Session Configurations

Session Configurations added to home page in SonarView version 1.11.1 For setting up configurations in older versions of SonarView, please refer here

Overview

To access advanced features in SonarView—like using multiple devices in tandem (e.g., multiple Omniscans or a Surveyor with GPS), configuring scanner offsets, selecting a vehicle model, changing specific server settings, etc.—you’ll need to set these options in Session Configurations.

Click the "Session Configurations" button on the home page. The Session Configurations window shows all of your defined sessions, devices, and vehicles:

Session Configurations Window

First, note the three fields near the bottom. Log Directory tells SonarLink where to store logs. This path should be accessible to wherever SonarLink is running. NTP Server Hostname is a URL that tells SonarLink where to get NTP time. This is used for devices like the Surveyor to fetch accurate UTC time. If no NTP server is accessible at that URL, system time is used. Enable Serial Devices allows discovery to find serial devices like the ROVL or Ping360. The flow of session configurations should be relatively straightforward: first, define the devices and vehicles (optional) you plan to use, then define the sessions in which you'll use them. If your devices are connected, the session you defined will show up in discovery and you can connect to it. Below is a detailed explanation of each field, but experimenting with the settings should give you a good feel for how it all works.

Devices

Devices are where you define the equipment you’ll use in a session. To open the device editor, click 'Add Device' or click the edit button (the pencil) on an existing device.

Above is an example of the device editor window. Here is an explanation for the various fields:

Field/Button	Explanation	Required
Detect Devices	Detects devices available on the network. If any devices are available, the device can be selected from the drop down and the fields will auto-populate	N/A
Device Nickname	Nickname for device so user can distinguish devices. Must be unique	Yes
Device Type	Type of device	Yes
Protocol	Transport protocol of device. Only shows valid transport protocols for the specified device (TCP, UDP, or Serial)	Yes
IP Address (TCP/UDP)	IP address of device	If using TCP/UDP
Port # (TCP/UDP)	Port number of device	If using TCP/UDP
Serial Port (Serial)	Serial port of device	If using Serial
Baud Rate (Serial)	Baud rate of serial port	If using Serial
Other Fields	Any other fields are device specific and optional (e.g. mounting angle for the Omniscan)	No
Save	Saves the device to Session Configurations	N/A
Cancel	Discards changes	N/A

If you have hardware that you want to use with different settings (e.g., the same Omniscan at different addresses or with varied mounting angles), simply define another device with the appropriate settings

Supported Devices:

• Omniscan 450

• Sounder S500

• Surveyor 240-16

• Tracker 650

• DVL 75

• Insight 240

• Ping

• Ping360

• Generic NMEA GPS

• Yacht Devices NMEA2000 USB Gateway

Vehicles

Vehicles define the 3D model and vehicle data used by SonarView. To pull up the vehicle editor window, click "Add Vehicle" or click the edit button on one of your vehicles

Field	Explanation	Required
Vehicle Nickname	Nickname for vehicle so user can distinguish vehicles. Must be unique	Yes
Vehicle Model	3D model used by SonarView	No
Protocol	Communication protocol of vehicle so data (heading, position estimate) can be used by SonarView. Currently only mavlink2rest is supported	No
Hostname	Hostname of vehicle to fetch data (only supports mavlink2rest currently)	No
Port	Port of vehicle server (only supports mavlink2rest currently)	No
Use as default	Sets this vehicle as the default to be used when no other vehicle is specified (SonarView displays an arrow if no default is specified)	No
Save	Saves the Vehicle	N/A
Cancel	Discards changes	N/A

Sessions

Defined sessions will show up in discovery if all devices are connectable. To pull up the session editor window, click "Add Session" or click the edit button on one of your sessions

Field	Explanation	Required
Session Name	Unique name to identify session	Yes
Vehicle	Vehicle to be used with this session. Dropdown shows all vehicles defined by the user	No
Devices	All devices to be used in tandem in this session. Dropdown shows all devices defined by the user	Yes (at least one device)
Save	Saves session	N/A
Cancel	Discards changes	N/A

Hints and tips

• Devices and vehicles must be defined before including them in a plan

• To delete any item (session, device, vehicle), click and hold the X. If you delete a device or vehicle that is a part of a plan, the plan will be deleted as well

• Devices and vehicles alone with NOT show up in discovery. They must be a part of a session

• Click and hold the red "HOLD TO CLEAR DATA" button to delete all data

• If you have a legacy config.json that's properly formatted, all the data will be converted to work with this UI. A backup of your config.json will be saved in config_v1_backup.json in your SonarView logs directory

• If you want to transfer your session configurations to another computer, find the config.json file in your SonarView logs directory and replace that file in the other computer

• If there's an issue converting the legacy config.json, you can clear it by using the "HOLD TO CLEAR DATA" button. If you have any vital data in the config.json, save it somewhere else before clearing it

The following subpages will walk you through some supported set-ups