This directory (/home/adcp/config/cmdfiles) contains
standard command files for various instruments running under
UHDAS.  You can use these as they are, or you can use them
as templates for developing your own to suit your particular
requirements.  One easy way to do this is to load a file
into UHDAS, change the settings in the control panel, and
then save the file, preferably with another name.  You may
also edit the files directly in an editor.

Comments in the standard files are generated by code in
UHDAS.  If you edit the comments, load a file into UHDAS,
perhaps change a setting, and then save to the same or a new
file, your edited comments will be lost; UHDAS does not save
comments when loading a file, but instead always writes the
same comments for a given type of instrument.

We suggest that you use a separate "readme" file to document
your configurations.

Comments on the standard command files follow:

General
=======

In all files, most parameters settings are close to RDI
recommended values.

All range-related parameters (blanking interval, cell size,
expected range) scale roughly inversely with the frequency:
doubling the frequency cuts the range approximately in half,
and also halves the cell size for a given short-term
accuracy.

*bottomtrack.cmd
    have both bottomtracking and watertracking
    enabled.  We recommend using bottomtracking only when
    conditions are suitable for bottomtrack calibration, and
    when such calibration is needed; with UHDAS and a good
    heading source (i.e., a GPS attitude sensor such as a
    POS/MV, Ashtech ADU*, or Seapath is available along with a
    gyro compass), bottomtracking has no benefit for profiling
    absolute water velocities, particularly with
    low-frequency sonars.


Ocean Surveyor
=============

*_highres_*.cmd
    use broadband pings to permit better vertical
    resolution, at the cost of reduced range.

*_lowres_*.cmd
    use narrowband pings to maximize range at the cost of
    reduced vertical resolution.

*_interleaved*.cmd
    use alternating narrowband and broadband pings to try to
    get range and resolution simultaneously.  This does not
    work well, however, unless there is a strong shear
    signal.  The problem is that alternating pings cuts the
    number of pings of each type in half, so the accuracy of
    an average over a given time interval is reduced.  The
    noise in the measurement can easily exceed the ocean
    shear signal.

The time between pings must be long enough to avoid
interference from the reverberation of earlier pings.  In
very deep water, one can actually use a shorter
time between pings than in shallower water, where the return
from the bottom may arrive along with the water return from
a subsequent ping.