Rtkbase Knowledge Patch

RTKBase Knowledge Patch

How to use this skill

Use the quick reference for common decisions and failure-prone operations. Open the topic reference that matches the work before changing installer flags, service units, receiver output, coordinates, correction streams, or RTKLIB configuration.

Reference index

Breaking changes and deprecations

Update prerequisites

• RTKBase 2.7.0 supports Debian 13 (Trixie).
• Updating requires Debian 12, Ubuntu 24.04, or newer.
• Python versions earlier than 3.11 are deprecated.

Check the host OS and Python before attempting an in-place update. For a fresh single-board-computer deployment, a published Armbian image is often the shortest path to a known service layout.

Coordinate changes stop services

In ELT_RTKBase, saving changed base coordinates stops every service. Main restarts automatically only if it was running before the change; all other services remain stopped and must be restarted explicitly. Changing coordinates or any other Main setting also restarts built-in PPP refinement from the beginning.

External receiver reconfiguration is hazardous

WinRtkBaseUtils RTK.bat and HAS.bat require Rtcm tcp service. Enable it only for the operation and disable it afterward because it permits external receiver reconfiguration. A failed or interrupted run can leave the receiver reconfigured; reapply its base configuration before resuming service.

RTKBase 2.7.0 changes

• Bundled RTKLIB is v2.5.0-EX.
• Septentrio Mosaic-X5 firmware 4.15 is supported. Its default credentials are login basegnss and password basegnss!.
• The Settings GUI TCP host address controls whether the GNSS receiver is exposed externally or blocked from external access.
• The NRCAN RINEX preset includes Galileo observations.
• ZED-F9P configuration sets the receiver dynamic model to static.
• The daily archive configuration archives the previous day's data and deletes archives older than 60 days.

Fast installation paths

Ready-to-flash images

RTKBase publishes 64-bit Armbian images for Raspberry Pi and Orange Pi Zero, Zero 2, and Zero 3 boards. Flash the downloaded archive, attach Ethernet and the GNSS receiver, wait at least about five minutes on first boot, then open:

http://basegnss.local

The initial web password is admin. SSH uses basegnss@basegnss.local with password basegnss!. Wi-Fi and serial can be enabled in the image's first-boot configuration before the board starts.

Release installer

cd ~
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Stefal/rtkbase/master/tools/install.sh -O install.sh
chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh --all release

The installer fetches dependencies, installs RTKBase and services, detects the receiver, and configures supported ZED-F9P, Mosaic-X5, and UM980/UM982 receivers as bases. Unsupported receivers must be configured manually to emit raw or RTCM3, then selected by port in Settings.

Useful source and targeting forms:

sudo ./install.sh --all repo --rtkbase-repo <branch>
sudo ./install.sh --all url --rtkbase-custom-source <url>
sudo ./install.sh --all bundled --user=<name>
sudo ./install.sh --detect-gnss --configure-gnss

--user=<name> installs under /home/<name>/rtkbase. Use --no-write-port with detection to avoid updating settings.conf. See the installation reference for all staged flags and temporary TCP serial access.

Service and configuration map

GNSS receiver
    |
    v
str2str_tcp.service  -- raw TCP, normally :5015
    |
    +-- NTRIP A / NTRIP B
    +-- local caster
    +-- RTCM TCP/UDP server or client
    +-- serial RTCM output
    +-- file logging and archive timer
    +-- gpsd -> chrony
    +-- raw2nmea -> gpsd, when native raw is undecodable

str2str_tcp.service is the primary reader. Separate run_cast.sh instances consume its raw stream. The UI is rtkbase_web; rtkbase_archive.timer schedules archival and cleanup.

Core settings.conf invariants:

• Position order is latitude, longitude, height.
• Serial format is baud:data-bits:parity:stop-bits.
• Antenna text cannot contain spaces.
• Raw TCP defaults to 5015. If changed, update gpsd DEVICES too.
• new_web_password is consumed and erased at the next web-server start.
• prerelease=True opts into beta updates.

Choosing receiver input and output

• Prefer a receiver-native raw stream when RTKLIB decodes it.
• For UM980-class hardware whose native format is not decoded, emit RTCM3 MSM, constellation navigation messages, and GPRMC over the USB-connected port; select rtcm3 as input.
• Preserve TCP 5015 if gpsd/chrony uses the default primary stream.
• For U-Blox raw logging, enable both UBX-RXM-RAWX and UBX-RXM-SFRBX, verify constellations and rate, and save with CFG.
• Use 1 Hz for PPP recordings. Faster observations are often ignored or decimated, and a 24-hour 1 Hz UBX capture is already about 300 MB.
• Add -TADJ=1 to the applicable U-Blox receiver-options field to avoid non-rounded-second tags in RTCM and NTRIP output.

Permanent-coordinate workflow

1. Record an uninterrupted 12- or preferably 24-hour raw observation instead of accepting survey-in as the permanent answer.
2. Convert the archive to RINEX from Logs or with the receiver-specific tool.
3. Submit RINEX to a precise-point-positioning service or process it with RTKLIB.
4. Enter the solved latitude, longitude, and height as the fixed base position.
5. Restart every correction and logging service that remained stopped after save.

For CSRS-PPP, select ITRF and Static. Waiting about 15 days allows final orbit and clock products to replace ultra-rapid products. A complete UTC-day file must not be interrupted by stopping the device, Main, or File Service.

NTRIP and RTCM quick reference

An NTRIP Server URI puts the source password after an empty username:

str2str \
  -in serial://ttyAMA2:57600:8:n:1:off \
  -out ntrips://:secret@caster.example:2101/BASE

For a VRS mount point, relay receiver GGA with -b 1, or synthesize it with -p <lat> <lon> <height> -n 1. Specify full serial settings to avoid baud mismatches. An NTRIP caster-table string is optional; omit it rather than sending malformed semicolon-delimited metadata. Do not include the mount point inside the metadata string.

GNSS-backed time

gpsd normally reads tcp://localhost:5015 with GPSD_OPTIONS="-n -b", ordered after str2str_tcp.service; chrony reads its shared-memory clock. If gpsd cannot decode a receiver's raw format, enable the converter:

sudo systemctl enable --now rtkbase_raw2nmea

For stratum-1 service, expose the receiver timepulse as /dev/pps0 and lock a chrony PPS refclock to the GNSS refclock. Raspberry Pi commonly uses GPIO 18; Orange Pi requires the pps-gpio overlay and selected input pin.

Operational checks

• After install: verify receiver detection, str2str_tcp.service, web access, and nonzero raw-stream transfer counts.
• After coordinate save: verify Main and explicitly restart every other service.
• Before full-day logging: verify storage, file growth, UTC-day boundaries, and that neither the board nor Main/File Service will restart.
• Before VRS use: verify GGA reaches the caster and RTCM returns to the receiver.
• For reception failures: capture base and rover NMEA plus UBX-RXM-RTCM, UBX-MON-COMMS, UBX-NAV-CLOCK, and UBX-NAV-PVT.
• For rtkrcv: confirm a base-position message such as RTCM 1005 arrives before evaluating fix behavior; use trace level 3 for deeper diagnosis.