Mobile Satellite (MS) Signal performance is affected by many factors such as ionospheric effect, multipath fading tree-shadowed and buildingshadowed. These cause variations in the received signal quality. Although many studies have been carried out in order to improve the performance of MS signal, there are still many areas lacking data especially from the less-developed and developing countries. Furthermore, costly data acquisition method hinders more study to be carried out in these regions. This paper discusses the cost effective alternative method for MS data acquisition for satellite operating in the L-band by utilizing the GPS satellites data. Details methodology for doing the experimental works will be discussed. The measurements of the signal performance are performed for open space environment in Sarawak. The analysis of the signal performance under different MS environments is performed with respect to the information such as elevation and azimuth angles. The analysis prod...

Lack of equipment to study mobile satellites signal propagation in colleges and universities prone this research work. A Handheld GPS receiver used as a tool for training college students to learn mobile satellite signal propagation using Global Positioning System (GPS) approach. These refer to the experimental setup of the equipment that is the connection done between the GPS receiver with a computer. The satellite propagation data received from the GPS machine can be recorded continuously with an updates rate of 2 seconds. The experiment was carried out in an open space environment at predetermine locations using simple setup, where a cheap, readily and available portable GPS receiver were connected to the computer to acquire propagation data. The computer was equipped with a self-developed package graphical user interface (GUI) monitoring the propagation information from the GPS satellites and saving the data. The developed system can be set up anywhere at any location. The sate-...

This paper presents the method to analyse the effect of building on the L-band Mobile Satellite (MS) system using low-power Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The method includes measurement, experimental and data analysis. The analysis of the signal performance under building effect measurement was carried out with respect to the signal to noise ratio (SNR), elevation and azimuth angle. In measurement method, the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) sentences obtained from the satellite via GPS receiver was used to get the signal propagation parameters. The NMEA Extractor used to extract the NMEA data using C++ programming language and Ngraph software to construct the graphical presentation for analysis method. The analysis shows relationship between SNR and elevation and azimuth angle. The comparison between open space and building effect was carried out and the results have shown that the presence of the building affect the quality of the satellite signal received.

GPS receivers play an important role for calculating and determining the precise point positioning and deal with the navigational messages. Also, one of the main uses of high-end GPS receivers is for scientific research and space science analysis. The handheld GPS receivers were utilized for experimental purposes contrary to the traditional application for recreation and geo-catching activities. The classification of different commercial GPS receivers gave an inside idea for application and utilization of these receivers in the field of laboratory research. Garmin GPS handheld receivers performed an excellent example in conducting experimental work for GPS propagation data analysis.

This study compares the performance of two continuously operating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers at the Toro observatory in Nigeria. The observatory is a proposed site for part of the global geodetic core network for collocation of GNSS and other space geodetic techniques. The pair of GNSS receivers (Ashtech UZ-12 and Trimble NetR8) are connected via a GNSS splitter to a single antenna (Trimble GNSS Choke Ring TRM59800.00). Observation files, precise orbit and clock files, and satellite differential code bias files with respect to the two receivers were collected for a period of 30 days. The WaSoft software (WaPPP module) was employed to estimate the receivers’ position, zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) and tropospheric gradients. Also, the Gopi software was used to estimate the receivers’ bias and total electron content (TEC). The resulting parameters from the estimation software were subjected to hypothetical testing using the Student t-test based on the Bland ...