StellarMate Pro comes equipped with an integrated GPS/GLONASS receiver paired with an external passive antenna. It is specifically engineered for outdoor applications and may not function optimally without an unobstructed view of the sky. This receiver offers concurrent reception capability for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS, and QZSS open service L1 signals. With an impressive tally of 33 tracking channels, 99 acquisition channels, and 210 PRN channels, the SM Pro is adept at acquiring and monitoring various combinations of satellite signals.


Beyond its location services, the GPS functionality supplies highly precise timing information, which plays a pivotal role in numerous astronomical calculations executed within the device. Precise time synchronization is achieved by utilizing the GPS Pulse-Per-Second signal (PPS). The GPS PPS signal offers an extremely accurate and stable time reference.

WARNING

Any connected USB 3.0 device may interfere with the GPS signal leading to a failure to obtain 3D lock. Interference can be mitigated by using double-shielded USB 3 cables or by disconnecting any USB 3.0 devices during power up to allow StellarMate Pro to obtain a lock first. With StellarMate Pro Board v1.3 or later, external Active GPS antennas are supported.


Passive and Active GPS Antenna

By default, SM Pro is shipped with a passive GPS antenna. Due to interference issues from USB 3.0 devices and other sources, the satellite signal may not be sufficient to obtain a GPS lock. An active antenna can be used to overcome this limitation. The Ikarus Technologies Active GPS Antenna (IKA-860) is recommended. Place the antenna at least 50 cm away from SM Pro. In StellarMate App, tap the GPS status indicator to toggle between the Passive & GPS antennas.


GPS status is displayed in the StellarMate Pro App Power tab.




The USR LED is used to designate the GPS lock status:

Flashing: Satellite acquisition is in progress.

Solid: A 3D GPS lock is obtained.