A new article on TeamSurv published by Ocean Navigator, and also a YouTube video by CARIS  on crowd sourcing and bathymetry.

There is a new release of SmartLog for Windows for download from thew web site.

If you have SmartLog installed already, just get the upgrade and install it over the top.

Don't forget that even if you use the SmartLog USB data logger, the SmartLog software is a quicker and easier way of uploading data to the server than using the web site.

Version 1.5 of SmartLog is now available. This includes support for

iRegatta

log files, Ultrabook built-in GPS and Windows 8. There are also improvements in uploading of files, and in detecting computers that cannot share NMEA data with other applications.

You can now log data for TeamSurv through OpenCPN, using the VDR plugin. See the

for details on how to set this up.

We're working with iRegatta to enable iPhone and Android users to log TeamSurv data. The latest release of iRegatta can now log the files, and over the next few weeks we'll add the format to those that can be uploaded to TeamSurv. We'll let you know when you can upload your data!

At present, if you try installing SmartLog under Windows 8 you get an error message. This is easily worked round: right click on the installer and select Troubleshoot compatability, then use Try recommended settings. We're doing a proper fix, but some of the 3rd party libraries we use in the installer have changed, so it isn't the 5 minute job we first thought.

European Space Solutions conference is in London from 3 to 5 December. There are speakers on the whole gamut of users of GNSS systems, including me talking on TeamSurv on the 4th. Unlike many conferences of this type, attendance is free, but pre-registration is required.
The European Space Expo is also in London from 3 to 9 December.

Well, we didn't win any prizes in the European Satnav Challenge, but we came fairly close.

We were 4th out of almost 80 entries from the UK, and we were also a finalist in the European Space Agency category, which mewans we get this nice looking badge!

The overall winner (AKA Galileo Master) is a proposed solution for indoor navigation from Fraunhofer Portugal.

The ESA winner is Citizen First Aid, a project using crowd sourcing to share first aid facilities, by  Jonathan Durant.

The UK winner is Travel Time, a system for giving you the time to get to a destination, rather than the distance.

Good luck to all the winners!

We've just received delivery of another load of hardware loggers, so now even more of you can participate!

Unfortunately any hydrographic survey activity in Swedish waters needs a government licence, which we don't currently have. As a result, we are filtering out data in Swedish waters until this is resolved. For more information, read the

Well, the mail server has been switched over and is now live, and the web server is just undergoing final testing before being switched on.

We're upgrading the mail server today, so e-mails sent to any teamsurv account, and the contact form on the web site, will not be available for the next couple of hours.

The web server is the next upgrade, and things will run much faster afterwards.

NavMon PC is a free program that displays your NMEA instrument data as numbers, dials or as a graph, and also shares the data with other programs by creating a virtual COM port. As well as being useful in its own right, it is also free!

We were recently introduced to NavMon by one of our loggers, and found that it can be used to log NMEA data for TeamSurv.

See here for how to configure NavMon to log data for TeamSurv.

The latest release of PC Plotter, V6, has now added built-in support for TeamSurv logging. This makes very easy for PC Plotter users to log data for TeamSurv.

PC Plotter home page

How to configure PC Plotter for TeamSurv

There is a new release of SmartLog available, that overrides the December 2011 expiry date of the previous release, and fixes a few bugs.

Even f you use a hardware logger, it is worth using SmartLog for data uploads, as it is faster and more reliable than the web site.

Yachting Monthly have carried out a long term gear test on TeamSurv, available in their February issue. Graham Snook was actually our first signed up logger, and he logged data for us on his cruise up to Scotland that you may have read about in YM.

Unfortunately we have had a disk failure on one of our servers. This means that uploading and viewing of the track data is disabled whilst the disk is swapped out and the software and data is restored - but you can still view the processed charts.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

We've finished creating charts for UK waters now, and these are available on the site for viewing. French waters are next, and then we will make all the charts downloadable as PDF files so you can print them off.

We've released V1.1 of the SmartLog software. It can now be used to upload data logged with Expedition, Software on Board and Garmin GPSMap plotters (the latter also needs Garmin's Homeport software package), as well as uploading files recorded with the hardware logger. It also has much faster performance, particularly if left running for a long tiome, and better COM port handling.

For full infomation, read the blog entry.

There's an article on TeamSurv in Fairway, the journal of the

Royal Institute of Navigation's Small Craft Group.

We're glad to say that the first charts are now available for viewing online and to download. Initially we just have the one area available, and download formats are PDFs or ESRI Shape files, but we will soon have more areas covered now we have the processes in place, and we will shortly offer S-57 and other file formats.

Last year we found a significant number of boats that has Raymarine instruments, but did not have the necessary data coming out of NMEA0183 outputs, or did not have any NMEA0183 outputs at all.

To support them, we have developed an upgraded logger that supports Seatalk (as well as one NMEA0183 channel). On the software front, the NMEA to CSV tool now supports Seatalk data, and we are just implementing it on the server.

If people would like a Seatalk logger, please let us know.

The hydrographers of ABP and the Port of London Authority are supporting TeamSurv. Both are providing us with tide gauge data, and with survey data to test TeamSurv results against. In addition, the PLA are using their seaPro software to log data for TeamSurv at the mouth of the Thames.

We gave a presentation at the MCA's CHAS seminar, where they cover all the results from hydrographic surveys in the UK, and cover other topics of interest to hydrographers. The PowerPoint presentation is available for download.

There's a new document for download, TeamSyrv Data Processing, that outlines what happens to your data from when it is logged through all the data processing stages.

The February issue of PBO (out now) has an article by Ben Meakins on TeamSurv, including installing a data logger, logging and uploading the data.

TeamSurv has now rolled out tide height corrections in the data viewer.

. For more information on this and other corrections, read the latest blog entry.

Euronav's seaPro V7 can now log data in TeamSurv's format, making data logging a doddle!

Today we are rolling out the first sets of corrections to the logged data. To do this, we have to take the database down. No data uploads will be possible until after 1700 today, and data viewing will not be possible until after 1400 today.

We're reviewing what we've achieved so far, and looking at what could be improved in TeamSurv. To help us with this, please spend a couple of minutes filling in our questionnaire . Many thanks.

If you are logging data and want to import it into a spreadsheet or database, we now have a free tool to help you do that. NMEA to CSV does what it says - reads in NMEA data and outputs it as CSV data, one item per column, one row per NMEA sentence. Get it from our

Downloads page

.

TeamSurv is causing considerable interest in the UAE, and we have appointed Miguel Contreras to promote the project over there.

Please view and comment on the TeamSurv video at http://www.innovate10.co.uk/video/teamsurv - this is our entry into the Launchpad competition, with finals to be held at Innovate10 in October.

The first round of the competition is based on the submitted videos, and comments left by viewers - so your comments will help! Judges then draw up a short list for the next round, and then trhe finals at Innovate10 in October.

With this funding we will be able to roll out TeamSurv across the UK, and also further develop the algorithms for creating accurate survey data.

We entered EACH, a project focussing on part of the TeamSurv project, into the

. Entrants can enter both a regional and a topic based competition, and we entered for the Lithuanian regional competition. We are glad to say that we have been shortlisted as one of three candidates for the regional prize.

Release 1.0 of SmartLog for Windows, the PC based NMEA data logger for TeamSurv, is now available for download.

This new release offers more robust handling of NMEA data, with more of the quirks and anomalies catered for, and this includes making the software compatible with GPS Gate and Tiki Navigator software.

The

, a hardware data logger that writes NMEA0183 data to a USB memory stick, is now available for purchase by those who do not qualify for a loan unit in the TeamSurv project.

Come and join us on the TeamSurv page on Facebook, and also the TeamSurv group in LinkedIn, to keep tabs on all the latest TeamSurv happenings and discussions.

Graham and Kirsty are cruising round Britain on their Sadler 32, Pixie, and recording data as they go for upload whenever they get to a fast internet connection. Visit their blog for the story of their voyage.

We now have all the necessary software and hardware up and running, and are recruiting volunteers to log data. To apply become a TeamSurv logger, just fill in the application form.

After a successful project meeting, the hardware and software loggers are now in beta test, and will be available to loggers by the end of May.

This event, organized by the GSA “ aims to support developers of applications that can be based on the Galileo system by providing a platform for information sharing and creating networking opportunities.” TeamSurv is one of the applications sponsored by the GSA.

On the occasion of its annual meeting, held in Nida, the Lithuanian Sailing federation has offered TeamSurv to make a presentation of the project.

The CoSuDec project had its kick-off meeting at the GSA in Brussels on 5th January 2010, so all systems are now go to getting people logging data with TeamSurv.