Best Practices to Connect an Emlid Reach RS2 Base to an Autel Evo II Pro Enterprise RTK Drone

Dave Pitman · May 16, 2022

elphtrooper said:
What class? I've only flown in zero 3 times in 7 years and the Class D's were worse than the C just due to unpredictable pilots. Didn't have time for the COA so just did what was necessary and got the heck out.

This one was in surface class E. I've gotten them in 0' grids right off the end of a naval air station (Class C ) but only up to 100' in that case.

jmason702 · May 16, 2022

Dave Pitman said:
Just got a CoA for 200' in a 0' cell. Pretty happy and a little surprised TBH.

CONGRATS

elphtrooper · May 16, 2022

Dave Pitman said:
This one was in surface class E. I've gotten them in 0' grids right off the end of a naval air station (Class C ) but only up to 100' in that case.

One of my favorite parts of the auto as it was also with the Yuneec is that there is no BS trying to take off in restricted airspace. Or whatever DJI wants to throw out there. I will say though that the Air 2S I bought for videos has not had any airspace related issues. Different times, newer tech and better software. Will. Just hope the same for us all here.

jmason702 · May 16, 2022

My friend who flys the P4P, and EVO, and now the Mavic 3.... said every time he launched the Mavic 3 in controlled air space which he has a waiver for... the cops showed up, knowing his exact location, and he said never again, he will stick to his EVO
Class B airspace

jmason702 · May 16, 2022

Even said he is going to sell the Mavic 3!! not worth the hassle

Dave Pitman · May 16, 2022

I've had a P4P refuse to take off near a tiny private airstrip that had no FAA airspace restriction and no indication of a DJI Geo restriction. But, both Map Pilot and Drone Deploy refused to take off due to an "airspace restriction". DJI GO4 would allow flight no problem. But, some old nugget in the airspace database was triggering the SDKs apps to refuse. Thus, the Evo2 Ent. No doubt DJI's software is far supperior. But Geo is no bueno and a loose cannon.

jmason702 · May 16, 2022

Dave Pitman said:
I've had a P4P refuse to take off near a tiny private airstrip that had no FAA airspace restriction and no indication of a DJI Geo restriction. But, both Map Pilot and Drone Deploy refused to take off due to an "airspace restriction". DJI GO4 would allow flight no problem. But, some old nugget in the airspace database was triggering the SDKs apps to refuse. Thus, the Evo2 Ent. No doubt DJI's software is far supperior. But Geo is no bueno and a loose cannon.

I agree DJI software is more mature and more refined... But I like the EVO much more due to no-hassle flying! and DJI is getting worse by the update. you take off with a new DJI drone... everyone knows where you are and what you are doing!

elphtrooper · May 16, 2022

jmason702 said:
I agree DJI software is more mature and more refined... But I like the EVO much more due to no-hassle flying! and DJI is getting worse by the update. you take off with a new DJI drone... everyone knows where you are and what you are doing!

Just imagine living in the state with the most guns (registered) and worrying about some idiot tracking you down because they hate drones. That's why I have a box in my truck. Actually no it's because of the hogs and cougars.

Dave Pitman · May 16, 2022

elphtrooper said:
Just imagine living in the state with the most guns (registered) and worrying about some idiot tracking you down because they hate drones.

In another 1.5 years, the FAA gives that ability to anyone with a phone app. ~~Great.~~

Malli35998 · May 18, 2022

Dave Pitman said:
I was just going to comment that I'm not sure if Reachview can have simultaneous connections to an NTRIP service and broadcast to Emlid Caster at the same time. I would guess no. But it seems to be working that way for you? I've posted that question over on the Emlid forum to see what they say and I'll relay what they say. Probably on Monday.

After getting a good location using Average FIX, I wanted to confirm that I need to switch to Manual and input that location and turn off antenna height (antenna height = 0). Once both RS2 receiver and drone RTK are connected and getting a FIX position, then fly the RTK drone.

elphtrooper · May 18, 2022

Malli35998 said:
After getting a good location using Average FIX, I wanted to confirm that I need to switch to Manual and input that location and turn off antenna height (antenna height = 0). Once both RS2 receiver and drone RTK are connected and getting a FIX position, then fly the RTK drone.

You don't need to do it on that session unless you are returning to that position at some later time. I do it regardless because you don't write it down they will ask.

Malli35998 · May 18, 2022

elphtrooper said:
You don't need to do it on that session unless you are returning to that position at some later time. I do it regardless because you don't write it down they will ask.

Any harm in doing it the way I described?

jmason702 · May 18, 2022

Malli35998 said:
Any harm in doing it the way I described?

No, just leave antenna height off

Malli35998 · May 18, 2022

jmason702 said:
No, just leave antenna height off

ok. Thanks!

elphtrooper · May 18, 2022

Malli35998 said:
Any harm in doing it the way I described?

Not really. Only that if you return and haven't documented the base position you will be starting from scratch and will have to align the data after the fact. It is pretty common for us to have to align because we are integrating design CAD files but I find it a good practice regardless if you want to keep your maps in near-perfect alignment.

If you are not returning you are all good.

Malli35998 · May 19, 2022

I went back out this morning to shoot another test survey with the RS2.
Everything went fine until a drone battery change was required. Couldn’t get the Autel Explorer RTK from FLOAT to FIX. I tried basic troubleshooting steps. This seems to be a bit hit and miss. I have run into this problem before. Last survey I did not have this problem. Don’t know why this happens. I will post more details later.

yarrr · May 20, 2022

Weather can be a factor, but orbits can also make or break a survey day. Always a good idea to try to optimize your time in the field. Trimble GNSS Planning

elphtrooper · May 20, 2022

UAV Forecast is a good tool to have as well. Besides the winds and other weather we have found their sat counts to be pretty accurate.

Also look at your status satellite stream to see if there are any constellations in particular having issues. If there are satellites that are getting no corrections, sometimes turning them off will help you gain a fix. Same thing with satellites that are too low on the horizon to meet the SnR requirements.

Some of these settings that are standard access in the survey world need to be opened up on the drones.

Malli35998 · May 20, 2022

Weather was clear, hot and a little windy. As far as I could tell there were plenty of satellites available. The 2 times I ran into this problem was during drone battery changes. Autel doesn’t handle battery changes very elegantly. I have a number of screen captures I will post.

elphtrooper · May 20, 2022

Malli35998 said:
Weather was clear, hot and a little windy. As far as I could tell there were plenty of satellites available. The 2 times I ran into this problem was during drone battery changes. Autel doesn’t handle battery changes very elegantly. I have a number of screen captures I will post.

This is one of the things that is at the top of the list we are working on. There was a response from Autel on the NTRIP disconnection issue but I will reserve judgment until we have tried some of their suggestions.

All I know is that a complete disconnection from the service is forcing the system to try to resume with no corrections. You have to wait for its attempt to upload the remaining mission to fail before you can reconnect NTRIP and then you have to wait for the correction stream to get a fix.