Decoding data (EXO3) that is sent from the dev kit to the Sofar Spotter dashboard

[Louis]

Hi,

We’ve recently integrated an EXO3 sonde with a Spotter buoy, and everything appears to be functioning as expected. Data from the EXO is visible when connected through both the development kit and the Spotter buoy. However, when the EXO data is transmitted to the Sofar Spotter dashboard, it appears under Historical Data as encoded binary hex (as shown in the attached image). While it’s great to see the data flowing, we’re hoping to translate it into a more interpretable format.

The support documentation includes a link to Python code (BM Sensor Integration - SDI-12 Multiparameter Sonde EXO3s - Community / Projects - Bristlemouth) for decoding, but we’re wondering whether there are any alternative methods or tools available to decode this data.

Please reach out if you have had any ideas or successes.

Cheers

Louis

[zachary]

Hi @Louis,

First, I notice that the python script has moved from the linked location. Here’s an up-to-date link to the python script:

src/apps/bm_devkit/sdi12_example/exo3_sdi12_decoder.py

But that said, when you say you’re looking for alternatives — what kind of alternative would work better for you? What would you hope for?

[zachary]

I worked with AI to make a super quick visualizer for EXO3 sonde data and put up a pull request in bm_protocol. You can view the file here and click the “download raw file” icon on the right side of the github interface.

Just download the html page to your computer, open it in a browser, and then drag your CSV file (from the Spotter dashboard) onto the web page.

Hope that helps!

[Louis]

Hi Zach,

Thank you for the solutions, they have both worked well and significantly streamlined our existing process (decoding via python).

For someone not too tech savvy, such as myself, the visualiser seems a brilliant way to quickly view and interrogate the data. The only gap is then downloading the data from the visualiser. If there is any scope to include a data download button under the table it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers Louis

[zachary]

In what form do you imagine downloading it? The CSV already contains the data. What do you want to do with the downloaded file?

[zachary]

I updated the viewer in the PR with a CSV download link for the table at the bottom of the page. Get the updated html file, click the “download raw file” button on the right, open in a browser.

[Louis]

Hi Zach, brilliant thank you. CSV works well as we can make our own figures and also share the data with others.

Thanks

[xinixugi]

That hex is likely the raw Bristlemouth payload, so the dashboard may not decode it into EXO3 measurements automatically. Use the linked Python decoder on the payload bytes, then map the decoded fields to the EXO3 configuration you’re using. If you’re pulling data through the API, check whether it returns the same bytes shown in Historical Data or a hex-encoded string; that determines whether you need to convert from hex first.