The RTK-camera App is compatible with any external L1/L2/e5 GNSS devices connected via USB or Bluetooth.

It contains an NTRIP client for handling the connection to a caster/provider that sends correction messages using RTCM3-x format. In return, the external GNSS device returns centimetre accuracy to the App via NMEA style messages. At a high GNSS rate, the photos are geotagged with this coordinates and can be used for terrestrial photogrammetry, 3D documentation and many other applications. The precise GNSS position and metadata information on accuracy is stored in the EXIF file of each image.

Feature/Subscription information

You can use the App without subscription to 

• connect to NTRIP Caster
• Connect to USB / Bluetooth RTK chip/antenna
• log the RTK GNSS path on your mobile phone
• take geotagged photos with reduced number of lat/lon digits

With active subscription, see Subscription information (link) you can:

• take full-digits lat/lon for geotagging your photos and write to EXIF
• use the 3D auto-tracker/trigger functionality
• log RINEX data for PPK

Install the RTK-Camera App

Open the GooglePlay store and search for “RTKcamera REDcatch” or use the following link/QR code

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.redcatch.rtkcamera

Main Steps for first time users

1. Connect to device using
2. Setup up NTRIP Caster and enter login credentials
3. Start RTK
4. Record Geotagged Photos and log

Setup up the App during first start:

You will have to grant the App all permissions to find, to connect to and to determine the relative position of nearby devices (e.g., “Allow while using the App”).

Connect to external GNSS antenna

Klick on the button "No device selected" to choose your RTK antenna.

- Bluetooth: depending on the device, you might have to "PAIR" it before in Android settings
- USB: it's best to plug in after you started the App
- Serial-USB:  A special case, as you have to define baudrate which needs to be known

Adding NTRIP caster information

1. Since you have a RTK capable external GNSS receiver, let’s connect it to a NTRIP server to get cm accuracy. Click on "Add NTRIP caster" to enter your credentials. 
2. Fill all the fields with your NTRIP provider data. In most cases, NTRIP v1 is the type of choice, since we assume 99% of NTRIP casters are still at v1.
   
3. Click "Check Caster" to verify your input! If everything is fine, the symbol changes and you can "ADD caster"
4. After adding the caster, its time to select the Mount point by clicking on "No mountpoint selected". An available mountpoint list for your inputted caster will be displayed. Select your mountpoint of choice. You can also search for specific names if there are many (eg. Emlid casters....)
5. Klick "Start RTK Session" to finally connect to Bluetooth and ntrip caster and receive accurate coordinates
    
6. Check the quality. If the symbols become green, everything is fine. Keep an eye on the left one, as it indicates the FIX and FLOAT solutions. You can click on the symbols to get more information. Details will show more information on the coordinates
   
7. Now you're ready to go

Start RTK

Press “Start RTK”. This might take a few seconds but however, if your Screen looks like this the process was successful: 

If you press on the icons, you will receive further status information. 

• The icon “Satellites” will show you how many satellites the device is connected to. If the number is too low the icon “Satellites” will be red. Once the Device connects to more Satellites it will turn to yellow and later to green. 
• The same goes for the icon “RTK Quality”, depending on the accuracy it will change colours. When reaching Fix Solution, the icon will turn green. 
• Status device will inform you weather the connection to your external GNSS chip was successful or not. If not, you might check USB or BT settings again.
• Status NTRIP informs you if the connection to your correction service was established, or if you are still waiting for a valid GNGGA line (in this case, go outdoor to receive satellite signals and wait until the icon turns green. If nothing happens and you are connected via serial-USB, check the settings: see Connect using USB cable (link)
• The Accuracies show how precise the coordinates are. As in the example given, they are about 1 centimetre accurate. 

See the Troubleshoot connection problems (link) article or contact us if you are struggling with connection issues.

Taking photos and storage location

Once the connection is established, switch to camera to take your photos. 

There are 3 different camera MODES  (see gear wheel synbole)

• manual images - takes a photo each time you press the display button
• time laps trigger - takes photos every X seconds
• 3d tracker - automatically takes photos which will be option for 3D Photogrammetry!

Photo and logfile location

Connect to a PC or sync the files using Dropbox, GoogleDrive, etc.....

The are stored in Internal storage > Documents 

Learn more about your new data: Where to find your photos and log files (link)

Copyright

When using material from us, please respect CC - BY - SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ and mention our company REDcatch GmbH, Austria and re-link our webpage