Question 1

Is my file uploaded to a server?

Accepted Answer

No. Reading, converting and downloading all happen inside your browser; the file never leaves your device. We only record an anonymous usage tally (point count, target format) with your consent — same as the other tools.

Question 2

Which SDR records are supported?

Accepted Answer

The tool extracts coordinates from 08KI records (keyed/computed points), the 08KD variant and 08TP (the SDR20 coordinate record), plus station records 02TP and 07TP, and detects the file version from the 00NM header. Observation records 09F1/09F2 are counted in the stats but never converted to coordinates; 13NM notes and any other records are skipped safely.

Question 3

Why do my points land in the wrong place after converting?

Accepted Answer

The most common cause: your instrument is set to export easting before northing (E, N) instead of the spec order (N, E) — a known Sokkia coordinate-order setting. Switch the "File coordinate order" option to E, N right after upload and the file is re-read in the correct order — the preview and the download come out right.

Question 4

Can I create an SDR file from a points file?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the tool works both ways. Upload a CSV, TXT or Excel (.xlsx) file with (point id, N, E, Z, optional code) columns, comma-, semicolon-, tab- or space-delimited, with or without a header row, and you get a device-ready SDR33 job file (08TP records in the canonical layout, with an editable job name). In the other direction, the "Download all" button packs every output format into one ZIP archive.

Question 5

What is the difference between SDR20 and SDR33?

Accepted Answer

Both are Sokkia line-record text formats; SDR33 is newer with wider fixed-width fields (16-character point ids and numbers), while SDR20 fields are shorter. The tool tries the fixed-width layout first, then falls back to whitespace parsing automatically — so both versions, and hand-edited files, parse equally well.

Question 6

Why are coordinates not computed from raw observations?

Accepted Answer

Reducing raw angles and distances (09F1/09F2 records) to coordinates requires full survey reduction — station sequencing, backsight orientation and instrument corrections — which is the job of surveying office software. The tool extracts the coordinates already recorded in the file by the instrument or office software, which is usually what you need for AutoCAD or Excel.

Question 7

What are the size limits?

Accepted Answer

Up to 50 MB — far larger than any field job file (typically under 1 MB). The tool is free, no sign-up, no usage caps.

Question 8

What does the DXF output contain?

Accepted Answer

One POINT entity per point at its (E, N, Z) coordinates with a TEXT label carrying the point id and code. You can choose a separate layer per feature code (e.g. BM, TRV) or a single POINTS layer, and set the text height. The file is ASCII DXF (R12), readable by AutoCAD, QGIS and any CAD software.

Record	Extracted data
00NM	File header — format version detection (SDR20 or SDR33).
08KI / 08KD / 08TP	Coordinate record — point id, northing N, easting E, elevation Z and feature code. (08TP is the SDR20 coordinate record; 08KD is a variant some Sokkia software writes.)
02TP / 07TP	Instrument-station and target coordinates — extracted as points and tallied in the station count.
09F1 / 09F2	Raw observations (angles & distances) — counted in the stats only, never reduced to coordinates.
13NM وغيرها	Notes and other records — safely skipped and tallied in the skipped counter.

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Sokkia SDR ↔ CSV / TXT / DXF

What the tool extracts from an SDR file

Output formats

CSV

TXT

DXF

XLSX

ZIP

SDR

Popular conversions

FAQ

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