Atlas PT VHF GPS Transponder Technical Manual Rev F3 Raveon Technologies Corporation 2461 Impala Drive Carlsbad, CA 92010 - USA www.raveon.com | www.ravtrack.
Atlas PT Technical Manual Table of Contents 1. General Information about the RV-PT ...................................................................... 5 1.1 Congratulations! ................................................................................................. 5 1.2 NOTICE ............................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Safety / Warning Information .........................................................................
Atlas PT Technical Manual 5.2 Command Mode............................................................................................... 14 5.3 Setting a Parameter ......................................................................................... 15 5.4 Reading a Parameter ....................................................................................... 15 5.5 Configuration Commands ................................................................................ 16 5.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 9.3 Symptom: Receive light blinks, but no data is received .................................. 35 9.4 Symptom: Long delay before transmitting ....................................................... 36 9.5 Symptom: Cannot enter Command Mode ....................................................... 36 9.6 Symptom: Repeater will not repeat. ................................................................ 36 9.7 Symptom: Transmits position, but no data. ..........................
Atlas PT Technical Manual 1. General Information about the RV-PT 1.1 Congratulations! Congratulations on your purchase of the ATLAS PT GPS transponder– the most advanced UHF/VHF GPS transponder available today. Please take a few minutes to read this manual carefully. The information presented here will allow you to derive maximum performance from your radio modem. After reading it, keep the manual handy for quick reference, in case questions arise later on. 1.
Atlas PT Technical Manual When shipping this product, properly label the shipping container per current regulations. Regulations regarding shipment of products containing Li-Ion batteries changes frequently, so consult your carrier and regulatory bodies. USPS requires a "Surface Mail Only" label in addition to DOT's "Primary Lithium Batteries--Forbidden for Transportation aboard Passenger Aircraft" label. 1.5 Safety Training information Always use this radio with the antenna supplied with it.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 2. Overview The ATLAS PT GPS transponder is a rugged high-speed UHF/VHF data modem with a built-in 12-channel GPS receiver. It can be set to output ½ to 5 watts of RF power, and can act as a transmitter or receiver (or both) of GPS location data. By default the ATLAS PT is configured as a Personal Locator. All Raveon GPS tracking products are configured using the GPS x command. The ATLAS PT comes configured from the factory as GPS 8.
Atlas PT Technical Manual Frequency: Model RV-PT-VB .............................................................................................. 150-174MHz Size (without antenna) ...................................................................................................... 5.45” X 2.62’ X 1.23’ Weight (radio) .............................................................................................................. .15 ounces (0.43kg) Weight (external battery pack)… ..........................
Atlas PT Technical Manual 3.6 GPS and Transponder Number of channels .......................................................................................................................................12 Horizontal accuracy (24 hour static) ............................................................................... <2.5m 50%, <5m 90% Acquisition (-130dBm, 50%) ........................................................................ <40sec cold start, <15sec hot start Sensitivity ..................
Atlas PT Technical Manual 4.1 Buttons Power Press this button to turn the power on. Press and hold it for two seconds to turn the power off. The ATLAS PT can be configured to disable the ability to power off via the power button (see the POWER command). This can also be achieved over-the-air. Alert Press this button to generate an alert. Press and hold it for two seconds to generate a Critical Alert. Press and hold it for more than 5 seconds to clear all wearer-initiated alert conditions.
Atlas PT Technical Manual POWER LED Charger plugged in Battery Charged Unit is OFF No OFF YES Solid green Solid Orange No Green blink Red blink 10 second rate 3 second rate Green blink Orange blink 3 second rate 3 second rate Unit is ON YES Battery Low Battery failure detected No Radio will not turn on (See the Maintenance Section) YES Red Blink @Half second rate Alert LED While off during typical operation, this LED turns orange when an Alert condition is being transmitted.
Atlas PT Technical Manual pack through a 5 pin POGO interface, 6 pins are used on the connector for ruggedness and alignment but the middle pin in the bottom row is unused. This port is potted with a sealant for waterproofing purposes and the SM has internal short-circuit protection but can be damaged if an external voltage is applied to the wrong pins. Please use only Raveon supplied assemblies for connection to this port. 4.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 4.6 I/O Cable Options There are 4 basic types of interface cables available for the Atlas SM. They are shown below.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 5. Configuring the Atlas SM 5.1 Overview The RS-232 serial port on the unit is used to send and receive data over the air, as well as to configure the RF modem. In normal operation, the user sends serial data into the TxD pin of the user port, and this data is transmitted over the air. Received data from another RF modem is output to the user via the RxD pin of the user port. This is the default operating condition of the RF modem.
Atlas PT Technical Manual For configuration and other communication in a machine-to-machine environment, Raveon recommends the WMX protocol instead of command mode. See the WMX specification for usage information. The ATLAS PT fully implements the WMX protocol. 5.3 Setting a Parameter To set a parameter in the ATLAS PT modem, enter the Command Mode as described above. Then enter the proper command, a space, the parameter, and then a carriage return.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 5.5 Configuration Commands The following commands are implemented by the Atlas SM. Command Command Description Parameters ATBD Baud Rate – Sets serial com port baud rate (bps). Over-theair (throughput) baud rate is set with ATR2 command. If a PC’s serial baud rate is set higher than the fixed over-theair baud rate of the module, hardware handshaking may be required.
Atlas PT Technical Manual ATPC ATRQ ATRS ATRV Read TX Current. Read the device’s current draw during the last transmission, in mA. Receiver Signal Level – Reads the Receiver Signal strength this instant, and returns the level in dBm. RSSI (Receive Signal Strength Indicator) – Returns the signal level of last received packet. The reading is in dBm. Usable for relative comparison of signals, but absolute value is within10dB at -90dBm.
Atlas PT Technical Manual strictly the format used to program another unit. ** indicates values that are calibrated in the factory and are unit-specific. If the “Radio Type” is changed, these will need to be re-calibrated. 5.6 Additional Personal-Locator Related Commands The following commands are also implemented in the Atlas SM. Many of these commands will appear in other Raveon products as well.
Atlas PT Technical Manual Command ACK0 ACK1 ACK2 ALERT ALERTLEVELS ALERTCAN ATCM ATTX ATHX ATMC GPS GPS&F IDLERATE KEYPHRASE Command Description Clear all alerts. Will reset all alert flags (both user-initiated and hardware generated). An alert flag will re-appear if the triggering condition has not ceased. Acknowledge user alert. Intended for over-the-air commanding. Changes the alert LED from orange to green. Returns NACK if the unit is not in a wearer-initiated alert. Clear user alert states.
Atlas PT Technical Manual MAXBYTES MANDOWN NMEAOUT NMEAMASK NMEARATE OFF POWER PREFIX PROX QSIZE REPEAT products in your system. It secures radio transmissions from unauthorized reception. Set it to 0 to disable security encryption of data. Read Max num of Bytes. This command asks the modem for the maximum number of bytes it can transmit in one TDMA slot. It is read-only. Set/Read Mandown feature. Configure the number of seconds that the unit may be horizontal before triggering a man-down alert.
Atlas PT Technical Manual RESPOND SLOTQTY SLOTTIME SMLISTEN SUM TDMATIME TRIGBITS TRIGPOL TRIGEX TRIGDX more complicated to use. This command enables the unit to repeat all messages it receives, as long as the first digit of the 4digit ID matches its first digit. (It repeats IDs 0001 thru 0999). Response slots. Configures special slots that can be used only in response to overthe-air commands or data acknowledgement.
Atlas PT Technical Manual TRIGSPEED TXRATE TLLPARM 5.7 Speeding Report. Set a speed (in kilometers/hour) threshold above-which the unit will begin reporting its position and status. Set to 0 to disable this feature. GPS Report Rate. Set number of seconds between GPS reports. This is also the rate at which the internal GPS will measure position, speed, etc. Even if the unit is not moving, the GPS periodically measures position and speed to determine if it has triggered a speed or position transmission.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 5.8 Factory RV–SM Default Settings For the VHF ATLAS PT model RV-PT-VA, the factory defaults GPS settings are: Radio channel 1 : 162.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 6. Setup and Initial Configuration Charge the battery Connect the supplied antenna (if not affixed) Connect a computer terminal, or PC computer running a terminal program, to the 5-pin I/O connector. The factory default serial ports settings are 38400 bps, 8 data bits, 1 stop, no parity. Put the ATLAS PT into command mode by entering +++. Enter +++to enter command mode. Program the modem’s operating frequency to your desired operating frequency. This is done with the ATFX xxx.
Atlas PT Technical Manual communicate on the default channel. Change the channel frequency to your specific frequency, and they will be ready to work on your channel. 6.1 Position Transmission When the ATLAS PT transmits its position, it also reports other status information such as voltage, input bits, temperature, velocity, and heading. All of these parameters are compressed into a short data packet, and sent over the air in the proper TDMA time slot.
Atlas PT Technical Manual The diagram clearly shows that if TRIGDX is set to 0, the unit will always transmit when it is supposed to, at the interval programmed into the TXRATE.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 6.3 Battery Life and Power Savings Options The ATLAS PT uses a smart-battery pack with a built-in microprocessor. The battery has the ability to turn the radio and GPS circuits completely off for a preset amount of time, thus saving battery power. Below are details of the power saving features that may be enabled. These options can be used to extend battery life dramatically, but care must be taken if data or commands will be received by the Atlas SM.
Atlas PT Technical Manual Serial Sleep Mode Using the ATCM 1 command, the ATLAS PT can be set to disable the RS-232 port until a character is received. Combined with other power saving modes, this can result in many additional hours of operations if the serial power is not needed. In Serial Sleep Mode, the RS-232 will not output any data and will remain in a low power mode until any character is received.
Atlas PT Technical Manual connected to it, should put a waypoint on its screen, and in its database, at the location specified by the RV-M7. 6.6 $PRAVE Raveon Position & Satus. This message is OUTPUT 1 sent out of the ATLAS PT when it is operating in the GPS 2 mode. This message is used by thirdparty and PC applications for tracking location and status information. $GPTLL NMEA Target Lat Long.
Atlas PT Technical Manual When you program your own security code into your ATLAS PT transponders, write it down in a secure place. This parameter cannot be read out of the Atlas SM. If you forget what it is set to, you will have to reset all the security codes in all of your ATLAS PT Transponders. Use the KEYPHRASE command to set the key phrase.
Atlas PT Technical Manual begin sequentially numbering the MYID of the ATLAS PT transponders at ID 0001. The second RV-M7 should be ID 0002, and so on. The ATLAS PT transponders have internal clocks with 100 ticks-per-second. They can measure time and initiate transmissions 100 times every second (every 10mS). The TDMA time slot is configured to be some number of these ticks. The factory default allocation is 200mS long TDMA slots, and thus in 10 seconds, up to 50 ATLAS PT transponders may report position.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 7. Operation Once the ATLAS PT is turned on by pressing the power button, the internal GPS will begin to try to lock onto the GPS satellites. The Status LEDs on the front of the RV-M7 will begin to blink orange. After 10 to 60 seconds, depending upon the satellite strength, orange blinking will stop. This indicates the internal GPS receiver is locked onto GPS satellite signals, and has a position fix. The ATLAS PT will only transmit if it has GPS lock.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 8. RV-M7 Diagnostic Provisions 8.1 Status and Statistics Command RV-M7 diagnostic information is read using AT commands, while the unit is in Command Mode. Refer to the section “User Serial Port Commands” to learn how to put the RV-M7 modem into Command Mode. AT Command 8.2 Command Description Response ST General Communication Statistics – This command will cause the RV-M7 to output a table of various operational statistics.
Atlas PT Technical Manual ACKs transmitted: nnn (Number of ACK packets sent over-the-air in the ARQ mode) Pkts last minute: nnn (Number of packets received during the last minute) UART errors: nnn (serial port framing and overrun errors. Usually these are caused by incorrect serial port settings) OK If there is a hardware problem, there may be one or more hardware error messages listing the error types (CPU Exceptions, OS Rebooted, or Fatal OS failures).
Atlas PT Technical Manual 9. Troubleshooting 9.1 Symptom: Unit will not receive Solution #1: Verify that the unit is on the correct RF channel. If it is, the Status LED should blink green every time another modem tries to transmit to it. If the Status LED does not blink when it should be receiving, it is on the wrong RF frequency. Solution #2: If the Status LED blinks green, verify that the Unit Address of the sending modem matches the unit address of the receiving modem.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 9.4 Symptom: Long delay before transmitting Solution #1: Verify that serial port timeout is OK. The ATR3 command sets the number of milliseconds that the RV-M7 will look for in the serial input data stream. If a pause greater than this value happens, the modem will transmit. If the ATG0 parameter is set very large, say 2000, this means 2 seconds, and the modem may simply be waiting a long time. Typical settings for this parameter are 20 (20mS). Solution #2: This is normal.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 9.8 Symptom: Radio does not turn on or does not charge Solution #1: Verify the battery is charged by plugging in to a charger. The power LED will display orange while charging and green when fully charged Solution #2: If the radio’s LEDs are blinking red when plugged in to the charger, a battery fault condition has been detected. The radio may have been exposed to extreme temperatures or the battery may just be overused.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 10. Mechanical Note: The GPS connector is TNC. The GPS antenna is enclosed and inaccessible to the user.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 11. ATLAS PT Messages The ATLAS PT sends and receives messages in the PRAVE format. PRAVE is a proprietary protocol developed by Raveon. Use 38400 bps, 8 data bits, no parity and one stop bit (8N1) for standard PRAVE data. See below for PRAVE formatting. 11.1 $GPGSV Satellites In View When this message comes out of the Atlas SM, it identifies the number of satellites its internal GPS has in view. Up to 3 satellites may be reported in one message.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 3 Lon Longitude of the position 4 E/W East or west. One character. 5 WP Name The ID of the unit that transmitted its position plus any user-set prefix. cks NMEA checksum When the ATLAS PT is set to GPS 4 mode of operation, it will output this message every time it receives a position report from another ATLAS PT transponder. Within the WPL message, is the latitude, longitude, and “waypoint ID”.
Atlas PT Technical Manual Along with ID and position information, it contains a host of other status information. The length of this message may exceed he standard NMEA limit of 79 characters. Any product or software that uses this message must take this into account. Following is a list of the fields sent in this message Field Usage Comments 1 $PRAVE Raveon Proprietary Header 2 From ID The ID of the transponder that transmitted its position over the air. It is a decimal number, 0 – 9999.
Atlas PT Technical Manual repeater, it is the signal lever of the repeated message. 14 Speed The speed of the device in km/hour, 0-255 15 Heading The heading of the device 0-360 degrees 16 Status Status flags received from the device. Not all products support generating all status flag codes. NULL means no alerts. “P” means a proximity alert.
Atlas PT Technical Manual 12.1 Antenna A broken antenna can cause severe damage to the GPS transponder. Before use, verify the antenna is intact. Immediately after turning on, verify that the RSSI at a nearby base station is strong, poor signal strength indicates a failed antenna and which must be replaced before resuming operation of the unit. 12.2 Battery Lithium-Ion battery packs are susceptible to damage on sudden impact, extreme heat or cold.
