| Editor’s note: Thanks to Mark Silver of iGage for posting this info:
This is an urgent notice for users of the following GNSS receivers:
· ProFlex 500, ProFlex 800
· MobileMapper 100, 120
· ProMark 100, 120, 200, 220, 700, 800
· SP 20, 60, 80, 90m
The notice also includes information for users of:
· ProMark 700
· MobileMapper 300
· EPOCH 10, 25, 35, 50
If you are using any of these receivers, you MUST update firmware prior to April 6, 2019 or your receivers will stop working at (about) midnight UTC the morning of April 7, 2019.
Specific Instructions, with links to updated firmware can be found in this Official Spectra Geospatial Support Note.
Additional Notes
(The following note is from Mark Silver and does not reflect an official position from the factory.)
No official information is available from the factory regarding ProMark 3, ProMark 2 or earlier receivers. Since the ProMark 100 receiver is a descendant of the ProMark 3 and all subsequent devices (ProMark 120, ProMark 500, ProMark 800 and SP80/60) have mandatory firmware updates it is my guess that the PM2/PM3 receivers will fail on rollover. In addition, I believe that the desktop tool ‘GNSS Solutions’ will probably also fail.
Will the failure be catastrophic? Perhaps not. In the case of static files from ProMark 3 receivers it may be possible to “fix” them using a software shim tool to modify RINEX dates.
To put the ProMark 3 in perspective, I do not believe that we have any working PM3’s at iGage to play with at this point (and the search for them may prompt a needed shelf cleaning and subsequent dumpster fill.) I will disclose that I have received more calls from ProMark 3 users worried about WNRO than any other device. So I do realize that there are many PM3’s in daily use.
I would caution everyone that while some receivers have been tested using GPS/GNSS simulators, the process of constructing simulation files is VERY complicated. Normally the simulators use signals that are recorded and then replayed. So there might be additional complications discovered after April 7th.
In any case, I plan to spend Sunday, April 7 pulling old receivers and testing them at the office. Hopefully it will be an uneventful, sunny, spring day.
Good tracking to all,
Mark Silver |