Wednesday, 28 September 2016

Lesson Note On Step-by-Step RTK Setup Guide - Part B

RTK Setup Guide

The following is a concise step-by-step guide to setting up the Trimble equipment for RTK surveying. It does not cover the theory of operation; these instructions are much more useful after an introduction to the system.
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Rover setup - do this after the base station is running
1.     GPS receiver
1.     Place 2 charged camcorder batteries in the holders at the bottom of the rover backpack.
2.     Connect the battery cables to the batteries, and use the Velcro straps to secure the batteries and cables in place.
3.     Strap receiver into the backpack, upside down. Use the lower set of straps, which have 2 black foam pads underneath.
4.     Connect the battery cables to ports #2 & #3 on the GPS receiver.
5.     Thread the radio antenna cable through a top cable pass-through, and attach the antenna mount to a brass threaded mount on the backpack. (The radio cable is normally left in the backpack, so this step is normally skipped.)
6.     Connect the radio antenna cable to the GPS receiver.
7.     Attach the radio antenna, with the correct tip (0dB or 5dB).
8.     If not using the 2m range pole, attach the GPS antenna to the 3rd piece of the radio mast, and attach that to the other brass mount on the backpack.
9.     If using the 2m range pole, attach the antenna to a Quick-Connect shaft, and attach the quick-connect to the assembled range pole.
10. Thread the GPS antenna cable through the other top cable pass-through and coil neatly above the receiver. Do not kink the cable. Connect the 3-shell Lemo [large] to the GPS receiver, and the coaxial connector to the antenna.
11. Connect the data collector I/O cable to receiver port #1.
12. Thread the data collector I/O cable through the lower pass-through on the same side as the GPS antenna cable. Connect to the data collector.
13. Tie down loose cables in the pack, and zip it closed.
14. Put on and adjust the pack for a comfortable fit.
15. Turn on the data collector (and hence the GPS receiver).
16. Measure vertical height of the antenna; this is measured to the bottom of the antenna mount, and can be done with the Height Rod. Check that the measurement type is correct.
2.     Start the rover measurements
1.     Make sure that the correct Job is selected on the data collector. New Jobs may be defined in the Files mode.
2.     On the hand controller, choose Survey, and then choose the appropriate Survey Style; typically Trimble RTK or a custom style. New styles may be defined at this stage, or in the Survey Styles option in the Configuration mode. Be sure to choose the same style as for the base station.
3.     Choose Start survey.
4.     Choose Measure PointsContinuous Topo, etc.
5.     When measuring points (of any type), the Rover will attempt to initialize on-the-fly (OTF). This can only be done if 5 or more satellites are visible and tracked by both the rover and base station.
6.     When the radio link is locked, and the receiver has completed the OTF initialization, the status line on the data collector will have estimated uncertainty and "RTK Fixed" displayed. You can know begin measuring points.
7.     If less than 5 satellites are visible, it is possible to initialize on a known point. However, the data quality is liable to be poor due to the low number of satellites. It is often advisable to change locations or try the survey at a later date with more satellites.
8.     For all GPS surveying, try to keep the PDOP < 6.0 - the best yet seen was 1.7 (8 satellites in open terrain), and PDOP tends to average about 3.0 with 5 or more satellites.


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