GEOVISTA LOGGER SOFTWARE MANUAL

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CONTENTS

Installing the Software ............................................................................................................................................ 4

Software Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 4

System Requirements ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Software Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 5

My Sondes Tab ................................................................................................................................................... 5

Stack Control....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Stack Builder ................................................................................................................................................... 6

Stack Length.................................................................................................................................................... 7

Stack Templates .............................................................................................................................................. 7

Diagnostics Tab ................................................................................................................................................... 8

Calibrate Buttons ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Calibration Window ........................................................................................................................................ 9

Boreholes Tab ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Winches Tab ..................................................................................................................................................... 11

Making Changes............................................................................................................................................ 11

Telemetry...................................................................................................................................................... 11

Auto-Depth Generation ................................................................................................................................ 11

Starting a Log ........................................................................................................................................................ 13

Requirements ................................................................................................................................................... 13

Setting the depth .............................................................................................................................................. 13

Checking Diagnostics ........................................................................................................................................ 13

Starting and stopping the log ........................................................................................................................... 13

Log Files ............................................................................................................................................................ 14

Running the Log .................................................................................................................................................... 15

View Configuration Tab .................................................................................................................................... 15

Standard Channels ........................................................................................................................................ 15

Waveform Channels ..................................................................................................................................... 16

 Waterfall Plot Tab ............................................................................................................................................. 17

Note On Performance. .................................................................................................................................. 17

Export tab ......................................................................................................................................................... 18

Additional Tabs ................................................................................................................................................. 18

User Functions ...................................................................................................................................................... 19

Operators .......................................................................................................................................................... 19

Addition ........................................................................................................................................................ 20

Subtraction ................................................................................................................................................... 20

Multiplication ............................................................................................................................................... 20

Division ......................................................................................................................................................... 20

Power ............................................................................................................................................................ 20

Parentheses .................................................................................................................................................. 20

Channel Data .................................................................................................................................................... 20

User Constants .................................................................................................................................................. 20

Numbers ........................................................................................................................................................... 20

Functions .......................................................................................................................................................... 21

Square Root .................................................................................................................................................. 21

Sine ............................................................................................................................................................... 21

Cosine ........................................................................................................................................................... 21

Tangent ......................................................................................................................................................... 21

Inverse Sine................................................................................................................................................... 21

Inverse Cosine ............................................................................................................................................... 21

Inverse Tangent ............................................................................................................................................ 22

Examples ........................................................................................................................................................... 22

Adding User Functions to logs .......................................................................................................................... 22

Advanced Sondes.................................................................................................................................................. 25

Spectral Gamma Sonde .................................................................................................................................... 25

Photo-Electric Density Sonde ........................................................................................................................... 26

INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE

The software comes as a single Microsoft Installer Package .msi file. Simply double click on this file and follow
the on-screen instructions to install the software.

An icon will be placed onto your desktop, as well a group in your start menu.

SOFTWARE OVERVIEW

When the software installs it will create a folder in C drive called “GeoVista Data” inside of which will be four
more folders.

1) C:\GeoVista Data\System
This folder contains files which contain user data.
2) C:\GeoVista Data\Logs
This is the folder where logs are placed.
3) C:\GeoVista Data\Calibration
This is the folder where calibration files are created or must be placed.
4) C:\GeoVista Data\User Functions
This is the folder in which all user functions must be placed

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Operating System: Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10

Software: Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5

SOFTWARE OVERVIEW

The main software window is navigated by using the tab pages. The pages are:

1) Boreholes
2) Diagnostics
3) Stack Control
4) Winch Control
5) My Sondes

MY SONDES TAB

The My Sondes tab is where you add your sondes and their serial numbers.
It is important to use the correct serial number as it is used when looking for a calibration file.

To add a sonde, select the type of sonde from the drop down menu. Enter its serial number and press the “Add
To My Sondes” button. You cannot use a serial number more than once.

Only sondes which have been confirmed as working with this software will be listed in the sonde type drop
down menu. If you wish to choose an unconfirmed sonde, uncheck the “Show Only Tested” checkbox. All
GeoVista sondes will then be shown.
STACK CONTROL

This is the tab where a stack can be built and selected for use.

The stack building tab is quite different from previous versions of the software. It has been designed to allow
easy creation and editing of stacks. It also shows the completed stack and its active communications in the
diagram on the right of the window.

The list on the left shows all of the previously saved stacks. Selecting a stack from this list will load that stack
into the stack builder.

Important: Ensure that the serial numbers that are selected match the tools being used. The serial number is
used when loading the calibration file, using the wrong serial number can result in the wrong calibration values
being used.

STACK BUILDER

The stack builder interface contains 10 rows, each containing controls for selecting one of your sondes.

Sonde Type - This drop down list contains all the types of sondes that you have added in the My
Sondes tab.

Serial Number – This dropdown menu allows you to select the serial number of the sonde being used.

Personalities – This control allows you to enable and disable communications for a sonde. Some
sondes can have multiple personalities, (e.g. Verticality Sonde) and each personality in that sonde can
be individually enabled/disabled.

Enabled – This checkbox enables the row in the stack builder. Unchecking this will exclude the entire
sonde from the stack.
If the user wishes to clear the stack builder, simply press the “Clear” button at the bottom at the bottom right
of the stack builder controls.

STACK LENGTH

Sondes can be stacked together in any order, but some sondes do not allow anything to be stacked below it
(e.g. flowmeter). In order to get high accuracy for the stack length and depth, sonde lengths are defined as
their length as though in the middle of a stack.

From the above image you can see that the bottom end cap is not included in the length of the sonde. In order
for this to be taken into account, a bottom end cap can be added to the stack.

Items such as Bridles, sinker bars and inline-centralisers, when used, should also be added to the stack in order
for it to be correctly defined. The final stack is always displayed in the diagram on the right of the window.

STACK TEMPLATES

When a stack has been defined in the stack builder section, it can be saved as a
new stack by pressing the “Save As New Stack” button. The user will be prompted
to enter a name for the stack.

If a stack was loaded and then modified, it can be saved to the currently selected
stack by pressing the “Save Changes” button.

Obsolete stacks can be deleted by selecting the stack and pressing the “Delete Stack” Button.

The “Add New Stack” button will prompt the user for a name and then create a blank stack with that name.
DIAGNOSTICS TAB

The diagnostics tab is where the state off communications with sondes is displayed. A logger box must be
connected and powered up and a stack be selected for use.

On the left of the tab are the packet display boxes which display a short history of data packets. Green squares
indicate a good packet; red squares indicate a bad packet.
If the power is off to the stack, then packets will be red. If there are communication issues resulting in the
packet failing its checksum, then the packet will be red.

Each active personality will have its own section in the diagnostics tab. Each section has a packet display box, a
Personality acronym title, a Calibrate Button, Packet statistics and channel data.
If a sonde also has commands, these will appear as buttons to the right of the channel data.

Right Clicking anywhere on the tab will show the following menu.

Reset Packet Stats – This will set the Good/Bad/Total counters to zero.

Show Calibrated – This option determines whether to display the

diagnostics tab channel data as calibrated values or raw values. Showing as
raw values can be useful in troubleshooting some problems.

CALIBRATE BUTTONS

Pressing one of the calibration buttons will cause the software to search the calibration folder for a calibration
file for the current combination of sonde and serial number. If one does not exist, you will be asked if you
would like to create a new one.

If the file does exist, it will load the calibration data from the file and the calibration window will be shown.
CALIBRATION WINDOW

The calibration window allows the raw data to undergo simple mathematical processes in order to obtain
values in more desirable units.

On the left is the channel selection. Selecting a channel will load that channels current calibration data.

The current value and the calibrated value are shown at the top.

Changing the calibration type will set the number of rows for data input.

Acquisition Length – This selects how many samples will be used when the acquire button is pressed.

Acquire – This starts the acquisition of data. Once the number of samples has been reached, the average will
be taken and entered into the Raw Value box.

Calculate Coefficients – Once Raw and New values have been entered, pressing the Calculate Coefficients will
calculate the calibration coefficients. These will be placed in the boxes below the button. The equation for the
calibration will be shown.

Save Channel Calibration – Pressing this button will finalise the calibration and save the coefficients.
BOREHOLES TAB

The boreholes tab allows the organisation of logs by their folder. To add a folder to the list, press the “Add
Borehole” button. Select the folder you want to add and press ok.

The list of borehole folders is ordered by the date which they were last used in the software. Double clicking
on a borehole will open the folder in windows explorer.

Selecting a borehole from the list will load the info for that borehole. It will also populate the list of logs found
in that folder.

When a borehole is selected, press the “Use This Borehole For Logging” button to set it as the active borehole.
All logs made will then be saved to the boreholes folder. When a log is started, the borehole information is
automatically added to it.

The borehole information can be edited. Any changes will not be saved until the “save” button is pressed.
WINCHES TAB

The winches tab is where your winch configurations can be edited and stored. One winch may be set as the
default winch which will automatically be loaded and used when the software starts.

MAKING CHANGES

When changes are made to the winch, the changes must be saved by pressing the ‘Save Changes’ button. Once
saved, the selected winch will have been modified but the changes will not be active. The ‘use this winch’
button must be pressed for the new settings to be used by the software.

TELEMETRY

The Telemetry settings control the data signal between the logger box and the sondes. Incorrect telemetry can
cause communication errors, resulting in loss of data.

Changes to the telemetry settings can be saved to the winch as these are often specific to the properties of the
cable being used. Once the telemetry for a winch has been set up, it’s unlikely that it will need to be changed.

Telemetry settings can be changed and applied without needing to save them to the winch. Simply press
“Apply” to set the logger up using the telemetry settings.

AUTO-DEPTH GENERATION

The logger box is capable of simulating winch movement which can be useful for testing purposes. The
winches wheel parameters will be used.
Enable the auto-depth by checking the ‘Auto-Depth Enabled’ checkbox. The slider must be increased and the
direction set before pressing the ‘set speed’ button, which will apply to settings. The logger box will then start
to simulate depth changes.
To stop the auto-depth generation, simply uncheck the ‘Auto-Depth Enabled’ checkbox.
STARTING A LOG

Previous versions of the GeoVista Logging Software required a file name and the type of log to be set before
logging is started. This is no longer the case.
The file will be automatically named and placed into the appropriate folder for the selected borehole.
The data being recorded to the disk is the same no matter which log type is used. The log type is used when
interpreting and displaying the data and can be changed at any time.

REQUIREMENTS

Three things are required before a log can be started.

An active winch – When the software starts it will automatically use the default winch. If you would
like to log with a different winch, select the winch in the winches tab and press the “Use This Winch”
button.
An active stack – A stack must have been accepted.
A selected borehole – The borehole must be selected and used in the Boreholes tab.

Once these three have been chosen, the “start log” button will enable.

Using the stack length described on the stack control tab, the depth should be accurately set before logging is
started.

SETTING THE DEPTH

Depth is set by right clicking on the depth display in the main window and selecting “Set Depth”. The depth can
only be set whilst the software is not actively logging data.

Enter the depth of the bottom of the stack and press

accept.
The currently active winch is used to convert the depth
into depth pulses.

If the winch is in metres, enter the depth in metres.

If in feet, enter the depth in decimal feet.

CHECKING DIAGNOSTICS

It is advised that the diagnostics screen is checked prior to starting a log to ensure all sondes are
communicating correctly. When the log is started, the packet statistics will automatically be reset.

STARTING AND STOPPING THE LOG

Once all has been checked, the log is started by pressing the “Start Log” button. This will open a new log
window and start logging data to the hard drive.

Once a log has been started, various controls will be disabled to prevent changes to the winch, stack, borehole
and depth. It is important to have these correctly set before the log is started.

To stop the log, press the “Finish log” button. This will end the log and close the log window.

LOG FILES

Two files will be created when a log is started.

1) .xrd file – This is the raw data file and contains all data from the moment the log was started up until
the log was finished.
2) .xhd file – This is the header information file and contains all information about the system used to log
the borehole.

Modification of these files may make them unreadable by the software.

RUNNING THE LOG

When a log is started a new window will appear. It will open on the view configuration tab.

VIEW CONFIGURATION TAB

This tab is where the drawing of the waterfall plot is configured.

The channels separated into two sections, Standard channels and Waveform channels.

The new software automatically adds some channels to a log. These are, Depth, Tension, Time, Speed, Voltage,
Current.

STANDARD CHANNELS

Channel Name – This is the name of the channel. The number relates to the ID of the channel in the
personality.

Start Track and End Track – These define the tracks over which the channel will be plotted.

Left Value and Right Value – These define the left and right values for that channel.

Decimal places – How many decimal places should be used when displaying values. This affects the diagnostic
tab in the main window.

Line Colour – The colour of the line drawn when plotting the channel.

Line Width – The width of the plotted line.

Filter Type and Filter Width – It is possible to apply a filter to the data before it is plotted. The type and width
define the characteristics of the filter. A larger width will have a larger smoothing effect.
Enabled – This checkbox determines whether a channel is plotted.

WAVEFORM CHANNELS

A waveform channel is one where a data point consists of a set of values rather than a single value. Examples
would be a spectrum, when the data set is counts against energy, or a sonic which is amplitude over time.

Start Track and End Track – These define the tracks over which the channel will be plotted.

Left Value and Right Value – These define the range of samples to be drawn. Eg In a spectrum of 256 samples,
only the first 100 samples may be of interest. Setting the left value to 0 and the right value to 100 will cause
only samples 0 to 100 to be drawn across the tracks.

Scale – This can increase or decrease the amplitude when drawn.

Type – This determines how the data is drawn to the plot. Wiggle will draw the data as a waveform line, filling
the tracks. Density will draw blocks of colour, where the data determines the intensity of the colour.

Spacing – Too many waveforms on the screen may make the data unclear. Increasing the spacing will increase
the vertical separation of wiggles, or the vertical height of each density plot. Note: this setting can affect the
performance of the software.

Log Scale – This enables/disables the use of a logarithmic scale when plotting the data.

Enabled – This checkbox determines whether a channel is plotted.

WATERFALL PLOT TAB

The waterfall plot tab is where the data is drawn. There are four tracks on which data can be plotted. Tracks 1,
3 and 4 are identical; They are the same width and have thick vertical lines at the left and right of the track.
They each have five thin vertical division lines.

The second track is the depth track. This track does not have the thin vertical lines, and is narrower than the
other tracks. This track is where the vertical scale is drawn, the numbers are either in depth units (metres or
feet) or time units (minutes).

NOTE ON PERFORMANCE.

Interpreting and then drawing large amounts of data can be slow. Each enabled channel will increase the time
it takes to draw the waterfall plot. Waveform channels, being made of data sets, take much longer to draw
than standard channels.

If experiencing performance issue, disable some channels. If waveform channels are in use, increase the
spacing as this reduces the amount of data drawn.
EXPORT TAB

When a previously run log is loaded from a file, the Export tab will be available.

The data stored in the .xrd file is not readable by other software. The export tab allows you to export the log as
a LAS file. The exported type of log (up, down, time) will match the drop down box in the upper left of the
window.

Use the checkboxes to choose which channels should be exported.

Select the data resolution from the drop down menu.
Press the ‘Export Data’ button.

This will let you choose a file to export the data to.

ADDITIONAL TABS

Certain sondes require additional features, processing or plots. When such a sonde is used in a log, additional
tabs are added to the log window.

More information can be found in the advanced sonde section.

USER FUNCTIONS

User Functions allow additional channels to be added to a log. These channels are computed at surface using a
user inputted custom mathematical function. The maths function can reference other channels as well as
custom variables.

To open the user function manager from the main window. In the main menu click Edit-> User Functions. This
will bring up the following window.

To create a new user function simply press the “Create New” button, you will be prompted for a name for the
user function. A new file will be created with a blank maths function.

Select the maths function from the list on the left and press the “Load User Function” button. This will load the
selected user function for editing.

To save changes to a user function, simply press the “Save” button.

When editing the maths function, the “Check User function” button will process the entered mathematical
function and check its validity.

The output text will detail the results of the processing of the mathematical function. Most of the output will
not be needed by the user, but may be useful should the software reject a maths function. The last line in the
output will state whether the maths function is OK.

OPERATORS

The standard order of operations is used in calculations. I.e. Multiplication precedes addition.
ADDITION

Symbol: +
Description: Adds the value on the right of the + to the value on the left of the +

SUBTRACTION

Symbol: -
Description: Subtracts the value on the right of the – from the value on the left of the -

MULTIPLICATION

Symbol: *
Description: Multiplies the value on the left of the * with the value on the right of the *

DIVISION

Symbol: /
Description: Divides the value on the left of the / by the value on the right

POWER

Symbol: ^
Description: Raises the value on the left of the * to a power equal to the value on the right of the ^

PARENTHESES

Symbol: ( and )
Description: These can enclose a mathematical expression between an opening bracket and a closing bracket

CHANNEL DATA

Other channels are utilised by using curly bracers { and }. The number enclosed inside the curly bracers marks
the Channel. Up to ten channels may be used in a single function.

e.g: {0}+{1} This will add the value of channel 0 to the value of channel 1.

e.g. {0}*{0} This will multiply channel 0 by channel 0

USER CONSTANTS

User constants are values which may need changing for each log. They allow the user to change the value of a
constant without having to edit the mathematical formula

NUMBERS
Numbers can take standard and engineering forms. The may be preceeded by a – sign to indicate the number
is negative.

Examples:

5
3.14159
6.626E-34
-17

There are some mathematical constants that can be used without having to type their value

pi – 3.141592654

e – 2.718281828

example: 2*pi will multiply pi by two.

FUNCTIONS

Common mathematical functions have been implemented. The functions are not case sensitive. They must
end with a pair brackets that enclose a value or mathematical expression.

SQUARE ROOT

Symbol: sqrt()
Description: Calculates the square root of the value.

SINE

Symbol: sin()
Description: Takes the sine of the value. The value should be expressed in radians.

COSINE

Symbol: cos()
Description: Takes the cosine of the value. The value should be expressed in radians.

TANGENT

Symbol: tan()
Description: Takes the tangent of the value. The value should be expressed in radians.

INVERSE SINE

Symbol: asin()
Description: Takes the inverse sine of the value. The value returned will be expressed in radians.

INVERSE COSINE
Symbol: acos()
Description: Takes the inverse cosine of the value. The value returned will be expressed in radians.

INVERSE TANGENT

Symbol: atan()
Description: Takes the inverse tangent of the value. The value returned will be expressed in radians.

EXAMPLES

This function will find the magnitude of and 3-dimensional vector.

ADDING USER FUNCTIONS TO LOGS

Press the “Setup User Functions” button when a log is loaded to show the User Function window and enable
the user functions for that log.
Select a user function file from the left hand list. Selecting a file will load it into the form. Changes can be made
to the function and saved by pressing the save button.

To create a new user function, press the “Create New” button. You will be asked for a name for the new
function and a file will be created.
Press the add to log button. This will load the selected user function.
The list in the top right shows the user functions in the current log. Selecting one of the user functions will
show how the channels and variables are configured.

Channels defined in the equation can be linked to one of the channels in the log.

In the example below, channel 0, 1 and 2 have been linked with the HX, HY and HZ magnetometer channels in
the log.
ADVANCED SONDES

Some sondes are more complex and require additional features for either data processing or display. This
chapter goes into detail for each of these sondes.

SPECTRAL GAMMA SONDE

The Spectral Gamma Sonde will cause the following tab to be added to the log window.

The Auto Temperature Compensation checkbox will enable automatic management of the voltage based on
the temperature and the special calibration.

Checking the ‘Average’ checkbox will cause the spectrum data to accumulate over time.

There are four ‘windows’ which can be set for the Spectral Gamma Sonde. The counts inside these windows
are totalled and plotted on the waterfall plot. The windows can overlap if desired.

If the windows are modified, the change is only applied to new data. Closing and saving the log, then replaying
the log will cause the new windows to be used from the start.
Each window is drawn onto the main spectrum graph as a coloured box.

Mouse Channel: When the mouse hovers over the spectrum, this label displays the current counts for the
channel the mouse is hovering over.

Click Channel: If the user clicks on the spectrum, the click channel is set and it’s counts displayed.

The ‘auto adjust vertical scale’ checkbox determines whether the vertical scale should be automatically
calculated. The number of counts at the top of the graph is displayed in the top left of the graph.
PHOTO-ELECTRIC DENSITY SONDE

The Photo Electric density sonde will cause the following tab to be added to the log window.

The HV of the Photo Electric Density sonde is the voltage applied to the photo multiplier tube. This essentially
adjusts the gain, and will cause the data to shift horizontally.

Increase HV – Causes the HV to increase a small amount.

Decrease HV – Causes the HV to decrease a small amount.
Step Up HV – Causes the HV to increase a large amount.
Step Down HV – Causes the HV to decrease a large amount.

Average – This will cause the spectrum to accumulate over time.

Auto Adjust Vertical Scale – Unchecking this and entering a custom value will scale graph so that the full height
of the graph is equal to the entered counts per second.

Export – The export button will allow you to export the history of spectrums. The currently selected type of log
will be used when exporting.
The drop down box will set the resolution of the export
For a depth based log: 1cm, 2cm, 5cm, 10cm, 20cm, 50cm. For each depth, the spectrums at that depth will be
accumulated.
For a time based log: 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s. For each time, the spectrums over that time period will be
accumulated.
The output of the export is in a space deliminated asci format. The first line contains the headings of each
column.

The first column is the depth of time at which the spectrum was recorded.
The Second column is the time in milliseconds over which the counts were accumulated.

The other columns, (c0...c255), are the spectrum channels and are in total number of counts.

Depth Timebase c0 c1 … c254 c255

1 1410 0 0 … 0 4

Add blank Lines – This option causes a filler line to be outputted for any index for which there is no data.