Set up an Emlid Reach by hand

The Ditch Assist® app can program a Reach for you (Emlid Diagnostics). Use this page when it can't: on firmware it can't change, or when you want to set the receiver yourself in Emlid Flow, Emlid's own app.

• Open Emlid Flow and connect to the receiver. It finds an RS3 or RS4 over Bluetooth.
• Some screens (GNSS settings, RTCM3 messages, NMEA settings) open only with the tablet on the receiver's Wi-Fi. Flow offers to join it: tap Connect, and allow location access if it asks.
• Picking an option in a list takes effect straight away. Editing screens need Save or Apply.
• Work through the steps in order. The LoRa radio can only do one job at a time, so whatever was using it has to be switched off before you give it a new one.
• The Ditch Assist app's check can still list a difference or two on a receiver set up by hand, such as base antenna height. It runs the same. Tap Configure and Program receiver if you want the green check.

GNSS settings, every role

1. Open Settings › GNSS settings

   • Elevation mask angle 15, SNR mask 35
   • GNSS systems: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo on; BeiDou and QZSS off
   • GNSS update rate 5 Hz

   

2. Turn Settings › IMU off

   The receiver rides on the machine, so it reports the antenna position with no tilt correction.

RTK base

The base sits on a tripod in one spot for the day, averages its position each time it is turned on, and sends corrections to the rovers over LoRa radio.

1. Turn position streaming off

   Settings › Position streaming 1: Off. Then Position streaming 2: Off.

2. Set Correction input to Off

   The base makes corrections; it doesn't take them, so this frees the LoRa radio.

   

3. Turn both base outputs off for now

   Base output 1: Off. Then Settings › Base output 2: Off. With the radio off while you set the messages, the receiver doesn't refuse them for lack of air time. Base output 1 goes back on LoRa at the end.

4. Open Base settings › Configure

   • Coordinates entry method Average SINGLE
   • Averaging time 2:00

   Tap Save. The base now averages its position for two minutes every time it is turned on. Antenna height doesn't matter for Ditch Assist; leave it as it is.

   

5. Open Base settings › RTCM3 messages

   • 1006 at 0.1 Hz (always on)
   • 1074 GPS, 1084 GLONASS and 1094 Galileo, each at 1 Hz
   • 1124 and 1230 off. Tap Show legacy messages and make sure 1004, 1008, 1012 and 1033 are off too.

   Tap Apply.

   

6. Set Base output 1 to LoRa radio

   Tap the pencil beside Base output 1 › LoRa radio.

   • Frequency: pick a channel between 902.0 and 928.0 MHz. Every rover uses the same one.
   • Output power: RS4 500 mW (1000 mW when you need more range); RS3 20 dBm, its maximum.
   • Air data rate 18.23 kb/s. The slower rates are greyed out with these messages; that's expected.

   Tap Save, then pick LoRa radio in the list.

   

   

7. Check the receiver menu

   It should read Correction input Off and Base output 1 LoRa radio, and Settings › Base output 2 should be Off.

   

Ditch Assist rover

For a receiver cabled to the Ditch Assist control module (Full Automation Kit and Guidance Only Kit), and for the DIG™ Kit.

1. Set Position streaming 1 to Serial

   Tap the pencil beside Settings › Position streaming 1 › Serial: port RS-232, baud rate 38400, format NMEA.

   Open NMEA settings: tilt compensation Do not compensate receiver position, talker ID GP, GGA 5 Hz and VTG 1 Hz, every other message off.

   Tap Apply, then Save, then pick Serial in the list. GGA carries the position and needs at least 5 Hz. VTG only carries speed and heading, so 1 Hz is plenty.

   

   

2. Set Position streaming 2 to Bluetooth

   Tap the pencil beside Settings › Position streaming 2 › Bluetooth: format NMEA. In NMEA settings: Do not compensate receiver position, talker ID GP, GGA 1 Hz, VTG 1 Hz, every other message off. Tap Apply, then Save, then pick Bluetooth in the list.

   

3. Turn both base outputs off

   Base output 1: Off. Then Settings › Base output 2: Off. This frees the LoRa radio so the rover can listen on it.

4. Set Correction input to LoRa radio

   Tap the pencil: frequency the same as your base, air data rate 18.23 kb/s. Tap Save, then pick LoRa radio in the list. It reads Waiting for corrections until the base is on the air.

   

5. Turn on "Turn on automatically when powered via EXT port"

   In Settings. The receiver then switches on and off with the control module.

   

Ditch Assist Lite rover

For a receiver on a machine with no control module. The tablet in the cab joins the receiver's own Wi-Fi and reads its position from there. Everything is the same as the Ditch Assist rover except position streaming 1, the EXT power switch and the Wi-Fi.

1. Set Position streaming 1 to TCP server

   Tap the pencil beside Settings › Position streaming 1 › TCP server: port 9001, format NMEA. In NMEA settings: no tilt compensation, talker ID GP, GGA 5 Hz, VTG 1 Hz, every other message off. Tap Apply, then Save, then pick TCP server in the list.

   

   

2. Set Position streaming 2 to Bluetooth

   NMEA, GGA 1 Hz, VTG 1 Hz, as on the Ditch Assist rover.

3. Turn both base outputs off

   Base output 1: Off. Then Settings › Base output 2: Off.

4. Set Correction input

   • From your own base: LoRa radio, the base's frequency, 18.23 kb/s, the same as the Ditch Assist rover.
   • Over mobile data, with no base: see Corrections over mobile data below.

   Programming the receiver from the app sets LoRa radio. If it takes corrections over mobile data, set that again afterwards; the app's check then lists Correction input as a difference, which is expected.

5. Leave the Wi-Fi in Hotspot mode

   Leave Turn on automatically when powered via EXT port as it is: the receiver runs on its own battery.

   

   

Corrections over mobile data

With no base, a Ditch Assist Lite rover can take RTK corrections over its own mobile connection. The tablet stays on the receiver's Wi-Fi, so the receiver has to reach the internet by itself, through a SIM card.

1. Put a nano-SIM in the receiver

   A data-only or IoT SIM with some prepaid credit is ideal. The receiver only sends and receives a small amount of correction data.

2. Turn Settings › Mobile data on

   Enter the SIM's PIN if it asks for one. Most SIMs connect without APN details; if yours doesn't, enter your carrier's under APN settings. Some SIMs also need Data roaming on. Network bars appear next to the battery icon once it is connected.

3. Pick the correction service under Correction input

   • Emlid Corrections on a Reach RS4: sign in to an Emlid account in Emlid Flow's Profile tab, activate the subscription (every new receiver includes a free year), and choose Get corrections via Reach so the receiver gets them over its own SIM. This needs RS4 firmware 34.8 or later and Emlid Flow 15.7 or later. The service covers the US, the UK, much of continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand; it isn't available in Canada. Emlid's step-by-step guide: RTK over Emlid Corrections.
   • Another correction network (a state, provincial or commercial NTRIP service): choose NTRIP via Reach and add the service's address, port, mount point and login. This works on an RS3 or an RS4.

Then connect the tablet

A Ditch Assist Lite rover: join its Wi-Fi and pick it in the app, step by step, in Connect to the Reach. A Ditch Assist rover: it talks to the control module through the GPS cable; connect the tablet to the control module as usual (Connect).