QK-A035 Manual
V 1.0
16 of 19
2021
USB). Data can be routed to limit the data flow to only certain output/s.
Simply un-tick the corresponding boxes in the configuration software.
5.5 VDR
The A035 continuously stores data received from all NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk¹ inputs onto the flash
memory, erasing the oldest data stored as new data is recorded. The data includes position, vessel
course, wind speed/angle, depth, heading, AIS messages, atmospheric pressure, state of digital
switching equipment, tanks, battery status, voltage, current, and engine information. This data is saved
as txt files on the SD card, so that in the event of an accident or the boat owner just wants to review the
data, then the SD card can be removed from the A035 and read with a SD card reader (not included)
on
a computer. An analysis of the events or the sailing trip may be conducted.
The recorded data is named sequency (eg. 00000001 to 99999999). Using an SD card with 32GB
storage space (expandable)
, the A035 can store up to an average of 12 weeks’ worth of vessel data.
Users won’t have to worry about losing the most recent data since A035 uses a circular buffer where
the oldest data is overwritten only when memory is full.
By default, the A035 saves the log file for every 1M bytes size. This is normally relative to 30 mins to 45
mins every file for most small or medium size boats in sailing conditions. Customers can set the saving
frequency to be ‘Rapid’ via the configuration tool. This way the file will be saved every 100k bytes (0.1M
bytes), so it will be saved more frequently. S
aving frequency doesn’t affect the length of the record
history, but there are three points to be aware of when setting this parameter:
1, In case the A035 is powered off, the buffered data (the data volume under 1M bytes, which
hasn’t
been saved on the SD card) will be lost, so, choosing a larger file size will lead to more lost data.
2, If there is a high-speed data input (e.g. some 10Hz sensors) with the smaller file size selected, there
is a risk that the SD card could have a data
‘traffic jam’ while saving the data, potentially leading to data
overflow and the whole system could crash (in this case, A035 will restart).
3, In most of cases (if all inputs are normal frequency sensors or there is only one high speed sensor)
we would recommend keeping the default setting.
5.6 USB configuration: monitoring and sending NMEA messages
Connect the A035 to your Windows computer and click on the
‘open port’ button in the Configuration
Tool window. All sentences sent to the output will be monitored and displayed in the application
window.
Users can also manually send NMEA 0183 format sentences, either for
testing or for specific data transfer, e.g., autopilot control sentences or
waypoint information, through the tool. For this, input the sentence in
the empty field and then click on the
‘send’ button, to send the
sentence to the output.
