SERVICE BULLETIN: GPS Week Rollover Issue on Outback S3 Systems

Date: July 13, 2026

Subject: Outback S3 Systems won't allow for the creation of new jobs, or to continue old jobs.

Affected Hardware: Outback SX-2 Receivers found in Outback S2, S3, STS

Issue Description

When starting the monitor, the display shows grey buttons you can't tap on the "Create Job" or "Continue Job" buttons.

Root Cause

This disruption is the result of a GPS Week Number Rollover (WNRO) event that occurred precisely on Saturday, July 11, 2026.

The Hemisphere GNSS boards inside these Outback units process satellite time using a 10-bit internal calendar. This 10-bit system is mathematically limited to counting exactly 1,024 weeks (7,168 days) from its manufacturer-programmed start date. Once the 1,024-week limit was reached on July 11th, the memory overflowed and the calendar reset to zero, throwing the receiver's internal clock back to 2006. This massive time discrepancy prevents the receiver from properly decoding the current satellite almanac, resulting in a total loss of guidance.

Resolution

Because this is a hardcoded limitation of the receiver's internal clock, no manual console changes or $J ASCII commands can bypass or correct the rollover date.

To restore normal operation:

1. Bring the display into any of our locations, and our techs can flash new firmware onto the receiver board which will restore functionality.
   
2. If you have a USB-To-Serial cable, you may be able to flash the system yourself following the instructions and utilizing the firmware in this file: https://cloud.chdp.ca/index.php/s/NOpuYyjI0PrGsEB . ***We take no responsibility for any harm caused by the use of this file.***

Important Notice for Legacy Hardware: All of these receivers are L1. The signal used by these is being end-of-lifed by the US Government, which runs the GPS constellation. As these are single carrier, single band, they only "see" GPS satellites and none of the other constellations (Galileo, Baidu, GLONAS, etc) or any of the newer L2/L5 satellites launched by the US for the GPS constellation. As such, these units will all eventually cease to operate. As such, understand, this is only a stop gap repair.