[time-nuts] Re: Please help. Motorola Oncore

[Marcelo Dantas]

@Bjorn: It is the same antenna which worked back then, it was sitting there
in the same drawer. So, unless it degrades somehow over time, it should
continue to work I guess.
I have no idea though how to measure/verify if there's saturation going on.
When I plugged this antenna to a U-Blox it immediately kicked in with a
bunch of satellites in view, but the U-Blox might also have a different
input impedance.

@Bob "off for a while" means since mid 2018. So I immediately thought of an
almanac, however I could not yet figure out the .alm file it would require.
I have downloaded almanac files from the web, not oncore specific, but when
importing them via WinOncore I do not get any success/failure messages, and
the device continues to show "bad almanac"  on its status.
I have a feeling that the issue is towards bad/outdated internal
information. Or maybe the calibration John spoke about, if I can figure it
out, could help.

Thanks,
Marcelo.



On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 4:26 PM Bob kb8tq via time-nuts <
time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:

> Hi
>
> The other gotcha depends a lot on just how long “off for a while” is.
> If any of these devices are off power for decades, the internal data
> for the almanac ( = which sats are where ) will be way off.
>
> The process of random search is a lot faster with the newer modules.
> They have way more processing horsepower. Just how many hours
> (or days) it takes this or that example of an early module to come
> back to life …. who knows ….
>
> Bob
>
> > On Sep 19, 2022, at 2:14 PM, John Ackermann N8UR via time-nuts <
> time-nuts at lists.febo.com> wrote:
> >
> > Some of the early Motorola receivers had an issue with long-term XO
> drift.  That can result in failure to lock if the unit has been powered off
> for a long time.  There is a procedure to recalibrate it (no test equipment
> required).  I think it was written up in a Motorola app note that's
> available on line, but I can't put my finger on it right now.
> >
> > John
> > -----
> >
> > On 9/19/22 07:53, Gregory Beat via time-nuts wrote:
> >> IF you start with Fixed Position mode, THEN this speeds up process.
> >> I would also suggest a CLEAR View of Sky for the Antenna.
> >> Motorola Oncore UT Plus Engineering Notes (circa 2000)
> >> https://synergy-gps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ut-engg-notes.pdf
> >> Motorola Oncore GT Plus Engineering Notes (circa 2000)
> >> https://www.tapr.org/pdf/GT_Eng_Notes.pdf
> >> UT Plus model numbers:
> >> R5122U111x - right angle OSX
> >> R5222U111x - right angle OSX, on-board Lithium battery
> >> R5122U115x - straight OSX
> >> GT Plus model numbers:
> >> R3111G111x - standard version
> >> R3211G111x - on-board Lithium battery
> >> R3111G114x - SMB antenna connector
> >> greg, w9gb
> >> ==
> >> Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2022 08:42:18 -0400
> >> From: Marcelo Dantas <marcelo.f.dantas at gmail.com>
> >> Subject: [time-nuts] Thanks for adding me, and please help. Motorola
> Oncore
> >> To: time-nuts at lists.febo.com
> >> Hi there Everyone,
> >> Thanks for accepting me to this list.
> >> I am in (dire) need of help here and maybe one of you is a Motorola
> Oncore
> >> user and could assist.
> >> I have a couple Motorola Oncore modules, which I use mounted to a
> >> "baseboard" for timing purposes.
> >> One is a R5222U1115 and the other a R3111G1112.
> >> They have been sitting in a drawer for some time. Being "some time"
> since
> >> the pre-pandemic era.
> >> Now I am trying to use them again but for whatever reason they won't
> lock
> >> to any satellites.
> >> The modules are starting up, sending 1pps and seem to be accepting
> commands
> >> correctly.
> >> I have also tested the baseboard (power, serial, etc) and the antenna.
> >> The antenna works well on a third (non-motorola) module.
> >> I have tried everything, left the modules there running for 24 hours.
> >> No joy. None of them will lock to any satellites.
> >> I have tried defaulting them using WinOncore, no change.
> >> I have also tried to find an almanac file to upload, hoping it would
> help,
> >> but couldn't find one with the required .alm file extension.
> >> At this point I do not know what to do anymore. I have a system (module,
> >> board, antenna, power, etc.) that should just work, and yet it refuses
> to.
> >> Maybe there's some special factory reset? Maybe there's some command I
> do
> >> not know about? Maybe other software than WinOncore with some extra
> >> debug options?
> >> Any guidance here would be deeply appreciated.
> >> Thanks a lot in advance,
> >> Marcelo.
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