Ephemeris Manager Properties - General Settings

When you add the Ephemeris Manager module, the Ephemeris Manager Properties dialog appears with this tab.

If you select the module in the Tree view after you have added the module, the categories and settings of this tab appear in the Properties view.

Note - When an Ephemeris Manager module is loaded automatically, it works with the Default configuration. An Ephemeris Manager is started automatically, when you insert the first GNSS Receiver module into Trimble 4D Control Server. To make sure that precise orbits are always available, make sure the default configuration points to the local folder where Ultra Rapid Orbit files are located.

Orbit Settings category

Delay [sec]: To avoid inconsistencies between reference station and rover, that means to make sure the rover can use the same orbits as the reference, the usage of the orbits at the reference station receiver is delayed. Use the Delay setting to set a value for this delay. The default delay value is 90 seconds.

Calculation in advance [sec]: Specifies a time period, for which corrections to the broadcast orbits are computed in advance to the last available (current) epoch. Possible values are in the range of 2 seconds to 60 seconds.

Warning - The period to select depends among other factors on the receiver with the largest update interval in the system. To ensure availability of ephemeris at any time, make sure to set the Calculation in advance value to a value that covers twice the time specified by the update interval of the "slowest" receiver. For example, if there exists a receiver tracking every 10 seconds, while all others track at a 1 Hz rate, the Calculation in advance value must be 20 seconds or higher.

Use predicted orbits: The Ephemeris Manager module manages the use of predicted orbits. If the value is set to Yes, the Ephemeris Manager module automatically detects whether new Ultra Rapid Orbits are available in the specified folder and provides them to all dependent modules. Default: No.

Predicted orbits folder: Only appears, if Use Predicted orbits is set to Yes. Specifies the path to an Ultra Rapid Orbit file .sp3. Predicted orbits must reside at a local folder. If you later move the module to another computer, make sure to update the path accordingly.

Tip - The Ephemeris Download module automatically downloads the most current orbit files. Make sure to specify the same path as target folder for the download of orbit files.

Excluded GNSS receivers: Specifies GNSS Receiver modules whose incoming broadcast ephemeris messages will not be respected as a source for the broadcast ephemeris and almanacs. By default the list is empty. For excluding specific GNSS Receiver modules, set the focus into the value field and click the browse button. The Select GNSS Receivers dialog appears providing a list of all GNSS Receiver modules that are currently loaded in the system. Incoming observations by the selected modules will not be affected by this setting.

Use Trimble RTX broadcast ephemeris: By default set to Yes, that is, the Ephemeris Manager module uses broadcast ephemeris which are part of the RTX correction stream. If this setting is set to No, the Ephemeris Manager module ignores them. All other messages in the correction stream will still be processed.

Orbit Storage category

The settings of this category define whether the Ephemeris Manager writes hourly or daily RINEX orbit data and daily almanac data into specified folders.

Export to RINEX: If set to Yes, the Ephemeris Manager writes orbit data into a specified folder. The resulting files are named according to the RINEX file name convention, where the station identifier is replaced by the characters "Ephm", such characterizing the orbit file valid for all stations.

RINEX format: Only available for editing when one adds the module. Specifies the format version of the RINEX file into which the orbit data are archived. Available selections are the versions 2.1 (which allows storing GPS and GLONASS ephemeris) and 3.02 (which additionally supports BeiDou and QZSS orbit data).

Folder for RINEX export: Only appears, if Export to RINEX is set to Yes. View or select the path to the root folder (local computer), where the data files are written to. To select or change the destination, set the focus into the value field and click the browse button. The Folder Browser dialog appears. By default, the field is empty.

Export RINEX folder structure: Only appears, if Export to RINEX is set to Yes. Specifies the type of folder structure below the root. The default selection is Enhanced day.

Size of RINEX files: Only appears, if Export to RINEX is set to Yes. Specifies the duration of data storage. With the default selection of Hourly, RINEX orbit data are written once per hour, Daily results in one 24-hours file per day starting at 00:00 (GPS time). The Daily with overlap selection results in one 28-hours file per day, with extra time of two hours before the beginning and after the end of each daily file. That means, file writing starts at 22.00 the preceding day and ends at 2:00 the following day.

Store almanac file: If set to Yes, once a day a file called AlmaDDD.YYa will be stored into the folder specified by the Folder for almanac storage and Almanac folder structure settings. DDD stands for the GPS day, YY stands for the creation year.

Folder for almanac storage: Only appears, if Store almanac file is set to Yes. View or select the path to the root folder (local computer), where the data files are written to. To select or change the destination, set the focus into the value field and click the browse button. The Folder Browser dialog appears. By default, the field is empty.

Almanac folder structure: Only appears, if Store almanac file is set to Yes. Specifies the type of folder structure below the root. The default selection is Enhanced day.

Option	File location	Folder names depend on…
Plain	All files will be stored into one folder.	- Storage path setting.
Enhanced month	An enhanced data folder structure is applied to the data. This option writes all files generated within a month into the monthly folder.	- Storage path setting. - Year and month. For example: C:\Refdata.YY\Month.MMM\.
Enhanced day	An enhanced data folder structure is applied to the data. For each day a folder is created and files are written into the daily folder.	- Storage path setting. - Year, month, and day. For example: C:\Refdata.YY\Month.MMM\ Day.DD\.
CORS	An enhanced data folder structure is applied to the data. Below the root, for each file type a folder is created, which then contains folders for the year, day, and reference station.	- Storage path setting. - File type, year, day, and station. All characters in lower case. The station is characterized by a four character site ID. For example: C:\rinex\YYYY\DDD\SITE\.

Note - Both, the automatically created file names and the file contents refer to the measurement date and time, based on system time. With an enhanced folder structure, the files are located in folders whose structure also depends on GPS time.