Restricting client views of tracked objects in RavTrack PC

When using RavTrack PC for multiple clients or departments it may be convenient to restrict the ability of a particular client to track or view only specific assets. For instance if you are tracking police, fire, and public works vehicles you may want supervisors from each of those individual departments to see only the vehicles within their department.

Currently RavTrack PC allows you to set the viewing privileges on a WorkStation by a WorkStation basis. In the future we anticipate a version of RavTrack PC will allow you to set these privileges on a user by user basis.

To set a WorkStation client priveleges there are essentially three basic tasks involved.

First, create specific groups of vehicles and add the pertinent vehicles to the proper group.

Second, set the WorkStation capabilities to view just the specific group appropriate for that WorkStation.

Third and most importantly fix the user capabilities for the WorkStation so that a particular user cannot override the settings.

Here are the detailed steps involved for each task. Perform these as an administrator user.

Create groups and assign vehicles to particular groups. In RavTrackPC there is a default group named “everyone” where all vehicles or tracked assets are automatically assigned as members of the group. You may assign vehicles or other tracked objects to another group of your choice. These objects will all remain as members of the everyone group as well, but any specific object or vehicle cannot be a member of more than one additional specified group. Plan your groups accordingly.

If the group you want does not already exist, from the main menu bar in RavTrack PC choose file . program properties . program operations tab . click on the button “add a user group” naming it however you prefer. Save and exit program properties.

To add a a vehicle to your group, first find the vehicle you want to add to the group in the database window on the left hand side of the main screen. If you can’t find the vehicle ensure you have selected “everyone” and no filters are used. Double click the vehicle name and the Edit Object Properties window will appear. The vehicle name should already be in the appropriate box, simply pull down the group name (immediately below) and add the vehicle. (Hint: To add a lot of vehicles you can scroll through a series of IDs on the left side). Save and Exit the window.

Restrict the workstations’ view to a particular group. From the main menu bar in RavTrack PC choose “User Groups”. The list will show all available groups. Simply check the group(s) you want to allow to be viewed. Ensure the group “Everyone” is not checked.

Fixing a users abilities so they cannot override the settings. You must ensure that each user has a login on only the appropriate workstations, and that they are forced to log in User logins may be shared amongst your users at your option. Ensure the user login privileges are restricted as appropriate for their status. From the main menu bar in RavTrack PC choose file . program properties . Users and Login tab . Create a user name and password, check the “Require user to login upon program start” box, and check the appropriate privilege boxes for the users’ status within your organization. In the example below the user can only acknowledge alert and run reports.

You are finished. Should you have any questions, or suggestions for future enhancements, please feel free to contact us, and thank you for being a RavTrack user!

February 16, 2011January 7, 2018

Off-Road GPS Tracking

Overview

The Raveon M7 GX series of GPS transponders are excellent for real-time tracking of vehicles. They work in remote areas and have a very fast update rate. By installing a Raveon GPS transponder in an off-road race vehicle (buggy, truck, motorcycle, UTV, or quad) race teams and support personnel have an exciting new way of watching the race and the race-vehicle can quickly locate its support personnel.

The system operates as follows:

The M7 radios in the system must be programmed to a valid VHF or UHF radio frequency. Raveon has both VHF and UHF versions of its M7 GPS transponder.
Each vehicle is assigned a unique ID number (1-9999). The ID number is programmed into the M7 radio.
The TDMA time and the time-slots for each M7 radio must be configured. The TDMATIME is how often the radio transmits its position. The SLOTNUM is the unique slot number each radio will transmit in. Slot numbers start with 1 and are sequentially numbered.
The M7 GX GPS transponders are installed in race and support vehicles. They will periodically transmit its GPS position out using its built-in VHF or UHF 5 watts radio.
Besides transmitting GPS position, the M7 GX can also receive the GPS position from other vehicles. As long as the GPS transponder is within radio range of another vehicle, it will output a message via its RS232 serial port whenever it hears the GPS position of another vehicle.
The M7 GX GPS transponder has an internal GPS receiver and a VHF or UHF radio transceiver. Out of its RS232 serial port, the M7 will periodically output the local GPS location using standard NMEA messages (GGA, GLL, RMC…)
Optionally, in any vehicle, the M7 GX GPS transponder may be wired to a GPS display in the vehicle. When connected to a suitable display, the M7 will send a message to the display telling it to put an icon at the location of any vehicle it receives that report its GPS position.
If you want to track using a PC, simply load RavTrack PC into a laptop, desktop, or notebook, and connect it to another M7 G GPS transponder. Raveon sells RavTrack PC for dispatch and AVL applications, but it makes a nice in-vehicle display or data logger for post-race replay of an event.

Things to consider

The M7 GX uses licensed UHF and VHF radio channels. Unless you are operating on a VHF MURS radio channel, you will need to obtain an FCC license to use this product.
The GPS tracking range is limited to the radio range of the 5-watt radio transceiver built into the M7.

The M7 GX series of GPS transponders may be directly connected to a Lowrance Globalmap 480, 540C, 7200 or a Globalmap 840C navigation display. Various Garmin hand-held GPS receivers also work with the M7. Most GPS receivers that support RS232 serial NMEA message input will work with the M7, but some will not. Contact Raveon for details on which models work, or try it out and see.

When connected to the GPS display, the display map will show the location of the vehicle it is in PLUS the location of all other M7 transponders within radio range. This unique feature allows a person to quickly, easily, and inexpensively, make a mobile AVL system for tracking cars, trucks, race cars, or construction equipment.

The GPS display must have an interfaces for a “NMEA 0183? devices, which is another way of saying that they can connect to other devices using a serial cable. The NMEA 0183 is an RS232 serial connection that typically operates at 4800 baud. It is used to exchange waypoint and other information between displays, GPS devices, and transponders.

When Raveon’s M7 GX transponder is connected to a GPS display using the NMEA 0183 connection, the M7 transponder can put icons on the screen of the display. As the transponder received updated positions from other vehicles, it updates the position of the icons on the Lowrance display. It does this by sending a “GPWPL” message to the display. The display interprets the message as a waypoint location, and puts a waypoint at the specified location on the map, with the ID number of the vehicle that is at that location.

This type of Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology must be installed and maintained by qualified service personnel. If you or your team do not have the technical skills required, contract with a two-way radio service shop or similar type company to install and maintain your system.

The M7 GX GPS Transponder

The M7 GX GPS transponder is available in two forms; the Standard and the Weatherproof versions.

Standard M7 GX Weatherproof M7 GX WX

If the unit will be in a location where it will get wet or washed, the weatherproof version should be used.

The technical documentation for Raveon’s GPS tracking products is located at: http://ravtrack.com/Downloads.html

The Technical Manual for the GPS transponder is located here: http://ravtrack.com/pdf_manuals/RV-M7-GX_Tech_Manual.pdf

Raveon highly suggest you familiarize yourself with the product, read the manuals, as well as read and heed all safety warnings before proceeding.

Plan Your System

Because the M7 usually must be removed from the vehicle to reprogram it, it is important that you plan your system correctly and configure the M7s as planned. To facilitate this, Raveon has a Windows program called RadioManager that gives the user a graphical interface to program the radio. Or, you can use any terminal program such as HyperTermina.

A free download of RadioManager is available here: http://ravtrack.com/Radio-Manager-Download.html

You must configure a number of paramters and the system frequency. Your GPS position transmission rate, radio IDs, and a number of other settings must be pre-configured for your system to operate properly. Read the Technical Manual for information on how to configure your system and program your M7 radios.

Record your system configuration in a table or spreadsheet like the one on the following page.

Raveon M7 GX GPS Transponder System Configuration Worksheet

General System Configuration Information
	*Your Value*	*M7 Parameter Name*
Frequency in MHz		ATFX
Transmit Rate		TXRATE
TDMA time epoch. Typically this is the same time as the Transmit rate.		TDMATIME
Slot Time This is the time in milliseconds each vehicle has to transmit		SLOTTIME

Note:

To set the vehicle-specific parameters use the following commands:

ID ATMY xxxx where xxxx is the ID

Slot Number SLOTNUM xxx where xxx is the slot number

Mode GPS x where x is the desired GPS mode. Use GPS 4 for vehicles, vehicles with a GPS display, and GPS 2 when using a PC with RavTrack PC software to display.

To ID TOID xxxx where xxxx is the ID to transmit the GPS position to.

Mask ATMK xxxx where xxxx is the address mask. Set to 0000 to receive everything from everyone.

Vehicle	ID	Slot Number	GPS Mode	Address Mask	ID to send TO

Setup and Initial Configuration

Before the M7 is installed in the vehicle, it must first be programmed. From the factory, they are configured to work, so all you will need to do is configure them for your operation.

You must read the M7 GX Technical Manual to properly configure the M7.

Here is a summary of the steps you must perform.

Connect a DC power source to the DC IN connection on the front of the modem.
Connect a computer terminal, or PC computer running HyperTerminal, to the 9-pin I/O connector. The factory default serial ports settings are 4800 bps, 8 data bits, 1 stop, no parity. Note, the serial port may be 38400bps if the RV-M7 GX is in GPS modes 2 or 3.
Put the RV-M7 GX into the command mode. (enter +++ per Section Error! Reference source not found.)
Program the modem’s operating frequency to your desired operating frequency. This is done with the ATFX xxx.xxxxx command. See the Section Error! Reference source not found. for information describing the various parameters that may be modified in the modem. In most applications, the default settings from the factory will work fine.
Note: The MURS version of the M7 (RV-M7-VM), the unit is pre-set to the 5 MURS channels on channels 1-5. The user cannot change the frequency of the M7, only the channel number. Use ATHP x to select the MURS radio chanel.
With the unit in the command mode, change any of the default operating parameters that must be modified. From the factory, the modems are configured and delivered ready-to-use. Out of the box, they will communicate on the default radio channel using the factory defaults. Raveon highly recommends you test them first with the factory defaults and see how they work before reprogramming them. In general, the parameters you may want to modify will be:

ATFX Frequency for this channel. Set to your frequency.

GPS x Set the operating mode of this unit. See Section Error! Reference source not found. for a list of the various modes.

ATMY The individual ID of this unit. Default is 0001. Number all of your RV-M7 GX transponders with a different MYID. Raveon recommends sequentially numbering them, starting at number 1.

ATDT The address of the unit this modem will talk to. Default is 0001.

ATMK The network address mask. Default is F000. This means this unit will receive all transmissions from any other unit with an ID beginning with 0 (0001 thru 0999).

KEYPHRASE Enter a security key code. Use any word or phrase 1-16 characters long. It is case-sensitive. DO NOT FORGET WHAT YOU SET IT TO! The KEYPHRASE is the only parameter that cannot be read out of the RV-M7 GX. It must be the same as the KEYPHRASE programmed into all the other RV-M7 GX transponders in your system. The factory default KEYPHRASE is RAVEON, call capitals.

SLOTNUM This will change the TDMA slot assignment, leaving the ID (MYID) unchanged. Typically, the ID and the slot number are the same. Once this command is used, the TDMA slot number for this transceiver to will not change if the ID of the device is changed. Set SLOTNUM to -1 to force the Slot Number to be automatically set to the MYID of the radio. This is the factory default setting.

The radio is now ready to install and use. Remember, that from the factory, all RV-M7 GX modems are configured to simply work. Plug in power and connect to the serial port at 4800 baud, and the modems will communicate on the default channel.

What you will see come out of the serial port with the factory default settings (GPS 4 mode), is a $GPWPL… message, every time one RV-M7 GX in your system transmits.

The RV-M7-VM MURS version of the M7 has five user selectable channels. The channel is selected with the ATHP command. The RV-M7-VM modem is factory-set to these five channels, and the modem cannot be programmed to operate on any frequency other than these five.

1 151.820 MHz
2 151.880 MHz
3 151.940 MHz
4 154.570 MHz
5 154.600 MHz

M7 GX Installation in the Vehicle

You will need to connect at least 3 things to the M7 GPS transponder and maybe a fourth. They are:

DC Power (10-16V DC)
Radio antenna. UHF or VHF depending upon the band you use.
GPS antenna.
Optional display. (Lowrance, PC, Garmin…)

To install a GPS transponder in a vehicle, follow these steps:

Secure the RV-M7 modem using the mounting holes on the side flanges of the unit. You might want to locate it so that the front panel LEDs are visible.
Connect a DC power source to the DC IN connection on the front of the modem. Use the supplied cable, or 18AWG wire, and connect the RED wire to +, and the black wire to – (ground). The black wire and the case of the RV-M7 should be connected to earth ground.
Connect a good quality antenna, tuned to the operating frequency, to the RF connector on the front of the modem. Use a good antenna, and mount it is at as high-above obstructions as possible. On the roof is the best.

Avoid using magnet-mount antennas for race vehicles. They may be OK for a chase vehicle if the driving and terrain is not too rough.
Connect a GPS antenna to the SMA connector of the RV-M7 GX. Although a passive antenna may work if the cable length is very short, it is recommended that an amplified antenna be used, rated at 3.3V operation. Mount the GPS antenna so it can see the sky. On the roof of the vehicle is best. You may have to experiment with locations to find one that is easy to mount the antenna to and can also see the sky. There are two popular mounting methods: thru-hole and magnet-mount. If you use a magnet-mount GPS antenna, we recommend you also zip-tie it to the vehicle.
Wire the GPS display or computer, terminal, controller, or other hardware device that will be using the RV-M7 to its DB-9 serial I/O connector using a shielded cable. Secure it to the RV-M7 with the two mounting screws on the sides of the DB-9 connector. For a tracking-only application, nothing needs to be wired to the DB9 connector of the M7. Only if you have an in-vehicle display do you connect to the DB9. The following section describes how to wire in a Lowrance to the M7, but most other displays will be similar. More GPS display information is on Raveon’s web site here: http://ravtrack.com/GPStracking/category/installation/

Lowrance 480, 540C, 7200 and 840C Wiring

From the Lowrance technical manual, here is how their NMEA 0183 interface works:

NMEA 0183 Cable Connections

NMEA 0183 is a standard communications format for marine electronic equipment. For example, an autopilot can connect to the NMEA interface on the GlobalMap 540c and receive positioning information. The GlobalMap 540c can exchange information with any device that transmits or receives NMEA 0183 data. See the following diagram for general wiring connections. Read your other product’s owner’s manual for more wiring information.

Below is the cable diagram from the Lowrance user manual for the data cable. Often, installers will cut-off the data cable wires, making the connection to the cable a challenge.

NMEA 0183 Wiring (Data cable)

To exchange NMEA 0183 data, the GlobalMap 540c has one NMEA 0183 version 2.0 communication ports. Com port one (Com-1) can be used to receive NMEA format GPS data. The com port can also transmit NMEA format GPS data to another device. The four wires for the com port are combined with the Power Supply cable and NMEA 2000 Power cable to form the power/data cable (shown earlier). Com-1 uses the yellow wire to transmit, the orange wire to receive and the shield wire for signal ground. Your unit does not use the blue wire.

The M7 DB9 Serial Connector

The 9-pin serial I/O connector to the M7 is a female 9-p D-subminiature connector having the following pins configuration.

Front-view of DB-9 connector on modem (female)

*Pin #*	*Name*	*Dir*	*Function*	*Level / Specification*
1	CD	out	Carrier detect
2	RxD	out	Receive data	Data out of the modem.
3	TxD	in	Transmit data	Data into the modem.
4	DTR	in	Data terminal ready	Normally ignored by the FireLine modem.
5	GND		Ground connection	Signal and power ground
6	DSR	out	Data Set Ready
7	RTS	in	Request to send
8	CTS	out	Clear to send
9	Power	In/out	DC power (not Ring signal)	User may supply the DC power to the modem on this pin.

Wiring the DB9

The Lawrence’s “Data Cable” must be connected to the M7 transponder. This connection will allow the M7 to put icons on the screen of the Lowrance display, showing the location of other tracked vehicles. The Raveon M7 GPS transponder uses a 9-pin “DB9? connector to connect to the Lowrance. Solder the Lowrance data cable wires onto a DB9 connector and plug the DB9 into the M7 transponder as shown below:

The orange wire goes to pin two of the DB9, the yellow wire to pin 3, and the shield braid of he cable connects to pin 5 of the DB9. The blue wire is trimmed off.

The extra wires on the Lowrance display called NMEA 2000 power are typically not used in a vehicle installation, and may be wrapped up with electrical tape and tucked away.

Configuring the Lowrance

Set the NMEA communication of the Lowrance to 4800 baud. System Setup > Communications Port. Enable NMEA 0183 input and set the baud to 4800.

Configuring the M7 GX Transponder

Raveon has a designed the M7 GX transponder to work with Lowrance Display or any other NMEA 0183 display that can accept the “$GPWPL” NMEA message. The $GPWPL is an industry standard message that the Lowrance displays and many other GPS displays interpret as a waypoint command. The M7 GX outputs this $GPWPL message to put icons on the screen of the Lowrance, and to move the icons around on its screen.

To configure the M7 transponder to output the $GPWPL message, set the M7 GX to GPS mode 2. To do this, put it into the configuration mode by send the +++ into the serial port. The M7 will respond with an OK. Type GPS 4 and press enter to put it into GPS 4 mode. GPS 4 is the mode that causes the M7 GX to output $GPWPL messages whenever it receives a status/position message over the air.

How Far Can I track my Vehicle?

A quick answer: About as far as a standard voice radio will allow you to talk.

In flat wide-open areas, such as deserts, grasslands, and farms, vehicle-to-vehicle communications will be 2 miles on the low end and often as much as 10 miles on the high end. A base-station, either with a 15-meter tower or placed on a local hill, will reliably communicate out to 10 miles, and often out to 20-30 miles.

In a rolling hills area, such as much of Nevada, Wisconsin, or Baja Mexico, vehicle-to-vehicle range will be 1-2 miles as long as both vehicles are not in a valley. The range will often go up to 15+ miles as both vehicles crest hills. A base-station, either with a 15-meter tower or placed on a local hill, will reliably communicate out to 7 miles, and often out to 20-40 miles.

In mountainous areas or wooded hills, such as much of Colorado, Tennessee, and northern California, vehicle-to-vehicle range will be ½ – 5 miles and will also be very sporadic depending on the terrain between the vehicles. The M7 GX takes advantage of this by frequently reporting its position, so that as vehicles crest peaks, they can receive location transmissions from a long way away. Often the vehicle-to-vehicle range will be as far as 15+ miles as the vehicles both crest hills. A base-station placed on a mountain top can extend reliable communicate out to 10+ miles, and often out to as much as 50 miles.

In urban areas and cities, structures will create multi-path and interference, reducing the usable range. Communications will be very similar to operation in rolling hills. Vehicle-to-vehicle range will be 1-3 miles. A base-station either with a 15-meter tower or placed on a local hill, will reliably communicate out to 5-7 miles, and often out to 10 miles.

Raveon Technologies Corporation

990 Park Center Drive, C
Vista, CA 92081
sales@raveontech.com
760-727-8004

January 13, 2011January 14, 2011

Configuring DB9 cable with Intel Atom Motherboard

If you are using an Intel Atom motherboard and processor combo as the base station for a Ravtrack vehicle tracking system, the computer may not boot properly due to the radio supplying a signal on the DB9 connector to the RD input of the computer. When RD input (pin 9 of the DB9 RS232 serial connector) is powered as the PC boots, Intel motherboards have problems booting. There are 2 different ways to go about fixing this problem. The simplest one is to unplug the serial cable from the radio at boot and then plug back in once computer is booted. The other option is to cut one of the wires in the DB9 ribbon cable. To do the second option, first open up the computer case and locate the serial cable that goes from the com port on motherboard to the radio.

Once you have located the cable, next take off the cover of the DB9 cable on the other end where it plugs into the radio to expose where the ribbon cable is soldered onto the connector. This is where we cut the cable so as to keep it covered and looking clean.

The wire needing to be cut is the second one from the right when looking at the connector from the bottom. It is recommended that you take out a small section of the wire so as to not risk any accidental contact.

January 12, 2011January 19, 2011

Antenna Tuning or Cutting

Selecting and installing a proper antenna for a telemetry radio, GPS transponder, or base station involves selecting a suitable style of antenna for your installation, properly mounting the antenna, cabling the antenna to the radio connection, and possibly adding a lightning arrestor to the antenna cable. One of the most important considerations is ensuring you select an antenna that works well for your operating frequency. In many cases this involves tuning the antenna for the proper frequency.

Any antenna is constructed of a metal conducting element. Often this element is insulated from direct contact with a rubber or fiberglass sheath, or some other material and you will not see the metal element itself. In any good antenna the shape and length of the element was carefully considered when the antenna was designed. Some elements are simple straight thin metal rods, others are coils, loops or other styles or combinations. Frequently the antenna is built to work at a very specific frequency or range of frequencies, such as 450-460MHz. If you select an antenna built for the wrong frequency you will have very poor results.

Some common antennas allow for the user to adjust the antenna for their frequency. The antenna may be built to cover a wide range of frequencies, such as 400-500MHz, but should be adjusted to the precise user frequency. As radio transmissions are actually radio “waves” you may remember that a radio frequency and radio wavelength are tightly related. Tuning an antenna typically involves adjusting the length of the conducting element(s) to be a specific ratio of the actual radio wavelength.

Often field tunable antennas involve 2 elements that are allowed to slide or telescope back and forth to achieve a specific antenna length. In other cases the element(s) may need to be physically cut or altered to a specific length. In the case of a common omni-directional fiberglass antenna the metal element(s) are housed within a fiberglass insulative sheath, and must be removed from the sheath to gain access. Here the user must expose the metal conductive element(s) and cut them to the proper length. If the antenna has multiple elements , each element may require a different cut and re-assembly must place them in proper order.

To physically cut the element(s) a good metal file, Dremel tool, or fine tooth metal saw may be used to cut the element(s), or score and snap them carefully. Once done the element(s) go back into the fiberglass sheath in correct order. You can smooth any sharp points first if you like.

If an antenna is meant to be tunable it will come with a chart or other instructions as to what length is intended for a specific frequency, and perhaps instructions on how to physically perform the cut or adjustment. If you intend to cut-to-tune your antenna remember these 5 key points:

Never cut an antenna unless you are certain you need to do so.
Make sure you have clear instructions on how to measure and cut the antenna for your frequency, and measure very carefully.
If the antenna contains multiple elements, plan and track each element with individual care.
Wear eye protection and follow any safety procedures.
Never cut the element too short. It may be better to take it increments at a time to achieve proper length.

If you order an antenna from us that requires cutting, we are happy to do this for you prior to shipping if you can tell us the precise frequency you need.

January 11, 2011January 22, 2018

Golf Cart Tracking with GPS

As the demand to improve the playing experience at golf courses and country clubs continues to grow, course managers are adding new technologies to enhance their product while also adding to their bottom line. One of these methods gaining traction is GPS tracking of the golf carts (and in essence the golfers) on the course to enable better management of tee times, tracking of course bottlenecks, improved beverage and snack service, downloadable advertisements, quicker servicing of failed and dead battery golf battery golf carts, on-the-go diagnostics, and cart misplacement/theft management. For the golfer, the course owner can now also have the ability to provide (free or at a cost) statistics, shot history, distance to pin, and other limitless features that improve the golfing experience for the novice and the professional.

Global Positioning Satellite, or GPS is at the heart of all golf cart-tracking systems. GPS enables a unit to pinpoint its position on planet earth using a combination of satellite transponders and ground based radar. The three most common methods used for transmitting the gathered GPS data at golf courses include cellular, WiFi, and Narrow band VHF/UHF radio transmission.

Cellular vs. Wifi vs. VHF/UHF Frequencies

Cellular systems use the same radio solution as does your standard cell phone/smart phone. The cellular solution’s benefits include low power operation, high data rates, and direct connection to an “App”, while the disadvantages include the need to have cell service in the area where the golf course resides, each cart to have a monthly subscription service, dependency on a third party carrier, outages, limited service during “busy” cell phone times, and reduced accuracy (if the cell signal itself is used for GPS triangulation).

WiFi uses a radio solution similar to what many folks use in a coffee shop or in their homes to connect to the Internet in a wireless fashion. The WiFi solution’s benefits include free connection, low power operation, and high data rates while the disadvantages include very limited range without a repeater, loss/weakening of signal due to obstructions, reduced throughput under heavy course loads, a max number of nodes supported, and interference from other WiFi devices in proximity to the course/golf cart.

Narrow band RF data modem solution, like that from Raveon Technologies RavTrack solution, use a dedicated UHF/VHF RF link similar to that in use fire/rescue/military communications links. The RavTrack solution’s benefits include free unlimited data connection, ownership of the frequency band, no third party control of the network, long distance range without a repeater (can cover the whole course), accurate (up to a meter) tracking, and an unlimited number of nodes supported while having virtually no disadvantages or limitations.

The RavTrack solution from Raveon Technologies is a self-contained hardware and software package that can be customized to support unlimited applications in the gold cart tracking space. Using a ruggedized and pre-configured radio transponder in each golf cart along with a transponder and software command and control at the club house (no internet connection is required), each golf cart can be pin pointed and tracked on the course using customized maps and/or standard Google type maps. “RavTrack PC” software is provided with the solution along with mapping/tracking support from popular third party software houses. The software provides such features as position, custom icons for each individual cart, programmable geofencing parameters, collision detection/avoidance alerts, distance between various carts, unlimited logging and history file generation, and several other position related parameters. Raveon can also provide customizable apps and solutions to better support the course operators exacting needs.

The RavTrack solution can support all the features discussed in the introduction of this article along with an unlimited number of customizable applications. These features will enable the golf course/country club to differentiate itself from competing courses by improving the golfers experience (statistics, distance to pin, shot history, etc.) while improving the courses bottom line by better managing its carts, its queuing of tee times, advertising, instantaneous cart down time and location management, and potential revenue generation by charging for statistics and print outs for the golfer.

Conclusion:

The RavTrack solution from Raveon Technologies emerges clearly as the best solution for providing a low cost and easily manageable environment for the golf course/country club owner. Get a free quote now!

For more information about the RavTrack system:

Attend our webinar where we introduce the technology and provide an overview of the system.
View a list of some of our Customers. We partner with many diverse companies and government agencies.
Learn more about how the RavTrack system is designed by viewing the asset tracking infographic.

December 17, 2010

The RavTrack Atlas PL personal GPS locator radio network capabilities

Most people will identify the Atlas PL personal locator as an excellent device for people to wear and to send GPS position information, alerts, and man-down status. Typically the Atlas PL is used in conjunction with the RavTrack AVL GPS vehicle transponders which are equipped in fleet vehicles and used for base receiving stations as well as store-and-forward repeaters. It is common for these latter transponders to be used to complete a GPS tracking radio network for tracking both personnel, and vehicles, or other costly assets.

However, it is also possible for the Atlas PL units alone to be used to construct a GPS tracking network complete with multiple base stations and/or a repeater, without the involvement of the vehicle transponder models in the system. The Atlas PL inherently has all the capabilities of the vehicle based models. Releasing these capabilities is simply a matter of following correct configuration procedures for the Atlas PL.

The following diagram demonstrates the use of the Atlas PL in its traditional role as a personal GPS transponder but also as multiple base stations, with one base station also serving as a repeater.

Within each box are typical settings of the Atlas PL as part of the GPS tracking scheme. Above each box are the intended uses of each Atlas PL in the tracking network, while below each box are a series of configuration commands the user should issue to each Atlas PL unit to configure each unit for the particular use specified. Finally, alongside each command is an indication of what that command actually configures in the Atlas PL.

Each Atlas PL starts out in GPS mode 8. This configures the Atlas PL to function in the most common transponder configuration and enables the advanced battery management functions of the Atlas PL as well. However, it is important to note that the command GPS – such as GPS 8 – is a macro command which configures many different aspects of the unit. Most commonly the GPS command is understood by the user to set the format of the NMEA output, but it in fact does much more. For instance, issuing the command “GPS 8” to an Atlas PL will completely turn off the receiver circuitry of the unit. This is not what we need for a base station receiver or repeater. The subsequent commands change other configurable attributes of the Atlas PL, overriding the macro set of configuration parameters, to arrive at the final desired configuration. It is critical these configuration commands be issued after the GPS command.

We hope this demonstrates some of the capabilities of the Atlas PL not commonly identified by the end user. Should you have in mind a specific function of an Atlas PL that is not apparent, we encourage you to contact us.

December 3, 2010August 4, 2011

Fast GPS reporting with TDMA timeslots

RavTrack is very fast at reporting the positions of even large fleets over a single radio channel because each RavTrack transponder is assigned a specific time slot in which to transmit, avoiding interference which may occur if multiple devices were permitted to transmit simultaneously. The fact that all transponders share a “common clock” via the GPS satellite signals allows us to assign a unique timeslot to each device, yet maintain timing coordination over a large fleet of devices.

RavTrack timeslots are built on 50 millisecond increments by factory default, athough 10msec granularity can be achieved with newer firmware versions. For the purposes of illustration we will assume each time slot must be a multiple of 50msec. The specific size of your time slot is typically determined by the bandwidth/transmission rate of your particular transponder and the presence or absence of a repeater.

Most FCC licenses granted in the USA are for narrowband (12.5KHz) channel spacing. The associated RavTrack transponders operate quite well at 4800 baud transmission rate (factory default), although slower rates can be used. These transponders can complete a position report transmission in about 64msec, so a 100msec timeslot would be the factory default when no repeater is in the system. If your license permits wideband (25KHz) channel spacing, and your transponders are capable of wideband operation, the factory default transmission rate is 9600 baud. In this instance a position transmission can be completed in about 32msec, so a 50msec timeslot is typically used when no repeater is in the system.

If your system uses a store-and-forward repeater you need to make each timeslot longer so that once a vehicle reports, the repeater has sufficient time to receive, process, and repeat the transmission on “quiet air” before the next vehicle transmission occurs. In a 9600 baud system a 100msec timeslot may be used if you are not encrypting your transmissions, but with encryption a 150msec time slot should be used, as the repeater needs a bit more time to process an encrypted message than an unencrypted message. In a 4800 baud system using a repeater a 200msec timeslot may be used whether or not you are encrypting the position transmissions.

Timeslots are numbered starting at zero, and the zero time slot is reserved by the system. Thus you can start numbering your transponder time slots at slot 1 (0001). In a system using 100msec timeslots the first second is completed once time slots 0 through 9 are used (10 time slots total). For this reason, up to 9 vehicle transmissions can be completed in the first second, and in this example your fleet size would be limited to a total of 9 vehicles if you need the entire fleet to report each second. As the reserved zero time slot only occurs at the start of any particular TDMA cycle, cycles longer than 1 second would allow the addition of 10 more time 100msec slots for each second added to the cycle. Thus a fleet using 100msec time slots can provide reports from 19 vehicles every 2 seconds, 29 vehicles every 3 seconds, and so forth. Similar logic applies to other RavTrack timing schemes.

If your fleet is quite large and you want faster updates than the 100msec timeslot scheme allows, you can double your fleet size if local regulations allow you to use wideband transmissions that yield a 50msec time slot. In many deployemnets a fleet can scale much larger and still preserve fast report cycles simply by using multiple frequencies. As transponders on different frequencies will not interfere with one another even if transmitting simultaneously, a properly architected system using five frequencies can report five times faster than the same system using only one frequency.

When setting up your fleet timing it is a good idea to leave a little extra capacity in your timing scheme to allow the easy addition of new vehicles to the fleet.

Finally, if you want to use the RavTrack transponders to transmit not only position data, but extra data as well (e.g. from an on-board telemetry device), you will need longer time slots to send this extra data. Please contact us in this regard, and we are happy to help you in architecting a solid system.

For a more technical programming perspective on TDMA time slots as used by RavTrack see the following articles: http://ravtrack.com/GPStracking/tdma-transmission-overview/361/

http://ravtrack.com/GPStracking/tdma-time-slots/71/

or consult your technical manual.

December 3, 2010

How to convert an image file to a Geotiff

How do I rectify an image file and convert it to a Geotiff?

Raveon’s customers have a wide variety of applications for our GPS tracking system. Whether you run a golf course consisting of a few dozen vehicles, or a large fleet that spans an entire city, you may find that you require a specific image for use with the RavTrack Software. The following is an example of how to rectify an image. Rectifying an image translates into the process of converting a standard image into a usable map coordinate system. The map coordinate system will output in the form of a Geotiff file that can be loaded into RavTrack. Our example will be of a simple map image of Vista, Ca. We will use Global Mapper 12 to rectify the image.

1. First start Global Mapper 12 and select download free maps. Select an aerial map or street map, depending on the image you are trying to convert. Download only the area that you are trying to cover. This will be your reference map coordinate system.

2. Now select rectify imagery under the file tab.

3. Set the configuration with Export and Geotiff selected as shown in the following image. Then select OK.

4. Determine the location of your map image and open it.

5. The image rectifier will open. We will began the process of selecting ground control points on our reference aerial map, and matching the point on our image. This will allow the image rectifier to know the geophysical location of the points on our map. With at least three of these points, the image rectifier will be able to convert the image to a usable Geotiff file for us to use with RavTrack.

6. Set the projection by selecting the option in the bottom right of the screen. Configure the projection to match your reference coordinate system. Then select OK. For our example we are using UTM zone 11.

7. Find an area on your map image that you can locate as well on your reference coordinate system. Set a ground control point on the reference coordinate system by clicking on the location. Find the exact location on your map image and set the equivalent ground control point.

It is important to ensure that the locations match. You may have to zoom in or out in order to achieve the best match.

Once done, select add point to list. Do this for three different locations that are spaced far away from each other. For example, a control point in the upper left hand side of the image, the upper right hand side, and the center of the map.

8. Once you have at least three ground control points, select OK. Your image will be converted to a map coordinate system and stored in the same directory from which your map image was retrieved.

For more information on how to use Geotiff files with RavTrack PC, or for more information on UTM zones, please refer to our Tech Blogs in the Map and Imagery Section.

November 11, 2010April 1, 2019

Golf Cart GPS Systems

Raveon’s RavTrack GPS tracking system is the ideal golf cart tracking system to track golf-carts and golf course maintenance vehicles. Golf Cart Tracking

RavTrack GPS tracking delivers helpful, real-time location information and displays it on a map image of your golf course. You can track the carts, mowers, trucks, and workers. You can see where you mowed each hour, day, or week. You can quickly locate carts to deliver food and beverages.

It also can detect potential theft or abuse of your carts and equipment. You can configure keep-out zones and many other rules to notify the ranger or security if a rule is violated.

The Benefits of Licensed Frequencies

Because Raveon’s RavTrack system uses VHF and UHF licensed UHF radio frequencies, you can easily cover your whole course and have no monthly air-time fees. The RavTrack system is also available on the MURS radio band, which is license-free. It works where GSM radio-based systems don’t and because the airtime is free, your update-rate of cart position and status is the fastest in the industry. You can easily track 75 carts with 15-second update rates.

And unlike the short-range 900Mhz and 2.4gHz solutions, RavTrack will cover your course, and reliably show you where your vehicles are.

RavTrack GPS tracking improves golf course operations by:

1. Quickly locating specific carts, assets, employees, and vehicles
2. Track valuable assets (carts, trucks, cars, generators, trailers, mowers, security…)
3. Reducing wasted time when locating people.
4. Alarm the supervisor on speed, idle, and location violations .
5. Enforce keep-out zones and course boundaries.
6. Reduce theft by alerting when item move outside of the area.
7. Record and report the battery voltage for each cart
8. Log vehicle use, location, speed, and time for later reporting.
9. See what areas have been mowed or fertilized, by hour, day, week, or any time period

For more information about the RavTrack system:

Attend our webinar where we introduce the technology and provide an overview of the system.
View a list of some of our Customers. We partner with many diverse companies and government agencies.
Learn more about how the RavTrack system is designed by viewing the asset tracking infographic.

November 5, 2010

Convert Map Data Files to a RavTrack PC Map File

How can I convert this high precision map that I used with my previous tracking software, the map info is stored in .dat format?

We can easily convert over data files that have stored map information. We will use Global Mapper 12 to load the files into our editable area, set our projection, and then export as a usable Geotiff. We will then convert that Geotiff into .Maplib Format.

The following steps outline the procedure:

1. Start Global Mapper 12 and select (Open all files in a Data Tree).