ARGOS is a satellite-based location system allowing you to locate MOBY to within 150 to 1500 meters. The ARGOS unit on MOBY transmits MOBY's position and ARGOS operational parameters on a daily to weekly basis. If MOBY breaks free of it's mooring the ARGOS unit enables the MOBY team to track and recover the buoy.
In each ARGOS email the latitude and longtitude is assigned a position code or class. This codes tell you the estimated error associated with the position. The table below is from the ARGOS manual, the legends in the last two figures show these codes. The larger the circles the more accurate the position.
| Position Class | Type | Estimated error | Number of messages received per satellite pass |
Numeric code in file listing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | GPS | < 100m | 1 message or more | 6 |
| 3 | ARGOS | < 250m | 4 messages or more | 5 |
| 2 | ARGOS | 250m < < 500m | 4 messages or more | 4 |
| 1 | ARGOS | 500m < < 1500m | 4 messages or more | 3 |
| 0 | ARGOS | > 1500m | 4 messages or more | 2.5 |
| A | ARGOS | No accuracy estimation | 3 messages | 2 |
| B | ARGOS | No accuracy estimation | 2 messages | 1 |
| Z | ARGOS | Invalid location | 0 |
