Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF GPS system question

Curiosity is killing me on this.  Are they changing the GPS systems on the BNSF?  In picture 1 engine 3910 has the black stripes on top of the cab and then 6657 has the white ones that we are used to seeing.  In picture 2 the engines on the back also have the black ones.  Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

Pictures where taken just south of Mulvane, KS.  7-23-16

Doc

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I don't think the system is different. I would bet they found another antenna that worked better or cheaper to do the job.

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

PTC vs GPS-only antennas.

Sti-Co Antenna rails with sepatate comm. handler radome versus LinkUp antenna farm with all antennas in two connected boxes. Both styles have all the necessary antennas. Three pieces versus essentially one, and one hole cab roof for cable entry.

4 cellular data antennas (main and diversity)
2 220MHz PTC data antennas
2 PTC WiFi antennas
2 450MHz DP radio antennas
1 450MHz EOT radio antenna
1 160MHz voice radio antenna
1 Loco GPS antenna
2 PTC GPS antennas
1 Trip Optimizer antenna
1 RM&D antenna (expert on board)
1 900MHz antenna for future use
2 to 3 Witronix antennas (cell, GPS)

JEM also makes antenna farms like LinkUp. UP typically uses them, BNSF using LinkUp.


DC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/16 18:56 by DuneCoon.

Thanks for the information.  It was just ironic after the BNSF collision in Texas I started noticing the white covers where missing.  In other words I thought the black topped cabs had the new PTC system to meet the RSIA.

Doc

Since I was asked to shoot detail shots of the various PTC antennas on BNSF SD70ACes, here are the three variations.

1) Sti Co Antennas - the most common

2) Sti Co Antennas with mounting blocks for the LinkUp Antennas - on most but not all 8400 series SD70ACes

3) LinkUp Antennas - scattered on various SD70ACes (except the 9330-9399) and on the latest ES44C4s and ET44C4s



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/16 23:09 by atsf5704.

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4) and this funky version observed only on ES44AC 5872.

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I want to say I've only seen 7 maxed out - but would have to double check. Trip Optizer (at lease our version) is cell based and interested with the loco cell modem (Sierra Wireless boxes).

Usually it's voice, 220 PTC, two DP radios, EOT, 900MHz wireless for ER downloads.

Of course milage varies by railroad.

On refits, the RR's experimented with various templates. UP had an article about how they came about with standard templates which are pretty clean.