A 592Kb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE

As part of its newly-released Management Portal and GPS Work Day Planning Center, Loyola now provides Real Time Connection Logs to their customers. A map function is included that uses Google Maps to plot the location of GPS rovers that have been connected to RTK-Net®. This exclusive feature is a tremendous benefit to equipment owners and managers regarding the implementation and utilization of their investment in GPS.

After securely logging in, the user is presented with a utilization chart that shows usage of all the company's rovers. This information can be sorted by time frame using a calendar tool and selecting which rovers are to be displayed. Real Time Connection Logs start and continue until the rover disconnects from RTK-Net. The connection log is created on Loyola's servers running Leica GPS Spider software. Currently, the records are updated every ten minutes. Development is underway to allow RTK-Net clients the ability to see their rovers operating live in real-time on Google Maps. The Log provides basic information about the connection including who, when, where and what type of correction was being generated, as well as the connection history.

Clicking on the Map function opens a Google Maps window. Each pushpin on the map correlates to a change in the "Rover User State" as indicated in the Real Time Connection Log. For example, the rover changed from tracking 8 satellites to 9 satellites or the rover changed from a float position (DGPS) to a precise (PPS) or "fixed" position. It should be noted, however, that the map push pins do not indicate where a rover recorded a position. By zooming in, individual points from the Real Time Connection Log can be seen, and the user can click on a point to view the time stamp and the Latitude and Longitude of the point.

Another useful part of the portal is the Work Day Planning Center. The Planning Center provides quick links to local weather, space weather, NGS Tools, current almanac, GPS and GLONASS constellation status and weekly satellite availability plots. The satellite availability charts are updated weekly to provide accurate information. Because much of the RTK-Net coverage area is full GNSS (GPS & GLONASS) both satellite availability charts are provided for survey planning purposes.

A 592Kb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE