Hemisphere GPS LiteStar II Air User manual

LiteStar II Air
User Guide
Part No. 875-0103-001 Rev. B1

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
• This device may not cause harmful interference.
• This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may
cause undesired operation.
C OPYRIGHT N OTICE
Hemisphere GPS Inc. Precision GPS Applications
© Copyright Hemisphere GPS Inc. (2007). All rights reserved.
No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval
system or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of Hemisphere GPS Inc.
T RADEMARKS
Hemisphere GPS and the Hemisphere GPS logo, Satloc and the Satloc logo, Mapstar, Air
Star Outback Guidance and eDrive are trademarks of Hemisphere GPS. Other trademarks
are the properties of their respective owners.
N OTICE TO C USTOMERS
Contact your local dealer for technical assistance. To find the authorized dealer near you,
call or write us at:
Hemisphere GPS Inc.
1100 Pamela Drive Telephone number: [phone]
Euless, TX, 76040 Fax number: [phone]
E-mail address: [email protected]
Technical Support
Telephone number: [phone]
E-mail address: [email protected]
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Warranty Notice
C OVERED P RODUCTS
This warranty covers all products manufactured by Hemisphere GPS Inc. (the
"Products").
H EMISPHERE GPS I NC . L IMITED W ARRANTY
Hemisphere GPS Inc. hereby warrants solely to the end purchaser of the Products,
subject to the exclusions and procedures set forth herein below, that the Products sold to
such end purchaser shall be free, under normal use and maintenance, from defects in
material and workmanship for a period of 12 months from delivery to such end purchaser.
Repairs and replacement components are warranted, subject to the exclusions and
procedures set forth below, to be free, under normal use and maintenance, from defects
in material and workmanship for 90 days from performance or delivery, or for the balance
of the original warranty period, whichever is greater.
P URCHASER ' S E XCLUSIVE R EMEDY
The end purchaser's exclusive remedy under this warranty shall be limited to the repair or
replacement, at the option of Hemisphere GPS, of any defective Products or components
thereof. The end user shall notify Hemisphere GPS or a Hemisphere GPS approved service
center immediately of any claimed defect. Repairs shall be made through a Hemisphere
GPS approved service center only.
E XCLUSIONS
Hemisphere GPS does not warrant damage occurring in transit or due to misuse, abuse,
improper installation, neglect, lightning (or other electrical discharge) or fresh/salt water
immersion of Products. Repair, modification or service of Hemisphere GPS products by
any party other than a Hemisphere GPS approved service center shall render this
warranty null and void. Hemisphere GPS does not warrant claims asserted after the end
of the warranty period. Hemisphere GPS does not warrant or guarantee the precision or
accuracy of positions obtained when using Products. Products are not intended for
primary navigation or for use in safety of life applications. The potential accuracy of
Products as stated in Hemisphere GPS literature and/or Product specifications serves to
provide only an estimate of achievable accuracy based on:
• Specifications provided by the US Department of Defense for GPS Positioning,
• DGPS service provider performance specifications.
Hemisphere GPS reserves the right to modify Products without any obligation to notify,
supply or install any improvements or alterations to existing Products.
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N O O THER W ARRANTIES
THE FOREGOING WARRANTY IS EXCLUSIVE OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER
WRITTEN, ORAL, IMPLIED OR ARISING BY STATUTE, COURSE OF DEALING OR TRADE
USAGE, IN CONNECTION WITH THE DESIGN, SALE, INSTALLATION, SERVICE OR USE OF
ANY PRODUCTS OR ANY COMPONENTS THEREOF, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
L IMITATION OF L IABILITY
THE EXTENT OF HEMISPHERE GPS' LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES OF ANY NATURE TO THE
END PURCHASER OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR TORT
AND WHETHER TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY SHALL IN NO CASE EXCEED, IN THE
AGGREGATE, THE COST OF CORRECTING THE DEFECT IN THE PRODUCT OR, AT
HEMISPHERE GPS' OPTION, THE COST OF REPLACING THE DEFECTIVE ITEM. IN NO
EVENT WILL HEMISPHERE GPS BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PRODUCTION, LOSS OF
PROFITS, LOSS OF USE OR FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL
OR CONTINGENT DAMAGES, EVEN IF HEMISPHERE GPS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, HEMISPHERE
GPS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM
INSTALLATION, USE, QUALITY, PERFORMANCE OR ACCURACY OF ANY PRODUCTS.
G OVERNING L EGISLATION
To the greatest extent possible, this warranty shall be governed by the laws of the State
of Arizona. In the event that any provision hereof is held to be invalid by a court of
competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be severed from this warranty and the
remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
O BTAINING W ARRANTY S ERVICE
In order to obtain warranty service, the end purchaser must bring the Product to a
Hemisphere GPS approved service center along with the end purchaser's proof of
purchase. For any questions regarding warranty service or to obtain information
regarding the location of any of Hemisphere GPS' approved service centers, contact
Hemisphere GPS at the following address:
Hemisphere GPS Inc.
7560 East Redfield Road, Suite B
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
Phone [phone] Fax [phone]
[email protected]
http://www.hemispheregps.com
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LiteStar II Air User Guide
i
Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
1: A BOUT L ITE S TAR II A IR . . . . .1
Product Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Available Patterns 3
Features & Benefits 4
Understanding Your GPS Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
What is GPS? 6
What is DGPS? 7
What Type of DGPS Does LiteStar II Air Use? 8
2: I NSTALLING L ITE S TAR II
A IR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Components & Parts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Installing LiteStar II Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3: G ETTING S TARTED . . . . . . . .27
Turning LiteStar II Air On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Controller Boot Up 29
Lightbar Tests 30
Turning LiteStar II Air OFF 31
Operating the Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
What is the Controller? 32
What the Buttons and Dials Do 33
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What the Display Screen Shows 34
Operating the Controller 36
Using the Lightbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Setting the Basic Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Setting the System Units 38
Setting the Local Time 39
4: L OGGING J OB D ATA . . . . . . .41
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Changing Log Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Creating a New Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Saving a Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Continuing a Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Reviewing Log Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Deleting Log Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5: F LYING A P ATTERN . . . . . . . .55
Available Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Pattern Guidance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Pattern Types 58
The A|B Line 58
Flying a Basic Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Common Tasks for Flying a Pattern 64
Troubleshooting 67
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LiteStar II Air User Guide
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6: U SING N AVIGATION M ARKS &
W AYPOINTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Setting a Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Recalling a Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Navigating to a Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Deleting a Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
7: S ETTING A DVANCED
F EATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
System Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Setting the Swath Number 80
Setting the Display Screen Brightness 81
Setting the Units 83
Setting a Guidance Delay (“Look Ahead”) 83
Turning Start-Up Help Off/On 85
Deleting Logs or Marks 86
Changing Logging Settings 86
Checking the System Status 86
Resetting Factory Defaults 87
Loading Firmware 88
Testing Hardware 92
DGPS Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Checking the Differential Source 96
Checking the Port Setup 97
Swapping SLX Applications 100
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iv
Using e-Dif 100
Lightbar Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Setting the Lightbar Brightness 106
Setting the Lightbar Sensitivity 106
Changing the Left and Right Lightbar Displays 108
A PPENDIX A:
T ROUBLESHOOTING . . . . . . . . .111
FAQs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Common Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Lightbar Error Messages 115
Controller Error Messages 116
A PPENDIX B: G LOSSARY . . . . .117
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
A PPENDIX C: L ITE S TAR II A IR
T ECHNICAL S PECIFICATIONS .123
Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
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1: A BOUT
L
ITE S TAR II A IR
Product Overview
Understanding Your GPS Data
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1: About LiteStar II Air
P RODUCT O VERVIEW
LiteStar II Air is an entry-level precision guidance system that
allows you to fly accurate swaths with one of six built-in aerial
patterns. LiteStar II Air consists of a ruggedized Lightbar that
provides GPS guidance and an intuitive controller with graphic
display screen.
Settings OK?
Swath Width:
60.0 M
Pat: Lft BK-BK
LiteStar II Air Controller
LiteStar II Air Lightbar
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LiteStar II Air User Guide
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Available Patterns
Left Back to Back
Right Back to Back
Racetrack
Quick Racetrack
Reverse Racetrack
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4
1: About LiteStar II Air
Features & Benefits
LiteStar II Air is offered in both a logging and non-logging version.
LiteStar II Air allows you to:
•use a guided quick-start menu - the system prompts you to
create a job, enter a navigation option, and enter the swath
width. Then it begins providing guidance immediately.
•define sytem setup options including display screen
brightness, Lightbar settings and brightness, DGPS options,
and more!
•manage your jobs - create new jobs or continue jobs from
where you left off. In addition, the logging version allows you
to review jobs flown on your personal computer using
Hemisphere GPS’ MapStar software or similar mapping
application.
•mark the GPS location of signifiant spots in your field,
such as waypoints, field boundaries, etc. and navigate back to
a mark.
•stop mid-job - LiteStar will guide you back to the swath
that was active when you left a job. LiteStar II Air
automatically sets a mark on the last swath of the last job
flown before shutting down. You can also manually set a mark
on a job to return to later.
The LiteStar II Air is sold with Hemisphere GPS’ SLXg3 receiver - a
high-performance, 12-channel GPS engine with a selection of
Squeeze
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LiteStar II Air User Guide
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differential options. The SLXg3 gives you several options for
choosing a differential source: WAAS, *Beacon, L-Band, and e-Dif.
*Available with SLXg3 Combo model only.
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1: About LiteStar II Air
U NDERSTANDING Y OUR GPS D ATA
What is GPS?
GPS stands for Global Positioning System. This worldwide radio-
navigation system is formed by 24 dedicated NAVSTAR satellites
(plus active spares) orbiting the earth approximately 11,000 miles
away. Initially developed in the early 1970s for precise navigation
and weapons guidance by the U.S. military, it is now used
extensively by other governments, agencies, businesses, and
individuals.
While we mostly use GPS to determine our position, a GPS receiver
is actually a highly accurate timing device. Since the speed of light
is essentially constant (186,000 miles per second), a GPS receiver
determines the length of time it takes for a signal to travel from the
satellite. By trilaterating the signals from many satellites (using, of
course, very sophisticated mathematical formulas), a precise
location is determined.
The accuracy of the GPS signal can be affected by atmospheric
interference, timing errors, and satellite orbit errors. So, the basic
GPS signal provided by the military provides accuracy on the order
of 10 - 20 meters, depending on the sophistication of the GPS
engine.
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LiteStar II Air User Guide
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What is DGPS?
Differential GPS ( DGPS) is GPS with an additional correction signal
added. This signal, called “Differential Correction,” provides
corrections to improve the accuracy over GPS alone.
The accuracy of this correction signal depends on the type of DGPS
your receiver supports:
•Beacon DGPS uses a single reference station at a known point
(also called a base station) to calculate and correct bias errors.
The beacon reference station is ground-based and computes
corrections for each satellite signal. It then broadcasts these
corrections from a radio tower to the remote, or field, GPS
receiver. The remote receiver then applies the corrections to
each satellite used to compute its position.
With Beacon DGPS, the closer you are to a reference station,
the more accurate your signal will be - so Beacon DGPS is good
for local area coverage.
•WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) DGPS uses GPS
data from a network of reference stations spanning a wide
geographic area to compute corrections. WAAS broadcasts
corrections from two satellites.
WAAS DGPS provides for a wider coverage area because it
uses data from multiple reference stations. Furthermore, the
effects of noise are averaged out across the network of
reference stations.
•Private satellite-based DGPS services. For example,
OmniSTAR, a subscription-based service with worldwide
coverage, also uses the network model to compute real-time
corrections. OmniSTAR also broadcasts correction signals from
multiple satellites around the globe.
•Relative DGPS services. For example, Hemisphere GPS’
patented e-Dif service provides relative DGPS accuracy. e-Dif
selects the GPS coordinates of a known point to serve as an
internal “reference station” and computes accurate positions.
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8
1: About LiteStar II Air
This is done by gathering continuous data from satellites for 5
to 8 minutes and then computing a matching differential
corrector for that specific location - a process called calibration.
Once e-Dif is running, it is continually adjusted to match
changing conditions on the GPS signals caused by the
atmosphere. e-Dif is designed to minimize position drift and
prevent spiking or jumping. Typically, position drift is below 1
to 2 meters during the first hour of operation.
e-Dif should be used when you don’t need absolute positioning
data.
What Type of DGPS Does LiteStar II Air Use?
LiteStar II Air is sold with Hemisphere GPS’ SLXg3 receiver. The SLXg3
is a 12-channel GPS engine with 4 differential options:
•300 KHz Beacon: ~ < 3 feet (1 meter) accuracy, depending
on the distance from the beacon site
300 KHz radio beacon DGPS is a differential service available
throughout the world. Redundant coverage is planned
throughout the entire U.S. Contact your Hemisphere GPS
dealer for more information on availability.
•WAAS/EGNOS: ~ < 3 feet (1 meter) accuracy (WAAS)/
~ < 16 feet (5 meter) accuracy (EGNOS - still in test mode)
WAAS is a free service of the FAA developed by Raytheon. It is
available everywhere in the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, and
Puerto Rico. It can also be picked up in the border areas of
Canada and Mexico.
EGNOS, a service similar to WAAS, is available in Europe and
Western Russia. However, EGNOS is still in test mode. It is
planned to be fully operational in 2004. EGNOS is a precursor
to Galileo, the full global satellite navigation system under
development in Europe.
•OmniSTAR: ~ < 3 feet (1 meter) accuracy
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LiteStar II Air User Guide
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OmniSTAR L-Band is a subscription-based differential signal.
An SLX receiver using OmniSTAR can operate throughout 95%
of the world, wherever OmniSTAR coverage is available. An
SLX receiver with an active OmniSTAR subscription will
automatically lock onto the differential satellites necessary to
improve accuracy to within one meter, and will automatically
choose the correct frequency, depending on what part of the
world you are operating in. Different parts of the world may
have different OmniSTAR subscriptions.
•e-Dif: ~ < 6 feet (2 meter) accuracy
e-Dif is a differential correction, designed by Hemisphere GPS
for use with the SLX receiver. Hemisphere GPS developed e-Dif
for our customers who are not able to receive other types of
differential signals due to location or budget.
e-Dif can be used anywhere on the globe where a GPS lock can
be achieved. Once you receive e-Dif differential, you can
operate for 1 hour or longer using the initial corrector. During
the first hour, position accuracy is typically within 2 meters,
relative to the original location. See
http://www.hemispheregps.com for more information on e-Dif.
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2: I NSTALLING
L
ITE S TAR II A IR
Components & Parts List
Installing LiteStar II Air
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