Adding reference stations
To add new reference stations to TopNET-V to be used for single base network RTK or network RTK, please perform the following steps:
- Open TopNET-V on the PC.
- Navigate to Setup > Reference Stations.
- The current list of reference stations added to TopNET-V will appear.
- To add a new reference station, click Add.
There are three different methods to add a reference station to TopNET-V:
- Adding a receiver accessible by any TopNET-S server.
- Adding a receiver accessible by NTRIP caster.
- Adding a receiver streaming data over the internet (direct TCP/IP).
Typically, the last two options are used when adding 3rd party reference station sites to be used for RTK to TopNET-V.
Adding a receiver accessible by any TopNET-S server
To add a receiver accessible by any TopNET-S server, do the following:
- In the Add Reference Station dialog box, click the A Topcon receiver accessible via TopNET-S radio button.
- Click Next.
In the Add Topcon Reference Station dialog box, do the following:
- Select the TopNET-S server from the drop-down menu.
- If the server doesn’t appear in the list, click More Servers, and add the TopNET-S server IP address, TCP/IP port, and user credentials as necessary.
- Click the Get Receivers button to access the TopNET-S receiver list.
- Select the receiver from the list that will be added to TopNET-V.
- Click Next.
Site ID
- Enter the name and 4-character ID of the reference station.
- For the 4-character ID, for the US, typically the first two characters are the state, and the last two are the city where the reference station is installed.
- Click Next.
Position
- Enter the known, surveyed ECEF or geodetic ARP coordinates of the reference station.
- The user will need to keep track of what coordinate system the reference station coordinates for each station are using.
- All the reference stations in the network must use the same coordinate system.
- TopNETlive in the US, for instance, uses NAD83 2011 coordinates for its reference stations.
- Click Next.
Antenna type
- Select the reference station Antenna Type from the drop-down menu.
- Enter the reference station Antenna Serial Number (optional).
- Click Next.
Group
- Enter a Group name for the reference station or select an existing group from the list.
- Multiple reference stations that belong to the same organization can be grouped together in TopNET-V to make it easier to determine who owns or is responsible for a given reference station.
- Click Finish.
- The newly added reference station will now appear in the list as well as on the map view in TopNET-V.
- The user can then add any additional stations, edit existing station properties/settings, and also delete stations from the reference station list.
- Click Close.
Adding a receiver accessible via an NTRIP caster
To add a receiver accessible via an NTRIP caster, do the following:
- In the Add Reference Station dialog box, click the Any receiver accessible via an Ntrip caster radio button.
- Click Next.
- Enter the IP address and TCP/IP port of the NTRIP caster in the following format:
- xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxxx (IP up to 255 each, TCP port up to 99999)
- Click the Get List button to access the NTRIP Mountpoint list.
- Choose the NTRIP Mountpoint on the caster to stream RTCM2 or RTCM3 data.
- The NTRIP mountpoint chosen will need to connect directly to the intended station (and not just the closest reference station).
- Click OK.
- Enter the NTRIP Login.
- Enter the NTRIP Password.
- Click Next.
- Select the RTCM Format in which the reference station is transmitting data as RTCM 2.x or RTCM 3.x from the drop-down menu.
- To properly account for clock biases, select the reference station Manufacturer from the drop-down menu.
- Click Next.
- Follow the remaining prompts as listed in the section Adding a receiver accessible by any TopNET-S server:
- Site ID
- Position
- Antenna type
- Group
Adding a receiver accessible via a direct TCP/IP connection
To add a receiver accessible via a direct TCP/IP connection, do the following:
- In the Add Reference Station dialog box, click the Any receiver streaming data to Internet (TCP/IP) radio button.
- Click Next.
- Enter the IP address (or host name) and TCP/IP port of the reference station.
- Note that there shouldn’t be any authentication setup on the reference station receiver that is outputting RTCM corrections via Ethernet. If so, the receiver may not connect to TopNET-V properly.
- Click Next.
- Select the RTCM Format in which the reference station is transmitting data as RTCM 2.x or RTCM 3.x from the drop-down menu.
- To properly account for clock biases, select the reference station Manufacturer from the drop-down menu.
- Click Next.
- Follow the remaining prompts as listed in the section Adding a receiver accessible by any TopNET-S server:
- Site ID
- Position
- Antenna type
- Group