Badger Meter ORION AMR/AMI Hardware Solutions for Gas Utilities - Manual (Page 48)

GEOCODING METER LOCATIONS
To capture the approximate location of meters automatically, the location coordinates (latitude and longitude) can be
gathered automatically The geocoding feature of the ORS assigns the current location of the vehicle to the meter when the
meter reading transmission is received Furthermore, to capture the closest location to the meter, the software also stores
the location of the meter reading that had the strongest signal strength This is possible through the use of the updated
ORION receiver, which reports the meter reading transmission information as well as the strength of the transmission that
was received
OTEE: N You must have an ORION mobile transceiver or receiver that has signal strength capabilities built in To determine if
your receiver has these capabilities, contact Badger Meter Technical Support
Geocoding Scenario
Assume you are driving down a street with meters that require locations and the geocoding mode is on When the first meter
reading is received from a meter that requires a location, the software stores the reading, places the green dot on the map at
the current location of the vehicle to show that the meter has been read, and makes a sound indicating the location is stored
As you drive further, you may receive more meter readings from that meter If the signal strength from one of the meter
readings is greater than the one that was stored, the location of the meter is updated but no changes are made to the screen
and no other sounds are heard
Because the locations are updated whenever a meter reading with a stronger signal is received, the initial location of the
meter as it is placed on the map may not be the location that is stored once the route is completed For example, you might
receive a meter reading from 52nd street while you are driving on 51st street The icon will be added to the map on 51st street
when the first meter reading is received However, when driving on 52nd street, stronger meter readings will be received and
the location information will be updated in the database, resulting in a stored location on 52nd street
MPORTANT I
Because the location information is updated whenever a stronger meter signal is received, it is important when using
this method to assign locations and that every street, alley and access way be driven at the slowest possible speed. These
techniques maximize the number of meter readings received for each meter, yielding better location assignments.
Setting Meter Coordinates
To set the meter coordinates based on the signal strength, follow these steps
1 Set up the equipment, start the ORS program and begin reading meters as usual
2 When you arrive at the area where the latitude and longitude values are to be assigned, stop the vehicle
3 To begin geocoding, click Settings on the main tool bar, then click the General tab and change the Geocoding
Mode to one of these options:
• On - Add Only: Meters that do not have location data will be added to the map
• On - Update Only: Meters that already have location data are updated but no new meters will be added
• On - Add and Update All: New meters and meters that already have location data will be added to the map
Figure 48: Geocoding options
When geocoding is on, the fields labeled updated Longitude/Latitude Sound and Add Reads to Map become active
GeOCOdING MeTeR LOCATIONS
Page 48 April 2014 ORION® Meter Reading System (ORS)