Geneq Integrates DGPS Beacon inside SXBlue II GPS

April 23, 2010

Geneq Inc., has integrated a DGPS beacon receiver inside its SXBlue II GPS product. The SXBlue II-B GPS expands the SXBlue II sub-meter GPS mapping performance to more than 38 countries, wherever a DGPS beacon transmitter is broadcasting.

The SXBlue II-B GPS is capable of receiving sub-meter corrections from SBAS (WAAS/EGNOS/MSAS) or from any of the more than 200 DGPS beacon transmitters broadcasting in more than 38 countries around the globe free of charge. Geneq says this gives the SXBlue II-B GPS real-time, sub-meter performance around the world with the user having the choice of using SBAS or DGPS corrections.

Being able to utilize the DGPS beacon corrections allows the SXBlue II-B GPS to receive free real-time sub-meter corrections in some geographic areas SBAS doesn’t serve, such as parts of Australia, South Africa, South America, India, and Iceland. Additionally, the SXBlue II-B GPS is able to utilize the United States NDGPS (Nationwide DGPS) system of nearly 90 beacon transmitters that provide free GPS correction coverage to 92% of the land mass of the Continental United States (CONUS).

In addition to GIS mapping, Geneq said the SXBlue II-B GPS is well-suited for marine navigation as it meets International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) requirements. It is Certified IEC 61108-4 compliant, the international standard for ship borne DGPS marine navigation systems.

The SXBlue II-B is compact and rugged for optimal field use, requiring no backpack nor external batteries. It is completely waterproof and ruggedized, meeting stringent IP-67 requirements. It weighs slightly more than one pound and measures only 5.57” (14.1 cm) x 3.15” (8.0 cm) x 2.2” (5.6 cm). The SXBlue II-B comes with a compact, waterproof antenna that receives GPS, SBAS and DGPS beacon signals. No other antenna is required.

Other standard features include a field-replaceable integrated battery pack with “gas gauge,” 200-meter long-range Bluetooth, USB port and RS-232 port. Optional features include 10Hz/20Hz update rates, RTCM output and L1 RTK for real-time cm-level positioning.

The SXBlue II-B is targeted at GPS/GIS mapping professionals in industries such as forestry, utility, agriculture, and other natural resources industries in addition to municipal, state, and federal fovernment users and marine navigation users.