06 - Base Station Setup

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The Base Station is designed to be as simple to use as possible. But, to get consistent results from the equipment you must do initial setup and future planning. 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 would be on top of a building, for example, a control tower.

If you are setting up a permanent Base Station from scratch, we recommend that you let it average over 24 hours before you use it for testing.

You can find the setup instructions for the Base Station here.

If you need to use the Base Station in multiple locations, we recommend that you survey and mark locations so you can return the Base Station GNSS antenna when required.

Set up the tripod in exactly the same position each time you return to the test area (ideally within 1 cm).
We recommend that you mark the tripod leg positions with survey nails or that you use a plumb line to mark the centre point under the antenna.
Connect the radio and GNSS antennas to the Base Station. Make sure that you connect the antenna plugs to the correct ports on the base station.

WARNING

If you connect the GNSS antenna to the radio port, it can cause permanent damage to the GNSS antenna and/or radio.
If you are using the internal radio, you must make sure that the Radio antenna is connected to the Radio connector on the Base Station BEFORE you apply power to avoid damaging the internal radio modem.
If you are using an external radio, you must make sure that you connect the radio antenna to the radio BEFORE you apply power.

Apply power

Internal Battery

Make sure that the battery has been fully charged.
This will normally take around 4 hours.

External Power Source

Make sure that the source voltage is between 8 to 30 V DC.

Switch the base station on using the on/off switch on the front panel.

The Base Station will begin searching for satellites. On start-up, the status display will initially show the unit serial number and the firmware revision. After a short time it will change to show satellite status. The usual number of satellites seen in an open area is 13 - 21. The Base Station needs a minimum of 4 satellites to calculate the differential.

A different location to where it was last set up:

It will display the message POSITION MISMATCH.

Press the OK button to clear this message.

Next, you must specify the location. You can Load an already saved location, set to average or set to current.

Load the stored location:

Press OK Scroll to the Load Location option Press OK Select the previously stored location from the list of locations Press OK to confirm.

The base station will immediately start sending out DGNSS correction data.

Last used at this position:

It will have remembered this location and be working immediately once satellites are in view.

IMPORTANT

When recalling a stored position, the GNSS antenna must be in the same geographic position that it was when the location was originally stored. For example, if the GNSS antenna is placed 50 cm from the position where the stored location was originally created, the DGNSS output and hence the VBOX data logged will carry a 50 cm offset.
To ensure accuracy the VBOX must receive Local DGNSS corrections for at least 20 Minutes before you use it in 40-cm, 20-cm or 2-cm modes.