• Overview
• Procedures
• Examples

Uploading/Downloading using a Geodat 400 or 600 data recorder

Communications Settings on the Computer

The following parameters are set using the Data Recorders Configuration function described previously.

I/O Port : user selectable
Baud Rate : 9600
Parity : none
Data Bits : 8
Stop Bits : 1
Flow Control : software
Timeout : 5

Communications Settings on the Instrument

The communications settings on the Geodat400 are fixed as follows:

Baud Rate : 9600
Parity : none
Data Bits : 8
Stop Bits : 1
Flow Control : software (XON/XOFF)

Down Loading Data from the Instrument

The Geodat400 responds to remote commands from the computer. There are no required actions on the Geodat400 to initiate a download. The download process is controlled from the software. You only need to enter the job name in the software to download it. Please note the Geodat400 is case sensitive when distinguishing job names ( Sample_A1 is not the same as sample_a1).

Uploading Setout Points to the Instrument

The Geodat400 responds to remote commands from the computer. There are no required actions on the Geodat400 to initiate an upload. The upload process is controlled from the software. You only need to enter the job/area name to which you want to load the data via the software.

Data Format Notes

The GEODAT data recorder has a number of predefined field types for the storage of setup and code information. The GEODAT also has an extremely flexible output format. It is essential that the output data from the GEODAT is in a format that is acceptable. Alphanumerics may be used for both station identification and point descriptions if required.

To keep the entry of code information in the field to a minimum, it is only necessary to enter setup details at the start of a job or whenever the setup is changed. String numbers need only be identified at the start of a string segment.

The GEODAT codes which are used are:

51=04-08-1988 52=12:17:55.8

50	Used to indicate the start of a new job in the data recorder. For each new job an 'OBS' file may be created.
51	Date of the survey. May be recorded at any time during the survey although usually at the start. The date is in the format DD-MM-YYYY where DD, MM and YYYY are integer representations for the day, month and year respectively.
52	Time of the survey. May be recorded at any time during the survey although usually at the start. The time is in the format HH:MM:SS.S where HH, MM and SS.S are numeric representations for the hour, minute and seconds respectively. The time is recorded using a 24 hour clock.
56	The temperature at the time of the survey.
74	The atmospheric pressure at the time of the survey.
2	Instrument station identification which may be alphanumeric.
3	Height of the instrument axis. This must be on the same line as the 2 = line which defines the instrument station.
21	Reference angle to backsight. This piece of information is expected on the same line as the backsight station. If it is not present then you will be prompted to enter the reference angle from the keyboard. A default value of zero is supplied so in most cases it will simply mean choosing Apply.
62	Backsight station identification which may be alphanumeric.

An observation line may contain any of the following codes in any order on the line.

4	Point code. Used to identify the string number and point description if required. If it is not present then the string number for the current point is the same as the last point. If a string number is never defined then the points are assigned to string 1. Point descriptions can follow the string number in the point code field. The string number is taken from the first few characters in this field if they are numeric. The D1 field is taken from the remaining characters in the field and the D2 field is taken from the point number (5=). If the point code has no numeric characters at the start of it then the string number is undefined for the point and the rule for determining the string number is as defined above. Furthermore, the entire contents of the point code are used for the D1 field.
5	Point number. The point number is an essential piece of information. It must be present or the observation line will be ignored. Note that the point number can be found in the D2 field of the resultant string file.
6	Target height. The target height must be present in at least the first observation record so that the target height can be set for the following observations and it is only required when a change of target height is required.
7	Horizontal angle. The horizontal angle is an essential piece of information. It must be present or the observation line will be ignored.
8	Vertical angle. The vertical angle is an essential piece of information. It must be present or the observation line will be ignored.
9	Slope distance. The slope distance is an essential piece of information. It must be present or the observation line will be ignored.
37	Northing of the observed point
38	Easting of the observed point
39	Elevation of the observed point

Note: It is permissible to have records with observation data (i.e. codes 7, 8 and 9) as well as co-ordinates data (i.e. codes 37, 38 and 39). If this occurs, the recorded co-ordinate data is ignored and the observation data are used to calculate the co-ordinates of the point. To use the recorded co-ordinates, simply ensure that the observation data are not recorded.