NAL RESEARCH 9602-LP Asset Tracker User Guide

June 12, 2024
NAL RESEARCH

NAL RESEARCH 9602-LP Asset Tracker

Product Information

Product Name

9602-LP

Product Description

The 9602-LP is a pocket-size, low-cost, satellite tracker designed to operate with the Iridium low-Earth orbit satellite network.

Reference Documents

Reference Title Revision/Date
9602-LP User Guide Version A, 03/28/2022
SatTerm User Guide (supports v8.9.7) Version A, 03/28/2022
AT Commands for 9602-LP Version A, 03/31/2022

Product Usage Instructions

Introduction

The 9602-LP is a pocket-size, low-cost, satellite tracker designed to operate with the Iridium low-Earth orbit satellite network.

Device Description

Multi-Interface Connector

The multi-interface connector on model 9602-LP is a standard male 15-pin miniature D-Sub type (DB-15) connector.

Pin Assignments for the 9602-LP Multi-Interface Connector

Pin # Signal Description Interface
1 EXT_PWR External power input (+3.6 VDC to +5.3 VDC) DC Power (+)
2 EXT_GND External power input (GND) DC Power (GND)
3 Tx1 RS232 Input RS232 Data
4 Rx1 RS232 Output RS232 Data
5 Signal_GND Signal Ground, 0 V signal reference, and return RS232 GND
6 EMERGENCY External TTL/CMOS Input S0
7 TTL TTL/CMOS Output 0
8 TTL TTL/CMOS Output 1
9 EXT_PWR External power input (+6.0 VDC to +32.0 VDC) DC Power (+)
10 Rx2 Reserved RS232 Data
11 Tx2 Reserved RS232 Data
12 TEST External TTL/CMOS Input S1
13 TTL External TTL/CMOS Input S3
14 TTL External TTL/CMOS Input S2
15 TTL TTL/CMOS Output 2
  • Model HRC-24-12 is a data/power cable assembly designed to work with the 9602-LP tracker. It has a three-foot RS-232 cable for connection to a computer and three wires for DC power inputs to a 9602-LP.
  • For more information, please visit the NAL website at https://www.nalresearch.com.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER AND CONDITION OF USE

  • This document contains information for the 9602-LP tracker and accompanying accessories (“Product”), which are provided “as is.” Reasonable effort has been made to make the information in this document reliable and consistent with specifications, test measurements and other information. However, NAL Research Corporation and its affiliated companies, directors, officers, employees, agents, trustees or consultants (“NAL Research”) assume no responsibility for any typographical, technical, content or other inaccuracies in this document. NAL Research reserves the right in its sole discretion and without notice to you to change Product specifications and materials and/or revise this document or withdraw it at any time. User assumes the full risk of using the Product specifications and any other information provided.
  • NAL Research makes no representations, guarantees, conditions or warranties, either express or implied, including without limitation, any implied representations, guarantees, conditions or warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, satisfactory quality, non-interference, accuracy of informational content, or arising from a course of dealing, law, usage, or trade practice, use, or related to the performance or nonperformance of any products, accessories, facilities or services or information except as expressly stated in this guide and/or the Product and/or satellite service documentation. Any other standards of performance, guarantees, conditions and warranties are hereby expressly excluded and disclaimed to the fullest extent permitted by the law. This disclaimer and exclusion shall apply even if the express limited warranty contained in this guide or such documentation fails of its essential purpose.
  • In no event shall NAL Research be liable, whether in contract or tort or any other legal theory, including without limitation strict liability, gross negligence or negligence, for any damages in excess of the purchase price of the Product, including any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages of any kind, or loss of revenue or profits, loss of business, loss of privacy, loss of use, loss of time or inconvenience, loss of information or data, software or applications or other financial loss caused by the Product (including hardware, software and/or firmware) and/or the Iridium satellite, or arising out of or in connection with the ability or inability to use the Product (including hardware, software and/or firmware) and/or the Iridium satellite to the fullest extent these damages may be disclaimed by law and whether advised of the possibilities of such damages. NAL Research is not liable for any claim made by a third party or made by you for a third party.

REVISION HISTORY

Revision Date Description
1.4.5 05/30/2014 Initial version
1.5 07/30/2021 Updated to new template
A 04/20/2022 Formal release

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

The latest revisions of the NAL documents are available from the NAL Research website at https://www.nalresearch.com/support/documentation- downloads/.

Reference Title Revision/Date
  [1]

9602-LP User Guide

| Version A, 03/28/2022
  [2]| SatTerm User Guide (supports v8.9.7)| Version A, 03/28/2022
  [3]|

AT Commands for 9602-LP

| Version A, 03/31/2022

ACRONYM LIST

  • AC ………………………….alternating current
  • AT ………………………….Two-letter sequence starting a string of terminal commands. The AT is intended to get the terminal’s attention prior to executing a command.
  • dB ………………………….decibel
  • DC ………………………….direct current
  • DoD ……………………….Department of Defense
  • EMSS ……………………..Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services
  • GPS ………………………..Global Positioning System
  • kbps ……………………….kilobits per second
  • LED ………………………..light-emitting diode
  • SatTerm ………………….satellite terminal emulator software
  • SBD ………………………..short burst data
  • SIM ………………………..subscriber identification module

INTRODUCTION

The 9602-LP is a pocket-size, low-cost, satellite tracker designed to operate with the Iridium low-Earth orbit satellite network (see Figure 1).
Note: For immediate information on how to configure the 9602-LP device, refer to section 4.NAL-RESEARCH-9602-LP-Asset-Tracker-
FIG-1

The 9602-LP comprises an Iridium 9602 transceiver module; a built-in, 50-channel Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver; and low-power microcontrollers. The 9602-LP allows only Short Burst Data (SBD) connectivity to the Iridium satellite network. It does not support voice, circuit-switched data, or Short Message Service (SMS). It can transmit messages in NAL Research’s defined formats compatible with models 9601-DGS and 9601-DGS-LP. The 9602-LP can also transmit in PECOS Message Structure (PMS). The 9602-LP supports a 256-bit AES encryption algorithm. NAL Research can enable the 9602-LP to utilize the Department of Defense (DoD) Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) gateway when requested by an authorized user. When a Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) is connected to the 9602-LP with SatTerm software installed (or any terminal emulator software), the DTE can be used to set up the operating parameters of the 9602-LP via a serial connection. A DTE can be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet.

DEVICE DESCRIPTION

MULTI-INTERFACE CONNECTOR
The multi-interface connector on model 9602-LP is a standard male 15-pin miniature D-Sub type (DB-15) connector, as shown in Figure 1.

The connector comprises four interfaces with the pin assignments shown in Table 1.

These interfaces include:

  • External DC power input
  • 3-wire RS232 serial data interface
  • TTL/CMOS I/Os
  • Reserved RS232 serial data interface

Table 1: Pin Assignments for the 9602-LP Multi-Interface Connector

Pin # Signal Description Interface
1 EXT_PWR External power input (+3.6 VDC to +5.3 VDC) DC Power (+)
2 EXT_GND External power input (GND) DC Power (GND)
3 Tx1 RS232 Input RS232 Data
Pin # Signal Description Interface
--- --- --- ---
4 Rx1 RS232 Output RS232 Data
5 Signal_GND Signal Ground, 0 V signal reference and return RS232 GND
6 EMERGENCY External TTL/CMOS Input S0 0–5 V TTL
7 TTL TTL/CMOS Output 0 0–5 V TTL
8 TTL TTL/CMOS Output 1 0–5 V TTL
9 EXT_PWR External power input (+6.0 VDC to +32.0 VDC) DC Power (+)
10 Rx2 Reserved RS232 Data
11 Tx2 Reserved RS232 Data
12 TEST External TTL/CMOS Input S1 0–5 V TTL
13 TTL External TTL/CMOS Input S3 0–5 V TTL
14 TTL External TTL/CMOS Input S2 0–5 V TTL
15 TTL TTL/CMOS Output 2 0–5 V TTL

Model HRC-24-12 is a data/power cable assembly (see Figure 3) designed to work with the 9602-LP tracker. The HRC-24-12 has a three-foot RS-232 cable for connection onto a computer and three wires for DC power inputs to a 9602-LP. Model HRC-24-12 is available on the NAL website ( www.nalresearch.com).

EMERGENCY BUTTON

Under the default configuration, you can trigger Emergency Tracking at any time with a quick press and release of the Emergency button (momentary switch). See Figure 4. Once enabled, holding the Emergency button longer than three seconds takes the 9602-LP out of Emergency Tracking. When Emergency Tracking is active, the Emergency LED illuminates. Refer to section 2.3 for information on LEDs status.

LED SETTINGS
The 9602-LP has five status LEDs. These include Power indicator, Iridium signal strength, GPS availability, SBD transmission status, and Emergency mode alert (see Figure 5).NAL-RESEARCH-9602-LP-Asset-Tracker-
FIG-5

They provide a quick visual check to ensure proper operations. These LEDs provide the following information during Normal Tracking mode shown in Table 2:

Table 2: Description of LED States

Label Name LED Off LED Blinking LED Solid
**** Power Device is off N/A Device is on

IRIDIUM

| ****

Iridium

| Off or has no signal| ****

Has 1–2 bars of signal

| Has 3–5 bars of signal


GPS1

| ****

GPS

| GPS off or time only| 2-D fix or dead reckoning| ****

3-D fix




STATUS

| ****


Message Status

| ****

No SBD

transmission with a valid GPS fix was sent to the gateway

| Last SBD transmission was not successfully sent or did not have a valid GPS fix, but one was sent since the unit was turned on| Last SBD transmission had a valid GPS fix and was successfully received it by the gateway


EMERGENCY

| ****

Emergency

| ****

Emergency mode not activated

| ****

N/A

| The emergency button is pressed or the S0 Input is activated

  • Watch closely for the LED because it can briefly stay on.
  • The 9602-LP is shipped with all LEDs set to ACTIVE. The LEDs can be disabled to reduce power consumption.

ANTENNAS

IRIDIUM ANTENNA CONNECTOR

  • The 9602-LP uses a single SMA female 50-ohm antenna connector for both transmission and reception of the Iridium signal, as shown in Figure 6. NAL Research offers several types of antennas for use with the 9602-LP. For low-cost and applications where small form-factor and light weight are required, NAL Research highly recommends model SYN7391-C, as shown in Figure 7.NAL-RESEARCH-9602-LP-Asset-Tracker-FIG-7

GPS ANTENNA CONNECTOR

  • The 9602-LP tracker uses a SubMiniature Version A (SMA) female connector for the GPS antenna, as shown in Figure 8. For low-cost and applications where small form-factor and light-weight are required, NAL Research highly recommends model SAF7352-IG, as shown in Figure 9.NAL-RESEARCH-9602-LP-Asset-Tracker-FIG-8

IMPORTANT: DO NOT CONNECT OR DISCONNECT THE GPS ANTENNA WHEN THE 9602-LP IS TURNED ON.

CONFIGURING THE 9602-LP

  • The 9602-LP supports a 3-wire serial data interface to a computer, allowing the computer running SatTerm software (or any terminal emulator software) to configure its operating profile using NAL Research’s defined AT commands. These AT commands can be found in the manual “AT Commands for 9602-LP” [3]. The 9602-LP does not support auto-baud, and the default baud is factory-set at 19.2 kbps but can be changed to other bauds with the +IPR command.
    Required hardware and software for the configuration of the 9602-LP include:

  • A desktop or laptop computer (not provided).

  • A 3-wire RS232 cable (not provided).

  • A DC power source (not provided).

  • SatTerm software or any terminal emulator software (SatTerm is available on the NAL Research website).

To configure and initialize the 9602-LP:

  1. Connect the power/RS232 cable to the computer and to the 9602-LP.
  2. Install the SatTerm software on the computer. See the NAL document “SatTerm User Guide” [2] for details.
  3. Apply the appropriate DC power to the 9602-LP.
    • The 9602-LP defaults to power on when DC power is first applied. It is not necessary to push the ON/OFF button. A NAL Research message appears along with the firmware version to indicate proper serial communications and power input.
  4. Use the SatTerm software (or any terminal emulator) installed on the computer to set the 9602-LP’s operating parameters.
  5. With the unit turned off, connect an Iridium antenna and a GPS antenna to the 9602-LP antenna ports.
  6. Ensure the antennas have a full view of the sky and the cable loss between the tracker and antenna is less than 2 dB.
  7. Supply appropriate DC power to the 9602-LP. The 9602-LP defaults to “Tracking” mode, and begins tracking.
  • IMPORTANT: EMSS-enabled 9602-LP must first be provisioned (signed up for airtime) with EMSS SBD service before testing or field use. Accessing the DoD EMSS Gateway is not authorized until the 9602-LP is provisioned. Unauthorized attempts to access the DoD EMSS Gateway will result in immediate disabling of the offending device, which must then be returned to NAL Research for repair. See https://sbd.pac.disa.mil for more information regarding EMSS service provisioning.
    IMPORTANT: For detailed information on how to configure the 9602-LP device, refer to the 9602-LP User Guide [1].

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Documents / Resources

| NAL RESEARCH 9602-LP Asset Tracker [pdf] User Guide
9602-LP Asset Tracker, 9602-LP, 9602-LP Tracker, Asset Tracker, Tracker
---|---

References

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