Echo sounder instruments

An ESD file for each echo sounder supported as standard is provided in the C:\ProgramData\Trimble\Trimble Data\System Files folder. To edit the ESD file, edit the file in a text editor.The name of the ESD file appears in the Type field in the Echo Sounder screen.

Trimble Access supports as standard the following models of bathymetric echo sounders:

• CeeStar Basic High Freq

  CeeStar Dual Frequency echosounders, BASIC output format, when the High Frequency depth is to be stored. The unit must be set to output 'prefixes' and not 'commas' in the output data Menu / Advanced / Prefix / Comma outfm set to [Use prefix].

• CeeStar Basic Low Freq

  CeeStar Dual Frequency echosounders, BASIC output format, when the Low Frequency depth is to be stored. The unit must be set to output 'prefixes' and not 'commas' in the output data Menu / Advanced / Prefix / Comma outfm set to [Use prefix].

• NMEA SDDBT device

  Any generic echosounder device that can output the NMEA DBT (Depth Below Transducer) sentence. The "talker ID" must send the standard "SD" identifier (so that output lines all begin with "$SDDBT,..". Trimble Access will accept the data in feet, meters, or fathoms and will convert values as appropriate.

• SonarMite

  Any SonarMite device. The unit will be switched into 'Engineering mode' (output format 0) and other settings may be adjusted by Trimble Access.

When using an echo sounder to record depths that equal zero, you need to add the allowZero="True" flag immediately after the isDepth="True" flag. For example: "<Field name... isDepth="True" allowZero="True" />"

NMEA strings for echo sounders

Echo sounders may output one of several NMEA 0183 sentences. The most common sentences are described below for reference.

NMEA DBT – Depth Below Transducer

The NMEA DBT sentence reports water depth referenced to the transducer's position. The depth value is expressed in feet, meters, and fathoms.

For example: $xxDBT,DATA_FEET,f,DATA_METRES,M,DATA_FATHOMS,F*hh<CR><LF>

NMEA DBS – Depth Below Surface

The NMEA DBS sentence reports water depth referenced to the surface. The depth value is expressed in feet, meters, and fathoms.

For example: $xxDBS,DATA_FEET,f,DATA_METRES,M,DATA_FATHOMS,F*hh<CR><LF>

To add support for another model of echo sounder

The Trimble Access software uses XML Echosounder protocol description (*.esd) files and so may support bathymetric echo sounders that are not supported as standard, provided that their communications protocols are similar to the protocols currently supported. To do this, use one of the ESD files provided with the software and use it as a template. You will need to find out the format for your echo sounder and modify the ESD file accordingly.