System Requirements

  • 64-bit Windows 10 or 11
  • 8GB RAM or more
  • 4GB Free disk space
  • Intel Core i5, but i7 recommended
  • Virtual Com Port (VCP) Drivers for transceivers made before mid-2024
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Release Notes

8.2.1.408

Jan 9, 2025

  • Support for old SeaQuest 1 devices without tilt sensors.

8.2.1.404

Jan 8, 2025

Import Assistant — New Feature!

  • The Import Assistant imports delimited text for Mag and GPS readings collected by autonomous vehicles.
  • One of the field types that can be imported is the raw reading string from a SeaSpy or Explorer.
  • The Import Assistant also replaces the old guide line delimited text import, so users can import guide lines from other survey planning applications.
  • Presets for importing known formats including:
    • GEM GSM-19
    • GEM GSMP-35U Standard
    • Gavia AUV + explorer
    • Iver  AUV + explorer

Synapse Configuration

  • Keep sensor enabled indicators up to date with online nodes.
  • Prevent storing “empty” samples if no nodes are online.
  • Keep the configuration of the main altimeter and main depth gauge instead of switching to default after getting a structure update (#CLST).

Profile Plot

  • Default Y scales are set to more typical values
  • Resizing the profile plot window maintains the same full scale.
  • Stop traces from moving when rescaling. While scaling, wrapped field traces are auto-adjusted to pin the end of the trace on the y-scale so they don’t appear to move or scroll up the window.

UI improvements

  • Simplified UI when using an imported survey.
  • Fix indicator lights on the main mag panel
    • Leak indicator correctly shows a leak condition in any of the mags.  (Note a warning message was always shown when a leak was detected. This fix pertains only to the indicator light on the panel)
    • Indicators for Signal and Gradient Condition aggregate the worst case of all the mags in multi-mag devices.

Markers

  • Create a marker when the sample rate is changed, or when starting sampling with a new rate.
  • If updating a marker that’s already been placed, copy the color, and merge the new text and label instead of overwriting.
  • Update marker placement for sampling and layback. Allow duplicate marker times.

Backward Compatibility

  • Fixed an issue upgrading surveys from 2014 and earlier

Other Improvements and Fixes

  • Fix hiding readings and the unhide-all feature in Base Station Review.
  • Prevent applying base station correction for measured gradients with SQ as well as SeaSpy gradiometers.
  • Show the Corrected Gradient in Survey Export
  • Fixed an issue regarding restarting sampling after synchronizing.
  • In the terminal window and logs we add lines indicating the opening and closing of the serial ports.
  • When finding Fish location, ignore invalid GPS fixes.
  • Allow -1 as a Fix Quality option for NMEA sentences (to support a HyPack driver)
  • Improve auto-selection of the date of NMEA GGA readings if no RMC is available.
  • Fix export of first reading so it’s either the GPS or fish position as needed (instead of always just the GPS position)
  • Fix UTM projection for surveys crossing the Equator.
  • Filter out any zero nT magnetic field values, since they are always invalid.

8.1.1.340

Oct 24, 2024

  • This release supports a special project which needs to support an SeaQuest 1 upgraded with SeaQuest 2 firmware and an upgraded altimeter.
    • Users must select “SeaQuest2” for BOB to recognize samples from this version of the firmware.
    • Empty columns show in the log table for Aft sensor even if it is not installed in the mag.
    • The survey export does not calculate the total gradient in this release.

8.1.1.325

Sep 30, 2024

  • UI Improvements
    • Full-scale is fixed when resizing the profile plot
    • Show tuning value correctly when manual tuning
    • Cleaner presentation
    • Clearer warnings
    • Alignment is more stable when values are changing rapidly
  • Better support for Satellite-Synched Transceiver
    • Check if transceiver has a lock
    • Force transceiver to sync mag if needed
  • Synchronization improvements
    • More precise
    • More resilient to variable system latencies
    • Easier to use and understand
    • Auto-Correct
      • Keep logging even if mag restarts without sync
      • Keep time if GPS disconnects or loses lock
    • Sync with Satellite-Synched transceiver

8.0.1.258

Sep 6, 2024

  • Fix for crash when opening About window after deactivating BAM license.

8.0.1.202

July 11, 2024

  • Fix: Valid surveys made with BOB 8.0.1.200 wouldn’t show in survey list after re-install.
  • Fix: Parsing of Sea Quest readings would fail sometimes.
  • Fix: In some cases starting a survey with no active GPS connected would fail.
  • GPS Date and Time have been added to the survey export column list.
  • Remove support for obsolete Explorer Gradiometer.

8.0.1.200

June 4, 2024

  • Updated infrastructure for better support, security, and speed with these components:
    • SQL Server 2022
    • .NET 8.0 Desktop runtime
  • Support for new Marine Magnetics Products including
    • Synapse
    • Explorer Gradiometers
    • More AUV file types
  • BAM now plots partial gradients from any two sensors on our gradiometers
  • Simpler installation experience
  • Numerous performance and usability improvements

4.18.1.476

June 4, 2024

  • This is a transitional release which contains a notice, and dialog with instructions to upgrade to the latest BOB.

4.17.1.427

September 18, 2023

  • Additional support for SeaQuest 2 gradiometers
  • Text in the application is more compatible with airborne surveys. (e.g. removed references to “fish” and “boat”)

4.16.1.422

December 5, 2022

  • Create multiple lines in an area marked on the GeoPlot.
  • Fix order of columns in intermagnet parser
  • Fix reset the selected parser for each import of base station readings
  • Fix overlapping survey lines.
  • Fix error in deleting single mag readings.

4.16.1.419

October 5, 2022

  • Improved support for importing GEM drone mag files, including laser altimeter.
  • Import GEM base station data
  • Improved Gavia AUV import speed, and set GPS fix quality
  • Fix: Allow “>” to be sent to the mag from terminal window.
  • Fix: GPS icon sometimes showed invalid fix when it was valid.
  • Various UI and usability improvements.

4.16.1.414

June 13, 2022

  • Support GEM drone mag
  • Altimeter series inverted so higher is bigger
  • Marker export improved.
  • USB connections no longer supported. Transceivers are configured as virtual COM ports so only com port connections are needed.

4.15.1.406

May 31, 2022

  • Improved Guide Line Importers
  • Fixed bug when selecting COM port for repeater.
  • Fixed default wingspans for SeaQuest gradiometers.
  • Exporting gradients have an extra digit of precision (4) now.
  • Numerous UI improvements.

4.15.1.339

December 21, 2021

Additional support for Sea Quest 2

4.15.1.324

November 11, 2021

Support Sea Quest 2 differences in zeroing the depth sensor.

4.14.1.317

October 12, 2021

Overview

  • This release improves several features,
  • supports the new SQ2 mag responses, and
  • the Sentinel 2 base station import allows filtering by signal strength.

Profile Plot

  • Initialize visibility of series when loading.

Import

  • Filter by date for base station and AUV data.
  • Don’t import readings to a significant gap in the survey
  • Dialogs are topmost and modal.
  • Add signal strength filter for base station import.
  • Default file type for import set to all log file types, instead of just the intermagnet observatory format.

Survey Lines

  • Keep survey line list from restoring default sort order after an edit.

Geo Plot

  • Calculate GPS time offset relative to mag clock so it has the same sign as shown on sync warnings

Mag support

  • Handle new SQ-2 string

Markers

  • Format marker list, change icons for expander and visibility buttons.

Diagnostics

  • Log BOB version number to Alert.log

Prior Releases

4.10.1.294

  • Show signal strength in profile plot
  • Get user consent before upgrading BOB
  • Allow user to enter fraction of a second into marker time in marker dialog.
  • Ok button in preferences closes the dialog now
  • Import Sentinel-2 data.

4.10.1.291

  • Fix incomplete drawing of path when selecting a survey line in some cases.
  • Improve placement of markers near edges of profile plot.

4.10.1.187

Miscellaneous

  • Improve detecting when mag is sampling
  • Stop GPS readings from being logged in newly opened survey before we start sampling.
  • More support for Vector mags
  • UI formatting improved

GeoPlot

  • Zoom to mouse point instead of center of screen
  • Show coords where mouse is.
  • More accurate placement of markers.

Mag Profile Plot

  • Sometimes scale was wrong
  • Fix drawing error when crossing midnight.

Log Table

  • Allow user to reorder columns.

Diagnostics

  •  Notifications are saved to alerts.log now

Export

  • Individual mag positions are exported for longitudinal gradiometers.
  • Export failed for surveys that cross midnight.