RELEASE NOTES Trimble SPS Series Receivers Introduction Changes to all products Additional changes to the SPSx81 Smart GPS antennas Additional changes to the SPSx51 Modular GPS receivers and SPSx61 Heading receivers Version 4.00 Revision A March 2009 F
Corporate office Trimble Navigation Limited Engineering and Construction group 5475 Kellenburger Road Dayton, Ohio 45424-1099 USA 800-538-7800 (toll free in USA) +1-937-245-5600 Phone +1-937-233-9004 Fax www.trimble.com Copyright and trademarks 2008-2009, Trimble Navigation Limited. Trimble and the Globe & Triangle logo are trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited, registered in the United States and in other countries. DSM, VRS, and Zephyr are trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Release notice This is the March 2009 release (Revision A) of the SPS Series Receivers Release Notes. It applies to firmware version 4.00. Notice to our European Union customers For product recycling instructions and more information, please go to www.trimble.com/ev.shtml. Recycling in Europe: To recycle Trimble WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, products that run on electrical power.), Call +31 497 53 24 30, and ask for the "WEEE Associate". Or, mail a request for recycling instructions to: Trimble Europe BV c/o Menlo Worldwide Logistics Meerheide 45 5521 DZ Eersel, NL
1.1 Introduction These release notes describe improvements made to the following Trimble SPS Series receivers: SPSx51 Modular GPS receivers SPSx61 Heading receivers SPSx81 Smart GPS antennas With this release, all the above products, as well as SPSx50 and SPS880 receivers, can now use version 4.00 firmware. To use firmware version 4.00, you must have a valid firmware warranty. If necessary, contact your Trimble dealer to purchase a warranty. Before you perform a firmware upgrade, Trimble recommends that you download and back up any files that are on the receiver. If your Trimble receiver is supplied with additional Trimble firmware or software products, make sure that those products have been upgraded to the latest version. For more information about upgrading, refer to the release notes for the products. The CD supplied with your receiver contains utilities that you can use to program or configure the receiver. 1.2 Changes to all products The new features and changes listed in this section relate to SPSx51 Modular GPS receivers, SPSx61 Heading receivers, and SPSx81 Smart GPS antennas. 12.1 New Trimble correction message format: CMRx The CMRx message format is a Trimble proprietary development that enables use of all the signals generated from the Trimble base station or VRS network. This is an advantage with the increasing number of GPS and GLONASS satellites available. SPS Series Receivers Release Notes 3
The CMRx format will also support signals from some future satellite constellations. The benefits are that the CMRx format: Handles increasing number of satellites and signals. Allows for a greater number of repeaters because the messages are more compact. Increases battery life at the base station radio and repeaters; smaller messages result in shorter transmission time. Sends smaller volumes of data over the Internet, which results in lower costs. 12.2 Further improvements to the RTK engine With firmware 4.00, positions appear to initialize faster and more readily at greater ranges than with firmware 3.xx. Trials on a rover receiver running firmware version 4.00 from a single base station on the Internet successfully tested RTK positioning at ranges well over 20 km. Under tree canopy, GPS signals may be heavily attenuated. In this environment, firmware 4.00 appears to perform better than version 3.xx. Note These performance results may not be the same in all locations worldwide because atmospheric and ionospheric conditions vary. 1.3 Additional changes to the SPSx81 Smart GPS antennas There are no changes. 4 SPS Series Receivers Release Notes
1.4 Additional changes to the SPSx51 Modular GPS receivers and SPSx61 Heading receivers 14.1 Front panel display You can now configure the following through the front panel VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display). Ethernet: Configure some of the Ethernet IP settings, and toggle between DHCP or Static IP. OmniSTAR: Configure some OmniSTAR tracking controls. The sequence when scrolling through the front panel menus is now: Mode Settings Ethernet Config OmniSTAR Config System Setup SV Status The Up and Down arrows on the front panel are now directly active on some menus. This means that, in some cases, you do not have to press the Right or Left arrow to access the flashing options. SPS Series Receivers Release Notes 5
14.2 Web user interface The Receiver Configuration menu This now contain Tracking, Position, and General pages: Power saving To reduce power drain on the receiver, there is now an Enable option in the Power Save menu. Select one of the following from the General / VFD Power Save menu: Setting Auto Enable Disable The VFD... Slumbers after 60 seconds of inactivity only if the input voltage is less than 14.5 V, that is, battery powered. Otherwise, it is assumed that the receiver is AC powered (greater than or equal to 14.5 V) and the VFD stays on always. Slumbers after 60 seconds if there are no key presses or warnings, regardless of the source of input power. Even with a DC power input greater than 15 V, the VFD slumbers after 60 seconds of inactivity. Never slumbers 6 SPS Series Receivers Release Notes
VFD configuration lock From the General menu, you can enable or disable the ability to configure the receiver through the front panel VFD and keyboard. This enables a supervisor to restrict configuration changes. Correction Messages If you have more than one source of DGPS correction (RTCM2), you can now select the highest priority source. In the Receiver Configuration / Position / RTCM Filter setting: If you do not enter a Station ID, the receiver uses the data stream with the lowest Station ID. If you do enter a Station ID, the receiver uses only that data stream. New NMEA messages The $PTNLDG message has been added, and reports L-band and Beacon signal strength. This message was previously included in the Trimble DSM 232 receiver. Radio Off option In the Radio menu, you can now turn off the internal radio on the rover and the base receiver. 14.3 Setting the maximum age of DGPS corrections From the Position menu, you can now set the maximum age of corrections for GPS and GLONASS signals. This enables you to determine how long to continue using the last DGPS correction SPS Series Receivers Release Notes 7
message since they were received. For example, if you lose the radio link, you can use GLONASS for 30 seconds, but keep GPS for 60 seconds: 14.4 Cloning receiver setups From the Application file menu, you can now clone one SPSx51 receiver setup and reproduce it on another receiver. You are prompted to generate various parameters that are not included in application files, including Ethernet and IP settings. You can generate Clone, Install Clone, Upload Clone, Download Clone, and Delete Clone files in XML format. 14.5 One sigma estimates of precision The horizontal precision value shown in the Receiver status / Position menu is now the semi-major axis (one sigma 68%). The horizontal accuracy shown in the front panel VFD is the semi-major axis (three sigma 99%). 8 SPS Series Receivers Release Notes
14.6 Interface to the Trimble Connected Community You can now easily import real-time GPS base station data into a Trimble Connected Community (TCC) website: 1. If the SPSx51 base station is on the Internet, find its URL, for example, 123.10.1.23. 2. In your TCC website, enter the URL with the suffix tcc.html, for example, 123.10.1.23/tcc.html to add the link to a page. The following screen appears in real-time showing critically important data, including the receiver name, voltage, position, antenna type, and data outputs to radios, and satellites being tracked: SPS Series Receivers Release Notes 9
An authorized user can log in to alter these parameters. This makes it easier to share this information with all GPS users who access the TCC, at any time or place. Any number of base stations can be shown in the TCC. 10.1 Support for the Zephyr Model 2 rugged antenna The SPSx51 Modular GPS receiver now supports the Zephyr Model 2 rugged antenna. This antenna is used in extreme shock and vibration installations such as marine excavations. 10.2 TIMG files The SPSx50/SPSx51 receiver now requires the.timg file for loading. If you encounter difficulties, make sure that you have at firmware 3.60 or later loaded, and the latest version of the WinFlash utility that enables loading.timg files. 10SPS Series Receivers Release Notes