Base Station Recommendation

[Dave Pitman]

No, no need for more devices. The RS2 connects to the phone hot-spot and connects to the NTRIP caster if the phone is connected to the www. RV3 sees the RS2 in this configuration. The Smart Controller also connects to the phone hot spot and can receive input from the RS2 if it is the source of NTRIP corrections. The phone hot spot is acting as a hub.

And now Emlid has added the ability for RV3 to connect to the RS2 over bluetooth in addition to wifi. But my Pixel 3 phone doesn't see the bluetooth connection consistently where as when I use an iPad, it usually sees both connections for the same RS2. But, in summary, you only need one device connected to the www in this config.

 

[yarrr]

No, no need for more devices. The RS2 connects to the phone hot-spot and connects to the NTRIP caster if the phone is connected to the www. RV3 sees the RS2 in this configuration. The Smart Controller also connects to the phone hot spot and can receive input from the RS2 if it is the source of NTRIP corrections. The phone hot spot is acting as a hub.

And now Emlid has added the ability for RV3 to connect to the RS2 over bluetooth in addition to wifi. But my Pixel 3 phone doesn't see the bluetooth connection consistently where as when I use an iPad, it usually sees both connections for the same RS2. But, in summary, you only need one device connected to the www in this config.

I'm actually approaching this a little different, but I stand corrected.

With Reachview 3, it turns out that you can access the app while utilizing the phone hotspot. This was not the case with the previous Reachview App (it needed wifi).

I'd really prefer not to use my phone as a hotspot with the Autel Explorer for RTK, because phone calls or text messages would disrupt the stream.

Thus, Local NTRIP from the RS2 to the Smart Controller on the RS2 wifi is my preferred method. Will definitely look into the BT sharing though.

 

[jmason702]

My hot spot from Verizon cost $20 a month unlimited data, and works great

 

[Jack_K]

So I watched the Youtube video on the EMLID RS2 and it avertises LoRa 915 MHz connectivity. Does that mean it could use the Helium Network for connectivity rather than the sunsetted 3G cell network?

 

[yarrr]

So I watched the Youtube video on the EMLID RS2 and it avertises LoRa 915 MHz connectivity. Does that mean it could use the Helium Network for connectivity rather than the sunsetted 3G cell network?

As I understand it, Emlid uses a completely proprietary LoRa format- ie it cannot be integrated with any other sources.

 

[Dave Pitman]

So I watched the Youtube video on the EMLID RS2 and it avertises LoRa 915 MHz connectivity. Does that mean it could use the Helium Network for connectivity rather than the sunsetted 3G cell network?

Reach out to the Emlid Community Forum. They will answer any question about their gear that you could have.
Emlid support is the polar opposite of Autel.

 

[Jack_K]

Reach out to the Emlid Community Forum. They will answer any question about their gear that you could have.
Emlid support is the polar opposite of Autel.

THanks for the tip. Agreed that Autel support is glacially slow. I get better support from the distributor I purchased the drone from.

On an unrelated note I recently discovered (due to my own ignorance on the topic) that a base station is not needed and that many US states have a public RTK network (NRTK) and that I can likely use those stations rather than purchase a $2500 base station as long as my mission site has cell service and I can tether my controller to a wireless hotspot.

I've yet to find a useful tutorial about the entire topic. Any suggestions?

 

[Dave Pitman]

THanks for the tip. Agreed that Autel support is glacially slow. I get better support from the distributor I purchased the drone from.

On an unrelated note I recently discovered (due to my own ignorance on the topic) that a base station is not needed and that many US states have a public RTK network (NRTK) and that I can likely use those stations rather than purchase a $2500 base station as long as my mission site has cell service and I can tether my controller to a wireless hotspot.

I've yet to find a useful tutorial about the entire topic. Any suggestions?

In some states, NTRIP networks are available for free. Here in Washington, it runs about $1500 per year and up. So, hopefully your state is one with a free option.

For a primer on how RTK works, take a look at Emlid"s tutorials. When it talks about using NTRIP, the "rover" setup will be very similar when using the Evo2 rather than a terrestrial gnss receiver.

How RTK works | Reach RS2/RS2+

Overview

docs.emlid.com

 

[Racharg]

I used the RS2 to broadcast corrections via wifi in an area with no cellular data whatsoever (100km north of Kugluktuk)
I connected the controller to the RS2's wifi to do so and as long as I stayed in range, RTK worked seamlessly. Give that a whirl.