Kongsberg Seatex AS

Exercise 2 Training
Product: DPS/DARPS products

Version: v 1.1 Upgrade from v 1.0

Date: 2011-09-06 - PHF

DGPS signals and Fugro SeaStar demodulators.

During these exercises it will be useful having the GeoSky software, Downlink Frequency list,
World Wide station list, the Reference Station Status window and the course documentation.

What is the difference between a GPS and a DGPS position and how will this affect the
DARPS/DPS system?
GNSS: No differential corrections applied, expected accuracy < 15m
DGNSS: Differential corrections applied. Significant increase in position accuracy, expected < 2m

Satellites:

Differential corrections are sent over communication satellites. Which ones?

The group of Inmarsat and Spotbeam satellites (ref “GeoSkyII, Fugro SeaSTAR”) and Irridium sat.

The Inmarsat upgrade gave us access to a new high power channel in addition to the usual low power
channel. What kind of antennas do we need for receiving these two channels onboard?

InmarsatLowPower: Directional, parabolic antenna

InmarsatHighPower: Spotbeam Omni-directional antenna

Mention a few of these satellites (Indicate in your answer the High and Low Power channels).
High power: AORE, AORW, IOR... Low power: PORL

Recommend “correction satellites” for use in the North Sea (Indicate with S/I for Spot/Inmarsat):
ESAT, AORE

Ditto recommendation when operating in Brazil:

AORW, AMSAT

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 Kongsberg Seatex AS
Exercise 2 Training
Product: DPS/DARPS products

Version: v 1.1 Upgrade from v 1.0

Date: 2011-09-06 – PHF

Using the Demodulator:

There is one Inmarsat satellite having low power radio. Which one is this?

PORL still remains on low power

What kind of antenna do you need to receive the signals from this satellite?

We need the directional Inmarsat Disc antenna

Have a look at the SeaStar beam change program. Which frequency is this satellite transmitting on?
1539.9525 kHz

Which satellite is your Demodulator tuned to: Chn A: ESAT, Chn B: AORE (ref “GeoSky”)

What is the frequency used by this satellite? ESAT 1539.9125, AORE: 1539.9725

Change to another available satellite. What happens?

Alternative satellites may not transmit the best reference station you currently is using
Change manually the frequency to 1531 0000 00 Hz and wait for about 2 min.
Describe what happens on the demodulator?

Demodulator stays searching in Sync-mode for this non-existing satellite.

Describe what happens on the DARPS/DPS system?

Time-Out on ref.stations after AgeLimit. EPE increase. Quality drops to “1”.

When changing satellite on the demodulator, other parameters to check? Of course, but which one?

Frequency and Symbol Rate

Which reference stations are currently received by your Demodulator?

North Sea: Chn A: ESAT, Chn B: AORE (ref “GeoSky”)

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 Kongsberg Seatex AS
Exercise 2 Training
Product: DPS/DARPS products

Version: v 1.1 Upgrade from v 1.0

Date: 2011-09-06 – PHF

The figure below is a print out of the “Reference Station List” from a DARPS/DPS 100.

Fig.1: DARPS/DPS Reference Station List

How many reference stations are received in this system (fig. 1)? 22 stations

How many reference stations are being used in the position calculation? 6 stations

What are the criteria for a station being used or not? Range Limit or Age limit

_________________________________________________________________________________
In general, which reference stations do you recommend, and why?

The closest gives often the best accuracy. Over range and age the errors will slowly increase.

The DARPS/DPS are set up with Range Limit for reference stations and Age Limit for corrections?
What is the reason for these limits?
The errors are of the same magnitude both within the Range Limit and Age Limit.

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 Kongsberg Seatex AS
Exercise 2 Training
Product: DPS/DARPS products

Version: v 1.1 Upgrade from v 1.0

Date: 2011-09-06 – PHF

The figure below is a print out of the “Reference Station List” from a DARPS/DPS 200.

Fig.2 Reference Station Status, DARPS/DPS 200

When using DARPS/DPS 200 or 232, what’s important regarding reference stations? (ref. fig.2)
GLONASS corrections as these units has GLONASS receiver.
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When using DARPS/DPS 132 or 232 what is important then?
IONO-corrections as these receivers has 2-freq. receivers.

Situation:
Your Demodulator is connected to a Inmarsat disc antenna. Because of shadowing on the Inmarsat
antenna you decide to shift to another Inmarsat satellite on the Inmarsat terminal.

What else do you need to do? Change to the corresponding Satellite on the Demodulator.

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 Kongsberg Seatex AS
Exercise 2 Training
Product: DPS/DARPS products

Version: v 1.1 Upgrade from v 1.0

Date: 2011-09-06 – PHF

Correction service and data transmission links

The Differetial corrections are made in land based reference stations. The user segment will apply
these corrections whether we operate onshore or offshore. To have these corrections made available
for the user segment, the signals must be transmitted by use of different type of transmitters and
technology. List some of these transmission links we have on land, at sea and in space.:

Type of transmitter/link Expected Expected L=Local

range accuracy R=Regional
G=Global
1 IALA beacon 200 km +/- 1–2 m L
2 UHF (Petrobras, Hibernia...) 50 km? 1–2 m L
3 SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, GAGAN) * 1-2 m R
4 Spotbeam, Inmarsat, V-Sat, Irridium… ** 0.1-1m R/G
Table 1: List of correction links
*) Limited by defined region (US, EUR, JAP)
**) Limited by Type of correction subscription
(Standard RTCM: 2000km, XP, G2: Global)
(HP: Regional, 10cm accuracy < 1000km)
There are several types of correction services. Depending upon our needs we must apply the
appropriate type of service. One criteria is accuracy made to our position calculation. List the main
classes of the corrections available. List type and expected accuracy.

Type of correction service Found on transmission link Expected L=Local

(Ref.no. from table above) accuracy R=Regional
horizontal G=Global
1 SeaSTAR L1: 1..4 1 m +/- Local
S - Single GPS L1 < 2000km
2 SeaSTAR +: DISCONTINUED 1 m +/- Local
D - Dual freq. IONO-corr < 2000km
3 SeaSTAR DGNSS: 1, 2, 4 (3 is GPS only) 1 m +/- Local
G – Single GLONASS+GPS L1 < 2000km
4 H-High precision corrections
5 -SeaSTAR HP (phase based): 4 < 20 cm Regional
GPS High Precision Acc given
Pos acc. [dm]+speed acc [cm/s] within 1000 km
6 -SeaSTAR XP (clock & orbit): 4 < 20 cm
GPS High Precision (pos [dm])
7 -SeaSTAR G2 (clock and orbit): 4 < 20 cm
GPS+GLONASS (pos [dm])
Table 2: List of correction services

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