How to setup RTK with Emlid RS2+ and M3E or M300 

Very nice drone! You will be very happy with it!

Hank Tim! I hope you had a great Easter

@@glennlabay4792 Thanks Glenn, It has been a wonderful Easter and beautiful weather for a change). Had a great service today to celebrate the risen Christ. Now looking forward to a week of sunshine so I can get some flying done 😁

can you please explain how can I arrange the local NTRIP setup on field if I don't have access to internet? Thanks a lot in advance

@@balkumarlamsal9576 You just set up your base without corrections input, and you turn on Local NTRIP for corrections output. The corrections will be precise but not accurate. You have the base be the Wi-Fi hotspot and then you connect your DJI controller to that Wi-Fi network.

Hi Timothy, see my answer above. When working in a remote area, the emlid RS2 units are still the best option for RTK. If you need to occupy a known point, then it is best to have 2 RS2 units because often the Benchmark location may not be a very good area to fly from (especially when flying larger areas). So the bottom line is I fully support using the RS2 in Local Ntrip mode over the DJI Base. The DJI Base is overpriced and not functional as a Rover base rover setup. I will see if I can update the video with an overlay to clarify my stance on that.

Nevermind. I found TIm's answer in the comments below. Below is his answer. Tim, this is an awesome breakdown. Thank you for sharing it. I have learned a ton from your videos and I appreciate your guidance. @BradsDronesTX 3 weeks ago If your on a known point, do your really need RTK corrections in? Can’t you just use Local NTRIP out to the drone? Reply DroneMappingTools · 6 replies @DroneMappingTools @DroneMappingTools 3 weeks ago Hi Brad When occupying a known control point, you are correct, you do not need any RTK corrections in to the Base. If the Benchmark was recently established I will often have RTK on my Base to stakeout the control point and see how close the Benchmark is matching the Trimble network. If there is a big discrepancy, then I will get with the survey firm and let them know of the discrepancy and make sure they provided the correct coordinates. Errors have occurred because the values were hand keyed instead of copy/paste. My #1 rule in coordinates is never hand enter. I I now always copy/paste. For others reading, when doing RTK with the Emlid RS2 units you have 3 options when flying RTK drones 1. You can use the Emlid Caster service via cell service. So in this case you must have cell service for the RS2 Base AND the DJI Remote. Cell service can be provided via a SIM card in the RS2 unit or using a wifi device (aka Alcatel Jetpack). And with the DJI Remote it must also connect to a wifi device with cell service. The RC controller will be connected to the Emlid caster service following the directions on your personal Emlid Caster page. username, password, port, etc are provided by Emlid. In scenario #1 your base could be on the Benchmark but you could be taking off 1/2 mile away (ie on the other side of the property). In option 2 below that is not the case. 2. You can use the Local Ntrip (caster) option. When using this setup, the RS2 Base and the DJI Controller MUST be on the SAME wifi network. So in this scenario you must take of in close proximity to the RS2 Base. If you have a wifi setup that allows for 500' of range, then technically you could be standing 500' from your RS2 Base when flying. You simply have to maintain connectivity of the RS2 Base AND the DJI Controller to that wifi network for the duration of the flight. 3. If you have a pair of RS2 / RS2+ units, you have a third option when flying with no cellular data service. You will set the RS2 Base on the control point and set the coordinates to those of the benchmark. You then use the LoRa to output corrections from the RS2 base to the RS2 Rover. The rover is now positioned with RTK and it is tied to the local site benchmark. Now you will use the Emlid Local NTRIP optioni on your RS2 Rover to send RTK corrections from the Rover to the RC Controller. Your takeoff location is now only limited by the distance of your LoRa radio connection. If there are many buildings, trees, or other obstructions, you may only have up to 1/2 mile. But if you are in a more open area with less obstructions, you may get up to 2-3 miles with the LoRa radio. The distance is directly tied to the amount of obstructions you have between the two receivers. In most cases if you are flying 200-500 acres and you really need to takeoff from a completely different location as the site benchmark, using Option 3 will work very well. Whether you do RTK or PPK, it is vital that you be tied to the local benchmark if your data is being used for contours or parametrics. The fact is, control is sometimes used for a project and the coordinates of that benchmark may in fact be wrong and if there is existing work tied to that benchmark, the existing coordinates of that control will be used. So the takeaway is that when local control has been established, you always use that control (and it's established coordinates) over a network RTK system. Hope this helps. Tim

There is none. I will have a brand new video out in a few days on all the RTK options using the RS2 and any RTK drone. It just depends on your situation as to which one is most convenient. They all work just as well. Local NTRIP is actually the most fail proof. Look for a video to come out in a few days to go over all the scenarios.

Hi Brad When occupying a known control point, you are correct, you do not need any RTK corrections in to the Base. If the Benchmark was recently established I will often have RTK on my Base to stakeout the control point and see how close the Benchmark is matching the Trimble network. If there is a big discrepancy, then I will get with the survey firm and let them know of the discrepancy and make sure they provided the correct coordinates. Errors have occurred because the values were hand keyed instead of copy/paste. My #1 rule in coordinates is never hand enter. I I now always copy/paste. For others reading, when doing RTK with the Emlid RS2 units you have 3 options when flying RTK drones 1. You can use the Emlid Caster service via cell service. So in this case you must have cell service for the RS2 Base AND the DJI Remote. Cell service can be provided via a SIM card in the RS2 unit or using a wifi device (aka Alcatel Jetpack). And with the DJI Remote it must also connect to a wifi device with cell service. The RC controller will be connected to the Emlid caster service following the directions on your personal Emlid Caster page. username, password, port, etc are provided by Emlid. In scenario #1 your base could be on the Benchmark but you could be taking off 1/2 mile away (ie on the other side of the property). In option 2 below that is not the case. 2. You can use the Local Ntrip (caster) option. When using this setup, the RS2 Base and the DJI Controller MUST be on the SAME wifi network. So in this scenario you must take of in close proximity to the RS2 Base. If you have a wifi setup that allows for 500' of range, then technically you could be standing 500' from your RS2 Base when flying. You simply have to maintain connectivity of the RS2 Base AND the DJI Controller to that wifi network for the duration of the flight. 3. If you have a pair of RS2 / RS2+ units, you have a third option when flying with no cellular data service. You will set the RS2 Base on the control point and set the coordinates to those of the benchmark. You then use the LoRa to output corrections from the RS2 base to the RS2 Rover. The rover is now positioned with RTK and it is tied to the local site benchmark. Now you will use the Emlid Local NTRIP optioni on your RS2 Rover to send RTK corrections from the Rover to the RC Controller. Your takeoff location is now only limited by the distance of your LoRa radio connection. If there are many buildings, trees, or other obstructions, you may only have up to 1/2 mile. But if you are in a more open area with less obstructions, you may get up to 2-3 miles with the LoRa radio. The distance is directly tied to the amount of obstructions you have between the two receivers. In most cases if you are flying 200-500 acres and you really need to takeoff from a completely different location as the site benchmark, using Option 3 will work very well. Whether you do RTK or PPK, it is vital that you be tied to the local benchmark if your data is being used for contours or parametrics. The fact is, control is sometimes used for a project and the coordinates of that benchmark may in fact be wrong and if there is existing work tied to that benchmark, the existing coordinates of that control will be used. So the takeaway is that when local control has been established, you always use that control (and it's established coordinates) over a network RTK system. Hope this helps. Tim

@@DroneMappingTools Thanks for the details. I have been provided with points around a 100acres site. I can use any of them for base setup. I loaded them into Emlid Flow so I can just pick which ever one I use that day. (It’s a weekly flight project). Connect M3E RC to Emlid base WiFi, get RTK fix and let it rip. I’m fairly new to RTK, added to my Lidar and PPK arsenal. Watching a lot of videos such as yours to see different methods. I intend to do some testing with the Emlid RS2+ soon using base averaging compared to Trimble , compared to corrections-in from Point One Navigation Network. Curious how they line up.

@@DroneMappingTools Also meant to ask what cellular service your using? I’ve had hell keeping the cellular data active in my RS2+, it just turns off at a whim. Have you had any issue with this? Works perfect if I connect via hotspot.

@@BradsDronesTX To my knowledge the Local Ntrip option must be used with a wifi device. In other words you can not connect the DJI Controller directly to the RS2 hotspot. I have tried this in the past and it did not work. You had to connect the RC Controller and the RS2+ to the same wifi device (network). The wifi device does not have to have internet for this to work. I actually use a wifi router powered by a Jackery battery pack to run mine. Maybe this has changed in some recent firmware releases but several months back that was the case.

@@BradsDronesTX I think they made some changes in the most recent firmware (ie 1-2 weeks ago) which helped with this problem ??. The biggest mistake I made was selling my RS2's to upgrade to the RS2+ :( I should have kept them and just used an Alcatel Jetpack to provide internet service via wifi hotspot. Live and learn. I have used Tmobile simcards and other IOT cards. Right now the SIM cards are working nicely.

Yes you can do the same with the Phantom 4 RTK. Thanks for watching

You do have to ener the known coordinates into the D-RTK2. Then your RTK data will be based on the known coordinates you are occupying. I hope I understood your question.

@@DroneMappingTools I have trouble with height, when I add pole height too coordinates, said the distance is 1-5 meters that’s normal ?

Mavic 3 enterprise

@@dronesolutionusallc If the Coordinate Elevation is at ground level (at the benchmark) then when you insert the Antenna height of the D-RTK2, it should make the elevation of the drone gps data relative to the Benchmark (ground level) and not relative to the antenna itself. I do not have the D-RTK2 but I have worked with some guys that do. i will see if I can double check that.

@@DroneMappingTools thank you

You can use the Stakeout function in the Emlid Flow app. That will get you very close to the known point if you are using a Network RTK service (ie Trimble or some other state RTK service). If the benchmark is old, you will also need a handheld magnetometer to pinpoint the actual benchmark head. They can be 1-6 inches below ground because of erosion over time. Even if you do not have RTK service, you can stakeout the coordinates of the control point and get close enough to find it with a magnetometer. Hope this helps.