Using Echolog 500

Before you begin

To reduce the chances of data loss following hardware or software failure, Echoview Software recommends running Echolog 500 on a PC and writing the logged data to an NTFS partition. Disk mirroring or RAID storage systems can be used to provide security against hard disk failure

Starting Echolog

Start Echolog 500 from the Windows Start menu or desktop shortcut.

Notes:

If one or more default settings are invalid, the Settings dialog box will automatically be displayed and you will have to change the incorrect setting before you can use Echolog 500.
You may need to configure folder sharing when Echolog runs on a device that is separate from a ship's network.

Echolog 500 main window

The Echolog 500 main window displays information about logging operations.

The reset totals button , will reset the Running time, Data written, and Files written values and start a new log file.

The redisplay data written button (or ) toggles between displaying the Data written value as bytes or megabytes.

Settings dialog box

The Settings dialog box is used to enter the settings that control the operation of Echolog 500.

To display the Settings dialog box:

Right-click on the title bar of the Echolog 500 main window.
On the Shortcut menu, click Settings.

The Settings dialog box contains the following settings.

Setting	Description
Create new file after current reaches (MB)	The current file will be closed and a new one created once the current file reaches the specified file size.
Log file folder	The folder into which log files are written. This may be on the local PC or over the network. A UNC folder name may be specified, for example, \\SERVER1\C\Echoview Software\Echoview\LogData. The folder must have a network share name if Echoview is to be used for live viewing of the data. Default value: C:\Echoview Software\Echoview\Echolog 500 data.
EK500 remote port	Specifies the port on which the echosounder will be sending telegrams, and the port on which Echolog 500 will be listening for telegrams. The echosounder can be set up to send on other ports but it defaults to 2002.
Close log file after no activity (mins)	If no data are logged for the specified number of minutes, any current log file will be closed. Any new data will be written to a new log file.
Warn when hard disk has less than (MB)	If there is less than the specified number of MB of free space on the drive to which files are being logged, a warning message will be displayed but the logging operation will continue. If the free space drops to zero, an error message will be displayed and the logging operation will stop; it will restart automatically as soon as disk space becomes available.
Warn when hard disk has less than (mins)	Echolog 500 continually estimates the number of minutes before the hard disk will be full (at current logging rates). If this estimate drops below the specified number of minutes, a warning message box will be displayed. This estimate can be viewed at any time from the Network Information dialog box.
Suspend when hard disk free space less than (MB)	Echolog 500 will stop logging and saving data when the hard disk free space reaches the specified number of MB.
Equipment name	Identifies the machine on which Echolog 500 is running. This defaults to the local computer name and need only be changed if more than one instance of Echolog 500 is running simultaneously on the same PC.
Broadcast/flush interval (seconds)	The "broadcast" interval is how often Echolog 500 tells Echoview that more data are available. So Echoview will update it's live viewing echograms more often if the broadcast interval is set to a lower number of seconds. A broadcast interval less than 10 seconds is not recommended. If you will be live viewing a number of echograms, including virtual echograms, a higher broadcast interval may be more effective. "Flush" refers to the data being written to the disk which prevents data loss in the event of a power failure.
Type of echosounder	Specifies the type of echosounder being used. This information will be added to the .ek5 file and will be used by Echoview to identify the source of data logged by Echolog 500. The choice of echosounder will affect range calculations and calibration methods in Echoview. If you specify the wrong echosounder type here you data may not be presented correctly. If you change this setting during live viewing Echoview will create a new fileset and log subsequent data to that fileset (because a single fileset is constrained to contain data files of only one type). Warning: All .ek5 data files logged by Echolog 500 3.00 and earlier will be treated as though they came from an Ex500 echosounder. If you have logged sample telegrams output from ER60 software using Echolog 500 3.00 or earlier, you should contact Echoview support prior to using these data files. Potential problems include: the sample thickness in Wn, Vn, Pn, Bn variables will not be calculated correctly range related calculations will be in error (TVG, TVG range correction, Time varied thresholds, background noise calculations). inappropriate calibration settings will be displayed on the Calibration page of the Variable Properties dialog box.
Automatically delete files older than (hours)	Echolog 500 can be placed into a special auto deletion mode. In this mode files older than the specified number of hours are automatically deleted. As a safety against accidental use, this setting is only available if the program file Echolog_500.exe is renamed to Echolog_500_with_delete.exe. A value of 0 hours disables auto deletion. Default value: not checked (0 hours)
Warn if no activity (mins)	If set, Echolog 500 will warn you with a message on the screen if no data has been logged for the specified number of minutes

Network Information dialog box

The Network Information dialog box displays useful information when setting up Echolog 500. The Local IP address and Ethernet address may provide useful clues if data are not being logged. The IP address is set in TCP/IP properties in the Windows Control Panel/Network applet. Some systems may require that an Ethernet adapter is installed before you can set an IP address.

To display the Network Information dialog box:

Right-click on the title bar of the Echolog 500 main window.
On the Shortcut menu, click Network Information.

About Echolog 500 dialog box

This About Echolog 500 dialog box contains information about the version of Echolog 500 you are using. You may need to provide this number when you request support.

To display the Echolog 500 dialog box:

Right-click on the title bar of the Echolog 500 main window.
On the Shortcut menu, click About.