Real Time Kinematics is no simple concept. In order to get millimeter precision, it takes a lot of technology and a good amount of know-how. Setting up the hardware is one thing, then connecting it all together with software like UNAVCO takes time.
Luckily, our founder Nathan Seidle has a variety of hookup guides to connect our numerous RTK products. However, sometimes it’s more helpful to follow along step-by-step with someone connecting everything together on a video. So we did just that!
Rob’s walkthrough is following Nathan’s hookup guide.
UNAVCO is a company that provides free use of its real-time networks and base stations across the USA and some other parts of the world. We use their services for correction data so that our connected devices can measure precise positioning. You can take your project a step further and build your own fixed base station with this guide.
Another option is using the newly released SparkFun RTK Reference Station which basically is everything you need in one package. We built a base station for you in a sleek design so you wouldn’t have to worry about connecting breakout boards. It is more of a plug in, survey in, and go. It also offers a bunch of other benefits while using power over ethernet. You can see how Nathan set that up here:
In case you don’t want to maintain your own base station or would prefer subscribing to a paid service to do it for you, you can try out Ublox Point Perfect instead of UNAVCO for your correction data.
It looks like the "U-Center" software is Window$ ONLY. For me, that would mean adding the cost of a Window$ compatible computer. I'm just wondering if there are any alternatives -- I have both Apple OS-X and Ubuntu machines (and could switch to a different "flavor" of Linux if need be)?