Photos help a great deal.
My experience with the antenna wasn’t that earth shattering though.
I find the rover with that large, off-balance antenna to be rather unwieldy/clumsy.
Yeah, looks clumsy and hobbled together as hell if using all the time.
You prob already saw this thread… but an example. Seems radios that aren’t LINE OF SITE only (LoRa) would be more ideal. Higher power radios with more penetration and distance.
Given the reported range increases I lashed out on a kit but did find the chunky RAM mount setup too heavy, bulky & off balance.
A few bucks, a 4WD rubber shovel holder & some metal and screws from the hardware store and some drilling and cutting later and it now works a treat.
It’s now significantly lighter & balanced, quick to attach and the rubber mount gives some flex to protect things if the antenna hits anything overhead.
It’s working in places Lora didn’t before but have yet to do any detailed tests.
So after much consideration on how to overcome the frustration of limited range on the LoRa system. I considered 3 avenues of achieving RTK Fix solution:
-
- Change brands - try to find an affordable brand competitive with Emlid (impossible)
-
- Employ a 3rd party UHF radio that would be cheaper than the Harxon + the cost of an RS3.
-
- Harxon radio + RS3
I chose number 3 since I figured it would have the friendliest learning curve and the greatest economy.
- Harxon radio + RS3
Performed my set up and did an initial test today.
Max range to FIX was 1.5 km.
Terrain was extremely rugged with no clear line of sight. However this does not mean that I achieved Fix solution for the entire trip. It was in & out. However, on a particular summit (not clear line of sight) I was able to achieve a Fix solution.
This makes me extremely excited as I hope this will be the end of my range issues.
Also, the radio seems to consume very little battery power.
I am using a small 12V USB battery and over 4 hours it seemed to barely dent the voltage output.
I will continue to update the page as my experience in real-world tests grows.
Hi @adrian.levy99,
Thanks for sharing! It’s always great to hear about your field experiences. And I’m glad the Harxon radio is working well for you.
Interesting. I have gotten my RS2s 2km range with RTK fix in horrible conditions (line of sight obstructions galore) with the normal whip antenna. With clear line of sight, easily 4km.
Happy for you.
My experience has been the opposite. every combination starts out well. Then progressively gets poorer.
My set of RS2s would not give me 60m of range over LoRa while my combination of M2 with LoRa radio + RS2 or RS2+ would give a max range of just under 1 km (which I found to be quite adequate).
I have complained on numerous posts with no clear remedy in sight.
I have an upcoming set of projects that I will need extensively better range, hence my graduation to RS3 + UHF radio
Perhaps I should add that I have owned a pair of RS2s
An RS2+ (which replaced an RS2 that went bad)
An M2 with LoRa radio & housing
And presently the recently purchased RS3.
comment vous connecter Harxon sur le RS3
merci
The support I’ve gotten from E38 is above and beyond. These folks know their stuff and are willing to share the knowledge
Curious. Now that you have a new RS3, have you tested it against your other RS2 and RS2+ via LoRa to rule out if one of those were the low distance issue? You mention the M2 / LoRa rig got much more typical distance when testing. Just so odd. Seems something is awry internally with the RS2/RS2+. I.e. bad connection, failing LoRa / amp etc.
If i was Emlid, for good business, I would offer to loan out temporary replacements and ask to receive those problematic units for internal testing and research. It’s not like you are some dumb novice… you obviously know what you are doing. You’ve been round and round with no resolve. This would be helpful to Emlid to see what the true cause is… either hardware or software issue?
Great point.
I haven’t performed a range test with the RS3 over LoRa as yet. I anticipate that I will achieve close to 1km.
I have observed that when I first got my RS2+ the RTK range performed as expected over LoRa - with the RS2.
Over time, the RTK range decreased. I sent detailed reports to support@emlid.com but they were unable to provide a suitable explanation or fix.
Search for my posts on this subject. Im still rockin ver 27 with very good results with an aftermarket antenna.
V27 firmware?
When I complained to tech support because the range had considerably declined after a firmware update I was reassured that there was nothing in the update that would adversely affect the lora range
I will look at your posts.
Thanks
As new versions came out they always broke something and caused lost time in the field including decreased range so went back to last version that worked for me and have been very happy since. I only use flow to set base coords and log static so dont care about those upgrades.
Each time I had to reflash a receiver, I would always mean to search the drive for the automatic download location of the firmware in case I needed to revert to a prior version and also collect them. Never did though. I would assume many here have though.
Would be nice if someone created a repository of them.
Would be great if Emlid allowed us to revert to previous successful Firmware
Hi everyone,
Thank you for the feedback! I agree that you should be able to achieve much longer baselines with the LoRa radio than the 60 meters mentioned. However, if you compare the firmware after version 31.0, the difference can hardly be related to the update. Let me share more context on that.
In firmware 31.0, we’ve reduced the Age of Differential (AoD) threshold to 10 seconds to ensure a reliable and accurate solution. Previously, a rover could hold a Fix solution even if it hasn’t received base corrections for a while (up to 60s AoD). So, you indeed could reach a longer baseline in a harsh environment. In proper environmental conditions, when the correction signal is not disrupted, both firmware versions should show similar results.
We haven’t introduced other changes recently that would affect LoRa’s performance. Following our tests and cases that we’ve helped with, there are no confirmed bugs related to LoRa radio either. In most situations, if there are difficulties achieving a long baseline, we can solve it by thoroughly checking and adjusting the setup. Because of that, and since we’re continuously adding new features to both software and firmware, we don’t support downgrades.
Environmental conditions are the most common factor affecting the LoRa connection. For example, there may not be a clear line of sight between the receivers, or electronics and power lines may affect the radio transmission. That’s why it’s worth comparing the baseline in different surveying locations. You can also follow this support tip for recommendations on establishing a good LoRa connection. If it doesn’t help achieve a longer baseline, please get in touch with us, and we’ll be sure to check everything.