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sparkfun GPS-18443, Hook-Up Manual

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By default the Data port is set to 115200bps and can be configured from 4800bps to 921600bps. Note: The Data
port does not output NMEA by default. The unit must be opened and the 

Serial NMEA Connection

 switch must be

moved to 'Ext Connector'. See Hardware Overview - Advanced Features for the location of the switch.

Configuring ZED-F9P with u-center

Note: Because the ESP32 does considerable configuration of the ZED-F9P at power on it is not recommended to
modify the settings of the ZED-F9P. Nothing will break but your changes may be overwritten.

The ZED-F9P module can be configured independently using the u-center software from u-blox by connecting a
USB cable to the *Config u-blox’ USB C connector. Settings can be saved to the module between power cycles.
For more information please see SparkFun’s Getting Started with u-center by u-blox.

Firmware Updates and Customization

The RTK Surveyor is open source hardware meaning you have total access to the firmware and hardware. Be
sure to checkout each repo for the latest firmware and hardware information. But for those who want to jump right
in and tweak the firmware, we will discuss various methods.

Updating Firmware From the SD Card

From time to time SparkFun will release new firmware for the RTK Surveyor to add and improve functionality. For
most users, firmware can be upgraded by loading the appropriate firmware file from the binaries repo folder onto
the SD card and bringing up the firmware menu as shown below:

Firmware update taking place

The firmware upgrade menu will only display files that have the "RTK_Surveyor_*.bin" file name format so don't
change the file names once loaded onto the SD card. Select the firmware you'd like to load and the system will
proceed to load the new firmware, then reboot.

Note: You can check your firmware by opening the text menu by pressing a key at any time.

Note: The ability to update firmware via SD card was implemented in the v1.1 release. Previous v1.0 users will
need to use the CLI upgrade path described below.

Updating Firmware From CLI

The command line interface is also available for more advanced users or users who want to avoid the hassle of
swapping out SD cards. You’ll need to download esptool.exe and RTK_Surveyor_Firmware_vXXX_Combined.bin
from the repo.

Connect a USB A to C cable from your computer to the ESP32 port on the RTK Surveyor. Now identify the com
port the RTK Enumerated at. The easiest way to do this is to open the device manager:

Summary of Contents for GPS-18443

Page 1: ...nd surveying needs For basic users it s incredibly easy to get up and running and for advanced users the RTK Surveyor is a flexible and powerful tool With just a few minutes of setup the RTK Surveyor is one of the fastest ways to take centimeter grade measurements SparkFun RTK Surveyor GPS 18443 Y O U R A C C O U N T R E G I S T E R ...

Page 2: ...ct as the radio link to provide correction data as well as receive the NMEA output from the device It s how 10 000 surveying devices have been operating for the past decade we just made it easier smaller and a lot cheaper Product Showcase SparkFun RTK Surveyor Product Showcase SparkFun RTK Surveyor ...

Page 3: ... phone for RTCM correction data If a source is not available online you will need a 2nd RTK Surveyor setup in base mode and a radio link connecting the Base to the Rover Again we ll go into details but we designed RTK Surveyor to work with these 500mW 915MHz telemetry radios out of the box GNSS Multi Band L1 L2 Surveying Antenna TNC TOP106 GPS 17751 Interface Cable SMA Male to TNC Male 300mm CAB 1...

Page 4: ...ystem will be covered in this tutorial but if you want to know more about RTK here are some good tutorials to brush up on Retired USB 2 0 Type C Cable 1 Meter CAB 16905 Reversible USB A to C Cable 0 8m CAB 15425 USB Wall Charger 5V 2A TOL 16893 USB C Wall Adapter 5 1V 3A Black TOL 16272 What is GPS RTK Learn about the latest generation of GPS and GNSS receivers to get 14mm positional accuracy Gett...

Page 5: ...F9P from u blox Setting up a Rover Base RTK System Getting GNSS RTCM correction data from a base to a rover is easy with a serial telemetry radio We ll show you how to get your high precision RTK GNSS system setup and running How to Build a DIY GNSS Reference Station Learn how to affix a GNSS antenna use PPP to get its ECEF coordinates and then broadcast your own RTCM data over the internet and ce...

Page 6: ...00mm horizontal positional accuracy with a good grade L1 L2 antenna When the SETUP switch is set to Rover and RTCM correction data is sent into the radio port or over Bluetooth the device will automatically enter Positioning with RTK mode In this mode RTK Surveyor will receive L1 L2 signals from the antenna and correction data from a base station The receiver will quickly within a few seconds obta...

Page 7: ...the internal battery RTK This white LED will be off when no RTCM correction data is received Blinking indicates RTK Float is achieved Solid when RTK Fix is achieved PPS Pulse per second This yellow LED will blink at 1Hz when GNSS fix is achieved You ll see this LED begin blinking anytime the receiver detects enough satellites to obtain a rough location PAIR Blinks blue when waiting to be paired wi...

Page 8: ...ly configuring and inspecting the ZED F9P GNSS receiver using u center It s not necessary in normal operation but is handy for tailoring the receiver to specific applications As an added perk the ZED F9P can be detected automatically by some mobile phones and tablets If desired the receiver can be directly connected to a compatible phone or tablet removing the need for a Bluetooth connection USB C...

Page 9: ...V depending on the state of charge While the port is capable of sourcing up to 2 amps we do not recommend more than 500mA This port should not be connected to a power source Data This 4 pin JST connector is used to output NMEA sentences over 115200bps serial Most applications will send the NMEA position data over Bluetooth Alternatively this port can be useful for sending position data to an embed...

Page 10: ...urveyor The RTK Surveyor can be charged from any USB port or adapter The charge circuit is rated for 1000mA so USB 2 0 ports will charge at 500mA and USB 3 0 ports will charge at 1A To quickly view the state of charge turn on the unit A green LED indicates 50 charge remaining A yellow LED indicates 10 charge remaining A red LED indicates less than 10 charge remaining Hardware Overview Advanced Fea...

Page 11: ...s but may be helpful in some advanced applications ESP32 The ESP32 uses a standard USB to serial conversion IC CH340 to program the device You can use the ESP32 core for Arduino or Espressif s IoT Development Framework IDF The CH340 automatically resets and puts the ESP32 into bootload mode as needed However the reset pin of the ESP32 is brought out to an external 2 pin 0 1 footprint if an externa...

Page 12: ... and use banana to IC hook cables to a DMM LiPo and Charging The RTK Surveyor houses a standard 1000mAh 3 7V LiPo The charge circuit is set to 1A so with an appropriate power source charging an empty battery should take roughly one hour USB C on the RTK Surveyor is configured for 2A draw so if the user attaches to a USB 3 0 port the charge circuit should operate near the 1A max If a user attaches ...

Page 13: ...ut what the SOC is based on cell voltage that is beyond the scope of this tutorial but for our purposes allows us to control the color of the power LED Qwiic A Qwiic connector is exposed on the end of the unit This allows connection to the I C bus on the ESP32 Currently the stock RTK Surveyor does not support any additional Qwiic sensors or display but users may add support for their own applicati...

Page 14: ...TK Surveyor was designed to work with low cost off the shelf equipment Here we ll describe how to assemble a Rover and Base Rover Shown here is the most common RTK Rover setup A monopole designed for cameras is used A cell phone holder is clamped to the monopod and the RTK Surveyor is mounted The camera thread of the monopole is adapted to 11 TPI and a L1 L2 antenna is attached A Male TNC to Male ...

Page 15: ...a bit ungainly when mounted to the top of a monopole We recommend the ufo style L1 L2 antennas because they have a larger antenna element and a slightly larger ground plane than the u blox antenna u blox L1 L2 antenna with ground plate If you re shopping for a monopole aka monopod get one that is 65 in length or greater to ensure that the antenna will be above your head We ve had good luck with th...

Page 16: ...both the SMA connector and where the connector is soldered to the PCB Dangerous Antenna Configuration If you re shopping for a cell phone clamp be sure to get one that is compatible with the diameter of your monopole and has a knob to increase clamp pressure Our monopole is 27mm in diameter and we ve had a good experience with this clamp and this clamp Your mileage may vary If you are receiving RT...

Page 17: ...hieved over a mile range nearly 1 5 miles or 2 4km with the 500mW radios and a big 915MHz antenna on the base see this tutorial for more info Temporary Base A temporary or mobile base setup is needed when you are in the field too far away from a correction source and or cellular reception A 2nd RTK Surveyor is mounted to a tripod and it is configured to complete a survey in aka locate itself then ...

Page 18: ... to follow the u blox recommended survey in of 60s and a mean 3D standard deviation of 5m of all fixes If a survey fails to achieve these requirements it will auto restart after 10 minutes More expensive surveyor bases have a 11 TPI thread but the top of the surveyor base will often interfere with the antenna s TNC connector If you chose to use a surveyor s stick be sure to obtain a extender plate...

Page 19: ...ndard NMEA positional data The following steps show how to use SW Maps but the same steps can be followed to connect any serial port based GIS application The best mobile app that we ve found is the powerful free and easy to use SW Maps by Softwel You ll need an Android phone or tablet with Bluetooth What makes SW Maps truly powerful is its built in NTRIP client This is a fancy way of saying that ...

Page 20: ...ct Bluetooth GNSS This will display a list of available Bluetooth devices Select the Rover or Base you just paired with Select u blox RTK rather than just u blox from the Instrument Model dropdown This is important and will enable the use of NTRIP If your are taking height measurements altitude in addition to position lat long be sure to enter the height of your antenna off the ground including an...

Page 21: ...o that it can improve its fix accuracy This is the amazing power of RTK Surveyor and SW Maps Your phone can be the radio link From the main SW Maps menu select NTRIP Client Not there Be sure to select u blox RTK instrument when connecting Disconnect and change the instrument choice to enable the NTRIP Connection option ...

Page 22: ...ect u blox RTK instrument Enter your NTRIP caster credentials and click connect You will see bytes begin to transfer from your phone to the RTK Surveyor Within a few seconds the RTK Surveyor will go from 300mm accuracy to 14mm Pretty nifty no ...

Page 23: ...e RTK Surveyor The NTRIP client logs into the server also known as the NTRIP caster and grabs that data every second and sends it over Bluetooth to the RTK Surveyor Don t have access to an NTRIP caster We have a tutorial for that Checkout How to Build a DIY GNSS Reference Station Remember you can always use a 2nd RTK Surveyor in Base mode to provide RTCM correction data but it will less accurate t...

Page 24: ...ser view Open a terminal at 115200bps and you should see NMEA sentences The Data connector on the RTK Surveyor is a 4 pin locking 1 25mm JST SMD connector part SM04B GHS TB mating connector part GHR 04V S 3 3V is provided by this connector to power a remote device if needed While the port is capable of sourcing up to 600mA we do not recommend more than 300mA This port should not be connected to a ...

Page 25: ...t our Serial Terminal Basics tutorial Terminal showing menu Pressing any button will display the Main menu The Main menu will display the Bluetooth broadcast name This can be helpful when multiple RTK Surveyors are in the vicinity and it s not clear which device to connect to Note When powered on the RTK Surveyor will broadcast itself as either Surveyor Rover XXXX or Surveyor Base XXXX depending o...

Page 26: ...When enabling RAWX you will also probably want to enable logging to an SD card SBAS Satellite based Augmentation System or SBAS is disabled by default This is because there is a bug in u blox s v1 13 firmware for the ZED F9P that causes the RTK status LED to stop functioning when SBAS is enabled We have found no major difference in lock times or accuracy with SBAS turned off but SBAS can be enable...

Page 27: ...information on how to use a RAWX GNSS log to get higher accuracy base location please see the How to Build a DIY GNSS Reference Station tutorial Configure Base Menu Select the type of base setup By default the RTK Surveyor will enter Survey In mode when a user sets the SETUP switch to Base The unit will monitor all constellations until both the observation time and required mean 3D standard deviat...

Page 28: ...ssword The ECEF or Geographic coordinates for your fixed or semi fixed antenna NTRIP Server Connected With these credentials set RTK Surveyor will attempt to connect to WiFi your caster of choice and begin transmitting the RTCM data over WiFi We tried to make it as easy as possible Every second a few hundred bytes up to 2k will be transmitted to your mount point Configure Ports Menu Baud rate conf...

Page 29: ...iscuss various methods Updating Firmware From the SD Card From time to time SparkFun will release new firmware for the RTK Surveyor to add and improve functionality For most users firmware can be upgraded by loading the appropriate firmware file from the binaries repo folder onto the SD card and bringing up the firmware menu as shown below Firmware update taking place The firmware upgrade menu wil...

Page 30: ...nd esptool exe chip esp32 port COM6 baud 921600 before default_reset after hard_reset wri te_flash z flash_mode dio flash_freq 80m flash_size detect 0 RTK_Surveyor_Firmware_v13_co mbined bin Note You will need to modify COM6 to match the serial port that RTK Surveyor enumerates at Programming via the esptool CLI Upon completion your RTK Surveyor will have the latest and greatest features Creating ...

Page 31: ...r it to enumerate as a COM port Troubleshooting Not working as expected and need help If you need technical assistance and more information on a product that is not working as you expected we recommend heading on over to the SparkFun Technical Assistance page for some initial troubleshooting SPARKFUN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PAGE If you don t find what you need there the SparkFun Forums are a great pl...

Page 32: ...GPS units but with different project applications We ll compare both chips before getting each up and running How to Build a DIY GNSS Reference Station Learn how to affix a GNSS antenna use PPP to get its ECEF coordinates and then broadcast your own RTCM data over the internet and cellular using NTRIP to increase rover reception to 10km ESP32 Thing Plus Hookup Guide Hookup guide for the ESP32 Thin...

Page 33: ...metry radio We ll show you how to get your high precision RTK GNSS system setup and running How to Build a DIY GNSS Reference Station Learn how to affix a GNSS antenna use PPP to get its ECEF coordinates and then broadcast your own RTCM data over the internet and cellular using NTRIP to increase rover reception to 10km ...

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