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30 SMART ANTENNA User Manual Rev 6
Chapter 5 Troubleshooting
When your receiver appears not to be working properly, often there are simple ways to diagnose and resolve
the problem. In many cases, the issue can be resolved within a few minutes, avoiding the hassle and loss of
productivity that results from having to return your receiver for repair. This chapter is designed to assist you in
troubleshooting problems that occur and includes resolutions to aid your receiver in becoming operational.
If you are unsure of the symptoms or if the symptoms do not match any of those listed, use Message ID# 51,
Initiated BIT Result and refer to its description in the SUPERSTAR II Firmware Reference Manual.
If the problem is not resolved after using this troubleshooting guide, contact Customer Service, see Page 10.
This section is intended to assist you in the use of our SMART ANTENNA product.
1. If you are having problems communicating with the SMART ANTENNA:
• Verify connection: look for broken pins, a misaligned connector or intermittent contact
• Verify power supply input is acceptable e.g. at a good level, low ripple, and not noisy
• Verify the Receive/Transmit ports are going to the correct ports on the host computer. Check
signal directions and voltage levels
• Verify communication settings match the host computer for both protocol and baud rate
2. If you are experiencing problems with low SNR levels:
• Check the SMART ANTENNA's installation, verify there is a clear view of the sky (that is,
no obstructions) and there is no reflective surface nearby that may cause multipath
interferences
• Verify the cleanness (that is, low ripple, minimum noise spikes, voltage level variations) of
the power source
• Check digital, RF and power ground returns. Look for noise being coupled on ground return
paths
3. If you are not receiving differential corrections:
• Check DGPS connection on COM2 (DGPS IN) of the SMART ANTENNA
• Verify DGPS source settings are active
• Verify DGPS base station is actually transmitting DGPS corrections and base data is being
received by the SMART ANTENNA
Your receiver must be a BASE model to act as a base station. A list of models may be found in Appendix A
of the SUPERSTAR II Firmware Reference Manual, see Reference [6] on Page 12.
4. If you are not receiving expected messages from the SMART ANTENNA:
• Verify transmit message settings (i.e. receiver's output configuration or requested message).
• Verify hardware and software part numbers are the expected configuration.
• Restore default settings by sending an Erase NVM command (Message ID# 99, Erase NVM)
to the SMART ANTENNA
• Read the reference manual - refer to the SUPERSTAR II Firmware Reference Manual
describing message contents.
For the problems above you may be able to isolate the suspected unit in your application:
• Substitute another SMART ANTENNA.
• Substitute another host hardware.
• Substitute alternate power source or isolate main power source from auxiliary power source
for SMART ANTENNA.