INTERFACE SPECIFICATIONS
SeaBat 8160
Operator‟s Manual
Page 75
October 6, 2011
Version 5
C.3.2 Time Stamp Message
This message is used for time stamping the bathymetric and sidescan data that
is output to the network. The time should be in UTC format with the following
syntax. If no UTC is available, latency values will be put in data packets.
Message - $UTC,YYYYMMDD,HHMMSS.TTTT<CR><LF>
Table 16: Time Stamp Message Format
Field
Description
Range
$UTC
Start of Message
YYYY
Year
0000-9999
MM
Month
01-12
DD
Day
01-31
HH
Hour
00-23
MM
Minute
00-59
SS
Second
00-59
TTTT
Tenths of Millisecond
0000-9999
C.3.2.1
Time Synchronization of SeaBat Data
The SeaBat output message packets will always include a latency time, the time
interval between the sonar ping and the output of the first element of the data
packet by the sonar. These latency times will be independently generated and
entered into the packets for each type of data output: bathymetry, sidescan, and
snippets data.
If the data collection system is using the time of receipt of the data packet to
determine the sonar ping time for the data packet, the latency should be
subtracted from the time of receipt to determine the ping time.
If the data collection system is outputting the UTC time synchronization message
to the sonar and using the time reported within the data packet to determine the
ping time associated with the data set, the latency offset should NOT be applied
to the time.
