7
Operating the STAP
7.6 Data Files
The on-board control software saves collected data to the SD Card. A sample data set is
included below. The .txt files contain both raw data obtained directly from the instru-
ment and data (e.g. light absorption coefficient) with processing applied by the control
software (see Theory of Operation). The file may be opened with any text editor. The
STAP automatically creates new files each time the unit is powered on or when the SD
card filesave feature is switched to ON. The file naming convention is “YYMMDDA0.txt”,
where “YY” designates the year (e.g. 16 for 2016), “MM” designates the month, “DD”
designates the day, and “A0” denotes the first file created on a given day. As new files
are created on a given day they are named with “A1”, “A2” etc. at the end. When the
sequence reaches “A9”, it changes to “B0”, “B1” etc. This limits the number of files
created in a single day to 260. As long as the filter state is equal to 0 (PREVIOUS) or 6
(INITIALIZED), a new file will be created as soon as an SD card is inserted. The header
information will also be written even if SD Save is Off. A new file is also automatically
created every time a filter initialization is completed.
SD Card
To clear the SD card of old files, it is necessary to FORMAT the SD card (a quick format
works) and not just delete the files. The STAP will not be able to use space freed up by
simply deleting the files. When formatting an SD card be sure to choose FAT32, that is
the only format that the STAP recognizes.
It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that SD Save be set to OFF before removing an SD card.
This eliminates the possibility of corrupting the SD card. The SD card file format consists
of a header and data columns. The lines in the header start with the pound sign ”#”. An
example of a file header is shown below. Descriptions of the parameters are shown below
and do not appear in a normal header. These parameter names are also used for serial
communication.
Data File Format
Raw data at the end of each line has the Dark or Dark Ref value already subtracted from
it.
83-00036-01A
STAP 9406
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