This is part 2 of a 3 part series about Leap Second 2016, scheduled to take place 31 December 2016.
In our last Leap Second 2016 post, we discussed what a leap second is and how it affects you. In this post, we’ll provide all the information you need to ensure your Leica Geosystems GNSS/GPS solutions works seamlessly throughout the event.
First and foremost, it is critical that you have updated your instrument with all the latest updates. You should be receiving automatic notifications when these updates are available. To check that you have the latest update, please contact your local Leica Geosystems representative.
“We have carefully prepared for the upcoming leap second, and we are confident all our GNSS/GPS solutions will work throughout the event,” said Markus Roland, Leica Geosystems product manager GNSS Networks and Reference Stations. “All our latest released product versions have been tested to work properly before, during and after the event of leap second introduction with multi-GNSS constellations, including GLONASS. We have also supplied detailed information to our local representatives for legacy instruments.”
Leica Spider Software Suite
Leica GNSS Spider
It is highly recommended to update your Leica GNSS Spider installation to v6.2. This version contains some important improvements to:
- Be more resistant against wrong incoming leap second information from reference station receivers with potentially erroneous firmware
- Repair erroneous RTCM data streams, so that data of such sites can still be used in the network
- Check the incoming and use leap second information of the system
- Force a certain leap second value in case automatic handling should fail.
If you are running any older version of GNSS Spider, you may experience limitations.
The latest version GNSS Spider v6.2 has some newly built in functionality to trouble-shoot and solve any remaining issue easily and quickly.
The Release Notes of Leica GNSS Spider v6.2 explain all this new functionality in detail. Therefore, please read this document carefully and pay particular attention to all “Leap Second” sections. Find the document on myWorld.
Leica SpiderWeb
Coordinate computation service needs to be prepared. As this service is using Leica Geo Office (LGO) for the coordinate computation, LGO needs to know about the new leap second value valid from 1.1.2017 onward. All versions of Leica SpiderWeb and all versions of LGO are affected.
To update the information about the past and current leap second validity, a registry key file has to be installed (download this file here, copy to the SpiderWeb machine, unzip and double-click on the *.reg file). This will store the information into the registry for the currently logged in user and for the “Local System account” running the “SpiderWebLCGService” Windows service. A restart of the service is not necessary. After this change rover RINEX files collected before and after the leap second change can be processed by the SpiderWeb coordinate computation service.
If you do not run the “SpiderWebLCGService” Windows service under the Local system account (as it is default), but under another account (e.g., Network Service), you will need to add the information into the registry for the respective account that you choose to use.
Leica GR/GM Series with RefWorx firmware
It is highly recommended to update your GR/GM Series receivers to RefWorx firmware v4.02. This version contains some important optimisations that improve the system behaviour at times of leap second change. For details, refer to the RefWorx v4.02 release notes myWorld.
With the recommended firmware version, the tracking behaviour for GPS and Galileo of all Leica Geosystems GR/GM Series receivers will not be affected over the leap second change. GLONASS tracking may lose lock briefly and recover a few seconds later.
Leica GRX1200 Series (System 1200)
With the recommended firmware version, the tracking behaviour for GPS and Galileo of all Leica GRX1200 Series receivers will not be affected over the leap second change. GLONASS tracking will lose lock briefly and recover a few seconds later.
If a Leica GRX1200 Series was turned off during the leap second change and is used after the leap second switch, the receiver will have trouble tracking GLONASS signals until a new almanac is downloaded, which can take up to a few minutes. A measurement engine reset (initialisation) will resolve the problem faster and enable you to track GLONASS satellites again.
Leica GMX900 monitoring receivers
The behavior of the overall monitoring setup of the Leica GMX900 monitoring receiver is depending on the Leica GNSS Spider version used and is described in the section above. For the devices having the required minimum firmware (6.404 for GMX901 plus; 3.823/6.421 for GMX902 GG; 6.421 for GMX902 GNSS; 7.001 for GMS910), data outage have to be expected only for the seconds during the leap second change.
If the device is not used during the leap second change and is turned on at later point, it will have trouble tracking GLONASS signals until a new almanac is downloaded. This can take up to a few minutes.
Leica GX1200 and GPS900 Series (System 1200)
With the defined SW and ME FW version (SmartWorx 8.71 for the GX1200, RX1200, RX900 and CS09; ME FW 3.823 for ATX1200 and ATX900 with ME3 GG; ME FW 6.112 for ATX1200 and GS09 with ME4), the tracking behaviour for GPS and Galileo of all Leica System 1200 and GPS 900 receivers will not be affected over the leap second change. GLONASS tracking will lose lock briefly and recover a few seconds later.
If a Leica System 1200 or GPS 900 receiver is used after the leap second switch, the receiver should have no trouble tracking GLONASS signals. If there are nevertheless problems tracking GLONASS satellites, an ME reset will resolve the problem faster. In order to perform an ME reset press 5 Config → 2 Instrument Settings → 2 Satellite Settings → shift F4 INIT.
Leica Viva GS Series – SmartWorx and Captivate
With the defined SW and ME FW version (SmartWorx Viva 5.70 for GS10, GS14, GS15 and GS25 with ME4 or OEM6; SmartWorx Viva 6.04 for GS10, GS15, GS16 and GS25 with OEM7; ME FW 6.402 for GS08, GS08plus and GS12; FW 1.13(46) for GS05 and GS06), the tracking behavior for GPS, Galileo and BeiDou of all Leica Geosystems GS receivers will not be affected over the leap second change. GLONASS tracking will lose lock briefly and recover a few seconds later.
If a Leica GS receiver is used after the leap second switch, the receiver should have no trouble tracking GLONASS signals. If there are nevertheless problems tracking GLONASS satellites, restart the receiver.
Leica Infinity and Geo Office
Infinity retrieves and automatically stores the information about new leap seconds as soon as mdb or RINEX are imported. No extra work is required by the user.
Geo Office retrieves and automatically stores the information about new leap seconds as soon as mdb are imported. No extra work is required if you import an mdb data set at least once. If you only use RINEX data, the new leap second will not be considered automatically. In this case, your must install a registry key file to make this information available to LGO (download this file here, copy to the LGO machine, unzip and double-click on the *.reg file).
If data are correctly acquired, stored and exported from the receiver, the post processing will not be impacted by the introduction of the new leap second.
Leica Zeno
With the defined SW and ME FW version (3.3 for Zeno 5; 1.13(46) for Zeno 10 and Zeno 15; 6.403 for Zeno 20, CS25, CS35 plus, CS25 GNSS plus ad GG02), the tracking behavior for GPS and Galileo of all Leica Zeno devices will not be affected over the leap second change. GLONASS tracking will lose lock briefly and recover a few seconds later.
If a Leica Zeno device is used after the leap second switch, the receiver will have trouble tracking GLONASS signals until a new almanac is downloaded, which can take up to a few minutes. A receiver reset will resolve the problem faster and enable users to track GLONASS satellites again.
Leica iCON
With the defined SW and ME FW version (3.0.4 for iCON gps 60 and iCON gps 80), the tracking behavior for GPS, Galileo and BeiDou of all Leica iCON receivers will not be affected over the leap second change. GLONASS tracking will lose lock briefly and recover a few seconds later.
If a Leica iCON receiver is used after the leap second switch, the receiver will have trouble tracking GLONASS signals until a new almanac is downloaded, which can take up to a few minutes. A Reset Almanac will resolve the problem faster and enable users to track GLONASS satellites again.
In case of tracking issues, Settings > System Configuration > Reset options > Reset Almanac on the receiver to clear almanacs and track GPS only until a new almanac has been received.
Leica Redline
With the defined SW and ME FW version (6.80 for Redline PowerBox; 3.823 for Redline PowerAntenna), the tracking behavior for GPS, Galileo and BeiDou of all Leica Redline receivers will not be affected over the leap second change. GLONASS tracking will lose lock briefly and recover a few seconds later.
If a Leica Redline receiver is used after the leap second switch, the receiver will have trouble tracking GLONASS signals until a new almanac is downloaded, which can take up to a few minutes. A ME reset will resolve the problem faster and enable users to track GLONASS satellites again.
In case of tracking issues, initialise the almanac to clear almanacs and track GPS only until a new almanac has been received.
Join us again in three weeks for the final part of our 2016 Leap Second series.