Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) --
Software

FAQs have been organized into the following categories:

Software questions (this page)

• I am confused by all these software names. Which software does what?
• Can I install my Sea-Bird CD-ROM on multiple computers or give it to another interested scientist?
• How can I copy the setup of my Sea-Bird software onto another computer?
• How can I view CTD data?
• What is a configuration (.con) file and how is it used?
• What is a .psa file and how is it used?
• What is a .cfg file and how is it used?
• Does SEASOFT have a provision for converting to MatLab data files?
• Can I use SEASOFT on a Macintosh, Unix, or Linux system?
• Is the Windows version of SEASOFT compatible with Microsoft's Vista operating system?
• Can I use SEASOFT-DOS on a computer with Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP operating system?
• Your website Download Software from FTP Site page defines the latest software revision, but I cannot find the latest revision on the FTP site. Is it not posted yet?
• Why am I having trouble downloading software from your FTP site?
• What is the flag variable column that is added to the data file by Data Conversion or ASCII In?
• How does Sea-Bird software calculate conductivity, temperature, and pressure in engineering units?
• How does Sea-Bird software calculate derived variables such as salinity, sound velocity, density, depth, thermosteric anomaly, specific volume, potential temperature, etc.?
• What formula does Sea-Bird software use to convert pressure data to depth?
• In Sea-Bird software, is noon on January 1 Julian Day 0.5 or Julian Day 1.5?
• Can I edit my .dat data file to add some explanatory notes to the header?
• Can I edit my .hex data file to add some explanatory notes to the header?
• Why am I getting a class not registered error message when running SBE Data Processing?

	General instrument questions How do instruments that can be internally or externally powered handle external power if internal batteries are installed? Why do some instruments have zinc anodes, while others do not? Do Anti-Foulant Devices affect the conductivity cell calibration? What is Triton? Does it harm sensors? Do I need to purchase it from Sea-Bird? Where can I get information about safe handling/hazards associated with chemicals used with Sea-Bird equipment, such as Anti-Foulant Devices and Triton X-100 detergent? My CTD has a Digiquartz pressure sensor. Can I use it above its rated pressure? My CTD has a Druck pressure sensor. Can I use it above its rated pressure? What do you recommend for cleaning barnacles off the exterior of the instrument? Why is the color on my instrument housing changing? Can I use hydrochloric acid to clean the outside of the housing? Why am I getting negative density values when testing the instrument? What is a wet-pluggable or wet-mateable or MCBH connector? Can I mate and unmate a cable with this connector underwater?
	General oceanographic questions What is the difference between psu and ppt? What is the difference between IPTS-68 and ITS-90? What is the difference between initial accuracy and resolution? Why is sound velocity (SV) computed from a CTD better than sound velocity from direct measuring instruments? What is hydrostatic head effect? How can I find the density of seawater at different temperatures and/or salinities? What is the cause of conductivity drift? Does it matter whether you use natural or artificial seawater for calibrations? Which does Sea-Bird use? Where can I purchase standard seawater? Why is my CTD data showing hysteresis?
	Recommended practices What are the major steps involved in taking a cast with a Profiling CTD? Should I collect water samples (close bottles) on the downcast or the upcast? What are the major steps involved in deploying a moored instrument? What are the recommended practices for mating and unmating connectors? How can I tell if my connectors have leaked, and what do I do about corrosion on connector pins? What are the recommended practices for replacing a bulkhead connector? What are the recommended practices for inspecting and cleaning o-rings and mating surfaces? How often should I replace o-rings? How should I handle my CTD to avoid cracking the conductivity cell? What is an Anti-Foulant Device? How often should I replace it? Does it require special handling? What are the recommended practices for deploying in frazil or pancake ice, or deploying at low temperatures? Does it matter if I deploy my moored instrument, which includes a conductivity sensor, in a horizontal or vertical position? How many / what kind of spares should I have on ship for my instrument? How many/what kind of spares should I have on ship for my SBE 9plus? How will my CTD be affected by adjacent objects? What are the safety concerns/procedures if the instrument floods? Can the instrument explode? Is it necessary to put my instrument in water to test it? Will I destroy the conductivity cell if I test it in air? How should I store my conductivity sensor if there is danger of freezing? What are the recommended practices for cleaning and lubricating winch cables?
	Service How often do I need to have my instrument and/or auxiliary sensors recalibrated? Can I recalibrate them myself? I am planning to ship my instrument to Sea-Bird for calibration and minor repairs. What is the typical turn-around time? I want to add an auxiliary sensor to my CTD. Assuming the auxiliary sensor is compatible with the instrument, what is the procedure? Do I need to remove batteries before shipping my instrument for a deployment or to Sea-Bird? Do I need to clean the exterior of my instrument before shipping it to Sea-Bird for calibration? I want to change the pressure sensor on my CTD, swapping it as needed to get the best data for a given deployment depth. Can I do this myself, or do I need to send the instrument to Sea-Bird? Can I brush clean and replatinize the conductivity cell myself? How often should this be done? I sent my conductivity sensor to Sea-Bird for calibration, and you also performed a Cleaning and Replatinizing (C&P). You sent the instrument back with 2 sets of calibration data. What does this mean? How can I tell if the conductivity cell on my CTD is broken? My auxiliary sensor (not manufactured by Sea-Bird) needs to be repaired / recalibrated. Where should I send it for servicing? What are Configuration Sheets, and where can I find them for my instrument? What is Sea-Bird's policy on upgrading instruments? Should I purchase spare pressure sensors for my SBE 9plus? What do I need to send to Sea-Bird for calibration of my SBE 9plus? What do I need to send to Sea-Bird for calibration of my SBE 25?
	Ordering How do I find information about the options available with each instrument? Where do I find pricing information for new instruments, calibration services, and/or repair services? Which Sea-Bird profiling CTD is best for my application? I want to integrate a moored CTD with some auxiliary sensors (transmissometer, fluorometer, etc.). Which CTD should I use? How should I pick the pressure sensor range for my CTD? Would the highest range give me the most flexibility in using the CTD? I am ordering a CTD and want to use auxiliary sensors. Should I order them from Sea-Bird also, or deal directly with the sensors' manufacturers? What are the pros and cons of ordering wet-pluggable connectors? Can Sea-Bird provide some guidance for ordering cable, winch, and deck gear?
	Data analysis and processing Why and how should I align data from a 911plus CTD? What are the typical data processing steps recommended for each instrument? Where can I find formulas for calculating conductivity, temperature, pressure, and derived parameters such as salinity, sound velocity, density, depth, thermosteric anomaly, specific volume, potential temperature, etc.?
	Manufacturing Does Sea-Bird pressure test each instrument before shipping to verify integrity of housing, o-rings, assembly, etc.? Does Sea-Bird check and calibrate all sensors on a CTD system prior to shipping? Do Sea-Bird instruments have CE certification? Do Sea-Bird instruments have ISO certification?

Our Glossary page is another good source of information.

Sea-Bird’s software package is called SEASOFT©. SEASOFT is available in both Windows and DOS versions. However, processing capability added to our software after early 2001 has been added only to the Windows versions (for example, processing data from new Sea-Bird instruments or interfacing to additional auxiliary sensors). Sea-Bird recommends that all customers use the Windows version, unless there is a compelling reason to run DOS.

Windows Software

• SEASOFT-Win32 – SEASOFT-Win32 is actually a suite of stand-alone programs. You can install the entire suite or just the desired program(s).

• SEATERM ‑ interfaces with most Sea-Bird instruments, providing setup, data retrieval, and diagnostic tests.

• SeatermAF ‑ interfaces with instruments that provides auto-fire capability for autonomous operation of an SBE 32 Carousel Water Sampler (with an SBE 17plus V2 or AFM) or SBE 55 ECO Water Sampler, providing setup, data retrieval, and diagnostic tests.

• Seaterm54 - interfaces with SBE 54 and PN 90588 Tsunameter, providing setup, data retrieval, and diagnostic tests.

• SEASAVE V7 - acquires, converts, and displays real-time or archived data. SEASAVE V7 is an entirely new version of SEASAVE, officially released March 2007.

• SEASAVE-Win32 ‑ acquires, converts, and displays real-time or archived data.
  Note: SEASAVE-Win32 is replaced by SEASAVE V7. While Sea-Bird continues to supply SEASAVE-Win32 our our ftp site and on the CD-ROMs distributed with the instruments, we highly recommend that users switch to SEASAVE V7. We will continue to provide customer support for SEASAVE-Win32, but will not add new features or compatibility with new instruments.

• SBE Data Processing ‑ converts, edits, processes, and plots data; some of SBE Data Processing’s most commonly used modules include Data Conversion, Align CTD, Bin Average, Derive, and SeaPlot.

• Plot39 ‑ plots ASCII data that has been uploaded from SBE 39 Temperature Recorder or SBE 48 Hull Temperature Sensor.

• SEASOFT for Waves-Win32 ‑
  Provides set-up, data retrieval, data processing, auto-spectrum and time series analysis, statistics reporting, and plotting for the SBE 26 and SBE 26plus SEAGAUGE Wave & Tide Recorder.
  Provides set-up, data retrieval, data processing, and plotting for the SBE 53 BPR Bottom Pressure Recorder.

DOS Software

• SEASOFT-DOS ‑ With SEASOFT-DOS, you must install the entire suite of programs. SEASOFT-DOS includes:

• TERM11, TERM1621, TERM17, TERM19, TERM25, TERM37, TERMAFM, and TMODEM ‑ interfaces with instruments, providing setup, data retrieval, and diagnostic tests.

• SEASAVE ‑ acquires, converts, and displays real-time or archived data.

• Data processing modules ‑ convert, edit, and process data; some of the most commonly used modules include SEACON, DATCNV, ALIGNCTD, BINAVG, and DERIVE.

• SeaPlot ‑ plots data.

• SEASOFT for Waves-DOS ‑ Provides set-up, data retrieval, plotting, auto-spectrum, time series analysis, and statistics reporting for the SBE 26 SEAGAUGE Wave & Tide Recorder.

You are free to install the software on multiple computers and to give the software to any interested potential user.

Sea-Bird's SEASOFT© software is provided free of charge to Sea-Bird users and is not subject to any license. SEASOFT is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. All title and copyrights in and to SEASOFT and the accompanying printed materials, and any copies of SEASOFT, are owned by Sea-Bird Electronics. There are no restrictions on its use or distribution, provided such use does not infringe on our copyright.

The software is posted on our ftp site and anyone can download it.

A setup file is used by SEASAVE V7, SEASAVE-Win32 (version < 7.0), and by each module in SBE Data Processing to remember the way you had the program set up. You can save the file to a desired filename and location, and then use it when you run the software the next time, to ensure that the software will be set up the same way:

• A .psa file is created by SEASAVE V7 to store program settings, such as the instrument .con file name and path, serial ports, water sampler, TCP/IP ports, serial data output, etc. as well as size, placement, and setup for each display window.

• A .cfg file is created by SEASAVE-Win32 (version < 7.0) to store program settings, such as the instrument .con file name and path, serial ports, water sampler, serial data output, etc. The .cfg file also contains the setup file name for each display window.

• A .psa file is created by each  module in SBE Data Processing to store program settings, such as the input filename and path, output filename, and module-specific parameters (for example, for Data Conversion: variables to convert, ascii or binary output, etc.).

If you want to set up real-time acquisition or data processing on more than one computer in the same way, simply copy the file for the desired setup *, and transfer it to the other computer via your network, email, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, or some other media. Then, after you open the software on the second computer, select the setup file you want to use.

• SEASAVE V7: Select File / Open Setup File.

• SEASAVE-Win32 (version < 7.0): Select File / Open Seasave Configuration.

• SBE Data Processing: In the module dialog box, on the File Setup tab, click the Open button under Program setup file.

* Note: For SEASAVE-Win32 (version < 7.0), you also need to copy all the window display setup files that are referenced in the .cfg file.

You can plot the raw data from a .dat or .hex file with SEASAVE V7 or SEASAVE-Win32.

Once the data is converted to a .cnv file with engineering units (using SBE Data Processing’s Data Conversion), you can plot the data in SBE Data Processing’s SeaPlot.

• Because SeaPlot only works with archived files, it is more sophisticated than SEASAVE. For example, SeaPlot can provide multiple file overlays, waterfall plots, and TS plots with contours.

If you wish to view the actual numbers you can open the .cnv file (if it was converted as ASCII) with any word processor or text editor.

The configuration file defines the instrument ‑ auxiliary sensors integrated with the instrument, and channels, serial numbers, and calibration dates and coefficients for all the integrated sensors (conductivity, temperature, and pressure as well as auxiliary sensors). Sea-Bird’s real-time acquisition and data processing software uses the information in the .con file to interpret and process the raw data (sensor frequencies and voltages). If the .con file does not match the actual instrument configuration, the software will not be able to interpret and process the data correctly.

When Sea-Bird ships a new instrument, we include a .con file that reflects the current instrument configuration. The .con file is named with the instrument serial number, followed with the .con extension. For example, for an instrument with serial number 2375, Sea-Bird names the .con file 2375.con. You may rename the .con file if desired; this will not affect the results.

To view or modify the .con file, use the Configure Inputs menu in SEASAVE V7, or the Configure menu in SBE Data Processing or SEASAVE-Win32.

Notes:

• SEASAVE V7, SEASAVE-Win32, and SBE Data Processing check that the serial number in the .con file matches the instrument serial number in the .dat or .hex data file. If they are not the same, you will get an error message. The instrument serial number can be verified by sending the DS command in the terminal program (SEATERM or SeatermAF, as applicable).

• SBE 16, 16plus, 16plus-IM, 19, 19plus, 21, and 49 ‑ The instrument serial number is the same as the serial number of both the conductivity and temperature sensors.

• SBE 37, 39, and 48 ‑ These instruments store calibration coefficients internally and do not accept auxiliary sensors, so they do not have .con files.

• The calibration date in the .con file is for information only. It does not affect the data processing.

• When Sea-Bird recalibrates an instrument, we ship the instrument with a Calibration Sheet showing the new calibration coefficients. The user must enter these calibration coefficients into the .con file.

A .psa (program setup) file is used by SEASAVE V7 and by each module in SBE Data Processing to remember the way you had the program set up. You can save the .psa file to a desired filename and location, and then use it when you run the software the next time, to ensure that the software will be set up the same way:

• A .psa file is created by SEASAVE V7 to store program settings, such as the instrument .con file name and path, serial ports, water sampler, TCP/IP ports, serial data output, etc. as well as size, placement, and setup for each display window.

• A .psa file is created by each  module in SBE Data Processing to store program settings, such as the input filename and path, output filename, and module-specific parameters (for example, for Data Conversion: variables to convert, ascii or binary output, etc.).

If you want to set up real-time acquisition or data processing on more than one computer in the same way, simply copy the .psa file for the desired setup, and transfer it to the other computer via your network, email, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, or some other media. Then, after you open the software on the second computer, select the .psa file you want to use.

• SEASAVE V7: Select File / Open Setup File.

• SBE Data Processing: In the module dialog box, on the File Setup tab, click the Open button under Program setup file.

A .cfg file is used  by SEASAVE-Win32 (version < 7.0) to remember the way you had the program set up. The .cfg file is created by SEASAVE-Win32 to store program settings, such as the instrument .con file name and path, serial ports, water sampler, serial data output, etc. as well as size, placement, and setup for each display window. You can save the .cfg file to a desired filename and location, and then use it when you run the software the next time, to ensure that the software will be set up the same way.

If you want to set up real-time acquisition or data processing on more than one computer in the same way, simply copy the .cfg file for the desired setup, and transfer it to the other computer via your network, email, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, or some other media. Then, after you open the software on the second computer, select the .cfg file you want to use (select File / Open Seasave Configuration).

MatLab can import flat ASCII files. To produce those files:

1. Run SBE Data Processing’s Data Conversion module to produce a .cnv file with data in ASCII engineering units from the raw data file. This file also contains header information.

2. Run SBE Data Processing’s ASCII Out module to remove the header information, leaving just the data portion of the converted (.cnv) data file.

Sea-Bird software was designed to run on DOS or Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP systems. We chose DOS and Windows because of their widespread availability, and suitability as an acquisition platform. Sea-Bird provides the software free of charge as part of our instrument support. Because of this, we do not have the resources to write and provide support software for other operating systems.

• If you have a valid PC emulator on your system, the Sea-Bird software may run, but we have no way to confirm this, or that the I/O connections to the instrument will properly function.

• If you have access to a PC running DOS or Windows, you can use Sea-Bird’s software to convert the data from our proprietary format to ASCII (in engineering units of C, T, and P with calibration coefficients applied), at which point you could use your own software on a different computer to perform additional processing.

We expect that the software is compatible, but (as of March 2007) testing is still in progress.

While current indications are that Sea-Bird software is compatible with Vista, we have discovered that the Help files included with the software are not compatible. To open Sea-Bird's software Help files, a Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) must also be installed on your computer. WinHlp32.exe was automatically installed with the installation of Windows for all previous Windows releases. However, Microsoft has announced that it is no longer including WinHlp32.exe with Windows operating systems, starting with Windows Vista. To view the Sea-Bird software Help files on a computer with the Vista operating system, users must first download WinHlp32.exe from Microsoft's web site (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6EBCFAD9-D3F5-4365-8070-334CD175D4BB&displaylang=en provides the download and detailed instructions), and install it on their computer.

Note: Sea-Bird will update all of the software Help files to provide full compatibility with Vista (without the need for the WinHlp32.exe file installation) within the next few months. This FAQ will be updated when the transition is completed.

Yes. However, you may need to modify some system settings on the computer:

• In the DOS screen, click on the Properties button. In the dialog box, click on Advanced. Enable the setting Prevent MS-DOS-based programs from detecting Windows.

• If using the terminal programs in SEASOFT-DOS, additional system modifications may be required, particularly with a laptop computer. See Application Note 58: Sea-Bird DOS-Based Terminal Programs and Microsoft Windows 95/98 for details.

You are probably looking at cached information on the FTP site. To get the latest listing on the FTP site, click on the Reload (Netscape) or Refresh (Internet Explorer) button.

Check the following:

• Verify that the transfer protocol is set to binary, not ASCII.

• Check the Internet Options on your computer. If you are running Windows XP, open an Internet Explorer window, and select Tools / Internet Options in the menu; click the Advanced tab, and verify that Enable folder view for FTP sites is checked.

• Try changing the security settings on your computer or network; your network administrator should be able to help you with this.

• Try downloading at a different, non-peak time and see what happens. (There may be a transmission problem with the phone lines, or the ftp server may be overly busy. We use a commercial provider for our ftp site. At certain times they can be extremely busy and transmission problems may occur.)

If you still cannot download the software, Sea-Bird can supply it on a CD-ROM. Fill out the Software Request Form or contact us to request the CD-ROM.

The flag variable column is added by Data Conversion (if you process data using Sea-Bird software) or ASCII In (if you are importing data that was generated using other software). The Loop Edit module sets the flag variable to bad for scans that show a pressure slowdown or reversal. The flag variable is then used by the rest of the SBE Data Processing modules as an indication of a bad scan, allowing you to exclude scans that are marked bad from processing performed in a module, if desired.

Initially all scans are marked good (flag value of 0) in Data Conversion or ASCII In. A flag of -9.99e-29 indicates the scan has been marked bad by Loop Edit.

Note: All occurrences of the bad value (-9.99e-29) can be replaced with a different value in ASCII Out. This may be useful for plotting purposes, as -9.99e-29 looks like 0 in a data plot.

For formulas for the calculation of conductivity, temperature, and pressure from the raw data, see the calibration sheets for your instrument (if you cannot find the calibration sheets, contact us with your instrument serial number at seabird@seabird.com or 425-643-9866).

The SEASAVE and SBE Data Processing manuals document the derived variable formulas in an Appendix (Derived Parameter Formulas). The Help files for these programs also document the formulas. To download the software and/or manuals, go to Software Descriptions and Revisions.

The formulas are provided in Application Note 69: Conversion of Pressure to Depth.

In SEASOFT-DOS version 4.249 and higher (March 2001 and later), January 1 is Julian Day 1. Therefore, noon on January 1 is Julian Day 1.5. Earlier versions of the software incorrectly defined January 1 as Julian Day 0, so noon on January 1 would appear as Julian Day 0.5.

All release versions of SBE Data Processing correctly identify January 1 as Julian Day 1.

SEASOFT-Win32's SEASAVE creates a .dat file from data acquired from the SBE 11plus V2 Deck Unit  / SBE 9plus CTD. This also applies to earlier versions of the Deck Unit and CTD.

Some text editing programs modify the file in ways that are not visible to the user (such as adding or removing carriage returns and line feeds), but that corrupt the format and prevent further processing by SEASOFT. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you first convert the data to a .cnv file (using SBE Data Processing’s Data Conversion module), and then use other SBE Data Processing modules to edit the .cnv file as desired.

Sea-Bird is not aware of a technique for editing a .dat file that will not corrupt it.
Sea-Bird distributes a utility program, Fixdat, that may repair a corrupted .dat file. Fixdat.exe is installed with, and located in the same directory as, SBE Data Processing.

Note: SEASAVE V7 creates a .hex file instead of a .dat file from data acquired from the SBE 11plus V2 Deck Unit / SBE 9plus CTD. See the question below for techniques for editing a .hex data file.

Some text editing programs modify the file in ways that are not visible to the user (such as adding or removing carriage returns and line feeds), but that corrupt the format and prevent further processing by SEASOFT. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you first convert the data to a .cnv file (using SBE Data Processing’s Data Conversion module), and then use other SBE Data Processing modules to edit the .cnv file as desired.

However, if you still want to edit the raw data, this procedure provides details on 1 way to edit a .hex data file with a text editor while retaining the required format. This has been found to work correctly on computers running Windows 98/2000/NT. If the editing is not performed using this technique, SEASOFT may reject the data file and give you an error message.

1. Make a back-up copy of your .hex data file before you begin.

2. Run WordPad.

3. In the File menu, select Open. The Open dialog box appears. For Files of type, select All Documents (*.*). Browse to the desired .hex data file and click Open.

4. Edit the file as desired, inserting any new header lines after the System Upload Time line. Note that all header lines must begin with an asterisk (*), and *END* indicates the end of the header. An example is shown below, with the added lines in bold:

* Sea-Bird SBE 21 Data File:
* FileName = C:\Odis\SAT2-ODIS\oct14-19\oc15_99.hex
* Software Version Seasave Win32 v1.10
* Temperature SN = 2366
* Conductivity SN = 2366
* System UpLoad Time = Oct 15 1999  10:57:19
* Testing adding header lines
* Must start with an asterisk
* Can be placed anywhere between System Upload Time and END of header
* NMEA Latitude = 30 59.70 N
* NMEA Longitude = 081 37.93 W
* NMEA UTC (Time) = Oct 15 1999  10:57:19
* Store Lat/Lon Data = Append to Every Scan and Append to .NAV File When <Ctrl F7> is Pressed
** Ship:       Sea-Bird
** Cruise:     Sea-Bird Header Test
** Station:
** Latitude:
** Longitude:
*END*

5. In the File menu, select Save (not Save As). If you are running Windows 2000, the following message displays:

You are about to save the document in a Text-Only format, which will remove all formatting. Are you sure you want to do this?

Ignore the message and click Yes.

6. In the File menu, select Exit.

This error message typically means that some of the .dll files needed to run the software are installed incorrectly or have been corrupted. We recommend that you remove the software, and then reinstall the latest version from our ftp site (go to our Download Software page to see the latest version number and to go to the ftp site).

Note: Use the Windows' Add or Remove Programs utility to remove the software; do not just delete the .exe file.

Last modified: 06 Apr 2007

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