06 - Base Station Setup - New Location
The Base Station is designed to be as simple to use as possible, but to get consistent results from the equipment requires some initial setup and future planning by the user. The ideal setup for the Base Station would be to permanently locate the GNSS and radio antennas in a position with a clear view of the sky and a clear view of the test area respectively.
A good example of this would be on top of a building like a control tower. However, this is not always possible and it may be necessary to use the Base Station in several different locations. A good compromise is to have marked locations that have been surveyed that the Base Station antennas can be returned to when required in a particular test area.
- Set up the GNSS antenna on the tripod and radio antenna and mast in a suitable position. This should ideally be central to the test area. The GNSS antenna should be high enough to ensure a clear, unobstructed view of the sky away from buildings and trees. The radio antenna should be as high as possible to provide best coverage of the test area.
- Connect the radio and GNSS antennas to the Base Station. Take care to connect the antenna plugs to the correct ports on the Base Station.
Warning! Connecting the GNSS antenna to the radio port can cause permanent damage to the GNSS antenna and/or radio. Also ensure that the Radio antenna is connected to the Radio connector on the Base Station before power is switched to avoid damaging the internal radio modem.
- If powering the unit from the internal battery supply ensure that the battery has been fully charged. This will normally take around 4 hours. If powering from an external source make sure that the source voltage is between 8 - 30 V DC. Switch the Base Station on using the on/off switch on the front panel.
- After switch-on, the Base Station will begin searching for satellites. On start-up the status display will initially show the unit serial number and firmware revision. After a short time the status display will change to show satellite status.
The usual number of satellites seen in an open area is 13 - 21. A minimum of 4 satellites are required for the Base Station to calculate the differential. The message ‘POSITION MISMATCH’ will be displayed, as the Base Station is being used in a different location to where it was last setup. Use the ‘OK’ button to clear this message.
- Press ‘OK’ then scroll through the menu to the ‘Set to Average’ option and press ‘OK’.
Choose the period of time over which to average the location: 5 minutes, 12 hours or 24 hours. A countdown will be displayed for the duration of the averaging procedure. When this reaches zero and displays ‘LOCATION SET OK’ press ‘OK’. The averaged position is now set into the Base Station and it will transmit DGNSS correction information.
Alternatively a ‘SET TO CURRENT’ can be used in place of ‘’SET TO AVERAGE" for instant operation without absolute positioning.
- To store this new averaged location for future use at the same location, press ‘OK’ and scroll through the menu to display the ‘STORE LOCATION’ option. Press ‘OK’ to enter this option then use the arrow keys and the ‘OK’ button to select the letters to make the name of the location. Pressing ‘OK’ at the end of this procedure then saves this averaged location with the name you have chosen.
To ensure accuracy the VBOX must receive Local DGNSS corrections for at least 20 minutes before being used in 40 cm, 20 cm or 2 cm modes.