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SPEEDBOX / VehicleInstallationAndSetup

Vehicle Installation and Setup

The unit must be mounted flat and level in order to give accurate acceleration readings. In addition, the unit must be mounted in the correct orientation. Orientate the unit using the marked “direction of travel” arrow. Mounting angle errors of up to 20° can be accommodated with reduced accuracy

GPS

GPS speed and position readings are unaffected by unit mounting position. The GPS unit requires a 3.3V active antenna (supplied) which must be mounted in a position giving a good view of the sky. On top of the vehicle is recommended. Care should be taken not to crush the antenna lead with the vehicle window or door closure.

For the standard SPEEDBOX, or a SPEEDBOX-RTK where the RTK functionality is not required, connector GPS1 is the GPS antenna connection

The SPEEDBOX-RTK unit requires two antennas Both antennas must be mounted on the roof of the vehicle, on the vehicle centre line, in the same orientation, and the distance between them must be as close as possible to the RTK baseline distance set up in the unit by the configuration program. Note especially that the antenna that is connected to GPS1 (the “base” antenna) must be to the rear of the antenna that is connected to GPS2 (the “moving” antenna). The SPEEDBOX-RTK may optionally be supplied with a magnetic-mounting dual antenna strip, containing 2 low-noise antennas mounted 800mm apart on a flexible magnetic mounting strip. The direction of travel is clearly marked on the magnetic strip, and must be followed.

Following figure shows the antenna mounting arrangement for the SPEEDBOX-RTK, and the following set of guidelines describe the antenna mounting requirements in more detail. They must be followed in order to obtain optimal operation from the MB-RTK system.

• Both antennas must be on the roof of the car, mounted flat on metal. The metal under the antenna acts as a “ground plane” for the antenna and is important for correct operation of the antenna.

• The antennas must be mounted on the centre line of the vehicle
• The antennas must be within 2-3cm of distance set in the configuration utility. The closer to the initial estimate that the antennas are placed, the faster and more reliable the initial lock-on will be.
• The antennas must be in the same orientation, so the cables should exit in the same direction – for example the cables from both antennas should exit towards the rear of the car.
• Both antennas should be of the same make and model.
• The antennas are magnetic mounting, do not use additional tape over the antennas to hold them down. Some adhesive tapes completely block the GPS signal.
• Care should be taken not to crush the antenna lead with the vehicle window or door closure.
• It is essential that both antennas are mounted on the roof of the vehicle.

MB-RTK antenna mounting location and angular outputs