Starlink Incorporated
page 10 of 20 Invicta 210L Operation Manual
Now you have the receiver working with everything that could interfere. Shut
everything off, mount the antenna, and route the cables. Once this is done, repeat the
power up steps.
The last few steps deal with connecting the other equipment that gets data from the
Invicta. Refer to the manufacturer’s documentation for details such as baud rates and
required messages. It is very likely that you only need to connect the interface cable to
the device. The Invicta is configured, by default, to work with most systems without
any adjustments.
Power
The Invicta receiver needs DC power between 10 and 32 Volts. DC power is usually
provided by a battery on the machine or via a power adapter of some type. If your unit
came with an automotive power adapter, verify that your vehicle has a negative ground
system before you connect to power. If your unit came with an AC adapter, you need
only connect the adapter to an AC source.
TBA-2 Antenna
GPS is a line-of-sight system, which means in order for the receiver to track the
satellites there must be an unobstructed path directly to them. Buildings, trees,
machinery, and human bodies are common obstructions. When locating the antenna,
find a place where the antenna will have an unobstructed view of the sky.
Items such as electrical motors, generators, alternators, strobe lights, radio transmitters,
cellular phones, microwave dishes, radar, active antennas, etc., all generate electrical
and magnetic fields which can interfere with the GPS or Beacon radio signal. Mount
the antenna away from such potential sources of interference.
The GPS can be de-tuned by close proximity to other objects. For example, if you
place the antenna under fiberglass its performance could be degraded. Usually, if you
lower the antenna so that at least a quarter of an inch gap is made between the antenna
and the covering plastic or fiberglass, acceptable performance can be achieved. Metal
or other dense materials will completely block the GPS signals.
Starlink beacon antennas use magnetic sensing technology. The primary advantage of
this technology is that no electrical grounding is required.
Since the antenna is sensitive to magnetic fields, you should keep it away from any
wiring. The wiring will radiate magnetic fields and could interfere. High-tension
power lines can also interfere.
The antenna is relatively insensitive to electric noise generated by alternators or spark
plugs, but these noise sources can still interfere. A common source of interference is
DC motors, which use brushes (the fan blower motor in your car is an example).
Power inverters, which convert DC to 110VAC, often produce considerable
interference.
