Our personnel have been providing Loran-C and eLoran services to the global community since the 1970’s. Throughout that time, we have honed our abilities and expertise in several key areas. The result of this experience is a suite of services delivered with the accuracy and reliability that our clients have come to expect from the UrsaNav™ name.
eLoran System Design
We have extensive expertise and experience with Loran and eLoran system design. Our staff has assisted with the design, development, support, operations, maintenance, and/or upgrade of Loran-C systems around the world, including in North America, Europe, Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. We have directly designed, or assisted with the design of, every eLoran site or system currently operating in the world. We focus on understanding our clients’ coverage area requirements and analyzing the system scale to determine ideal locations for key components.
Our system design expertise includes site surveys, data collection, modeling, simulation, and testing to provide precise coverage-area projections and infrastructure siting (e.g., transmission sites, differential reference sites, Quality of Service sites, Monitor and Control sites, etc.) during the early stages of system planning. Whether it is a completely new system, upgrade, modernization, in-fill of a new site, or relocation, we provide turn-key or consulting solutions that meet customer expectations while minimizing system/service unavailability.
System and Component Manufacturing
We design and produce the entire range of PNT products required to operate and maintain a Loran-C or eLoran system, and all associated test and user equipment. Our core engineering and manufacturing services are for our RF transmission and reception technology, but we have experience with many types of microchips, circuit boards, and other important components applied in many types of PNT solutions. We are comfortable with all phases of manufacturing, fabrication, and assembly, including first-article, limited production, engineer-to-order, and make-to-order. We use a combination of in-house personnel and qualified vendors to produce our technology.
Factory and System Testing
Once the production of components, sub-assemblies, modules, equipment, or systems are complete, they must be factory-tested to ensure they meet our and our customer’s requirements. We typically draft or assist in drafting all the various government, military, or commercial testing plans, including System Operation and Verification Tests (SOVTs), System Acceptance Tests (SATs), Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs), preliminary tests, and the like, including any relevant MILSPEC testing.
We are equally at home with commercial and military specifications and requirements. We handle testing for both large-scale systems and individual components used in Loran-C, eLoran, and GPS-based navigation platforms. From monitors to receivers to control units, we know what to look for to ensure that this equipment works the way it needs to. We also design and fabricate necessary hardware-, firmware-, and software-based test solutions for electrical and mechanical components, modules, equipment, and systems.
Configuration and Customization
Although the basic principles of Loran and eLoran underly all of our offerings, it is not unusual for our customers to require specialized hardware or software in the provision or use of their service. For example, Remote Monitoring and Control equipment might have a customized and/or configurable layout of the system or use the customer’s native-language text instead of English. Receivers might be required for special applications or environments. We are not simply a “commodity” provider of Loran and eLoran technology. Although we certainly offer COTS products, we are ready to assist our customers with designing and developing custom solutions to fulfill their unique requirements, whether it be non-standard building designs, atypical transmission antennas, tactical, temporary, or transportable solutions, patented encryption of signals and/or data; or advanced LFPhoenix™ techniques.
Global, Industry, and Customer-Specific Certification
Resilient PNT services are a vital component of a nation’s ability to protect its critical infrastructure, ensure a healthy and robust economy, and provide its citizens with the security and quality of services they need in their everyday lives. As with any utility, PNT services must adhere to stringent standards for accuracy, availability, reliability, and continuity. We have decades of experience implementing, testing, and validating Loran and eLoran systems, as well as other common navigation platforms like differential GPS (DGPS). Our team can use sophisticated software simulation and testing to ensure that clients’ PNT solutions are acceptable for real-world applications. We can test to global, industry, and/or customer-specific requirements or standards. We provide installation and certification as well as service-provider system certification testing per mutually agreed-upon standards.
Organization-Level and Depot-Level Support
Our goal is to ensure our customers can support any technology or system that we have provided – throughout its useful life – without relying upon us. We offer organizational-level and depot-level spares packages. We provide the depot and training equipment necessary for the customer to perform their own maintenance and certify their personnel to operate and maintain the equipment and system.
Besides our technology warranty offerings, we also offer Tier 1, 2, and 3 support for all our technology and systems. Our customers typically prefer to provide their own Help Desk or Tier 1 support using their own in-country system provider or contractor staff. This allows them to become proficient at operating and maintaining their own systems and reduces the costs and complexities associated with remote support.
Once the customer has performed their initial evaluation, or “triage”, of any support need, they can engage with our staff to assist with Tier 2 support. Tier 2 support is typically associated with resolving problems that might require electronic, electrical, mechanical, or software engineering assistance.
We also offer Tier 3 support that might include various types of on-call (e.g., working hours, 24/7) and/or “fly-away” or “tiger-team” assistance.
In most cases, our own Help Desk is the entry point into a collaborative, or swarming, approach to assisting our customers. Because Loran and eLoran systems operate for decades, we continue to support those systems throughout their lifetimes.
In-House, Customer Facility, or on-the-job training
We provide in-house, customer facility, contract facility, or on-the-job (OJT) training, as required, including any associated training documentation and materials. We can also “train-the-trainer”. Training can be in a classroom setting, using actual equipment, or on an operational system. We also train customers and/or their contracted partners, in all aspects of their desired or installed system. Whether your application is Loran-C, eLoran, or LFPhoenix™, we are available to meet all of your documentation and training needs.
Documentation
We can prepare all the draft, interim, “red-line,” “as-built,” and final documentation typically required for any level of design, development, installation, testing, calibration, certification, or operation. Documentation spans individual equipment through a complete system and might include technical manuals, operator guides, installation instructions, test plans, certification documents, and the like.
