To Charge or Not to Charge My GPS device? Wait…… What was the Question again?

The Million Dollar Question:  “When and how do I charge my GPS device?”

I will give an example of the Geo 6000 XT/XH on how to Charge the battery and how to Store the device.  For all other Trimble MGIS devices you will want to veryify Charging and Storing via the  Trimble website Support/Training  per your Device and download the User Guide/Reference Manual.   

 

This is the recommendation from our Seiler Trimble Certified Service/Repair department:

We recommend charging the Geo and then leaving them off the charger.
Charging then again the day before use if power is low. When left on the
charger for extended periods of time heat from charging cuts down on the
batteries lifespan. This is the same for other models of Geos as well.

 

Below is an excerpt taken from the Geo 6000 User Guide:

Storing the handheld:

If you are not going to use the handheld for three months or more, Trimble

recommends that you do not leave the handheld in Suspend mode (see page 31).

Instead, partially charge the battery and then turn off the handheld.

To prepare the GeoExplorer 6000 series handheld for storage:

1. Transfer any data that you need to an office computer.

2. Charge the battery to approximately 30%.

3. Press the Power key for one second until the Power menu appears and then tap: Shutdown.

4. Store the handheld at room temperature.

To use the GeoExplorer 6000 series handheld after storage:

1. Press the Power key to turn on the handheld.

2. Recharge the battery (see Charging the battery, page 27).

 

Geo 6000 User Guide  Click on Technical Support Tab/Documentation and the Geo 6000 User Guide.

 

Trimble Note – The life of the battery can be significantly shortened if

power is constantly supplied to the handheld. To avoid this issue, connect

 the handheld to an external power source only when the battery requires

 charging. Once fully charged, disconnect the external power source and

allow the battery to discharge through normal use.

LightSquared and GPS update as of February 16th 2012. The FCC and NTIA Snuff LightSquared — for now….

Here are some recent articles within the last few days as to the status of LightSquared.

FCC to Pull plug on Falcone’s LightSquared

NTIA Thumbs down LightSquared: FCC Concurs

LightSquared Snuffed by NTIA and FCC

To voice your opinion on the “LightSquared” topic concerning its effect on GPS in North America:

The coalitions website:    SAVE OUR GPS  or  http://www.saveourgps.org/

Stay tuned…….

NGS Seminar on DS World February 16th – Desktop App to look up NGS Control points in Google Earth

The National Geodetic Survey will be presenting a webinar on DS World on February 16th 2012 from1-2 pm EST.  DSWorld was originally designed to display datasheet information in a “world view” in Google Earth , hence its name.  Since its inception, it has been greatly enhanced to the point of being a major interface with NGS and the NGS Integrated Database (IDB).  It provides Land Surveyors, GIS professionals and the general public with important up-to-date geodetic control information at the click of a button.  Click here to register  for the DS World Seminar.  See the more on the NGS website Overview of DS World.

This is a great resource especially if you do not have a Android cell phone to use the moble NGS app that I blogged about in December 2012 Find a Control Point.

Solar Storm Event today – 01/24/12 thru the week, May Affect GPS reception in your area.

All Space based Radio signals in the path of this Solar Storm including GPS Signals will be affected.   GPS Signals may be disrupted today 01/24/12 throughout the week in your area according to Space Weather, NASA and NOAA.

You can’t miss this topic on the news as its on most web browsers today.

The Solar flares will disrupt the Atmosphere in which the GPS signals are trying to go through in order to reach us on the ground.  GPS signals will be affected at their source and in the upper Atompshere which in turn will affect all GPS receivers that are trying to listen for the signals.  This means GPS Base Stations and your personal GPS (GPS in your car/cell phone); Mapping Grade and Survey Grade receivers will not receive normal signals.  This may not happen everywhere as the affects will be stronger toward the Poles.

Be mindful that if you do collect GPS today and throughout the week that your positions may have some extra errors in them.

The largest solar storm for seven years is expected to send a shower of radioactive solar particles racing towards Earth at almost 1,400 miles a second this week, according to NASA.

Enjoy the “Northern Lights” show if you happen to see them!!

GPS Almanac — what is this?

These 3 questions will be answered in this Blog Posting:

1. What is a GPS Almanac and what is its purpose?
2. How do I receive a more current GPS Almanac?
3. What other GPS resources are available?

Almanac: approximate orbit information and clock information for all satellites in the constellation.

• Almanac data is included in the “Nav – Navigation” message broadcast by each satellite.
• The receiver uses this data to determine which satellites it should track (which ones are “in view” and offer the best satellite geometry for the most accurate position fix).
• The almanac data is retained in your receiver’s memory to enable rapid satellite signal acquisition and to calculate satellites’ azimuths and elevations.
• If your GPS unit has not been turned on for several weeks, month’s or has been transported to a new region it may take longer to acquire satellites and update the GPS Almanac file.

If you start a data file in TerraSync or ArcPad with Trimble GPS Correct you should receive an updated GPS Almanac within 12.5 minutes but sometimes it may take up to 15-20 minutes.

You can refer to your TerraSync, GPS Correct or GPS Controller “Getting Started/User Guides” for more information about GPS Almanac.  You can download them at the Trimble website underneath your software category and under Documentation link.    Trimble Support and Training/ Support/“Support A-Z List”

• Click on the first letter of the name of the product and then search for your software:
• GPS Controller, GPS Correct and or TerraSync.  Once you click on the software name then click on “Documentation” to find the “Getting Stared/User Guides”.

If your GPS receiver is not working properly and you are in an open area and still are not receiving 4 or more satellites within 5 minutes you can try this. 

• Go to the Setup page and click on Options and click on Reset GPS Receiver.   This will only work if your GPS is on and receiving satellites.  This refreshes the receiver and cleans out any old GPS Almanac file.  Within 15-20 minutes while a data file is open you should receive an Almanac. 
• To check the Almanac date in Trimble TerraSync, Trimble GPS Correct or Trimble GPS Controller software click on Satellite Info and it should be in the lower left of the screen.  It may not always be today’s date but it will be within 3 days.  The Department of Defense doesn’t upload a new GPS Almanac everyday – only when needed to update information about a GPS satellite i.e. health changed, position change, decommissioned or a new satellite is now active and broadcasting.

Other GPS resources:

GPS 101 on Trimble’s website.

GPS - The First Global Satellite Navigation System   This is a PDF free version of the soft cover 151 page book published by Trimble in 2007.   Just some light reading material.  It’s one of the better GPS resources in a small book format that you can read for few minutes, put it down and come back when you need to look up another term or topic.  The book can also be found in paperback format found online.  It can also be downloaded from the website:  Coalition to Save Our GPS.

 

http://saveourgps.org/free-gps-books.aspx

TKN:  Trimble Knowledge Network  You can create your own username and password and check out the Learning Center and watch Trimble Mapping, Survey and Construction videos at this website.

From the Archives from 2002:  Trimble Mapping Systems – General Reference   This document explains basic GPS and has a good glossary.

*If you know of other GPS resources that you would like for me to share per this post please e-mail me at:  mapsupport@seilerinst.com

**Check back for Future posts that relate to the GPS Almanac topic that will cover using the “GPS Planning” software on your Mobile device, desktop computer and online resources.

How to sign up for the Trimble Hardware/Software Warranty Reminders and Newsletters.

If you are the prime registrant of the Trimble GPS hardware and software that your organization owns then you can login to this Trimble Registration website.

• You would have received a login password when you ordered your hardware and or software from Seiler Instrument or Trimble.
• If you are not the Prime registrant of the Trimble GPS hardware and software that your organization owns and uses, then please share this blog with your staff member that is.

Trimble Registration website

 

At this website you can do the following:

1. Update your contact information.

2. Subscribe to Renewal Warranty Expiration Notifications and Newsletters (latest updates, customer stories and industry news).

3. Manage your products registered to you.

**If your organization has Trimble hardware and software older than 5 years old and you know that it is not registered or do not see it when you login please contact your sales representative.

“Find a Control Point” application via your Android Phone

Critigen has made a APP for Android phones to assist in Finding a Control Point from National Geodetic Surveys website.  Critigen is a Trimble and ESRI partner.

The easiest way to download and install it to your Android phone is to search for this APP or type in this web address on your phones browser:  http://www.critigen.com/mobile/findacontrol/

Then you can download and install directly to your phone.  The alternative is to download it from the website via your PC, extract the zip file to your PC and then copy it to your Android phone and install it.

Key features include:

• View NGS survey control stations in a map viewer.
• Toggle on/off layers used to identify station quality/type, i.e., horizontal, vertical, combined, low quality and Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) Network.
• Switch easily between Streets or Imagery basemaps.
• Search by County.
• Zoom to current location.
• View station summary information with map callouts.
• Direct access to NGS datasheets that summarize key geodetic information.

Further information on the data used in “Find-A-Control” can be found on the NGS website at www.ngs.noaa.gov.

GPS Pathfinder Differential Correction Update available for version 5.20

A Differential Correction Update is available for Trimble GPS Pathfinder Office for version 5.20

If you have been experiencing problems Differentially Correcting your SSF data files in the Trimble GPS Pathfinder Office software then you should check to see that you have downloaded and installed a new Differential Correction Update that was released on December 8th 2011. The update provides the following fixes:

• A problem occurring when processing files collected with certain combinations of receivers and PF Tools.
• A problem occurring when base station files contain unusually high numbers of observations.
• A problem occurring when processing multiple .ssf files using multiple base providers.

Steps to Update Trimble GPS Pathfinder Office:

1. Open Trimble GPS Pathfinder Office.

2. Select the Help Tab.

3. Choose Check for new GPS Pathfinder Office updates now.

4. Click on Next.

5. Select the box next to The Trimble Website (internet Access Required) and click on Next.

6. Select the check box next to Differential Correction Update and click on Next (See image at the bottom of post).

7. The wizard will download and ask you to run the software.

 

FYI: This update doesn’t show up if you have automatically Check for GPS Pathfinder Office Updates didn’t catch this update, so you WILL have to update this manually using the steps above.

New OS Revision “6.5.8″for the Geo 6000 XT/XH

Download the lastest OS Revision for the Geo 6000 XT/XH:  OS Revision ”6.5.7 to 6.5.8″.  Once on the Trimble Geo 6000 website click on the “Technical Support” tab if it is not already selected.  Then click on “GeoExplorer 6000 series Downloads“.

The Release Notes are also in the same location as the download.

The 6.5.8 operating system update package resolves the following issues:  

1. Field transfer status reset. When a soft reset of the operating system is performed, the Trimble TerraSync™ software data file status no longer displays data files as Not transferred, even if they had been previously transferred.
2.  USB data transfer on some Microsoft® Windows® 7 computers. Attempts to connect the GeoExplorer handheld to a Windows 7 computer would sometimes result in a failed Microsoft ActiveSync® connection.
3. Negative storage memory reported by file system. A negative value for the amount of available disk storage after multiple file uploads and downloads is no longer reported in error.
4. Unable to connect to a brand new Windows 7 machine. USB connections to some desktop computers with Windows 7 installed could not be established at the first attempt.

Enhancements included in this update This 6.5.8 operating system update includes the following enhancements:

1. Faster file system performance when appending data to the end of files.
2. Enhanced user interface information on the Home screen when installing GNSS firmware updates.

The Seiler Instrument Franklin, WI base station will be Offline 10-14 days for maintenance starting November 21st, 2011.

Starting November 21st, 2011 the Seiler Instrument Franklin, WI base station will be Offline 10-14 days for maintenance. 

This means that the base files for this base station will not be available for Post Processing via Trimble GPS Pathfinder Office or Trimble GPS Analyst Base List from November 21st until the maintenance is completed.  It will also not be apart of the WISCOR’s VRS correction either.

I will post via the Blog when it is back up and running again.

Thank you for your patience – Jay.