Anyone using a Carlson Explorer to run a Z-Max?
Posted By Gordon Bell on 2/2/2007 at 3:00 PM

I would like to talk to someone running the same system as we are because we are experiencing some major issues. Probably operator headspace & timing but, our files are corrupt.

We are getting extraneous lines in the Rinnex files that cause OPUS to abort.

We tried to do some rapid static sessions the other day and it was a miserable failure. The Carlson manual doesn't give good guidance on this and neither does the FTP site so..........


It has been very frustrating. I do not like having to read through 900 pages of Rinex file looking for what seem to be random remarks.

It was the first time we tried going static with the Rover so I understand that one and kinda' expected problems but this is getting OLD.


Re: Anyone using a Carlson Explorer to run a Z-Max?
Posted By joe nobody on 2/4/2007 at 4:35 PM

Inorder for opus to work. You have to create independent files for upload. I find it simpler to utilize the face plate. With Carlson or TDS you have to start new file each time.


Re: Anyone using a Carlson Explorer to run a Z-Max?
Posted By Ron Wilson on 2/6/2007 at 10:17 AM

Gordon,

I use a Carlson Explorer (running Carlson SurvCE) to run my Z-Max system. When I do static/OPUS sessions, I don't even use the data collector to set up the session. I always re-initialize the receiver and start a new session using the buttons on the receiever only. I never could get it to work, when trying to do it through the data collector and Carlson SurvCE. Make sure you don't use the 20 second default interval for the data collection. OPUS will reject it.


Using the ZMax with OPUS
Posted By Phil athome on 2/8/2007 at 5:48 AM

Please read the instructions for using OPUS on the OPUS web page before you begin.

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/OPUS/index.html

Before beginning a new project it is a good idea to prepare the SD card and the GPS receiver by doing a reinit as described in the ZMax Operations and Applications manual and the firmware release notes.

Be confident that the SD card is prepared for data recording. If you need to use the $PASHS,CLM command to make this happen do so. Be sure to observe that it responds with PASSED.

If this is the RTK base station first set up for RTK work and then do the following steps.

Use the yellow arrow keys to go to SURVCONF on the front panel. Press the green ENTER key.

Make sure the the recording interval is set to 005.0s or some other interval suitable for use with OPUS.

Use the green ENTER and yellow arrow keys to change and accept the numbers.

Press the Red X key to exit the SURVCONF menu.

Press the down arrow key to SURVEY:STATIC and press ENTER

Use the ENTER and arrow keys to change the SiteID to a four character alpha-numeric SiteID. Avoid the use of punctuation. Use four letters and/or numbers.

Use the arrow keys to get to STATUS and press ENTER. Make sure you have a good solution going. OPUS can be picky about the quality of the data. Do not start a session for OPUS until it has a good group of SV's, low PDOP, and the clock is set to UTC time. If the receiver still has GPS time it is not ready for OPUS work.

Press the Red X key twice to exit the Survey menu.

Use the arrow keys to get to the SESSIONS menu and press ENTER.

Use the arrow keys to show STOP SESSION on the display and press ENTER. Then press ENTER again to confirm the choice. The ZMax will display DONE when this is finished.

Press the ENTER key when the display shows START SESSION. Press ENTER again to confirm the choice.

This will begin a file for use with OPUS that is not likely to be rejected.

Use the arrow keys to show LIST SESSIONS on the display and press ENTER. Use the up arrow key to display the current session. Observe the file size increasing as the display scrolls past each time.

This will help to confirm that the SD card is prepared for data recording.

Press the Red X key to exit the SESSIONS menu.

Use the arrow keys to show SETTINGS on the display and press ENTER.

Use the down arrow key to display SAVE and press ENTER. Then press ENTER again to confirm the choice.

The receiver will report DONE when this is complete. This will save your settings through a power cycle of the receiver.

Press the Red X key to exit the SETTINGS menu.

Avoid making changes in the SiteID, recording interval, or antenna height while the receiver is recording data for use with OPUS.

At the end of the session you can turn off the receiver to close the session.

You can find these instructions on the Magellan ftp server.