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HYDROBOX 

 

Operations and Maintenance Manual 

 
GPS Connection 

Connecting a GPS or other Navigation input to the PC running the HydroBox

 software allows the user 

to store and annotate Date, Time, Position, and Heading information to the Acoustic data returns. 

The HydroBox PC Software supports the NMEA 0183 protocol on a 2

nd

 COM port that is software 

selectable by the user.  When selecting a PC to use with the HydroBox system the user should insure that 
PC hardware supports 2 COM Ports if a Navigation input is desired (the HydroBox Sensor/PC interface 
requires 1 COM port). For Portable PC’s, a PCMCIA COM port card can often be used to provide a 2

nd

 

COM port. 

The user should refer to the GPS NMEA 0183 output connection information in their GPS Manual as well 
as the PC COM port wiring information in their PC Manual to insure that the Navigation input is wired 
correctly. 

Printer Connection 

The HydroBox PC Software allows the user to interface to the all of the SYQWEST TDU Thermal 
Printers.   The connection is established through the PC’s Parallel Printer Port (25-pin D-Type) as shown 
below in Figure 2-9.  Once the software has been started, all displayed acoustic data can be printed to the 
TDU in either Acquisition or Playback mode. 

 
 

 

Figure 2-9  Printer Port 

 
The standard TDU Printer cable is provided with the printer and is 12 feet long and does not require any 
user wiring.  Installers must locate the printer accordingly. 
 

2.3

 

- HydroBox PC Software Installation 

This section describes how to install the HydroBox PC software package.  It is assumed that the reader 
has a working knowledge of installing Windows 95/98/2000/NT/XP

®

 software.  The installation software 

is located on the CD-ROM disc included with your HydroBox. 

 

NOTE: It is recommended that you exit all running applications before inserting the CD 

and beginning the installation. 

To install the PC software, insert the HydroBox CD into an available drive.  If 

Auto Insert Notification

 

is enabled on the CD-ROM drive, then the HydroBox PC installer will begin automatically.  If the CD 
does not auto-start, simply execute the 

SETUP.EXE

 file in the root directory of the CD. 

Once the installer is running, it will verify that your operating system is compatible with the HydroBox 
software, and then it will check which version of the Windows Installer program is installed in your 
system.  If the Windows Installer program is not found or out of date, it will update it and prompt you to 
restart your computer.  Once restarted, the HydroBox installation will continue automatically. 

INSTALLATION 2-15 

©

2006 SyQwest Incorporated 

Summary of Contents for HydroBox

Page 1: ...tic Systems For Precision Seafloor Exploration HydroBox Hydrographic Echo Sounder Installation Operation Maintenance Ver 3 7 25 10 222 Metro Center Blvd Warwick RI 02886 USA TEL 401 921 5170 FAX 401 9...

Page 2: ......

Page 3: ...ant Notes regarding Hydrobox operation Please Read 2 1 2 1 2 Getting Started 2 2 2 2 TRANSDUCERS DIMENSIONS MOUNTING 2 3 2 2 1 P N P04816 TRANSDUCER 33 210Khz 2 3 2 2 2 P N P04817 TRANSDUCER 50 210Khz...

Page 4: ...GURING HYDROBOX TO USE WITH SURVEY SOFTWARE AND LAPTOP PC 5 2 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1 1 Absorption Coefficient Versus Frequency 1 3 Figure 1 2 Acoustic Beam Pattern 1 6 Figure 2 1 System Interconnec...

Page 5: ...ble pole or small plate mounting Transducer options are identified and described in further detail in the Installation section The HydroBox Installation CD will install the PC software used to configu...

Page 6: ...on and division simple because they are reduced to an addition and a subtraction operation respectively Secondly for underwater acoustics the primary concern is ratios of power levels and signal level...

Page 7: ...of sound energy in the oceans comes from three factors absorption scattering or reverberation and bottom loss Sound absorption takes place at two levels one absorption in the actual seawater medium an...

Page 8: ...s the ocean bottom In deep water this condition normally does not cause serious problem but in shallow water reverberation can happen multiple times causing high background signal levels i e the sound...

Page 9: ...es and the current propagation conditions due to thermoclines and sea state Ocean traffic generally produces acoustic noise that is not within the frequency bandwidth of most navigational echo sounder...

Page 10: ...s of this transducer are the smaller lobes approximately 18 dB below the level of the main lobe Figure 1 2 Acoustic Beam Pattern The width of a beam is important for calculating how small an object th...

Page 11: ...han 100 meters Depth Accuracy Meets or exceeds all current IHO hydrographic requirements for single beam echo sounders 0 40m 2 5cm 40 200m 5 0cm 200m 10 0cm Data Output NMEA 0183 DPT DBT PMC Hypack Hy...

Page 12: ...t sediment survey conditions a higher value is required to consistently digitize on the bottom without saturating the first few meters of bottom penetration The default setting is 0 which should work...

Page 13: ...ts to be connected to the same COM port This update allows for a simpler connection between the Hydrobox and the HyPack or HyDroPro software packages 1 5 8 NMEA I O Output written to Port during Playb...

Page 14: ...HYDROBOX Operations And Maintenance Manual INTRODUCTION 1 10 2006 SyQwest Incorporated THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK...

Page 15: ...lines A minimum operational system configuration requires 1 PC running Windows Pentium II 266MHz or greater 2 HydroBox Sensor Unit 3 HydroBox Transducer Assembly 4 HydroBox Cables Power Data Transduc...

Page 16: ...l should be used Verify that all parts described in the next section have been shipped with the unit Basic Equipment The following Table 2 1 is a list of the basic equipment supplied with the HydroBox...

Page 17: ...mal Printer 1 P03120 TDU 2000F Thermal Printer 1 P03050 12 Channel DGPS System w Combo Antenna 1 Optional Over the Side Mounting Kit OTSM 1 Table 2 2 Accessories and Options 2 2 TRANSDUCERS DIMENSIONS...

Page 18: ...Impedance 60 60 ohms Beamwidth 3 dB point 50khz 210khz Cable 30 feet 2C 14AWG with plug Housing Material Urethane Stem Stainless Steel 14NPS Thread Weight 11 lbs 5 kg INSTALLATION 2 4 2006 SyQwest In...

Page 19: ...al Stainless Steel with urethane acoustic window Piezo Material Barium Titanate INSTALLATION 2 5 2006 SyQwest Incorporated 2 2 4 P N P04517 TRANSDUCER 50Khz 18 deg Resonant Frequency 50 KHz Nominal Im...

Page 20: ...standard PC displays are not easily readable in direct sunlight Adequate space for the computer and any peripherals that need to be connected should be considered as well Finally provisions need to be...

Page 21: ...labeled STAT is visible Step 1 Confirm that the area behind the intended mounting surface on the bulkhead is clear of equipment panels electrical cables conduits hydraulic air water lines or pipes St...

Page 22: ...lush with the hull and wherever practical the face should be parallel to the waterline A maximum deadrise angle of 3 degrees is allowable The transducer must be mounted such that it will always remain...

Page 23: ...HydroBox Transducer w connector 1 Optional HydroBox Over the Side Mount OTSM Assembly or can be user supplied pipe mount described below 1 Kit User Supplied Silicone grease or petroleum jelly Vaseline...

Page 24: ...the boat is underway 6 Attach the Pipe Clamp s near the end of the 4x4 insuring that there is enough clearance for the transducer to hang over the side of the vessel 7 Place the 4x4 across the beam o...

Page 25: ...but is not required Guidelines for performing a Seachest installation are described in the following sections Seachest Transducer Installation Interior Seachest installations are best suited for soli...

Page 26: ...he overall systems interconnect for the system Figure 2 5 HydroBox Sensor Unit Connections Figure 2 5 shows the basic connections to the unit In all installations all of the connections must be made f...

Page 27: ...that the fuse is blown it should be replaced with a fuse of the same amperage Installing an incorrect fuse can result in damage or fire to the unit if it is not operating properly The Power Connector...

Page 28: ...conversion block and the 9 pin D connector attached to the Data Interface cable The extension cable must be shielded to guard against interference The Data Interface Connector on the Sensor Unit is sh...

Page 29: ...the TDU in either Acquisition or Playback mode Figure 2 9 Printer Port The standard TDU Printer cable is provided with the printer and is 12 feet long and does not require any user wiring Installers...

Page 30: ...Sample Data for playback A Minimal installation will only install the HydroBox application Additionally you can choose Custom to manually select what you would like installed Click the next button to...

Page 31: ...ld includes digital depth an animated compass with heading marks in degrees GPS Position Time Date Ping Count available disk space for data storage and HydroBox Sensor status The Data field is located...

Page 32: ...and ping count The digital depth is shown to 1 decimal place in both Feet and Meters and is displayed in a large font to make viewing easier from a distance The depth value is updated once per ping an...

Page 33: ...g easier for the user Clicking the Auto All button again will toggle the HydroBox back to manual mode NOTE When in Auto All mode the Gain control is not available and will be controlled by the HydroBo...

Page 34: ...nge scale bars in Milliseconds rather than Feet or Meters 7 File Capture Status This unique feature allows the user to view the Recording status when capturing data to a hard disk The status shows the...

Page 35: ...the path YYYY 4 digit Year MM 2 digit Month DD 2 digits Days hh 2 digits for Hours mm 2 digits for Minutes ss 2 digits for Seconds odc ODEC s Proprietary File Extension NOTE Once recording is started...

Page 36: ...nar Port Select Serial Port This menu allows you to choose which PC COM port the HydroBox Sensor is connected to In addition you can enable disable communication to the sensor by toggling the Enable S...

Page 37: ...digital depth output simply select OFF under NMEA Depth Most GPS units are setup to use 8 Data bits No Parity 1 Stop bit and either 4800 or 9600 Baud In addition you must choose which NMEA format the...

Page 38: ...anual Periodic or External When in Manual Eventing event marks are inserted only when one is requested by the user using one of the methods described above Periodic Eventing allows the HydroBox softwa...

Page 39: ...this option will print a mirror image of the event annotation marks This option is to be used in conjunction with the L R dip switch located on the back of the TDU Printer Refer to your TDU Manual fo...

Page 40: ...eak bottom return being digitized This is useful in certain constrained applications but severely reduces the digitizing function s ability to block out noise This parameter needs to be used carefully...

Page 41: ...00 1600 meters second or 4595 to 5250 feet second can be selected depending on current units selection Sound Velocity Calculations The user may determine the sound velocity applicable to a specific su...

Page 42: ...ded Normal data Hi Freq Only This selection displays the Hi frequency channel data only When selected this mode will use the entire viewing area Lo Freq Only This selection displays the Lo frequency c...

Page 43: ...e Scales only change when the bottom trace approaches either the top or bottom of the Zoom window When a change does occur the range is adjusted in Zoom Range 2 increments to place the bottom trace ba...

Page 44: ...Menu This menu includes a software Help guide along with an About HydroBox option Clicking it will display a window with information such as the HydroBox software version and SYQWEST company informati...

Page 45: ...mal Minutes f Depth Frequency A Low Frequency or Only Frequency B High Frequency x x x x x True Depth u Units M Meters F Feet v Depth Status A Valid V Invalid 3 4 2 PMC Depth dt Format Sample data str...

Page 46: ...ings SDDPT 3 4 0 0 SDDPT 6 4 0 0 SDDPT 6 4 0 2 Industry standard NMEA 0183 string Water depth relative to the transducer and offset of the measuring transducer Format described below S D D P T x x x x...

Page 47: ...roBox PC Software will detect this problem and notify the user Refer to Troubleshooting Section 4 4 If the Sensor passes these tests the green LED will blink at 1 Hz indicating that it s working and w...

Page 48: ...Update The HydroBox PC Software is designed to automatically detect the presence of a firmware update file upon startup If the file is detected the user will be notified and asked whether the firmware...

Page 49: ...Software Troubleshooting Symptom Possible Cause Solution Sensor State always shows Unknown PC Software not receiving communication from Sensor 1 Check connections between PC and Sensor 2 Make sure th...

Page 50: ...g Windows Explorer go to the directory C Program files SyQwest HydroBox Firmware and copy the HydroFW hex file and place it into the HydroBox directory 5 Then power on your HydroBox the software will...

Page 51: ...d rate user selectable NMEA sentence Input used for NMEA GPS output used for NMEA Depth 5 1 2 Hypack Survey Software Port Connections NMEA GPS Interface Half Duplex User selectable baud rate user sele...

Page 52: ...onar Port Select COM port Windows assigned for connector A 4 In Hydrobox software select EDIT from taskbar then Configure NMEA I O Select COM port Windows assigned for connector B Select Baud rate Dat...

Page 53: ...HYDROBOX Operations and Maintenance Manual Figure 5 1 HYPACK Serial Connections APPENDEX 1 5 3 2006 SyQwest Incorporated...

Page 54: ...HYDROBOX Operations And Maintenance Manual OPTIONAL EXTERNAL INTERFACE CONNECTIONS Figure 5 2 Optional Interface Connections END OF MANUAL APPENDIX 1 5 4 2006 SyQwest Incorporated...

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