diff --git a/R/importRDB1.r b/R/importRDB1.r
index 965f746247e7cae9750df4499f4fce41226e37c2..743c09c09d9f9e9295918d84a2d50d9d4d234f6c 100644
--- a/R/importRDB1.r
+++ b/R/importRDB1.r
@@ -92,9 +92,7 @@ importRDB1 <- function(obs_url, asDateTime=FALSE, qw=FALSE, convertType = TRUE,
     doc <- textConnection(rawData)
   }
   
-  fileVecChar <- scan(obs_url, what = "", sep = "\n", quiet=TRUE)
-  pndIndx<-regexpr("^#", fileVecChar)
-  hdr <- fileVecChar[pndIndx > 0L]
+
   
   tmp <- read.delim(  
     doc, 
@@ -106,6 +104,10 @@ importRDB1 <- function(obs_url, asDateTime=FALSE, qw=FALSE, convertType = TRUE,
     fill = TRUE, 
     comment.char="#")
   
+  fileVecChar <- scan(obs_url, what = "", sep = "\n", quiet=TRUE)
+  pndIndx<-regexpr("^#", fileVecChar)
+  hdr <- fileVecChar[pndIndx > 0L]
+  
   dataType <- tmp[1,]
   data <- tmp[-1,]