| With the release of the SDR33/31 Electronic Field Book, the Alpha-numeric file format was introduced. The popularity of Sokkia Electronic Field Books has caused many software companies to interface with the SDR33/31. Unfortunately some of these companies do not support the Alpha-numeric 14 format but do recognize the Numeric 4 format. The Numeric 4 format is the same as the SDR2-24 Electronic Field Books recognized by most software packages. To convert the file from Alpha-numeric 14 to Numeric 4 follow the steps below. If a set of data has been collected using the Alpha-numeric 14 format, the records can be converted to the Numeric 4 format using the HELMERT TRANSFORMATION.
1. First, a new job must be created. When creating the new job, select the Numeric 4 format for the Point Id.
2. Enter two or more of the points from the job with the Alpha-numeric 14 format and their coordinates using the KEYBOARD INPUT option (make sure to use the same point numbers and coordinates).
3. Enter the HELMERT TRANSFORMATION routine under the COGO menu.
4. Select the job that has the Alpha-numeric 14 format as the one to transform.
5. The data collector will calculate an error. If this error is something other than zero (0.0), then the coordinates of one or more of the keyboard entered points are not the same as in the original file. If the error calculated is zero, select OK. The data collector will copy all of the points (coordinates only) into the new job with the Numeric 4 format. This file can then be downloaded into software packages that support the SDR2-24 file formats.
The HELMERT TRANSFORMATION is useful for changing the job settings, coordinate system origin and the scale factor of existing jobs within the SDR33/31 Electronic Field Books. | 
