Today I was given one of these by a guy who was cleaning out the closets, and haven't done any research on it yet.?ÿ It says 10-channel and I think L1-only code and carrier. The guy told me it was a battery hog, but it is nicely portable and has the external antenna that can be put on a tribrach. No software with it, so not sure yet if I can get data out of it.
Is it worth the effort to see if I can get it working??ÿ I have two Trimble 4000sse L1/L2 receivers that I am using already and could do PPK with them, but the X-CP is much more portable.
I found the Magellan software on some web site, 7 zip files representing the original floppy disks.?ÿ It loads and runs on XP.?ÿ I haven't figured out how to do anything useful with that software except read data out of the receiver and convert it to RINEX.
The "battery hog" comment is relative to the 6 x AA pack.?ÿ There was also a cigarette lighter plug and cord that I converted to my standard battery connector to run it on a sealed lead-acid battery, and find that it draws about 0.35 amp, which is less than the Trimble 4000sse.?ÿ It's also lighter and more convenient to carry.
Yesterday I went out to some open sky and ran some PPK sessions.?ÿ I used one 4000sse as a base and another as a rover, and then put the Magellan antenna in place of the Trimble antenna on the tripod.?ÿ?ÿ After converting everything to RINEX I import into Topcon Tools demo mode and get vectors.
If I avoid float solutions, it seems that the Magellan can match the Trimble rover typically within a couple cm on a several-minute session.?ÿ So far I haven't checked actual accuracy, just agreement of the two.?ÿ One limitation on this test was that I forgot to change the epoch rate on the base from the 30 seconds I use for OPUS, so the higher rates in the rovers don't buy me anything.?ÿ Another is not having an antenna model for the Magellan, but that seems to not be problem, at least for horizontal.?ÿ I need to do a long session on a measured line to check the antenna offset more carefully.
This should work for careful mapping.?ÿ I want sufficient accuracy to find whether recorded surveys are ground or SPC, on say a half-mile line.?ÿ With that decision, I can incorporate two adjoining recorded surveys into the map of my wife's farm and not have to measure some of the lines.?ÿ
I've seen various discussions on epoch rate and number of epochs, but I don't recall any good study of the tradeoffs.?ÿ The Magellan is L1 only.?ÿ I'm thinking perhaps 10 seconds and 15-20 epochs (~3 minutes) and come back later to see if it repeats ok.?ÿ
Any advice finding epoch guidance?