Global Settings

The Global Settings Window

Application-wide configuration and display settings.

Open the Global Settings window using the Settings option in the File menu, or by clicking the settings button in the quick access toolbar.

The Global Settings window contains options for for settings that are applied application-wide, such as depth and distance units, import defaults and map settings.

The settings window is split into a number of pages, which can be accessed by clicking the appropriate tab header.

Display

Display Units settings determine how values are displayed within the ReefMaster application. The display page also contains settings for the background map and default palettes.

Display Units

Use the Metric or US buttons to set all display units to metric or US, or adjust the individual units as required.

Depth and Distance

Depth and distance can be shown in imperial/US measurements, which shows feet for depth and miles/feet for distance, or metric, with metres for depth and kilometres/metres for distance.

The choice of depth units also affects the contour intervals that are available in map projects.

GPS Coordinates

GPS coordinates can be shown in one of three formats:

·Degrees, minutes, seconds (DD.mm.ss)

·Degrees, minutes, decimal minutes (DD.mm.ddd)

·Decimal degrees (DD.dddddd)

Note that all GPS coordinates within ReefMaster use the WGS84 datum. ReefMaster does not convert between GPS datums.

Time

Show times as Local or UTC (Universal Time Coordinated, functionally equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time).

Assets are assigned a time zone which is used to calculate the local time for display. This allows different assets to maintain different time zones if required. Note that all times are stored internally as UTC and the Show Times As.. option only changes how these times are displayed.

Temperature

Choose between Centigrade of Fahrenheit for water temperature readings.

Speed

The speed units setting affects the speed display on the Live Data Panel and be one of knots, Mph (miles per hour) or KMph (kilometres per hour).

Background Maps

Show Maps by Default

Background maps can be shown in the graphical edit windows.

Individual map windows have the option to show or hide background maps. The Show Maps by Default option determines whether maps are shown or not when an edit window is first opened. Since map tiles are downloaded as required, it can be useful to uncheck this option when operating ReefMaster with reduced or zero internet connectivity.

Map Source

Map providers can be chosen from a selection in the drop-down list. Not all map providers provide maps for all locations at all zoom levels. For example, Map Quest Ariel provides much more detail over the continental US than for the rest of the world. Choose the map provider that provides the best results for your area of interest.

Default Colour Schemes and Palettes

The default palettes for map projects and tracks can be selected using the drop-down list boxes.

Default colour schemes for polygon map layers (including isobaths) and polyline map layers (including contours) can be set here. These colour schemes will be used when creating new map layers as part of the map build process. Colour schemes are discussed in more detail in Editing Map Layers.

Hardware Graphics Acceleration

The sonar viewer and sidescan mosaic functions use hardware graphics acceleration to provide better results and performance. Hardware graphics acceleration requires a graphics card with hardware support for Microsoft DirectX 10.1 or greater. If this is not available, sonar viewer and sidescan mosaic rendering will fall back to software rendering, which does not require a graphics card.

It is also possible to disable hardware rendering explicitly by de-selecting the Use hardware acceleration if available check-box. This might be required if there are rendering issues when running the sonar viewer or sidescan mosaic. Note that some features are not available when hardware acceleration is disabled.

Import/Export

GPS Import

Assign default values for use during the GPS Import process.

Values set here will be used by default during the import process. These values can also be changed during the import process.

Default Timezone

The default time zone that is assigned to imported GPS assets. By default, this is the time zone set in the operating system.

Default Equipment

To simplify switching source devices during import, values associated with specific GPS/Sounder devices, such as Cone Angle and Keel Offset are grouped together into a GPS Equipment Profile. Change the profile used by default during import by selecting a profile from the drop-down list box. To add a new profile, or edit an existing one, use the Edit button.

Third Party Applications

ReefMaster can integrate with some third party applications.

WxTide

WXTide is a free program that provides tidal predictions for much of the world. ReefMaster can use tide information from WXTide to tide adjust track-point depths. This is important for accurate mapping in tidal waters. WXTide can be installed from http://www.wxtide32.com. Once installed, locate the WXTide32.exe application file using the Browse button.

In a default installation, the application will be in directory “C:\Program Files (x86)\WXTide32”.

Insight Map Creator

The Insight Map Creator is a free tool from Navico that processes ESRI Shapefiles to create maps in the AT5 format, suitable for use in Lowrance and Simrad GPS units. ReefMaster is able to run the IMC automatically so that AT5 maps can be created without having to run the IMC separately. In order to do this, the location of the installed InsightMapCreator.exe must be known.

The Insight Map Creator can be downloaded from the Navico Insight Store, on the Insight Planner tab.

For integration with ReefMaster, IMC v0.66 or greater must be installed.

Live Data

See Live Data Configuration, where settings for the live data connection, such as serial port configuration and NMEA sentences, can be configured.

Palette Editor

Palettes for map projects, the sonar viewer and track points can be created and edited in the Palette Editor.

Tides

Tide stations allow the import of tide offset data that can be used to adjust the depths of imported track logs. See Tide Stations.