Range testing was recently completed on the new Kate 2.0 GPS tracker from Multitronix. A Kate 1.0 unit was also tested. As expected, both were the same. Both achieved a good data link at a distance of 104.2 miles. That is 550K feet. If that was straight up, it would extend 220K feet above the Karman line.
The test was done with the help from TRF member KBlack. He took two transmitters to the top of a mountain south of Jackpot Nevada. I took two receivers to the top of a hill south of Bellevue Idaho. Both transmitters and both receivers used the standard production antennas.
The signal at that range is pretty weak. About -100 dBm. However, the receiver was still correctly decoding 2 out of every 3 data packets. The transmitter sends 5 GPS data packets per second so that data was being updated about twice per second on the receiver.
The Kate 2.0 tracker also has a GPS with unlimited altitude capability. There is no altitude lockout as there are on other GPS trackers. The combination of unlimited GPS altitude capability and a very long radio range make Kate 2.0 an excellent choice for extremely high altitude flights. Visit the Multitronix website for more details.
The test was done with the help from TRF member KBlack. He took two transmitters to the top of a mountain south of Jackpot Nevada. I took two receivers to the top of a hill south of Bellevue Idaho. Both transmitters and both receivers used the standard production antennas.
The signal at that range is pretty weak. About -100 dBm. However, the receiver was still correctly decoding 2 out of every 3 data packets. The transmitter sends 5 GPS data packets per second so that data was being updated about twice per second on the receiver.
The Kate 2.0 tracker also has a GPS with unlimited altitude capability. There is no altitude lockout as there are on other GPS trackers. The combination of unlimited GPS altitude capability and a very long radio range make Kate 2.0 an excellent choice for extremely high altitude flights. Visit the Multitronix website for more details.
