Support Bulletin: TerraStar & Oceanix POR Beam End of Life

29 January 2021
product

Download Support Bulletin: TerraStar & Oceanix POR Beam End of Life

Summary:

TerraStar and Oceanix satellite-based correction services deliver precise GNSS corrections to users worldwide via LBand beams from geostationary satellites. INMARSAT, the satellite communications service provider for the delivery of TerraStar and Oceanix corrections, has provided official notice that the region covered by the POR beam (longitude: 178E) will be transferred to the 143.5E and 98W beams as part of the planned POR satellite decommission.

Products Affected:

TerraStar or Oceanix users with global or regional subscriptions in the following regions:

  • North America
  • South America
  • Eastern Russia
  • Australia
  • Asia Pacific

Mitigation:

Users should not expect any performance degradation in their L-Band reception or their positioning, with the new coverage. The change does not require any new firmware updates. Receivers with auto assignment will require no manual intervention. Receivers that are manually configured to track the POR beam, must switch to either 143.5E or 98W before February 28, 2021.

Important dates:

  • 01 February 2021 – New subscriptions will no longer include the POR beam.
  • 08 to 19 February 2021 – New activation messages will be sent to any users with an existing subscription that use the POR beam. This new activation message will disable the POR beam to prevent the receiver from trying to track it. This new activation message will be sent for 30 days, until 10 March 2021.

Users with an existing subscription who do not track TerraStar during the new activation period (08 February to 10 March 2021) and are operating in the POR region will have to request an activation resend to avoid any potential disruption in service.

For more detailed mission planning, please refer to the Corrections Coverage Map: https://novatel.com/products/correction-services/corrections-coverage-map

Resend requests and questions can be directed to NovAtel support: support.novatel@hexagon.com.