SNAP Facilities and Equipment

Apart from the general computing facilities, the SNAP Laboratory owns a wide range of GPS and other specialist equipment.

The GPS equipment includes:

GPSCO Leica System 1200 GPS receivers
Leica MC500 GPS receivers
NovAtel Millennium dual-frequency GPS receiver boards
NovAtel "narrow correlator" single-frequency GPS receiver PC boards
Canadian Marconi Corp single-frequency GPS receiver boards
Garmin handheld GPS receivers
Rojone single-frequency GPS receivers
Sigtec single-frequency GPS receiver boards
Benefon GPS/GSM receiver/phones

A variety of commercial and scientific software is available within the SNAP Laboratory:

The SKI software system for post-processing of Leica GPS receiver data is available for undergraduate teaching, as well as for use by graduate students and others.
There is a variety of receiver-specific operations software for use with the Sigtec, Garmin, Rojone, Canadian Marconi and NovAtel receivers.
The NovAtel RTK software is able to display coordinate results.
The TEQC and QCVIEW data screening software.
The Bernese scientific GPS data processing software is installed on several of the computers.

Ancillary equipment belonging to the SNAP Lab includes:

Two automatic meteorological stations.
Ten VHF radio systems for GPS-RTK operation and for use with the Indonesian volcano monitoring system.
One KVH fibreoptic gyro and one digital odometer for "dead reckoning" experiments.
Two GPS re-radiating antenna and several antenna splitters.
GPS base station pillar and infrastructure on the roof of the Electrical Engineering building.
Three-wheeled bicycle for use in kinematic GPS experiments.
Crossbow low-cost INS, accelerometer and compass sensor.
Radio-controlled electric car -- for GPS-guidance experiments.
Mitel GPS Architect Kit -- 12 channel GPS Software Development Kit.
Sigtec GPS Software Development Kit.
Two IntegriNautics pseudolites.
Locata positioning system

A wide variety of equipment is also available for research, belonging either to consortiums that SNAP is a member of, or to collaborative partners.

Leica System 1200

Four Leica System 1200 GPS receivers were purchased in late-2007 to support teaching and research within the School of Surveying & Spatial Information Systems. These systems capable of being used for the full range of surveying modes: static, rapid static, stop & go and kinematic. In particular they can be used in "real-time kinematic" (RTK) mode, and are compatible with the Leica MC500. This equipment complements the Consortium's MC500 receivers.

.... see photo gallery...

Leica CRS1000

Leica Geosystems had identified SNAP as one of its "beta test sites" for the CRS1000 reference station receiver, and as a result has been granted two CRS1000 receivers (with choke-ring antennas).

Leica CRS1000 Receiver

A further four CRS1000 units are housed at UNSW, out of a total purchase of 10 units made possible by an ARC-RIEF grant. The Australian GPS Geodesy Consortium is using this equipment to carry out research in a variety of fields, click here for publication outlining objectives.

In 2003 all CRS1000 receivers were upgraded to the MC500 models.

NovAtel Millennium

Two NovAtel Millennium dual-frequency GPS receivers with Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) capability were purchased in 1998. These units are "packaged" in an aluminium box, and can be used for demonstration of real-time kinematic positioning. The NovAtel instruments are therefore primarily used for GPS R&D projects.

NovAtel Millennium Receiver

NovAtel PC-Board Receivers

Two NovAtel high performance single-frequency PC-computer board receivers and antennas. These are inserted within the PC motherboard slots. Although they are now several years old, they may still be used as Differential GPS (DGPS) base stations or as base receivers for deformation monitoring systems.

NovAtel GPS Card for PC

Canadian Marconi Boardsets

Four Canadian Marconi ALLSTAR single-frequency GPS receivers and antennas. These are integrated within aluminium boxes, into which PC processor boards have been integrated. These are primarily used for the Indonesian volcano monitoring project. An additional four units are without integrated PCs, and will be fitted out with microprocessor control boards instead.

ALLSTAR GPS Receiver
Canadian Marconi ALLSTAR single-frequency GPS receiver

Garmin Receivers

Ten Garmin handheld GPS receivers, eTrex models, are used for school demonstrations and undergraduate teaching exercises.

Garmin eTrex Receiver

Rojone "GPS Genius"

Two Rojone "GPS Genius" single-frequency receivers for use in vehicle tracking applications. These are neat units consisting of an antenna and receiver (based on the SiRF chipset) integrated into one small unit that is attached to the roof of a vehicle. They are well suited for final year student vehicle-mounted projects.

Rojone Genius receiver
Rojone Genius GPS receiver

Sigtec GPS Receivers

Ten Australian-designed Sigtec GPS receiver boards were purchased in mid-2002, and integrated wthin plastic boxes that support RS232 ports and 12V power input. These single-frequency can be used in conjunction with the Sigtec Software Development Kit to customise the firmware. They are therefore excellent units for thesis projects. They come with special 'high sensitivity' signal firmware that allow the receivers to be used in weak signal environments (such as under trees and even within buildings).

Sigtec MG5001 GPS receiver board

Benefon GPS/GSM Receiver/Phones

Two Benefon GSM mobile phones, with integrated GPS receivers, have been purchased in late-2002. One is a Benefon TrackPro, and the other is the Benefon ESC (which is able to show position on a map). Both will be used for thesis student projects.

Benefon ESC