Settings: Alerts and Pre-Start Safety

ALERTS sets the sounds: a tone while you are on grade and a short beep each time a survey point is logged. Pre-Start Safety sets two warnings that can pop up when you tap Start, before the blade moves. Both cards are on the Settings screen below LOOKAHEAD.

Before you start

• The Ditch Assist® app is open. Any screen will do.
• Each change takes under a minute and saves itself.
• Turn the tablet's volume up. Every alert plays through the tablet's speaker at the media volume. If you hear nothing, check the volume and that the tablet isn't sending sound to a Bluetooth headset or speaker.
• Never changed a setting before? How to change a setting shows each kind of button up close.

Find these cards

1. Tap Settings

   In the column of big buttons down the right-hand edge of the screen, tap Settings: the fourth button from the top, with a gear icon. (On the Survey or Grade screen, tap the wrench at the right end of the top bar instead.)

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2. Scroll down to ALERTS

   Slide a finger up the cards (how to scroll) until you pass GRADING, Fields and LOOKAHEAD, about halfway down. ALERTS comes next, then Pre-Start Safety.

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Alerts

The ALERTS card has four rows: three switches and one slider.

Grade Alert

Plays a steady tone while the blade is on grade in Ditching, Simple Grading, Land Forming, Terracing, Tiling, Leveling and Manual Grade. It is a sound only; the tablet doesn't vibrate.

To change it: tap the switch at the right-hand end of the first row of ALERTS. White with the knob on the left (the default) is off; green with the knob on the right is on.

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• Default: off.
• When it sounds: the tone starts when the blade comes within the Grade Alert Threshold (2 in by default) of the target and stops once it is more than a quarter beyond it (2.5 in at the default). The row's description says "±1 inch"; the threshold below is what the app actually uses.
• Shown: every kit and mode, including Ditch Assist Lite, where it is a handy "on grade" cue while you work the blade.

Excavator Grade Alert

The same tone for the bucket in Excavation (Sound when the bucket is on grade in Excavator mode. ON by default (audio is the primary on-grade cue when your eyes are on the bucket).).

To change it: tap the switch at the right-hand end of the second row of ALERTS. Green (the default) is on; white is off.

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• Default: on.
• Takes effect the next time you open Excavation. Inside Excavation, the Grade sound button in the sidebar turns it on or off and writes back to this setting.
• Shown: every kit and mode.

Grade Alert Threshold

How close to the target the tone starts (Tone plays within ± this distance of target). Used by both grade alerts. It does not change the green ON GRADE window on screen (1 in; 0.5 in in Tiling; 1.5 in in Excavation).

To change it: slide the green dot at the right-hand end of the third row of ALERTS. Right is a wider window, left a narrower one. The green number beside it (for example 2.0") changes as you slide and is saved.

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• Default: 2.0 in (5 cm in Metric, 0.17 ft in Decimal Feet).
• Range: 0.5 to 6.0 in, in 0.5 in steps (0.05 ft steps in Decimal Feet).
• Shown: every kit and mode.

Log Alert

A short beep each time a survey point or Field Survey point is logged (Sound when a survey point is recorded). Useful when you are watching the ground, not the tablet. The beep is skipped while the grade tone is playing.

To change it: tap the switch at the right-hand end of the last row of ALERTS. White (the default) is off; green is on.

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• Default: off.
• Shown: every kit and mode.

Pre-Start Safety

Two checks that run when you tap Start on the Grade screen. If one trips, a window explains what it found, with Cancel and Start Anyway. They never block you; they make you confirm.

The card has three rows: a switch and two sliders. Each slider has a round arrow at the end of its row, Reset to default, that puts it back to its starting value.

• Shown: Ditch Assist mode only. The card is hidden in Ditch Assist Lite, where the app never moves the blade.

Elevation Mismatch Check

Warn before Start when the design target is far from the current ground. Off by default — deep-cut stations and parking off the line trigger it. With it on, if the target where you sit is further above or below your current GPS elevation than the threshold, Start shows Target Far From Current Ground, telling you how far and whether the controller will lift or drive the implement down.

• Default: off.
• Why switch it on: it catches a stale benchmark or a design from a different base setup before the blade drives several feet. Also handy while you are learning.
• Skipped in Excavation and Tiling (Tiling has its own depth check before Start).

To change it: tap the switch at the right-hand end of the first row of Pre-Start Safety. While it is off, the threshold slider under it is grey and can't be moved.

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You should see, once it is on, the switch green and the threshold slider in colour:

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Elevation Mismatch Warning

The threshold for the check above (Threshold used while the check is on. Slide to 0 to disable.).

To change it: with the check switched on, slide the orange dot in the second row. The number to its left (for example 30") changes as you slide; all the way left shows Off. Tap the round arrow at the end of the row to put it back to 30 in.

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• Default: 30 in (76 cm).
• Range: 0 to 60 in in 2 in steps. 0 shows Off.

Manual Grade Reference Distance Warning

In Manual Grade mode, warn before Start if you are more than this far from the reference point (0+00). Slide to 0 to disable. Manual Grade works the grade out from where you set 0+00. If you set it, then drove somewhere else before Start, Start shows Far From Reference Point: the target here is shifted by distance × grade. Cancel and set the reference again if you meant to start here.

To change it: slide the orange dot in the last row of Pre-Start Safety. The distance to its left (for example 16ft) changes as you slide; all the way left shows Off. The round arrow at the end of the row puts it back to 16 ft.

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• Default: 16 ft (about 5 m).
• Range: 0 to 100 ft in 5 ft steps. 0 shows Off.
• Not asked when you restart a run that already has its 0+00 (dump and come back).
• Reset to default sets it back to 16 ft.

More on Manual Grade's reference point: Manual Grade.