Using Echolog 60
Starting Echolog 60
Start Echolog 60 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 60.
- You may need to configure folder sharing when Echolog runs on a device that is separate from a ship's network.
Echolog 60 main window
The Echolog 60 main window provides details on logging operations.
|
Setting |
Description |
|
Running time |
The elapsed time since Echolog 60 was started. |
|
Bytes read |
The number of bytes of data that have been read. |
|
Bytes written |
The number of bytes of data that have been written. This will be blank unless compression is enabled. |
|
Disk free (MB) |
The amount of remaining disk space on the hard disk to which the compressed files are being written. This will be blank unless compression is enabled. |
|
Files read |
A count of the files that have been read. This increments with each .raw and .out or .bot file that is read. |
|
Logging throughput |
The settings in this section indicate that rate at which data is being read (kB per second):
The % compression that is being achieved is also displayed when data compression has been enabled on the Settings dialog box. |
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Displays the data Echosim 60 is simulating. |
|
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The Alert button is displayed when Echolog has detected a specified period of inactivity. Click Alert to view the details of the detected inactivity on the logging application Network Information dialog box. |
Settings dialog box
The Settings dialog box is used to enter the settings that control the operation of Echolog 60.
To display the Settings dialog box:
-
Right click on the title bar of the Echolog 60 main window.
-
On the Shortcut menu, click Settings.
The Settings dialog box contains the following options.
|
Setting |
Description |
|
EK60 survey folder |
The folder location that Echolog 60 will read Ex60 .raw and .out files or .bot files from. This should typically be the folder into which the Ex60 software will write the data files. This defaults to C:\Echoview Software\EK60 raw data\. |
|
Folder check interval (ms) |
The frequency with which Echolog 60 will check the EK60 survey folder for new data. This defaults to 250 ms. |
|
Echodepth broadcast interval (ms) |
The frequency with which Echolog 60 will broadcast the available depth information to Echodepth. This defaults to 500 ms. |
|
Live viewing broadcast interval (secs) |
The frequency with which Echolog 60 will send available new data to Echoview for live-viewing. This defaults to 10 seconds. |
|
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 60 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. |
|
Equipment name |
Identifies the machine on which Echolog 60 is running. This defaults to the local computer name and need only be changed if more than one instance of Echolog 60 is running simultaneously on the same PC. |
|
Select Enable to monitor inactivity. You can specify Maximum inactive interval (minutes). Select Alert to allow an Echolog 60 inactivity message to appear in front of active windows. |
Data compression
Data compression in Echolog 60 can be used to:
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discard samples outside an upper and lower range,
-
discard angle data if it is not required, and
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average power and angle samples below user-defined TS and Sv values.
Compression can reduce the size of data files by up to 95%, thus reducing data storage needs. Smaller data files will also increase performance in Echoview when analyzing data. Compressed files are created in Echoview Software's .ek60 file format.
The following settings are used to determine whether data compression will be used and what functions it will perform.
|
Setting |
Description |
|
Enable |
If selected, compressed data files (.ek60 files) will be written by Echolog 60. |
|
Delete original files after compression |
If selected, the original data files (i.e. the .raw and .bot/.out files being read by Echolog 60) will be deleted after the compressed files have been written. This will reduce your data storage but the files may not be recoverable. |
|
Suspend when hard disk has less than (MB) |
The amount of free space that must exist on a disk for Echolog 60 to continue writing compressed files. Echolog 60 will stop writing compressed data files when free disk space drops below the specified value. |
|
Write compressed files to folder |
The folder to which the compressed files will be written. |
Click Compression Settings to open the Compression Settings dialog box and enter the compression settings that will be used by Echolog 60.
Notes:
-
Data compression from .raw and .out files or .bot files into .ek60 files is not lossless. The compression results in blocks of samples with the same Power value in the data file. You can see this in the underlying data exports. When the Power values are converted to Sv and TS, the standard conversion formula is not used for these compressed blocks of samples. Instead, all samples in each block are converted to the average Sv or TS value for the block.
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If data compression is enabled, the compressed .ek60 data files will be broadcast for live-viewing.
Network Information dialog box
The Network Information dialog box displays useful information when setting up Echolog 60. 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.
See also
About Echosim 60
About Echozip 60
About Echodepth
Simrad Ex60 setup for Echolog 60