USB/Serial Setup Guide

Introduction

With the release of controller 8.2 controller Firmware, we are changing how we handle USB/Serial Device discovery.

USB storage devices, and Wi-Fi dongles are unaffected by this change and will still auto detect.

Historically Our Firmware has been able to assume that when a USB that gets plugged in would be one of only a few devices and therefore could be set to automatically “detect” these devices. However, with the introduction of several new USB/Serial integrations across both Deep Trekker and Pipe Trekker we have determined that this needs to be a manual configurable setting. This change will require customers with existing USB/serial devices to reconfigure some controller settings if/when they update to 8.2. Once configured once the USB ports will stay paired through power cycles and updates.

Since these Preferences are saved to each port individually, we recommend physically labeling USB ports to avoid mixing up during subsequent setups.

Follow the instructions in this guide to see how to properly set up devices. For SeaTrac USBL setup refer to the integrated section below.

Changes/New Features

Data Passthrough

There is a new selection under the settings menu called SERIAL DEVICES

Here you can find options for Topside/controller ports and ROV ports. These only appear when plugged in.

Selecting controller ports will allow you to configure the paired port and output/input baud rate for either USB port on the controller.

ROV/crawler Ports will allow you to configure The Serial over IP Devices routed through the vehicle; such as side scan sonar, CP probe, Cygnus gauge or multi parameter sonde. You can select the output ports as well as the baud rate for the device. 

ROVs require hardware upgrade to function at this time. Contact support@deeptrekker.com for more details

If a vehicle was originally shipped with an ROV mounted serial device and is setup to pass data over the “pig tail” off the tether into a laptop/PC, this section does not apply.

See Table of devices and recommended Baud rates below.

Integrated Uses

Under LOCATION settings select either the controller or ROV location device you wish to use. Then enter the CONFIGURE DEVICE option. Select the proper baud rate and USB port. The most common devices are External GPS for the controller and SeaTrac for the ROV. 

Both Controller and ROV location devices will need to be configured in the same way as above by selecting the desired paired port as well as the applicable Baud rate for each device. 

Since these Preferences are saved to each port individually, we recommend physically labeling USB ports to avoid mixing up during subsequent setups.