will display ma
32. n Live Data Mode unless you instruct it to record or playback a LogFile Closing a LogFile that is open will return Scanline to live mode The current operational mode of Scanline is shown in the title bar of the application along with the filename of any open LogFile HARDWARE DEVICES Before data can be viewed or recorded into a LogFile Scanline must first be configured to communicate with the attached external hardware devices such as the Sonar GPS etc Scanline provides several methods to help you manage your hardware and these are discussed further in the Hardware Management section of this guide Note The configuration of Scanline devices is separate from and in addition to the driver installation procedure required by the operating system for each device which should be performed first DATA SOURCES As hardware is added or removed Scanline maintains a list or index of Data Sources that describe which type of data can be produced by each connected device While all sensor data is recorded in a LogFile when it is shown on screen each plotter display needs to know which source of data it should use especially as two devices might be connected that produce the same kind of data i e the Sonar and Altimeter devices may both produce depth data or a GPS device may produce heading information but it may be desirable to use a more accurate source such as the vessels electronic compass Each plotter d
33. o close this first A LogFile is best imagined as a digital version of a tape recording where data is time stamped as it is recorded When playing back a virtual pointer is used to determine the current play time position and this position is displayed in the status bar so in addition to the playback activity green indicator the status bar will also display several extra sliders that allow the playback position and speed to be observed and altered Ready E e ei zl You may open and use sensor display plotters as in Live mode and switch between hardware devices using the Data Sources as all sensor data is recorded into the log However some real time hardware settings may be disabled when compared to Live mode as the hardware devices are not required for playing back a log file As an alternative to the LogFile playback controls provided in the ribbon and staus bar you may prefer to use the Log Player Widget for further details see the section titled Log Player Widget e Reset Resets the play position in a log file back to the start If the log file is currently playing it will be stopped first e Rewind 10s Jumps the playback position back by 10 seconds in the log file e Rewind 1 Moves the playback position back by 1 in the log file e Play If no log file is open when this button is clicked the user will be prompted to open a new file to play the data from Clicking play aga
34. ontain a collection of Widgets that provide additional information and functions to help you interpret the logged data collected with your StarFish Options on the Setup Ribbon Bar tab allow you to choose which widgets you want in each bar and these areas can be hidden or resized by the dragging or clicking in the vertical splitter zones at their edge e The Status Bar is located along the bottom of the display and shows information and data relating to the control or plotter currently located beneath the mouse pointer To the right of the status bar are a set quick controls that can be used to help record and playback LogFiles How SCANLINE WORKS OPERATING MODE The main aim of Scanline is to provide you with a simple means to survey underwater environments where you collect review and analyse the data from your StarFish and other supporting hardware devices such as GPS receivers To achieve this Scanline always operates in one of three modes e Live Data Mode where data from the sonar and other hardware is presented in real time on the various display plotters but is not stored e Record Mode where the live data is shown as in Live Data Mode but also stored into a LogFile on your computers hard disk e Playback Mode where data recorded from a previous session in a LogFile may be reviewed analysed and exported into formats that can be used in other 3 party applications By default Scanline operates i
35. quire When a new LogFile is created the current hardware configuration is stored and cannot be further modified devices added or removed Therefore all hardware configuration should be performed before a new LogFile is recorded ADDING A NEW HARDWARE DEVICE Note The configuration of Scanline devices is separate from and in addition to the driver installation procedure required by the operating system for each device which should be performed first according to the manufacturers instructions e To add hardware devices click Setup Hardware Wizard to start the Hardware Wizard e Click Next and on the Choose a task page select Add a hardware device e You will be presented with a list of recognised hardware devices that may be added Choose a device from the list and click the Next button to continue e The wizard will prompt you to configure the newly added device Click Yes if you wish to immediately modify the BQ acy nradas ne tases parting OS device settings i e COM port upgrade firmware etc or otherwise click No to continue and use ten the default settings e This completes the Add Hardware wizard Click Finish to close the window Your new device should appear in the Hardware Manager device lists If connected it should start producing data immediately however if an error has occurred you may need to change its settings see the
36. re displayed select from decimal degrees only degrees amp minutes or degrees minutes and seconds e Position These settings determine how the sonar vessel position is displayed O Universal Transverse Mercator UTM Position is given as a Northing amp Easting in a grid zone using the Distance measurement units specified O Latitude Longitude Shows positions as latitudes and longitudes based around the WGS 84 spheroid Select from signed N and E or unsigned N S E amp W decimal degrees degrees amp minutes or degrees minutes and seconds e Signal Level These settings determine if the sonar control values for Gain and Contrast should be sonar as a Percentage of the control limits or in the absolute Decibel levels of the control e Temperature These settings determine how values such as water temperatures are displayed select from Celsius or Fahrenheit e Velocity These settings determine how the speed of the vessel sonar is displayed select from metres per second kilometres per hour feet per second miles per hour or knots NB This does not affect the Velocity of Sound readings see Depth amp Range above EN 22 VELOCITY OF SOUND EE The velocity of sound setting is important for ensuring the accuracy of displayed ranges on the EES sonar plotters rahi waia By default a general value of 1475 metres per TESE second can be used but environmental factors such Des
37. t Enter Fhe aiis dora operates Gere HD Por tie surface as temperature salinity of the water and operating depth will alter this value Note When you finish the wizard this new value will be stored by Scanline and used in either the current LogFile if in Playback mode or new LogFiles if in Live mode EXPORTING DATA SNAPSHOTTING DISPLAYS When recording or playing back a log file it may be desirable to capture an image of the current display or displays so by default the F12 shortcut key has been assigned to perform a screen capture or snapshot Before you use this feature for the first time you may wish to configure its behaviour by menu From the Image Format drop down list you can select image file type that will be created e BMP a standard windows uncompressed bitmap image Excellent quality but large file we KEE size PHG Pop ste Biterik Gracia e PNG a portable network graphics file that has the same quality as a BMP file but inbuilt compression giving smaller file sizes This is the recommended format for quality versus file size e TIFF a tagged image file format image that contains compression while maintaining good quality e JPEG a joint photographic export group image giving the smallest file size However the compression will reduce the quality and clarity of fine details on the image Click the Choose Folder but
38. ton to select the destination directory where you want all the images to be saved to In the Folder chooser window click the Make Folder button if you want to create a new folder at the current location Use the Name Format drop down list to choose which naming convention you wish the files to use e None All snapshot files are written to the filename specified in the Base Filename text box If the file already exists it will be overwritten e Next Sequential Number A number will be appended to the base filename and will be automatically incremented on each snapshot started from that specified in the Number From box e Date and Number The current system date in the format YYYYMMDD will be appended to the base filename followed by an automatically incrementing number The format of the date is chosen such that when sorted alpha numerically in a program such as Windows Explorer the date codes will sort in the correct ascending order e Date and Time The current system date and time in the format YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS will be appended to the base filename Should two Snapshots be taken in the same second an increasing number will be appended to the end of the name to ensure no files are overwritten Note The snapshot settings will be stored by Scanline and used when the application is next run with numbering continuing sequentially NUMERICAL DATA When you have recorded a log file you can us
39. y vary but the icons below indicate what mode and calculations are being used e Vessel Only Measurement If position but no heading information is available the sonar data cannot be related to the vessel so only the details available for the vessel at the origin of the display are shown e Acoustic Measurement If there is position and heading data available i e from a GPS but no depth data then the acoustic range is display and an estimated target position based on this However as the range is NOT a direct measurement along the seabed the position reading is an approximation only e Target Measurement If position heading and depth information are all available to the Sidescan plotter it will perform a slant range correction calculation to display the range along the seabed to the target and its real world position DEPTH PLOTTER The Depth display plotter is used to graphically view the data collected by attached altimeter echo sounder devices or computed in real time by sonar s see the individual sonar settings for details on how to adjust detection thresholds smoothing etc As data is collected or played the new depths are added to the right of the plotter whose Y Axis will auto scale to ensure all data is visible Dragging the dividing line between the depth and Sidescan plotter will allow its size to be adjusted While the depth plotter shows all the data currently in the display buffer use
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