Settings: overview

Settings is one long screen of cards that you scroll up and down. You set most of it once, on the first day: the mode, which side the buttons sit on, the units, your implement width and your blade height. After that you come back for the odd change, or when Ditch Assist support asks you to change something.

This page shows how to open Settings, how each kind of control works, and what every card is for. Each card then has its own page with every row explained.

Before you start

• The Ditch Assist® app is open. Any screen will do. Nothing needs to be connected.
• Opening Settings and changing one row takes about a minute.
• If the blade is moving by itself (auto grading), the app asks you to stop it before Settings opens.

Open Settings

1. Tap Settings

   Look at the column of big buttons down the right-hand edge of the screen. This column is the sidebar. Settings is the fourth button from the top, with a gear (cog) icon. Tap it.

   If your buttons are on the left-hand edge instead, someone set Handedness to Left. The buttons are the same.

   1

2. Or: tap the wrench on a map screen

   The Survey and Grade screens have their own buttons in the sidebar, with no Settings button. On those screens, look at the white bar across the top of the screen. At its right-hand end is a small square button with a wrench (spanner) icon. Tap it.

   1

3. Check you are in Settings

   You should see the word Settings at the top of the screen, a stack of white cards under it, and the Settings button in the sidebar turned black.

   1 2

4. Scroll down to the card you need

   Put one finger on the cards and slide it up the screen. The cards move up and the next ones come into view. Slide down to go back up. New to this? See how to scroll.

   Each card has its name in small grey capital letters at its top-left corner, for example SURVEY. The cards are always in the same order (the full list is below).

   1 2

5. Leave Settings when you're done

   Tap Home, the black button at the top of the sidebar, or the button for the screen you came from. Your changes are already saved; there is no Save button.

   1

How to change a setting

Every row in a card works the same way. The row's name is on the left in black, with a line of grey text under it saying what it does. The control you tap is on the right-hand side of the row. There are five kinds of control.

Switches

A switch is a small oval with a round knob in it.

• Off: white oval with a black outline, knob on the left.
• On: green oval, dark green knob on the right.

Tap the switch once. The knob slides across and the colour changes. That's it: the change is saved straight away.

A row of buttons

Two or three buttons side by side, for example Left and Right. The one in use is filled in (black, or orange in a few rows). Tap the one you want. It fills in and the other one goes white. Saved straight away.

Sliders

A thin line with a round dot on it. The number beside it is the current value.

1. Put your finger on the dot

   Press on the round dot and keep your finger down.

2. Slide it

   Slide right for a bigger number, left for a smaller one. The number changes as you move, and each new value is saved as it appears.

3. Let go

   Lift your finger when the number is right. The dot stays there.

Some sliders have a small number box in front of them. You can type in that box instead of sliding, and go past the end of the slider (see the next section).

1 2

Number boxes

A small box with a number in it, for example your swath width.

1. Tap the box

   A number keyboard slides up from the bottom of the screen. The box gets an orange outline.

2. Delete the old number

   Tap the delete key (the key with a × in an arrow shape, on the right of the keyboard) until the box is empty.

3. Type the new number

   Use the number keys. Use the . key for a decimal point.

4. Tap the tick key

   The key with a tick (✓), bottom right of the keyboard. On some tablets it says Done. The keyboard goes away. More help: typing and hiding the keyboard.

1 2

When a typed number is saved:

• Plain boxes (Swath Width, Recording Interval, Blade Height) save as you type, as long as the number is inside the row's range. A number outside the range is ignored and the old value stays.
• Boxes in front of a slider (Inches Per Chevron, Nudge Sensitivity, Max Cut Depth, Auto Balance Max Offset) save only when you tap the tick key, or when you tap into another box. Tapping the screen somewhere else does not save them. A number past the end of the range is pulled back to the nearest allowed value.

So always finish typing with the tick key.

Drop-down menus

A box showing the current choice with a small downward triangle (▾) on its right, for example Satellite ▾.

1. Tap the box

   A short list of choices opens over the screen.

2. Tap your choice

   The list closes and the box shows your choice. Saved straight away. To close the list without changing anything, tap anywhere outside it.

Rows with their own button

A few rows are a button that does a job instead of a setting: Auto Measure, Open calibration, Download All, Send, Clear All, Open. Each one opens a window or asks first; its page says what happens.

The CONTROLLER card is the one place where moving a slider is not enough: nothing is sent to the control module until you tap its green Apply button. See Controller.

How settings are saved

• There is no Save button. A switch, button, menu or slider change is saved the moment you make it, on the tablet, and kept through restarts and app updates.
• Typed numbers save as described in Number boxes.
• CONTROLLER is different: its sliders are sent to the control module only when you tap Apply.
• Uninstalling the app clears every setting and the benchmark calibration (saved surveys, designs and jobs in the tablet's Documents folder stay). Installing an update over the top keeps everything.
• There is no "reset all settings" button. Each card's page gives the defaults, so you can put a row back by hand.

Every card, in order

v1.5.4 shows 18 cards in Ditch Assist mode, then the Emlid Diagnostics button. Headings appear on screen exactly as below.

1. Mode: Ditch Assist or Ditch Assist Lite. Mode
2. Ditch Assist Lite (Lite mode only): activated receivers, Activate a receiver, Setup guide. Ditch Assist Lite card
3. DISPLAY: Handedness, Display Mode, Language / Idioma. Display
4. UNITS: Feet + Inches, Decimal Feet, Metric. Units
5. MAP: Default Background. Map
6. DRAIN-IQ: Portal URL, Offline Cache. Drain-IQ
7. IMPLEMENT: Swath Width, Excavator Grid Cell. Implement
8. SURVEY: Recording Interval, Blade Height, Benchmark Offset, RTK Filter, RTK Sensitivity. Survey
9. GRADING: Inches Per Chevron, Nudge Sensitivity, Max Cut Depth, Auto Nudge, Rock Hit Detection, Auto Balance Max Offset, Draw on Map. Grading
10. Fields: Field Mode (BETA). Fields
11. LOOKAHEAD: Lookahead, Lookahead Time. Lookahead
12. ALERTS: Grade Alert, Excavator Grade Alert, Grade Alert Threshold, Log Alert. Alerts
13. Pre-Start Safety: Elevation Mismatch Check, Elevation Mismatch Warning, Manual Grade Reference Distance Warning. Pre-Start Safety
14. CONTROLLER: Connection, Raise / Lower Sensitivity, Min / Max Valve DC, Refresh, Apply. Controller
15. DEBUG: Send Commands, GPS Delay Timeout, GPS Stale. Debug
16. LOGS: Log Level, Log Files (Send, Share, Clear All). Logs
17. ABOUT: Version, Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Reset Startup Warnings. About
18. DIG Module Firmware: Update Firmware. DIG firmware
19. Dealer Code: a dealer's branding on Home. Dealer code

The Ditch Assist Lite card only exists in Lite mode, so Ditch Assist mode shows 18 of these 19.

In Ditch Assist Lite

Lite mode adds the Ditch Assist Lite card under Mode and hides everything that exists only to move a blade:

• the CONTROLLER, Pre-Start Safety and DIG Module Firmware cards,
• Rock Hit Detection in GRADING (always off in Lite mode),
• Send Commands in DEBUG.

Max Cut Depth, Auto Nudge, the Excavator rows and everything else stay. If you are looking for CONTROLLER and can't find it, check the Mode card: you are probably in Ditch Assist Lite.

Emlid Diagnostics button

Scroll all the way to the bottom of Settings, past the Dealer Code card. There, in both modes, sits a white button with a thin outline and a satellite icon: Emlid Diagnostics. Tap it and a window opens that looks for an Emlid Reach RS3 / RS4.

It compares the receiver's settings with the Ditch Assist Base, Rover and Lite Rover setups, and can program the receiver for you. The tablet has to be on the Reach's own Wi-Fi hotspot first.

Step by step: Emlid Diagnostics.

Quick finder

• Sidebar on the wrong side: Handedness.
• Screen too bright or too dark: Display Mode.
• Inches vs tenths of a foot: UNITS.
• Survey elevations off by a fixed amount: Blade Height.
• Can't survey with a StarFire receiver that says DGPS: RTK Filter.
• HOLD all day with a good fix: RTK Sensitivity.
• Nudge moves too much or too little: Nudge Sensitivity.
• Blade slow or chasing: Tune the valve.
• No on-grade sound: Grade Alert.
• Blade won't move, banner says Commands OFF: Send Commands.
• Support asked for logs: Send.