I have search for the info but it seems this question has not been answered yet. Here it is:
Until now I have been doing RTK drone survey with relative accuracy using the RS2+ in single mode as base station.
I would like to move to absolute accuracy but like many other drone operators, I often have no access to known points.
As all my missions take place within 60km radius from my office (I live on an island) how well would it work if I was setting up my RS2+ permanently as mount point at my office and get corrections directly to my RTK drone (mavic 3E) via NTRIP caster?
Would it add accuracy to purchase a second RS2+ unit to set up onsite as base? or not necessarily?
Hey Tim, thanks for the video.
In that case the operator uses a third party RTK provider.
How about using my RS2+ as a personal RTK solution from my office sending correction to my drone via internet?
If you want to maintain 2-3cm accuracy you will need to be within 20-30km of the base but the main thing is that the deviations will go up and your relative accuracy will be affected. It would be better to set a point from the CORS and then occupy it for local NTRIP. Tim’s PPP suggestion is a good option depending on what level of accuracy you need. Rapid-static can be 30 minutes but regular static is at least 2 hours. Personally I would never run a 15 minute rapid.
I agree with Tim’s suggestion: you can obtain base coordinates with absolute precision via processing services. Services such as NRCan CSRS-PPP or AUSPOS work worldwide. So you can set up your Reach RS2+ base, assign accurate coordinates to it, and broadcast NTRIP corrections over our Caster to your RTK drone.
Note that NRCan and AUSPOS output coordinates in the ITRF coordinate system besides Canadian NAD83 (CSRS) and Australian GDA2020 datums, respectively. So you may need to do some additional conversions to get the coordinates in your local datum and projection.
A second Reach RS2+ will allow you to get accurate coordinates for the base placement and shorten the baseline. You can collect the point and use it immediately as the base position for the RTK drone mission.
