Meinberg GPS163DHS User manual

FUNKUHREN
GPS163DHS
GPS163AHS
Technical Information
Operating Instructions
Incl. Windows Software
GPSMON32

Impressum
Werner Meinberg
Auf der Landwehr 22
D-31812 Bad Pyrmont
Telefon: ++49 (0) 52 81 / 9309-0
Telefax: ++49 (0) 52 81 / 9309-30
Internet: http://www.meinberg.de
Email: [email protected]
April 29, 2005

Table of contents
Impressum............................................................................................ 2
General information............................................................................. 5
Block diagram GPS163xHS................................................................. 6
GPS163xHS features............................................................................ 7
Time zone and daylight saving .................................................. 7
Pulse outputs .............................................................................. 7
Asynchronous serial ports.......................................................... 8
DCF77 emulation ....................................................................... 9
Installation ......................................................................................... 10
Power supply ............................................................................ 10
Mounting the antenna............................................................... 10
Powering up the system ........................................................... 11
The front panel layout........................................................................ 12
FAIL LED ................................................................................. 12
LOCK LED ............................................................................... 12
OCx LEDs................................................................................. 12
BSL Key ................................................................................... 12
BNC connector DCF Out.......................................................... 13
BNC connector GPS Ant .......................................................... 13
Assignment of the terminal block............................................ 13
Assignment of the DSUB connectors ...................................... 14
Replacing the lithium battery ............................................................ 14
CE label.............................................................................................. 14
Technical specifications GPS163xHS ............................................... 15
Front views ............................................................................... 17
Technical specifications of antenna......................................... 18

4
Assembly with CN-UB/E (CN-UB-280DC) ............................ 19
Format of the Meinberg standard time string.......................... 20
Format of the SAT time string................................................. 21
Format of the time string Uni Erlangen (NTP) ....................... 22
Format of the NMEA (RMC) string ........................................ 24
Diskette with Windows Software GPSMON32................................. 25
The program GPSMON32 ................................................................. 26
Online Help .............................................................................. 26

5
General information
The satellite receiver clocks GPS163DHS and GPS163AHS have been designed to
provide an extremly precise time reference for the generation of programmable pulses.
The variants are different in the power supply (DC or AC) only. The name GPS163xHS
is used for both clocks in the following chapters therefore. The differences are described
in the relevant chapters.
The clocks have been developed for applications where conventional radio controlled
clocks can´t meet the growing requirements in precision. High precision available 24
hours a day around the whole world is the main feature of the new systems which receive
their information from the satellites of the Global Positioning System.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based radio-positioning, navigati-
on, and time-transfer system. It was installed by the United States Departement of
Defense and provides two levels of accuracy: The Standard Positioning Service (SPS)
and the Precise Positioning Service (PPS). While PPS is encrypted and only available for
authorized (military) users, SPS has been made available to the general public.
GPS is based on accurately measuring the propagation time of signals transmitted
from satellites to the user´s receiver. A nominal constellation of 21 satellites together with
3 active spares in six orbital planes 20000 km over ground provides a minimum of four
satellites to be in view 24 hours a day at every point of the globe. Four satellites need to
be received simultaneously if both receiver position (x, y, z) and receiver clock offset
from GPS system time must be computed. All the satellites are monitored by control
stations which determine the exact orbit parameters as well as the clock offset of the
satellites´ on-board atomic clocks. These parameters are uploaded to the satellites and
become part of a navigation message which is retransmitted by the satellites in order to
pass that information to the user´s receiver.
The high precision orbit parameters of a satellite are called ephemeris parameters
whereas a reduced precision subset of the ephemeris parameters is called a satellite´s
almanac. While ephemeris parameters must be evaluated to compute the receiver´s
position and clock offset, almanac parameters are used to check which satellites are in
view from a given receiver position at a given time. Each satellite transmits its own set of
ephemeris parameters and almanac parameters of all existing satellites.

66
Block diagram GPS163xHS
o
p
tional
li
g
htnin
g
p
rotector
antenna/
converter
unit
RS232
(RS485)
driver
s
y
nchronization
o
p
tical isolation
RS232COM0
RS232(RS485)COM1
programmablepulses
power supply GPS-signal (IF) LO-frequency
RG58-cable up to 250 meters
without additional amplifier
IF-circuit microcontrollercorrelator
DCF77
simulation
master
oscillator D/A-converter
Flash EPROM
program
memory
GPS163xHS
SRAM
EEPROM
data memories
real time clock
power
19-72VDC(DHS)
100-240VAC(AHS)
120-240VDC(DAHS)
simulated
DCF77-output
antenna power internal power
sample
clock
data
addr/data
clock
clock
DCF-pulses
clock
control voltage
dual
Tx/Rx
data
addr/data
programmable pulses
reference clock
3
3
addr/data

7
GPS163xHS features
The GPS163xHS is designed for mounting on a DIN rail. The front panel integrates five
LED indicators, a hidden push button, an eight-pole terminal block, two DSUB- and two
BNC-connectors. The receiver is connected to the antenna/converter unit by a 50 Ω-
coaxial cable with length up to 250 m. It is possible to connect up to four receivers to one
antenna by using an optional antenna diplexer.
The navigation message coming from the satellites is decoded by GPS163xHS´s
microprocessor in order to track the GPS system time with an accuracy of better than ±1
µsec. Compensation of the RF signal´s propagation delay is done by automatical
determination of the receiver´s position on the globe. A correction value computed from
the satellites´ navigation messages increases the accuracy of the board´s TCXO to ±5.10-
9 and automatically compensates the oscillators aging. The last recent value is restored
from the battery buffered memory at power-up.
Time zone and daylight saving
GPS system time differs from the universal time scale (UTC) by the number of leap
seconds which have been inserted into the UTC time scale after GPS has been initiated in
1980. The current number of leap seconds is part of the navigation message supplied by
the satellites, so GPS163xHS´s internal real time is based on UTC.
Conversion to local time including handling of daylight saving year by year can be
done by the receiver´s microprocessor if the corresponding parameters are set up with the
help of the software GPSMON32 (included Windows software).
Pulse outputs
The pulse generator of the satellite controlled clock GPS163xHS containes three
independant channels and is able to generate a multitude of different pulses, which
are configured with the software GPSMON32.
The active state of each channel is invertible, the pulse duration settable between 10
msec and 10 sec in steps of 10 msec.
In the default mode of operation the pulse outputs are disabled until the receiver has
synchronized after power-up. However, the system can be configured to enable those
outputs immediately after power-up.
The pulse outputs are electrically insulated by optocouplers (option: PhotoMOS
relays) and are available at the terminal block.

8
The following modes can be configured for each channel independently:
Timer mode: Three on- and off-times per day per channel programmable
Cyclic mode: Generation of periodically repeated pulses.
A cycle time of two seconds would generate a pulse at
0:00:00, 0:00:02, 0:00:04 etc.
DCF77-Simulation
mode: The corresponding output simulates the DCF77 time telegram.
The time marks are representing the local time as configured by the user.
Single Shot Mode: A single pulse of programmable length is generated once a day at a
programmable point of time
Per Sec.
Per Min.
Per Hr. modes: Pulses each second, minute or hour
Status: One of three status messages can be emitted:
‘position OK’: The output is switched on if the receiver was able to
compute its position
‘time sync’: The output is switched on if the internal timing is
synchronous to the GPS-system
‘all sync’: Logical AND of the above status messages.
The output is active if position is calculated AND the
timing is synchronized
Idle-mode: The output is inactive
Asynchronous serial ports
Two asynchronous serial interfaces (RS-232) called COM0 and COM1 are available
to the user. In the default mode of operation, the serial outputs are disabled until the
receiver has synchronized after power-up. However, the system can be configured to
enable those outputs immediately after power-up. Transmission speeds, framings
and the kind of the time string can be configured separately. The serial ports are
sending a time string either once per second, once per minute or on request with
ASCII ´?´ only. The format of the output strings is ASCII, see the technical specifica-
tions for details. The corresponding parameters can be set up by GPSMON32 (inclu-
ded Windows software) using serial port COM0.
Optionally serial port COM1 can be delivered as an RS-485 interface.

9
DCF77 emulation
The GPS163xHS satellite controlled clock generates time marks which are compati-
ble with the time marks spread by the German long wave transmitter DCF77. If
configured in GPSMON32, these time marks are available as pulse outputs. In
addition, an AM-modulated carrier frequency of 77.5kHz is available via a BNC-
connector in the front panel. This signal can be used as a replacement for a DCF77-
antenna.
The long wave transmitter installed in Mainflingen near Frankfurt/Germany transmits
the reference time of the Federal Republic of Germany: time of day, date of month and
day of week in BCD coded second pulses. Once every minute the complete time
information is transmitted. However, GPS163xHS generates time marks representing its
local time as configured by the user, including announcement of changes in daylight
saving and announcement of leap seconds. The coding sheme is given below:
M StartofMinute (0.1s)
R RFTransmission viasecondaryantenna
A1 Announcementofachange in daylightsaving
Z1,Z2 Timezoneidentification
Z1,Z2=0,1: Daylightsavingdisabled
Z1,Z2=1,0: Daylightsavingenabled
A2 Announcementofaleapsecond
S Start of timecode information
P1,P2,P3 Evenparitybits
0
10
20
30
40
50
R
M
1
4
2
1
20
10
8
4
2
1
P2
20
10
8
4
2
1
2
4
8
10
1
2
4
8
10
20
40
80
P3
A1
Z1
Z2
A2
S
1
2
4
8
10
20
40
P1 Minute
(reserved)
Hour
Day of Month
Day of Week
Year of the Century
Month of Year
Time marks start at the beginning of new second. If a binary "0" is to be transmitted,
the length of the corresponding time mark is 100 msec, if a binary "1" is transmitted,
the time mark has a length of 200 msec. The information on the current date and time
as well as some parity and status bits can be decoded from the time marks of the 15th
up to the 58th second every minute. The absence of any time mark at the 59th second
of a minute signals that a new minute will begin with the next time mark.

10
Installation
Power supply
The variant GPS163DHS is designed for operation with a DC (19 V to 72 V, DC-
insulation 1.5 kV), the type GPS163AHS with an AC (100V to 240V, 47 Hz to 63 Hz)
power supply. The voltage feed is done through terminal blocks in the frontpanel of the
clock and should have low resistance to minimize spurious emission (EMI).
GPS163AHS includes a fuse which is available at the front panel.
To avoid potential differences between the signal ground of GPS163xHS and a
post-connected unit installed on different DIN rails, the signal ground of the clock is
insulated from the case.
The case must be grounded by using the rear contact.
Mounting the antenna
The GPS satellites are not stationary but circle round the globe in a period of about 12
hours. They can only be received if no building is in the line-of-sight from the antenna to
the satellite, so the antenna/converter unit must be installed in a location from which as
much of the sky as possible can be seen. The best reception is given when the antenna
has a free view of 8° angular elevation above horizon. If this is not possible the antenna
should be installed with a mostly free view to the equator because of the satellite courses
which are located between latitudes of 55° North and 55° South. If even this is not
possible problems occure especially when at least four sattelites for positioning have to
be found.
The unit can be mounted using a pole with a diameter up to 60 mm. A standard coaxial
cable with 50 Ωimpedance (e.g. RG58C) should be used to connect the antenna/
converter unit to the receiver. Cable thinner than RG58 should be avoided due to its
higher DC resistance and RF attenuation. When using the optional antenna diplexer the
total length of one antenna line between antenna, diplexer and receiver must not be
longer than 250 m. If a cable with less attenuation is used its length may be increased
accordingly (e.g. 500 m with RG213).

11
Powering up the system
If both, the antenna and the power supply have been connected, the system is ready to
operate. About 10 seconds after power-up the receiver´s TCXO has warmed up and
operates with the required accuracy. If the receiver finds valid almanac and epheme-
ris data in its battery buffered memory and the receiver´s position has not changed
significantly since its last operation the receiver can find out which satellites are in
view now. Only a single satellite needs to be received to synchronize and generate
output pulses, so synchronization can be achieved maximally one minute after
power-up.
If the receiver position has changed by some hundred kilometers since last operati-
on, the satellites´ real elevation and doppler might not match those values expected
by the receiver thus forcing the receiver to start scanning for satellites. This mode is
called Warm Boot because the receiver can obtain ID numbers of existing satellites
from the valid almanac. When the receiver has found four satellites in view it can
update its new position and switch to Normal Operation. If the almanac has been
lost because the battery had been disconnected the receiver has to scan for a satellite
and read in the current almanacs. This mode is called Cold Boot. It takes 12 minutes
until the new almanac is complete and the system switches to Warm Boot mode
scanning for other satellites.

12
The front panel layout
FAIL LED
The FAIL LED is turned on whenever
the receiver is not synchronous to the
GPS-system.
LOCK LED
The LOCK LED is turned on if the re-
ceiver has acquired at least four satelli-
tes and has computed its position after
power-up. In normal operation the re-
ceiver position is updated continuously
as long as at least four satellites can be
received. When the receivers position is
known and steady only, a single satellite
needs to be received for synchronizati-
on and generatation of output pulses.
OCx LEDs
The LEDs OC1, OC2 and OC3 are indicating the status of the corresponding pulse
output. A burning LED symbolizes the ON-state of an optocoupler.
BSL Key
Whenever the on-board software must be upgraded or modified, the new firmware
can be downloaded to the internal flash memory using the serial port COM0. There is
no need to open the metal case and insert a new EPROM.
If the BSL key behind the front panel is pressed during operation, a bootstrap-
loader is actived and waits for instructions from the serial port COM0. The new
firmware can be sent to GPS163xHS from any standard PC with serial interface. A
loader program will be shipped together with the file containing the image of the new
firmware.
The contents of the program memory will not be modified until the loader program
has sent the command to erase the flash memory. So, if the BSL key is pressed
unintentionally, the firmware will not be changed accidentially. After the next
power-up, the system will be ready to operate again.
GPS163DHS COM 0 COM 1
GPS
Ant
DCF
Lock
Fail
BSL
Ub
Oc 1
Oc 2
Oc 3
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
Out

13
BNC connector DCF Out
The insulated AM-modulated carrier frequency is available using this connector.
BNC connector GPSAnt
The antenna/converter unit is connected to the receiver circuit of the GPS163xHS
through this connector.
Assignment of the terminal block
The pulse outputs are accessible through the terminal block in the front panel. In
addition, the power supply is connected to GPS163DHS via two poles of this terminal
block. The marking besides the terminal has the following meaning:
Ub
Oc 1
Oc 2
Oc 3
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
Pulse
g
enerator
GPS163xHS
Channel 1
Channel 2
Channel 3
+ Ub positive potential of power supply
- Ub reference potential of power supply
+ OCx Collector of photocoupler
- OCx Emitter of photocoupler

14
Assignment of the DSUB connectors
The serial ports COM0 and COM1 are accessible via nine-pole DSUB connectors in
the frontpanel. These RS-232 interfaces can be connected to a computer by using a
standard modem cable. TxD describes the sending, RxD the receiving line of the
GPS163xHS.
Replacing the lithium battery
The life time of the lithium battery on the board is at least 10 years. If the need arises
to replace the battery, the following should be noted:
ATTENTION!
Danger of explosion in case of inadequate replacement
of the lithium battery. Only identical batteries or batte-
ries recommended by the manufacturer must be used for
replacement. The waste battery must be disposed as
proposed by the manufacturer of the battery.
CE label
This device conforms to the directive 89/336/EWG on the approxi-
mation of the laws of the Member States of the European Communi-
ty relating to electromagnetc compatibility.

15
Technical specifications GPS163xHS
RECEIVER: 6 channel C/A code receiver with external
antenna/converter unit
ANTENNA: Antenna/converter unit with remote power supply
refer to chapter "Technical specifications of antenna"
ANTENNA
INPUT: Antenna circuit dc-insulated; dielectric strength: 1000V
Length of cable: refer to chapter "Mounting the antenna"
TIME TO SYNCHRO-
NIZATION: one minute with known receiver position and valid almanac
12 minutes if invalid battery buffered memory
BATTERY
BACKUP: storage of pulse configuration and important GPS-system data in
the internal RAM, backed-up by lithium battery
lifetime of battery 10 years min.
PULSE
OUTPUTS: three programmable outputs
insulation via optocouplers
UCEmax = 55 V, ICmax = 50 mA, Ptot = 150 mW, Viso = 5000 V
pulse delay: ton e.g. 20 µsec (IC= 10 mA)
toff e.g. 3 µsec (IC= 10mA)
default settings: all pulse outputs inactive
mode of operation: 'if sync'
option: PhotoMOS relays
Umax = 400 V, Imax = 150 mA, Ptot = 360 mW, Viso = 1500 V
ACCURACY OF
PULSES: better than ±1 µsec after synchronization and 20 minutes of
operation
better than ±3 µsec during the first 20 minutes of operation

16
SERIAL PORTS: 2 independant asynchronous serial ports
COM0 (RS-232)
Baud Rate: 300 up to 19200
Framing: 7N2, 7E1, 7E2, 8N1, 8N2, 8E1
COM1 (RS-232, optional RS-485)
Baud Rate: 300 up to 19200
Framing: 7E2, 8N1, 8O1, 8E1
time string selectable for COM0 and COM1
'standard Meinberg', 'SAT', 'Uni Erlangen (NTP)'
default settings: COM0: 19200, 8N1
COM1: 9600, 8N1
'standard Meinberg' for COM0 and COM1
time string per second
mode of operation 'if sync'
DCF77
EMULATION: AM-modulated 77.5 kHz carrier frequency
usable as replacement for a DCF77 antenna
output level approximately -55 dBm (unmodulated)
STATUS
INDICATION: receiver status:
Lock: the reciever was able to compute its position after
power-up
Fail: the receiver is asynchronous to the GPS-system
status of the pulse outputs:
a burning LED indicates the active state of the corresponding
optocoupler
POWER
REQUIREMENTS:GPS163DHS: 19-72 VDC, e.g. 3.6W
DC-insulation 1.5 KV
GPS163AHS: 100-240 VAC, 47-63 Hz
fuse: 500mA

17
DIMENSION: GPS163DHS: 105 mm x 85 mm x 104 mm (H x B x T)
GPS163AHS: 105 mm x 125.5 mm x 104 mm (H x B x T)
CONNECTORS: coaxial BNC connectors for antenna/converter unit and AM-
modulated DCF77 output
terminal block for connection of pulse outputs and power supply
(GPS163DHS only)
power cord receptacle for AC-line (GPS163AHS only)
AMBIENT
TEMPERATURE: 0 ... 50°C
HUMIDITY: 85% max.
Front views
GPS163AHS COM 0 COM 1
500mA SB
100-240VAC
47-63Hz
GPS
Ant
DCF
Lock
Fail
BSL
Oc 1
Oc 2
Oc 3
+
+
+
-
-
-
Out
GPS163DHS COM 0 COM 1
GPS
Ant
DCF
Lock
Fail
BSL
Ub
Oc 1
Oc 2
Oc 3
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
Out
GPS163AHS GPS163DHS

18
Technical specifications of antenna
ANTENNA: dielectrical patch antenna, 25 x 25mm
receive frequency: 1575.42 MHz
bandwidth: 9 MHz
CONVERTER: local oscillator to converter frequency: 10 MHz
first IF frequency: 35.4 MHz
POWER
REQUIREMENTS:12V ... 18V, @ 100mA (provided via antenna cable)
CONNECTOR: coax type N, female
AMBIENT
TEMPERATURE: -25 ... +65°C
HOUSING: ABS plastic case for outdoor installation (IP56)
PHYSICAL
DIMENSION:

19
Assembly with CN-UB/E (CN-UB-280DC)
Type N / BNC
male
Type N
male
Type N
male
CN-UB/E
1.5m max.
Type N
male
GPS167
Antenna
Meinberg
GPS
As short as possible!

20
Format of the Meinberg standard time string
The Meinberg standard time string is a sequence of 32 ASCII characters starting with
the STX (start-of-text) character and ending with the ETX (end-of-text) character.
The format is:
<STX>D:dd.mm.yy;T:w;U:hh.mm.ss;uvxy<ETX>
The letters printed in italics are replaced by ASCII numbers whereas the other characters
are part of the time string. The groups of characters as defined below:
<STX> Start-Of-Text (ASCII code 02h)
dd.mm.yy the current date:
dd day of month (01..31)
mm month (01..12)
yy year of the century (00..99)
wthe day of the week (1..7, 1 = Monday)
hh.mm.ss the current time:
hh hours (00..23)
mm minutes (00..59)
ss seconds (00..59, or 60 while leap second)
uv clock status characters:
u: ‘#’ clock has not synchronized after reset
‘ ‘ (space, 20h) clock has synchronized after reset
v: different for DCF77 or GPS receivers:
‘*’ DCF77 clock currently runs on XTAL
GPS receiver has not checked its position
‘ ‘ (space, 20h) DCF77 clock is sync'd with transmitter
GPS receiver has determined its position
xtime zone indicator:
‘U’ UTC Universal Time Coordinated, formerly GMT
‘ ‘ MEZ European Standard Time, daylight saving disabled
‘S’ MESZ European Summertime, daylight saving enabled
yanouncement of discontinuity of time, enabled during last hour
before discontinuity comes in effect:
‘!’ announcement of start or end of daylight saving time
‘A’ announcement of leap second insertion
‘ ‘ (space, 20h) nothing announced
<ETX> End-Of-Text (ASCII code 03h)