R8s base with tdl450 and satlab sl600 rover
Hello guys,
I was wondering if any of you guys tried to use a satlab rover with a trimble base rover with TDL450 radio. Apparently the UHF and protocol could be compatible.
Thx a lot!
- 8 Replies
If datalink rate, transmission protocol, broadcast format and frequency are the same, the rover will be able to pick up the base corrections. It’s all dependent on the possible configurations of the gear. I’ve never heard of or used Satlab before, but Trimble has a lot of options. You’re going to have to dig into the manuals and settings.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil Postman
For this to work, we would have add a new frequency to our base rover and tdl450.
Through the webui, I can add or delete “receive only” frequencies but I can add a new normal frequency. It says “contact your local trimble ” dealer. to add a new frequency on trimble website.
Nobody uses Trimble here…
I’m just wondering how they are doing it? with a special trimble only dealer software through serial port or whatever?
Thanks a lot for your help!
This is getting a little in depth for an internet forum…but I’m not convinced you need to mess with the broadcast frequencies in the Trimble gear. If the Satlab rover works in the same frequency range as the Trimble gear, then you ought to be able to add a “receive” frequency to it. Then just sync up the protocol and link rate, etc.
You already have a base setup that works. Don’t force it to fit the rover, instead modify the rover settings to receive the base.
To answer your question about adding broadcast frequencies, it’s locked out to minimize the number of people who might inadvertently add a frequency that is off limits.
Here in the States at least, you have to have a license to broadcast above a certain power level and the FCC does not screw around – you can get slapped with a six-figure fine for a single accidental violation. Other countries have regulatory agencies too, so Trimble is attempting to minimize liability. They can come after the dealer too if they suspect they were involved in setting up the gear.
When I worked for a Trimble dealer, we required our clients to give us a current FCC license before we would load any frequencies on their gear. We didn’t need any massive fines, and we dealt with a LOT of people who are totally clueless about radio bands and licensing, who would happily and ignorantly add the local emergency warning frequency into their base.
Honestly the lockout is not much of a problem since there’s a lot of overlap in the frequencies that are allocated to a particular area. Several survey outfits in a region will typically have at least one or two licensed frequencies in common.
But it’s also another reason for mission planning and gear shakedowns before embarking on a large project.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil PostmanSatlab rover has all frequencies from 450 to 470 mhz already programmed in a channel table. channel 1 is 450, channel 2 is 450.25, channel 3 is 450.50, and so on. We have no way to add new frequencies on this rover.
Our R8s base only has 2 programmed frequencies 444.xxx and 444.xxx
So the only way to connect the two rovers by radio would be to add new frequencies to our R8S base.
Regarding the gear shakedown, we are not a survey company, I can’t make any equipment choices. I’m trying to make things work with what I have.
Thanks a lot!
Once you have the radio connection sorted, you will need to check the corrections format.
Trimble systems like to broadcast CMRx – which is Trimble proprietary.
Your rover probably only eats CMR; CMR+ or RTCM
Maybe loading new fequencies to Trimble R8s will work like written here on page 5 with “Trimble Installation Manager”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSts_aCiH7g
Never tested by myselfe, but maybe radio frequencies could also be programmed with “winflash” Software like shown here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0doM46LnhkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50Pk8w2wNxc
Maybe also with Trimble Access?
https://help.trimblegeospatial.com/TrimbleAccess/latest/en/GNSS-RTK-radio-data-link-configure.htm
If you tried the things above and something worked for you please let me know ????
We switched strategy now and we are trying to connect the satlab to an emlid rs2+ base with the NTRIP caster.
We manage to connect it but the satlab rover does not receive the corrections and stays in “autonomous” mode for some reason.
@mike1202 apparently Winflash is to add receive only frequencies like you can already do through the WebUI. So it’s pointless for what we are trying to do here. But thanks for the info!
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