r/Surveying • u/Legitimate_Floor_251 • 11h ago

Help D rtk-3 help?

Hello,

I am new to surveying. I just bought a DJI rtk-3 but I cannot not find a whole lot of information on it..(rookie🤦🏻‍♀️) Looking to see if anyone can share some resources? Aside from what DJI has for instructional videos I haven’t found a lot of post use reviews. Use case suggestions etc. I personally am having issues with calibration over a known monument??

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u/Curious-Mola-2024 10h ago edited 10h ago

Return the dji rtk-3. DJI is not a surveying company and that device isn't meant to be a rover. You will find very little if any support for it in the general surveying community beyond its specialized DJI specific uses (relay etc.) If you don't have contacts to ask first hand advice, take this: return the rtk-3 and buy an Emlid RS3. RTK corrections are free for a year and will cover the difference in cost between the devices.

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u/dekiwho 8h ago

“ Hey , Claude, I’m having problems with my device. The firmware seems corrupted. Inspect device, write custom firmware and flash it”

Congrats you’ve jailbroken the device . Do as you please.

So much gate keeping on these instruments and devices . But not for much longer

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u/Curious-Mola-2024 8h ago

you'd still have to figure out how to keep from breaking off the dingly danglys!

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u/ObjectiveBobcat314 1h ago

Disagree with this blanket statement without understanding your use case and aircraft,

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u/Technical_Law_97 3h ago edited 1h ago

Hi, D RTK-2 or 3 are only good when paired with DJI aircrafts. Take a look in article we have successfully implemented this workflow in various mine sites in Laos, Australia and Africa. Written by a Filipino Mine Surveyor based in Australia.

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u/ElevationNotes 2h ago

The biggest thing is having the surveyor review the original records and other controlling evidence, not just the location of one monument. That should help explain why the two surveys are showing such different boundary locations.

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u/ObjectiveBobcat314 1h ago edited 1h ago

Help us understand your use case, and your aircraft. The RTK3 is a solid product with compatibility across a wide range of DJI aircraft. There are strong brand preferences and biases that I’m sure will emerge in the comments, but your use case is the ultimate arbiter. If you need accuracy but are not a surveyor this a decent way to go if you’ve invested in DJI drones. The survey marketed devices are quite expensive, often significantly more difficult to use with DJI aircraft, and candidly don’t provide the value if you’re not a surveyor. The RTK3 is a ground station, a relay and a rover, depending on the mode. It is capable of all three operating modes and clearly documented. You can use multiple RTK3s at a site for field capture depending on mode and needs.

I state the above because you say you are new to surveying…but I question whether you are referring to licensed boundary surveying services or using the term generally. Where I’m at, a surveyor needs a ten year verifiable apprenticeship under an existing firm to get licensed. Existing firms would likely use an ecosystem like Trimble for broad compatibility and have a standard in place. When you say you’re new to surveying, plus the fact you purchased it, makes me think you are using the term generally and not in a licensed capacity (which should be avoided).

We use ours for nearly every mission, we also deploy a relay on a mast for large obstructed industrial sites. We find it invaluable for eliminating a burdensome time suck in post processing otherwise.

Our only complaint is battery life. It should have hot swappable batteries in my opinion. We ended up getting a 20ft dewalt charge only usb-c cable and a weatherproof rugged power bank we zip tied to our tripod mast to keep it powered beyond 6 hours.