uAvionix microLink User And Installation Manual
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uAvionix microLink User And Installation Manual

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microLink
User and Installation
Guide
UAV-1003064-001
Rev G
Page
1 | 50

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Summary of Contents for uAvionix microLink

  • Page 1 User and Installation Guide UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 1 | 50...
  • Page 2 retained.

  • Page 3: Revision History

    08/12/2019 Updated the FCC and IC statements per the 08/28/2019 Updated the RF exposure limits per the TCB 12/18/2019 Added Updating instructions for skyStation and microLink radios 7/21/2020 Updated configuration item descriptions. Updated firmware upgrade instructions.

  • Page 4: Limited Warranty

    For the duration of the warranty period, uAvionix, at its sole option, will repair or replace any product which fails under normal use. Such repairs or replacement will be made at no charge to the customer for parts or labor, provided that the customer shall be responsible for any transportation cost.

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    3 Contents Revision History ................... 3 Limited Warranty .................. 4 Contents ....................5 Introduction ..................7 Specification ..................8 microLink Radio Technology ............8 Regulatory Statements ..............9 5.2.1 FCC Statement................ 9 5.2.2 Industry Canada Statement ............. 9 Ground Radio System (GRS) – skyStation ......... 11 Airborne Radio System (ARS) ............
  • Page 6 Updating Devices ................ 39 6.5.1 Updating skyStation .............. 39 6.5.2 Updating Ground microLink Radio ......... 42 6.5.3 Updating Airborne microLink Radio ........42 Appendix A Quick Start Guide ............45 Appendix B HERE2 GPS Sharing ............50 UAV-1003064-001 Rev G...

  • Page 7: Introduction

    4 Introduction microLink is an aviation grade, miniature, Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) data link radio specifically designed for long range, robust, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) telemetry data links. Ideal for size, weight, power and performance sensitive applications, microLink operates in the 902-928MHz license-free ISM band.

  • Page 8: Specification

    5 Specification 5.1 microLink Radio Technology • Dual radio architecture for true diversity o Path (spatial) diversity o Frequency diversity o Polarization gain • Dynamic Medium and Multiple access, time and position synchronized, to support 100s of simultaneous links o Adaptive time and frequency spreading •...

  • Page 9: Regulatory Statements

    5.2 Regulatory Statements 5.2.1 FCC Statement FCC ID: 2AFFTC2XISM This device meets the FCC requirements for RF exposure in public or uncontrolled environments. Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules.
  • Page 10 Le présent appareil est conforme aux CNR d’Industrie Canada applicables aux appareils radio exempts de licence. L’exploitation est autorisée aux deux conditions suivantes : 1) l’appareil ne doit pas produire de brouillage; 2) l’appareil doit accepter tout brouillage radioélectrique subi, même si le brouillage est susceptible d’en compromettre le fonctionnement.”...

  • Page 11: Ground Radio System (Grs) - Skystation

    5.3 Ground Radio System (GRS) – skyStation • All-Weather Network-Ready microLink GRS • TCP and UDP Power Over Ethernet (POE) connectivity. • IP67 grade enclosure. • Dual Dipole Antennas • Pole Mounting Kit Specification Value Input Power 13W Peak Size...

  • Page 12: Airborne Radio System (Ars)

    5.4 Airborne Radio System (ARS) • Transparent serial user data interface • Plug and play with Ardupilot PixHawk autopilot • Dual MMCX antenna connectors • Supports NMEA/UBX GPS Sensors such as HERE2 and truFYX USER Interface (top connector) Timing/Position, Control Interface (bottom connector) Pin Type Physical Port...
  • Page 13 Ordering Part Numbers skyStation UAV-1003057-001 microLink UAV-1002868-001 GPS Options truFYX kit UAV-1002500-001 HERE2 kit UAV-1002956-001 Replacement Parts skyLink Dipole Antenna UAV-1003060-001 MMCX 100mm UAV-1003063-001 MMCX 200mm UAV-1003063-002 GH 6p Cable UAV-1003061001 GH 8p Cable UAV-1003062-001 UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 13 | 50...

  • Page 14: Mechanical Specifications

    5.6 Mechanical Specifications UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 14 | 50...
  • Page 15 UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 15 | 50...

  • Page 16: Configuration

    6 Configuration 6.1 skyStation Connect skyStation to a POE switch or POE power injector. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 16 | 50...

  • Page 17: Connection To The Poe Network

    6.2 Connection to the POE Network POE Specifications: Parameter Value Standard 803.3af (802.3at Type1) Maximum power 15.4W 37 – 57V Voltage Range Maximum Current 350mA 20Ω Maximum Cable Resistance Supported Cabling Shielded Cat 3 and Shielded Cat 5 Supported Modes Mode A (endspan), Mode B (midspan) Power Management Power Class 0...

  • Page 18: Skystation Start-Up And Connection

    6.3 skyStation Start-up and Connection 6.3.1 Apply POE power to the skyStation At power-up an IP address will be assigned to the skyStation by the local DHCP server. By default, the skyStation will start broadcasting the Control Channel information on UDP port 30012. 6.3.2 Run skyLinkApp.exe skyLinkApp.exe will be listening for incoming Control data on UDP port 30012.
  • Page 19 UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 19 | 50...

  • Page 20: Connect To Mission Planner In Tcp Mode

    6.3.3 Connect to Mission Planner in TCP mode Download and install Mission Planner from: http://firmware.ardupilot.org/Tools/MissionPlanner/ http://ardupilot.org/planner/docs/mission-planner-installation.html Verify that the flight controller and skyStation are powered and running and that skyLinkApp.exe is receiving data. Run Mission Planner and select the communications drop down menu. Select TCP as the communication mode and hit the Connect button on the upper right-hand corner.
  • Page 21 Enter the skyStation IP address as found earlier in skyLinkApp.exe and click OK. Enter port 30011 which is the skyStation default TCP port for Mission Planner and click OK. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 21 | 50...

  • Page 22: Skylinkapp.exe

    The skyStation is now in place and ready to host missions. 6.3.4 skyLinkApp.exe skyLinkApp.exe is the uAvionix Control channel monitoring application. It is used or showing Status, Maps and Configuration information. It can be connected to the skyStation in TCP or UCP modes and the ports are configurable for network flexibility.

  • Page 23: Status Tab

    There is also a KML logging feature for importation into mapping software. 6.3.5 Status Tab The status data is shown for both the local and the remote radios. It contains both transmit and receive information for the local and remote radios.
  • Page 24 UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 24 | 50...

  • Page 25: Maps Tab

    Radio throughput and statistics detail shown below. RSSI detail shown below. 6.3.6 Maps Tab skyLinkApp.exe has a mapping tab for mapping the local radio skyStation radio as well as the remote aircraft radio. It includes latitude, longitude, altitude, GPS fix type, Slant Range and SV count. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page...

  • Page 26: Configuration Tab

    6.3.7 Configuration Tab skyLinkApp.exe also contains a Configuration page. This page is used for device settings and setup as well as system selecting the hop table scheme for the system. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 26 | 50...
  • Page 27 6.3.7.1 ARS Configuration Connect as shown below then run skyLinkApp. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 27 | 50...
  • Page 28 Select Port and set the App Baud to 115200. On the Configuration Tab: • Default to ISM Hopping Table • Save Hop Table to Device o Station Type: Airborne o UTC Pulse Polarity: Positive o User Port Baud Rate: 57600 o GPS Port Baud Rate: 115200 o Control Port Baud Rate: 115200 o Check Frame When Stale...
  • Page 29 6.3.7.2 GRS Configuration Connect as shown below then run the skyLinkApp. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 29 | 50...
  • Page 30 Select Port and set UDP / TCP as configured. On the Configuration Tab: • Default to ISM Hopping Table • Save Hop Table to Device o Station Type: Ground o UTC Pulse Polarity: Positive o User Port Baud Rate: 57600 o GPS Port Baud Rate: 115200 o Control Port Baud Rate: 115200 o Check Frame When Stale...

  • Page 31: Skystation Configuration And Health Webpage

    6.4 skyStation Configuration and Health Webpage skyLinkApp.exe will give the IP address of the skyStation. The skyStation IP address can be also be determined without skyLinkApp.exe by accessing the local DHCP server and reviewing the connected devices or by using industry accepted network scanning tools. Directions for each DHCP server, router, or network scanning tool differ.
  • Page 32 Displays Health statistics, position and version information. Use to program the target UDP address and Port number. • skyStation status URL: http://nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn/api/v1/stats Displays the status json sentence/ • skyStation update URL: http://nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn/update Provides ability to update skyStation firmware The base URL displays configuration items as well as dynamic skyStation health statistics.
  • Page 33 Figure 6-1 Default skyStation Settings UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 33 | 50...

  • Page 34: Configuration Items

    Figure 6-2 Typical skyStation Settings 6.4.1 Configuration Items Configuration Item Description User Connection Type These checkboxes indicate a connection type of UDP or TCP to the skyStation on the User connection. The default User connection setting is TCP. The User connection is typically a connection between the aircraft and the ground station software.
  • Page 35 Configuration Item Description User UDP IP Address When the User Connection Type is UDP, this parameter is the IP address of the computer running the ground control software. UDP datagrams will be sent by skyStation to the IP address specified in this field.
  • Page 36 Configuration Item Description 255.255.255.255 which results in data being broadcast to facilitate automatic discovery with skyLinkApp. If you do not wish to use broadcast, set this parameter equal to the IP address of the computer running skyLinkApp. Control UDP Port When the Control Connection Type is UDP, this is the port used by skyStation to listen for control data coming from skyLinkApp.

  • Page 37: Health

    Configuration Item Description DNS Address IP address of the Domain Name Service. Reset Factory Defaults By checking this box and hitting the Update button, all connection types, IP Addresses and ports will be restored to the factory default. This function also performs a system reset.
  • Page 38 Statistic Description User Serial Total KB This is the total number of bytes received on the User serial Received channel in kilobytes UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 38 | 50...

  • Page 39: Updating Devices

    6.5 Updating Devices The following sections outline the steps to update the firmware on the microLink radios and the skyStation. There are three updating procedures, one for the skyStation firmware, one for the ground-based radio internal to the skyStation, and one for the airborne radio. The firmware image used for the ground-based radio and the airborne radio is the same.
  • Page 40 If not known, use a network scanning software to find the IP address of the skyStation. The MAC address will be labelled on the bottom of the skyStation. When the IP address is known, open a web browser and in the URL search bar enter the IP address followed by “/update”...
  • Page 41 Verify the device version has properly been updated. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 41 | 50...

  • Page 42: Updating Ground Microlink Radio

    6.5.3 Updating Airborne microLink Radio Connect the microLink airborne radio to a Mac or PC using the supplied “user” programming chip, 6 pin GH cable, and a micro-USB cable. Connect the microLink radio through the “User” port.
  • Page 43 Download the PingBootFlasher (v2.7) software and the most recent microLink firmware onto a Mac or PC. Run the PingBootFlasher software and connect to the microLink radio by selecting the correct COM port on the “Port” dropdown then press connect. When connected you will see the current App Version and PingBoot Status: Idle on the PingBootFlasher software.
  • Page 44 DO NOT DISCONNECT THE MICROLINK RADIO OR CLOSE THE PING BOOT FLASHER UNTIL UPDATE IS COMPLETE When update is complete, unplug the microLink radio and plug it back into the Mac or PC. Reconnect the PingBootFlasher to the microLink radio and verify the App Version has updated.

  • Page 45: Appendix A Quick Start Guide

    GPS. • Power on your aircraft flight control system. • Launch the skyLinkApp.exe application available at www.uavionix.com and use it to validate communications as well as retrieve the skyStation IP address the DHCP server gives the skyStation for connecting to Mission Planner.
  • Page 46 UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 46 | 50...
  • Page 47 • Connect Mission Planner to the skyStation using a TCP connection to the skyStation IP Address and the default skyStation TCP port of 30011. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 47 | 50...
  • Page 48 • Use the IP address of the skyStation obtained from the skyLinkApp or from your list of DHCP connected devices. • Use the skyStation default port of 30011. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 48 | 50...
  • Page 49 • Once connected and all the parameters are downloaded you are ready to plan your mission and fly! UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 49 | 50...

  • Page 50: Appendix B Here2 Gps Sharing

    8 Appendix B HERE2 GPS Sharing HERE2 GPS Sharing shown below. UAV-1003064-001 Rev G Page 50 | 50...

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