As many of us are aware, there is an impending GPS Week Rollover coming on April 6th. We have had many users call in with concerns about their GNSS equipment being able to handle it. Here is a statement released from Trimble back in January.

“A GPS week rollover will occur at the end of the GPS day on 6 April 2019, at which time the GPS week will transition from week 2047 to 2048. However, because the GPS message structure broadcast by the satellites defines the week as a 10-bit value, the GPS messages will indicate that the week has changed from 1023 to week 0.

 Trimble has performed tests using a GNSS simulator to verify that the receiver firmware correctly handles the week rollover in different scenarios, including real time kinematic and static surveys with various input and output messages, as well as data file format conversions.

 To prepare for the week number rollover, it is recommended to install the latest receiver firmware version using Trimble Installation Manager for current products or Trimble WinFlash for legacy products. All Trimble receivers with firmware version ≥2.32 will continue to operate normally following the rollover.”

So what does this mean to you? It means that if you have fairly current GNSS receivers and your firmware is at version 2.32 or greater, based on the tests that Trimble has performed, your GNSS equipment should operate as expected. If you have any doubt or questions, you do have the option of upgrading your receiver firmware before then. As always, we do recommend keeping your GNSS receivers to the latest firmware versions available in order to handle any known bug fixes, utilize the latest enhancements, or to avoid downtime in situations like this. Below is a list of current firmware versions for all Trimble receivers (year 2000 and beyond). For more information on upgrade cost or procedure, please contact us at survey_support@frontierprecision.com.

For Spectra Precision users, it is recommended to install, at minimum, the version number corresponding to each receiver in the Spectra Precision table below. This should be done before the rollover event on April 6, 2019. If a receiver does not have, at minimum, the version listed in the below table, the receiver will output incorrect GPS week number, UTC time, and incorrect date in the output messages, data files and in the WebUI (if applicable).  Because of this, availability and reliability of GNSS positioning will be significantly degraded in real-time mode as well as in post-processing.

Again, for Spectra Precision users, you need to be upgraded, at minimum, to the firmware version listed in the above table for your receiver. This is an urgent required action and receivers will not function correctly without the correct firmware.

For SP60 firmware v3.38, Spectra Precision Loader v8.8 or later is required.

For SP80 firmware v3.38, Spectra Precision Loader v8.7 or later is required.

For SP90m firmware v3.68, Spectra Precision Loader v7.1.0 or later is required.

For post-processing of raw data recorded after April 6, 2019 in Survey Office, Patch 3 is required to be downloaded in Survey Office (available from Software Updates in Survey Office).

For more information on upgrade cost or procedure, please contact us at survey_support@frontierprecision.com.