RS2 experience summed up so far, by all users

With my first topic about RS2 and the long baseline/cell data showcase, that topic didnt have much data of what i did.
This topic will be more about the bits and pieces behind, what was done, how it was done and what my experience with the new RS2 is so far.

Link to first showcase RS2 - The 33/66km RTK session with ntrip/simcard
All test so far has been with Reachview 2.18.1. It has some bugs here and there but Emlid will fix those in good manner as usual.

The first apparent difference between RS/RS+ and RS2 (the physical difference set a side) is the speed. You can see the unit is working faster in the menu when you navigate through it, along with faster fix this was the first thing I noticed jumping between the older units and RS2.

As shown in the link above, the long baseline and cell usage was the first large and long session in terms of work and getting things in the right order. I had my Dji Mavic Air in the air to get some shot of the scene and at the same time running RS2 in RTK to collect data. Should have been a two man job.
The cell feature works in my 2-3G area, but its the 2G (Edge) that has the widest and most stable data transfer around here. 3G is faster but 2G works too even with all RTCM messages enabled at 1Hz from base. Had to use my phones shared hotspot to force the usage of 2G for this to work.

Audio. RS2 has built in audio to notify you of FIX/Float, this is really nice when walking around looking for ground points or monuments to survey. You dont need to look on your phone or colletor to check.

Antenna. RS2 has its antenna mounted 134mm up from bottom 5/8 mount. This is Antenna Refrence Point. RS2 is also picking up more satellites then ever. The highest amount i have seen is 42 with 10 degree elevation mask. No SBAS yet, but you can use Beidou with Qzss, glonass, Galileo and GPS at the same time. Sweet.

Ntrip/cell. I have mainly used ntrip and onboard cell with RTK, its so easy to setup, time saver and fast to power up.
I recently tried a highly unformal long baseline to see what Delta and accuracy I would get. Baseline was 63km, I have 22 satellites in common. Observation was done over two days with some short time obs. along with two long 10min observation. This is no quality report what so ever and error may occur. Please take this numbers with a huge bucket of salt. Its all made just for fun.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EhvnEHwyCJ8kataz8cf4aOrR4qRhYYNQ-gk2UT49rWQ/edit?usp=sharing. If you find any error, please let me know.

Mixing old RS and RS2 is also something I have done. In the shots below I had a hard time configure the setupy of no more then five different units.
Using my DIY reach with tinfoil and CDcover case, RS/RS+ and RS2.
They all using my phones hotspot, I could then swap and watch all status screen without logging in and out of different units.
All Reach (even my tinfoil) kept FIX in the diffulty areas. Insane

Pinehell. Actually it was spruce. Dense forest was a real nightmare. Still with short baseline and LoRa I managed to FIX 3 out of 4 spots on the trail and repeat it a second time. RS/RS+ did not.
I only managed to hold FIX in some parts and it might have been the decent satellite geomtry that day. Still, FIX was achieved. Point is, RS2 made far better result then RS/RS+

![DSC00176|666x500]



And LoRa. Most recent activity is the LoRa use.
Base was set up at home, its not ideal place. Tall buildings around is blocking most of the signal.
Anyways, turned on all messages at 1hz and set output power to 20dB. Set rover to 5hz kinematic and all satellites enabled, strapped the RS2 to my backpack and went out for a hike to a local hill.
There was no direct line of sight during the entire trip, either dense forest or hills was in between the base and rover all the time. This session was all about how much would the rover pick up from my well hidden base.
Baseline of 4,2km and dense spruce forest, below some powerline the rover picked up data. This area is uneven terrain. Lost it when wen behind hills and regained on the way back.


And final, at the top, still no line of sight and a hugh mountain in between, Rover still picks up base data.
Some high end paint stuff to describe the situation.



No, there is no UFO in the sky, its only my lens, filled with dirt.

About the LoRa, it performs better then the RS, the antenna is better and well suited for the RS2.
From what I could tell with the new RTCM setup, it handles more data without choking up as much.
Huge buildings, mountains will still block LoRa but dense forest and hilly terrain (depends on the situation) is not enough to put the LoRa out of the game. It really penetrates well in such conditions.
The really long baseline with LoRa is hard to perform, its not many meters between the mountains around here. Norway, the land of fjords and mountains.

Oh, I got this small USB solar charger. About 12x12cm big, beeing able to charge my RS2 with no problem. How cool is that

Thats it for now. I needed to let some steam out, been collecting a bunch of data for a while now.
Typos is fixed later… or never :rofl:

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Am I wrong or under the hill steep even the RS2, multiband, can’t find the fix ?

If it had the correction it would most likely FIX it, but the correction data sent over LoRa was blocked by some hills and the float solution sticked for some time. Even thoug RS2 picked up some LoRa it was only for a short amount of time, enoug for the float solution.

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Yes, I agree the RS2 should be able to do that. Can you show RS2 getting fix beside the steep hill or side of a building? :wink:

Is that a challenge mr. @bide :face_with_hand_over_mouth: . I am in !!

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So the problem would not have existed if the base had been placed in such a position as to always “see” the rover. And this is true even if the rover is in unfavorable positions with respect to the sky (sheltered by natural walls). Correct?

Working in RTK mode, do you think the rover can get a fix in the above conditions?

More generally, in steep orographies is it preferable to use RTK or PPK?

To put it in another way, if i had used RTK over ntrip, I am pretty sure most of my trial would have been fixed. I am goin to try that one of the next day and see.

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This is the result with RS2 stuffed in my backpack and using ntrip and RTK. Couple of spots with really dense forest and foliage.

and just because i can, i drew a heart. Gotta love accuracy


and having som fun along the way

LoRa vs Ntrip

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Watch out for those trolls up
there. ; )

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Yeah, i had a nice joke going while stumbling around in the fog.
I was thinking, i am walking around with a cm accurate position and if i get stuck up/in here, its definitely not my fault if they cant find me now :sweat_smile:

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Here is a KML file in Google Earth from my track. To studie the surroundings etc
https://earth.app.goo.gl/F8C3Tu

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I was wondering how you did LoRa and NTRIP on the same track, but looking closer, I see you just retraced your steps perfectly two days later. :+1:

…or maybe the no-fog pic vs. the fog pic should have given the answer away.

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I think that with the steep hill, you were probably leaning forward and the antenna was not straight up. That or you may have a big metal plate in your head!

Gosh that is a pretty place.

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RTKLib is just for viewing, correct ?

With RTK you don’t have to do post-processing…

For this I saved the output solution from the reciver, that is the solution processed on RS2 in LLH format.
With RTK the process is done live, but you can log data and process later too (PPK).

Hey @TB_RTK, Recently we were doing a recent mine survey with our Emlid Reach RS2 connected to HxGN Smartnet ntrip - attached to Smartnet’s virtual reference station (VRS) mount point.

We had excellent results, including getting fixes when the pole was hanging over our shoulder walking down the haul road by the mine pit, with a large hill to one side of us. We could hear the RS2 chirping as it gained and lost fix status. Pretty good for a receiver at approximately right angles to horizon!

Here is a photo of the RS2 in action, up at the top of the mine at the end of a long day onsite.

And I also loved this shot of the rainbow ending at the mine site. There must be a pot of gold down there somewhere - or maybe I just left our RS2 down in the pit :wink:

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Curious, when did you order your RS2, how long until delivery after?

Hi @timd1971, as one of the key Australian dealers for Emlid, we were lucky enough to be sent a pre-production model of the RS2 for beta testing in Australian conditions - this was a unit displayed in Australia on April 8th - the day that Emlid launched the Reach RS2 globally - and the same unit included in my post earlier today.

Since that day, we have taken many pre-orders from our Australian customers for the new Reach RS2 and we are expecting Emlid to soon confirm that the first production RS2’s are on their way.

I know that many people across the world are looking forward to taking delivery of their new receivers. If you have pre-ordered an RS2, I’m sure that once you start using one, you’ll agree it’s worth the wait.

Best wishes, Al.

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25 posts were split to a new topic: Comparing RS2 and RS+