AT&T 2G Sunset and ...
 
Notifications
Clear all

AT&T 2G Sunset and Leica 1200 GFU Modems

21 Posts
8 Users
0 Reactions
98 Views
shelby-h-griggs-pls
(@shelby-h-griggs-pls)
Posts: 908
Member
Topic starter
 

AT&T is set to turn 2G off on 31-Dec and T-Mobile will follow suite in 2020 making all of the GSM Leica GFU housings sold pre last 2-3 years with System 1200's obsolete. I am thinking the GFU29 housings sold for the newer Viva GS10 may be a plug and play upgrade? Anybody tried this? The guts are actually a Cinterion PXS8 modem board, it may even be possible to source that board and just swap the innards into my current housings?

Just wondering if there is a way to keep my old 1200's going with a "Leica" or their supplier solution without using a 3rd party modem and adding another thing to forgot to the toolbox?

SHG

 
Posted : November 21, 2016 8:08 pm
(@robert-ellis)
Posts: 466
Member
 

I still use one 1200 with a AT&T card in a GFU housing and was wondering the same thing. I have an old "Raven" but hate to go back to that configuration. We use the 1200 with a Carlson Surveyor 2 and I need to check to see if it would work to put a sim card in the DC.

 
Posted : November 22, 2016 12:54 pm
john-hamilton
(@john-hamilton)
Posts: 3354
Member
 

I *almost* bought an R8-2 with internal modem earlier this year, it was about 15% cheaper than one with an internal radio. I fortunately found out before I bought it that it had a 2G modem and would soon be obsolete. So beware of deals on units with internal modems.

 
Posted : November 22, 2016 3:03 pm
shelby-h-griggs-pls
(@shelby-h-griggs-pls)
Posts: 908
Member
Topic starter
 

Today's research is pretty conclusively showing that the GFU29 should just be plug and play (maybe I should say PAY, local dealer is quoting $2000 per each). I see online I can buy them brand new in England for about $1200 each.

This is NOT a Leica modem inside the housing, instead it is made by Cinterion and is a PXS8 board, what I haven't found out is if that is user swappable into my old housings without a bunch of bracket fabrication and wiring harness building? It appears those boards are sub $150 a piece on the web, so may be worth rolling my own, just unsure if it is more than swapping boards or not?

Stay tuned!

SHG

 
Posted : November 22, 2016 4:36 pm
john-hamilton
(@john-hamilton)
Posts: 3354
Member
 

I just ordered an external cell modem with wifi, serial, etc from microhard (canadian company). I will post an update once I receive it.

http://www.microhardcorp.com/BulletPlus.php

 
Posted : November 22, 2016 5:32 pm

shelby-h-griggs-pls
(@shelby-h-griggs-pls)
Posts: 908
Member
Topic starter
 

John Hamilton, post: 400742, member: 640 wrote: I just ordered an external cell modem with wifi, serial, etc from microhard (canadian company). I will post an update once I receive it.

http://www.microhardcorp.com/BulletPlus.php

John, are you going to use that to get RTN data for a rover? I was looking at something very similar recently thinking of just using my wireless carrier to serve the house, unfortunately, the new T-Mobile unlimited data plans are really only 26Gb/mo once you read the fine print, so I abandoned the idea!

SHG

 
Posted : November 22, 2016 6:07 pm
(@precision-geo-inc)
Posts: 155
Member
 

The GFU19's are still working with Verizon, so that's another option.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 
Posted : November 22, 2016 11:27 pm
(@paul-in-pa)
Posts: 6044
Member
 

Eventually every carrier will drop 2G, and then again in a few years 3G. It is about getting the most use out of their towers.

Paul in PA

 
Posted : November 23, 2016 8:31 am
john-putnam
(@john-putnam)
Posts: 2201
Supporter
 

Shelby,

It looks like the PXS8 is a bare chip The PH8 may be the full board.

 
Posted : November 23, 2016 8:55 am
shelby-h-griggs-pls
(@shelby-h-griggs-pls)
Posts: 908
Member
Topic starter
 

Precision-geo-inc, post: 400763, member: 9801 wrote: The GFU19's are still working with Verizon, so that's another option.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For now, but Verizon has plans to phase out the slower speeds too. I have a whole bunch of other phones, RTK Bridge, etc. all on GSM, big commitment to change teams now.

SHG

 
Posted : November 23, 2016 9:36 am

john-hamilton
(@john-hamilton)
Posts: 3354
Member
 

Shelby H. Griggs PLS, post: 400745, member: 335 wrote: John, are you going to use that to get RTN data for a rover? I was looking at something very similar recently thinking of just using my wireless carrier to serve the house, unfortunately, the new T-Mobile unlimited data plans are really only 26Gb/mo once you read the fine print, so I abandoned the idea!

SHG

Going to use it to stream RTK data from an R7 (temporary base locations), straight CMR+, no NTRIP, no server in between.

 
Posted : November 23, 2016 9:47 am
(@robert-ellis)
Posts: 466
Member
 

John Hamilton, post: 400742, member: 640 wrote: I just ordered an external cell modem with wifi, serial, etc from microhard (canadian company). I will post an update once I receive it.

http://www.microhardcorp.com/BulletPlus.php

That Looks interesting, should be able to use my old Airlink Raven serial cable.

 
Posted : November 23, 2016 11:54 am
(@robert-ellis)
Posts: 466
Member
(@robert-ellis)
Posts: 466
Member
 

Robert Ellis, post: 400859, member: 1183 wrote: That Looks interesting, should be able to use my old Airlink Raven serial cable.

John how did the modem work out.

 
Posted : January 3, 2017 9:25 am
john-hamilton
(@john-hamilton)
Posts: 3354
Member
 

It works fine, BUT I have not been able to get a static IP from AT&T. I would not need one IF I could find software for my PC that will receive the CMR+ (or RTCM) stream and then serve it up as an NTrip server. Actually, that would be preferable to the static IP. I found SNIP ( https://www.use-snip.com/ ) but as far as I can tell it will only do that for a LOCAL serial stream. I am going to contact them to see if it will work as I want it. I will gladly pay for a reasonable price for software that will do that. Or, I wonder if anyone offers a service that will do that (i.e. host a stream and allow users to login using NTrip)?

 
Posted : January 3, 2017 9:30 am

leegreen
(@leegreen)
Posts: 2196
Supporter
 

John,

Have a look at no-ip.com

Dynamic DNS points an easy to remember hostname to your dynamic IP address.

 
Posted : January 3, 2017 9:49 am
john-hamilton
(@john-hamilton)
Posts: 3354
Member
 

leegreen, post: 407173, member: 2332 wrote: John,

Have a look at no-ip.com

Dynamic DNS points an easy to remember hostname to your dynamic IP address.

I tried that, I use several of no-ip.com's apps, including a dynamic IP service. I am not sure if AT&T blocks some things or what the problem is.

I think I have found a solution, just need to get it setup and test it.

 
Posted : January 3, 2017 10:03 am
shelby-h-griggs-pls
(@shelby-h-griggs-pls)
Posts: 908
Member
Topic starter
 

John Hamilton, post: 407177, member: 640 wrote: I tried that, I use several of no-ip.com's apps, including a dynamic IP service. I am not sure if AT&T blocks some things or what the problem is.

I think I have found a solution, just need to get it setup and test it.

If AT&T operates as T-Mobile, the only way in is with an IP address that they issued.

SHG

 
Posted : January 3, 2017 2:33 pm
(@robert-ellis)
Posts: 466
Member
 

John Hamilton, post: 407166, member: 640 wrote: It works fine, BUT I have not been able to get a static IP from AT&T. I would not need one IF I could find software for my PC that will receive the CMR+ (or RTCM) stream and then serve it up as an NTrip server. Actually, that would be preferable to the static IP. I found SNIP ( https://www.use-snip.com/ ) but as far as I can tell it will only do that for a LOCAL serial stream. I am going to contact them to see if it will work as I want it. I will gladly pay for a reasonable price for software that will do that. Or, I wonder if anyone offers a service that will do that (i.e. host a stream and allow users to login using NTrip)?

I think what you are looking for is a Lefebure Caster with a built in server. http://lefebure.com/software/ntripcaster/ I have the software installed on an old PC at my office connected to the internet with a static IP from Comcast. I have a Leica 1200Pro connected by a serial cable to the pc. I then have the Lebeure client software on another old PC hooked up to a router without a static IP with a serial connection to a Trimble 4000 setup at a permanent site. The software on the PC with the 4000 send correction to the office PC and rovers connect to the office and can select the base they want to get corrections from. I also have a Javad that has a built-in caster program that I can use as a temporary base to send corrections to the office base or as a rover to receive corrections. I found that the viewer program from Remote Utilities was very helpful when trying to get it all connected, selecting the best baud rates, and message formats.

https://www.remoteutilities.com/

 
Posted : January 24, 2017 8:47 am
john-hamilton
(@john-hamilton)
Posts: 3354
Member
 

I finally got all the connections working. My R10 started working again, I think AT&T fixed whatever it was they did. Trimble says it is definitely a 3.5G modem, but I believe it is lacking in frequency bands, hence the problems. The new modem I bought for the other end (R7) from microhard was easy to setup, but I could not get it to connect to serial. I finally figured out that I needed a null modem adapter in between, as both the modem and the R7 are functioning as DCE (data communication equipment, as opposed to DTE, Date Terminal Equipment). Hence, both were transmitting on pin3 and receiving on pin2. The null modem adapter swaps these so that one transmits on 2 and the other transmits on 3, etc. I can connect to that data stream using an IP address and a port number.

I am able to transmit the CMR out of the R7 to the modem. I can connect to it from my PC (IP:PORT) using a program called TCP-Com that emulates a serial port, so it looks to the PC like com5. Works fine. But if I connect to that IP:port with the R10, it connects OK, but I don't see any data flow, so I still need to do some configuring. I assumed I could just connect the R10 and "see" the CMR data flow, but so far, no.

I have a copy of SNIP ("the Simple NTRIP Caster") that I still need to figure out how to configure. I believe that only uses RTCM rather than CMR.

 
Posted : January 25, 2017 2:32 pm

Page 1 / 2