How to set up your own RTK base station.. for about £300

[andyinv]

Finally got round to documenting how I did this - have since got a couple other going in the neighbourhood, and now they're there for anybody to use, if they so wish.

The idea being, get a couple going in your community, provide resilience through redundancy (you can self-publish to take rtk2go out of the equation if you so wish, tho that's a firewall thing I haven't documented as yet), and get everyone saving some money?

FreeRTK/README.md at main · lansalot/FreeRTK

How to set up your own RTK base station. Contribute to lansalot/FreeRTK development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Interested in any comments, stuff that might be missing, could be clearer etc. And as an aside, yes, John Deere make life a bit difficult using 3rd party, but it can be done.... Works with FJD Dynamics, Trimble/Case and agOpenGPS tho !

Still looking for more volunteers in the Highlands to test.

 

[andyinv]

Well that was unexpected - ended up helping a lad in Serbia get his one going last night

Now confirmed working with Claas Trimble Autopilot.

 

[EKM]

Have you tried with the 4G NTRIP master insted of the Raspberri Pie?

4G NTRIP Master

Use it as a NTRIP Client, NTRIP Server, TCP Client or PointPerfect client by just adding a SIM card. Comes with free corrections!

www.ardusimple.com

 

[andyinv]

Have you tried with the 4G NTRIP master insted of the Raspberri Pie?

4G NTRIP Master

Use it as a NTRIP Client, NTRIP Server, TCP Client or PointPerfect client by just adding a SIM card. Comes with free corrections!

www.ardusimple.com

I haven't no, not really the use case I'd envisaged as I planned on people setting it up on their broadband, rather than having to pay for another SIM - but I had thought of this as an option for contractors, if they're out in the middle of nowhere with RTK coverage. They could make a base station with this, set it up, give it half an hr to settle, enter the base co-ordinates, and then work off of that. It would be accurate enough in that case, I'm sure.

Make an interesting project, if anyone fancies a go !

 

[EKM]

I see your point. This could maybe suit better:

Ethernet NTRIP Master

Use it as a NTRIP Client, NTRIP Server, TCP Client, TCP/UDP Server or PointPerfect client by just plugging an Ethernet cable. Comes with free corrections!

www.ardusimple.com

The reason why i ask is that it would be nice to fit al components in a small case with POE (Power Over Ethernet)

 

[andyinv]

I see your point. This could maybe suit better:

Ethernet NTRIP Master

Use it as a NTRIP Client, NTRIP Server, TCP Client, TCP/UDP Server or PointPerfect client by just plugging an Ethernet cable. Comes with free corrections!

www.ardusimple.com

The reason why i ask is that it would be nice to fit al components in a small case with POE (Power Over Ethernet)

Yeah I saw those, they look pretty useful but that's pretty expensive when an rpi is about a third the cost?

Plus, rpi is still a linux computer - I added a dynamic dns update client to mine to keep it up to date on the net for direct access. Nice to still have those features. But totally, that would make a nice one-box solution.

 

[PSQ]

Awesome thread, but to my simple mind it might as well be written in Greek.

1- In words of up to two syllables, could you explain how to connect an RTK enabled Case Puma (2019) to a near neighbours existing NTRIP caster? (listed on RTK2go.com).
The tractor has a modem with a Case dealer network sim installed.
I guess I'd need to purchase a data only sim and change to the specific settings to receive data from the caster?

2- If I was to upgrade the existing Trimble GPS on the sprayer to receive NTRIP, I'm guessing it would involve adding a modem and SIM card, and purchasing the required RTK unlocks from Trimble. Or is there a workaround to receive a high precision external correction signal without paying for multiple unlocks?

Thanks in advance.

 

[andyinv]

For connecting up your Puma, you should look in the menus in your terminal for VRS or NTRIP settings, I think, and put the rtk2go.com info in there. Until you've verified it works, I wouldn't do anything else. If it doesn't work - don't give up, it could be that the message set needs a bit of work (different devices expect different message, I'll try and write up some examples when I get a chance), but if you get stuck, just drop us a message and ask. In time, you might find it's worth putting your own station up and contributing to the community. If in time you decide it's stable enough to junk the paid subscription, then you might need to get your own data-only SIM card as you say.

Worth finding out what your neighbour is publishing his info on rtk2go with (guessing rtkbase or SNIP), and we can also check to see what messages they're putting out ? If you need any help, could maybe try a remote session or video call too if you want.

As for upgrades, sadly there's nothing I can do to unlock stuff - this is for providing the data only. But at 700-quid plus a year per device for that data, it soon adds up.

I created an FB page called "Free RTK" where people might also like to meet and discuss projects, if that's of any use.

 

[PSQ]

What sort of radius is the RTK caster good for?

I'm guessing accuracy diminishes over distance?

 

[Northern farmer]

What sort of radius is the RTK caster good for?

I'm guessing accuracy diminishes over distance?

Yes, typically 1 ppm, that is 1 cm per 10 km distance from the base. A bit more complicated for virtual base stations where multiple near by base stations are used to calculate a virtual base virtually close to the rover.

 

[Sorbaer]

VERY useful and informative. I have been looking for a step by step guide like this for AgOpenGPS for a while as well as wondering if it was ever possible to set up your own base station for John Deere without the crazy subscription costs. If I'm right in thinking, connecting to John Deere this way will mean no on-going subscription cost and just cost of activated receiver? thanks!

 

[andyinv]

You'll see mention of 2ppm, which is 2 parts per million. So if you're a million cm (10km) away, you can expect 2cm. 20km away, 4cm. In practice tho, I've a friend 35km and it looked spot on. One of these "your mileage may vary" deals. The less satellites you and the base can see at the same time, the more drift I guess...

This is how it looked 35km away. The Case was crossing the field, so was getting thrown about a bit..

 

[andyinv]

VERY useful and informative. I have been looking for a step by step guide like this for AgOpenGPS for a while as well as wondering if it was ever possible to set up your own base station for John Deere without the crazy subscription costs. If I'm right in thinking, connecting to John Deere this way will mean no on-going subscription cost and just cost of activated receiver? thanks!

From what I've seen, the green team go out of their way to make it difficult. It can be done, I think JD still collect an annual subscription for the rtk enablement, but yep, we've JD up here using rtkbase.

 

[J.t]

Great thread. I've also built my own ntrip base for a similar cost using an esp32 with esprtk firmware which doesn't need rtk2go. I'm pretty sure it can be configured to put out the required messaged for topcon and Trimble but not sure about jd. I think it's another good option, been using it since the spring and it seems to be spot on

 

[andyinv]

Great thread. I've also built my own ntrip base for a similar cost using an esp32 with esprtk firmware which doesn't need rtk2go. I'm pretty sure it can be configured to put out the required messaged for topcon and Trimble but not sure about jd. I think it's another good option, been using it since the spring and it seems to be spot on

Can you try this message set? We've got that working with JD...
1004,1006(30),1008(10),1012,1019(3),1020(2),1033(30),1230(30)

Superb video you have there!

 

[clbarclay]

Great thread. I've also built my own ntrip base for a similar cost using an esp32 with esprtk firmware which doesn't need rtk2go. I'm pretty sure it can be configured to put out the required messaged for topcon and Trimble but not sure about jd. I think it's another good option, been using it since the spring and it seems to be spot on

What are you using for a static IP for rover receivers to talk to instead of using rtk2go?

 

[texelburger]

A friend's son has done the same,not sure for how much though.He does lurk on here so probably has seen,or commented,on this thread.He built his autosteer system also ,again for a pittance was it about £400 ish with a second hand screen.
We are trying a Trimble RTX centrepoint at the moment which seems good, just need to try it on another couple of farms where it should be OK as it doesn't require a phone signal.

 

[andyinv]

What are you using for a static IP for rover receivers to talk to instead of using rtk2go?

I'm personally using dynu, they're a bit better than no-ip in that you don't need to keep confirming the domain every 30 days. Also, I have ddclient running on my raspberry pi keeping it all in sync.

 

[Northern farmer]

What are you using for a static IP for rover receivers to talk to instead of using rtk2go?

I understand you are asking about the way to obtain a public, static IP address, is that right?

The mapping for an IP address to domain name just makes it easier to "talk" about the caster address but the numeric IP address and the name in text format are functionally the same. Andy seems to refer to the case where the IP address is public but not static. Services like no-ip then help to map the changing IP address to the same "written name".

My understanding is that not all internet service providers offer any public IP address, fixed or dynamic. In that case RTK2GO is almost the only solution. I think Charles Quick mentioned the option of a hired virtual machine but that would run on a server somewhere, not on any computer at home. Again an option to avoid using RTK2GO but it needs the same "RTK server" feeding the correction signal from the home network to this hired server somewhere.

At home I'm using a local NTRIP caster but my internet service provider offers a free option to choose a dynamic public IP address or a hidden one behind their NAT.

Sorry if the above appears confusing, I'm not any expert on the topic.

 

[andyinv]

I understand you are asking about the way to obtain a public, static IP address, is that right?

The mapping for an IP address to domain name just makes it easier to "talk" about the caster address but the numeric IP address and the name in text format are functionally the same. Andy seems to refer to the case where the IP address is public but not static. Services like no-ip then help to map the changing IP address to the same "written name".

My understanding is that not all internet service providers offer any public IP address, fixed or dynamic. In that case RTK2GO is almost the only solution. I think Charles Quick mentioned the option of a hired virtual machine but that would run on a server somewhere, not on any computer at home. Again an option to avoid using RTK2GO but it needs the same "RTK server" feeding the correction signal from the home network to this hired server somewhere.

At home I'm using a local NTRIP caster but my internet service provider offers a free option to choose a dynamic public IP address or a hidden one behind their NAT.

Sorry if the above appears confusing, I'm not any expert on the topic.

There's two other ways. Personally, I have port-forwarded port 2101 on my router to the raspberry pi. If I weren't using something like dyndns, dynu etc, then before I went out to the tractor each morning, I'd type "what is my ipv4 address" into google while I was still at home and on the same network as my rtk station. If it had changed overnight for example, that would give me all I need to know - and if it dropped while I were out working, I'd phone someone at home and get them to confirm the address hadn't changed.

The other option, if you want to publish externally on a known-good point, that never changes, but is also effectively obscured through an encrypted tunnel, then you could use ngrok.io and set up a reverse connection. That's a lot more grief tho than just port-forwarding, but it is more secure. I wrote about how to do this in response to a similar question on the agOpenGPS discourse here: https://discourse.agopengps.com/t/ntrip-nightmare/10063/33