Orbcomm Message Formats Messages from Orbcomm arrive as emails with no subject and no “main body”; the information is contained in an attachment. 1. Messages from Orby11 / rainb1 on the toroid buoy 1.1 Status message. Sent hourly to orby11. Always begins FIXED_MSG:S Then the time and date as HH:MM:SS DDD YY Then the difference in seconds between the Persistor’s clock and the Orbcomm clock (can be positive or negative but should not exceed 5 seconds) Then the latest latitude and longitude Then the distance from the reference point in metres and the bearing in degrees Then a line feed The format of this line is "%2.2d:%2.2d:%2.2d %3.3d %2.2d %3li %9.4lf %10.4lf %7.1lf %5.1lf\n" The second line contains the number of inbound messages (Orbcomm messages waiting to be sent to a satellite) followed by the number of outbound messages. Then the amount of space available on the Persistor’s flash card in MB Then the last rain gauge reading in mm Then the battery voltage Then the temperature inside the box in degrees C Then the maximum, minimum and average values from the X-axis tilt sensor in degrees Then the maximum, minimum and average values from the Y-axis tilt sensor in degrees The format for this line is "%2d %2d %6.3lf %5.2f %5.2f %5.1f %5.1f %5.1f %5.1f %5.1f %5.1f %5.1f\n\r" Finally the Orbcomm adds a time stamp of its own with the format ,HHMMSS,DD,MM Example Status message FIXED_MSG:S15:06:12 100 02 1 50.8912 -1.3938 205.3 144.4 1 0 34.896 28.24 16.60 22.3 5.9 1.6 3.5 1.2 -4.8 -2.3 ,150634,10,04 1.2 Data message. Sent hourly to orby11. Always begins FIXED_MSG:D Followed by 60, 1 minute rain gauge readings each stored as 3 hexadecimal digits, i.e. "%3.3x" Then the time and date as HH:MM:SS DDD YY "%2.2d:%2.2d:%2.2d %3.3d %2.2d" Finally the Orbcomm adds a time stamp of its own with the format ,HHMMSS,DD,MM To convert each rain gauge reading into mm of rain:- 1. Convert the hexadecimal value into decimal 2. Multiply by 0.01221 The values should increase up to 50mm at which point the rain gauge should siphon itself and start from zero again. Example Data message FIXED_MSG:D90c90c90c90d90c90d90c90d90d90c90e90d90d90d90d90d90c90d90c90b90b90d90d90c90d90d90d90d90d90c90c90c90c90c90b90b90c90c90c90b90b90b90b90a90a90b90990990990990a90990990a90a90a90a90a90a90b 15:00:00 100 02 ,150622,10,04 1.3 Warning message. Sent to orbyw11 ONLY if the calculated distance from a reference point is exceeded. Always begins FIXED_MSG:WARNING Followed by " Buoy is %7.1lf m from Ref point bearing %5.1lf\n\r" Finally the Orbcomm adds a time stamp of its own with the format ,HHMMSS,DD,MM Example warning message FIXED_MSG:WARNING Buoy is 205.3 m from Ref point bearing 144.4 ,070635,24,09 1.4 Orby11 / rainb1 - Operational timetable 27 October to 12 December 2001 - deployed near Aberporth. 21 December to present – running at SOC, first in the yard then in the dock. Data outside these periods can be ignored/deleted. 2. Messages from Orby12 / rainb2, the original Land Station, now a spare 2.1 Status message. Sent hourly to orby12. Always begins FIXED_MSG:S Then the time and date as HH:MM:SS DDD YY Then the difference in seconds between the Persistor’s clock and the Orbcomm clock (can be positive or negative but should not exceed 5 seconds) Then the latest latitude and longitude Then the distance from the reference point in metres and the bearing in degrees Then a line feed The format of this line is "%2.2d:%2.2d:%2.2d %3.3d %2.2d %3li %9.4lf %10.4lf %7.1lf %5.1lf\n" The second line contains the number of inbound messages (Orbcomm messages waiting to be sent to a satellite) followed by the number of outbound messages. Then the amount of space available on the Persistor’s flash card in MB Then the last rain gauge reading in mm Then the battery voltage The format for this line is "%2d %2d %6.3lf %5.2f %5.2f\n\r" Finally the Orbcomm adds a time stamp of its own with the format ,HHMMSS,DD,MM Example Status message FIXED_MSG:S11:12:09 029 02 -2 50.8926 -1.3957 17.9 231.7 1 0 22.963 5.92 14.37 ,111231,29,01 2.2 Data message. Sent hourly to orby12. The format of this message is identical to that of the orby11 data messages. Example Data message FIXED_MSG:D1e21e21e21e21e51e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e51e41e41e41e42181e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e51e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e51e42142111e41e5 11:00:00 029 02 ,111220,29,01 2.3 Warning messages These are the same format as for orby11, but since the land station is fixed they should never be sent. 2.4 Orby12 / rainb2 - Operational timetable 29 October to 12 December 2001 - deployed at Aberporth. Data outside these periods can be ignored/deleted. 3. Messages from Orby13 / rainb3, the Present Land Station 3.1 Status message. Sent hourly to orby13. Always begins FIXED_MSG:S Then the time and date as HH:MM:SS DDD YY Then the difference in seconds between the Persistor’s clock and the Orbcomm clock (can be positive or negative but should not exceed 5 seconds) Then the latest latitude and longitude Then the distance from the reference point in metres and the bearing in degrees Then a line feed The format of this line is "%2.2d:%2.2d:%2.2d %3.3d %2.2d %3li %9.4lf %10.4lf %7.1lf %5.1lf\n" The second line contains the number of inbound messages (Orbcomm messages waiting to be sent to a satellite) followed by the number of outbound messages. Then the amount of space available on the Persistor’s flash card in MB Then the last rain gauge reading in mm Then the battery voltage Then the temperature inside the box in degrees C Then the temperature outside the box in degrees C The format for this line is "%2d %2d %6.3lf %5.2f %5.2f %5.2f %5.2f\n\r" Finally the Orbcomm adds a time stamp of its own with the format ,HHMMSS,DD,MM Example Status message FIXED_MSG:S11:12:09 029 02 -2 50.8926 -1.3957 17.9 231.7 1 0 22.963 5.92 14.37 19.10 13.14 ,111231,29,01 3.2 Data message. Sent hourly to orby13. The format of this message is identical to that of the orby11 data messages. Example Data message FIXED_MSG:D1e21e21e21e21e51e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e51e41e41e41e42181e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e51e41e41e41e41e41e41e41e51e42142111e41e5 11:00:00 029 02 ,111220,29,01 3.3 Warning messages These are the same format as for orby11, but since the land station is fixed they should never be sent. 3.4 Orby13 / rainb3 - Operational timetable 20 December 2001 to present – running out in the yard at SOC. Data prior to this can be ignored/deleted. 4. Pride of Bilbao Ferry Box Orbcomm Message Formats (Orby14 / fbox1) We are currently sending a test message every 30 minutes. Test message sent every 30 mins to orby14. Always begins FIXED_MSG:S Then the time and date as HH:MM:SS DDD YY Then the difference in seconds between the Persistor’s clock and the Orbcomm clock (can be positive or negative but should not exceed 5 seconds) Then the latest latitude and longitude Then the distance from the reference point (Portsmouth) in kilometres and the bearing in degrees Then a line feed The format of this line is "%2.2d:%2.2d:%2.2d %3.3d %2.2d %3li %9.4lf %10.4lf %8.3lf %5.1lf\n" The second line contains the number of inbound messages (Orbcomm messages waiting to be sent to a satellite) followed by the number of outbound messages. Then the amount of space available on the Persistor’s flash card in MB The format of this line is "%2d %2d %6.3lf\n\r" Finally the Orbcomm adds a time stamp of its own with the format ,HHMMSS,DD,MM Here is a typical message:- FIXED_MSG:S02:58:20 093 02 -1 49.7470 -3.4212 205.861 234.0 45 0 27.906 ,025827,03,04 This format is very similar to that of the other orbies. The Orbcomm was switched on aboard the ferry on 1st March 2002, so messages to orby14 prior to this date need not be processed and may be in a different format. It is hoped that a suite of sensors will be installed in the ferry’s engine room during April and the format of the Orbcomm messages is then likely to change.