Heavy Equipment Communications Upgrades

Your fleet of heavy machinery was a significant investment. As a part of maintaining this investment, you need to maintain the communications and GPS systems integrated into your earth-moving equipment. Cellular networks change and evolve, action may be necessary to keep your machine’s communications working. Currently, as the 3G network sunsets, it is important to examine options to upgrade to 4G and beyond. This is an especially important consideration for organizations using 3G modems like the Topcon SL-100.

Farming and construction companies have reached out to USAT, worried about the impending shutdown of the 3G networks their heavy machinery uses to communicate. Several organizations using heavy vehicles like Kabuta Tractors and Bulldozers were looking for ways to minimize the cost of their networking equipment replacements. Specifically, they were looking for solutions that enabled their organizations to utilize as much of their legacy equipment as possible to reduce new device purchases while continuing to utilize existing management systems. Specifically, many organizations wanted to continue using their Topcon MC-R3 GPS+ systems.

More than one of the organizations that reached out to USAT were utilizing Topcon SL-100 3G Radio Modems tied into Topcon MC-R3 devices for 3D GPS+ Systems. In theory, their needs were simple. They wanted to replace the radio modems and keep the GPS modules. Like many older technologies, they struggled to find solutions that allowed them to achieve this goal.

The solutions engineers at USAT were up to the task. More than just purveyors of third-party equipment, the team at USAT thrives on its ability to engineer customized solutions for clients. USAT developed a series of cable assemblies that made newer 4G AirLink RV50X Routers backwards compatible with their MC-R3 devices. These assemblies plug directly into the MC-R3 utilizing their existing Deutsch connectors. And with the addition of LTMG302 antennas, USAT was able to increase  coverage areas to keep our clients assets better connected in exceedingly remote environments.

The field tests for our clients heavy machinery communications went brilliantly. USAT clients could now utilize legacy hardware and expand their device management capabilities with ALMS software. Their new router provides them the ability to perform over-the-air registration, configuration, and software updates. They experienced vast improvements in coverage and connectivity. They also gained additional hardware reliability as each router was purpose-built for harsh conditions, with MIL-STD-810G shock, vibration, humidity, and temperature resistance.

Give your heavy machinery an upgrade with USAT's connectivity solutions today!