FreeRTK !

How to set up your own base!

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How to assemble the kit

The hardware, and the software

Don’t be daunted - it might seem tricky, but this isn’t that bad. And if you get stuck, ping us a message on Facebook.

First, we’ll get the rtkbase software installed on the memory card.

The rtkbase home page is here, and you want to scroll down to “Ready to flash release”. Ready

Then click the link for the “ready to flash iso file [here](https://github.com/jancelin/pi-gen/releases/latest” and that’ll take you to the next page.

At time of writing, that was version 2.3.4, so scroll down until you reach the assets section. You’re looking for the biggest file there, highlighted in the below example:

Assets

Once downloaded, you can unzip the file or not, Etcher will understand it either way.

OK, so we’ve got the software prepared, now we need to write it to the memory card

Using your card writer/adapter, plug them into your PC Memory card writer

If you’re asked whether you want to format the memory card, or told that it must be formatted in order to be used, just say No/Cancel.

Then, go download Etcher and run it. You likely want the Installer one.

Etcher

Now, here’s the tricky bit - this piece of software absolutely SHOULD recognise your memory card and NOT your actual hard drives, so you need to pay attention!

If you have a 16gb memory card, then you’ll be looking for that sort of size in Etcher. If you’ve a 32gb card, then you’re looking for something in that amount.

I can’t stress this enough - proceed at your own risk here and ensure you are looking at the right device!

Also, if you usually have a USB drive plugged in, and if you aren’t confident you’ve identified the right device, UNPLUG IT WHILE YOU DO THIS!

On my PC, I first did this without the memory card installed, and this is what Etcher showed me. It wouldn’t let me select a target, and that’s correct.

No memory card

Then, I put my 32gb card in the reader, plugged the reader in and started Etcher again, and this time it found it:

With card

Notice the size is 31.7gb (for my 32gb card, that’s right, the numbers won’t be exact).

When i selected “Change”, I got this additional confirmation:

Confirmation

So, now we know we have the right card - and again, if you are in ANY DOUBT DO NOT PROCEED - we can write the image, so you’ll be selecting “Flash from file” and pick your downloaded rtkbase file. Note that Etcher understands zip files, so you don’t need to expand it first.

Zip file

So now we have the right device selected, and the image file picked:

Ready to write

Click Flash and accept any prompt that asks if you’re sure… the file will then be decompressed, and written to the memory card!

Writing

It’ll verify it, and then, you’re done!

Finished Writing

Rather annoyingly, Etcher ejects the drive when finished - so unplug it and plug it straight back in to your computer.

In my case, that pops up as an M: drive, and if I scroll down, right at the bottom I can see an interesting file called wpa_supplicant.conf. If you’re going to use wifi, you should edit this now:

Boot drive

Open it in notepad, and you can see it looks like the following:

Before changing wifi

In the Network section, change the ssid for your wifi access point name and PSK should be your wifi password - and these have to be spot-on perfect, with the right upper/lowercase where applicable!!

After changing

Save the file, eject the card reader, and you’re done!

You’re now ready to put the memory card in the raspberry pi, and it’ll only go in one way, so don’t force it. Memory card

Next, connect the USB keyboard, an HDMI cable, a network cable (if not using wifi), and ensure the TV/monitor is turned on - and most importantly, plug in the Ublox GPS!!!. Now, insert the micro USB plug from the power adapter, and it should start booting !

Take note - if your memory card isn’t in, then absolutely nothing will appear on screen and your monitor/TV will likely go to sleep for “no signal”. If that happens, remove power from the Pi, insert memory card again, power back on.

All being well tho, you’ll start to see stuff like this!

Boot stage 1 Boot stage 1

When you’re asked to enter a username, choose “basegnss”. I’ve seen a bug or two where if you pick a different name, it doesn’t change it everywhere it needs to - so save yourself some grief here.

Boot stage 1

Pick a password, and confirm it. Boot stage 1 You might notice that it seems to stick at this stage for a while - be patient, it’s normal. Boot stage 1 You might also wonder why there’s no proper IP address assigned at this stage. Normal if using wifi, eth0 might pick one up at this stage tho, but don’t worry at this time if there isn’t. Boot stage 1 Here, because the ZED-F9P is plugged in, we can see it has detected it (on /dev/ttyACM0) and is configuring it to be a base station. See that red “FAILED” message? We can ignore that just now, it’s trying to start the GPS in the background while it’s still configuring it. Nothing to worry about. Boot stage 1 And finally, the all-important “END OF INSTALLATION”. Check that instruction about what to type in your browser, in this example http://192.168.1.20 (ignore all the 2a00:etc etc after that). You can now go to your web browser on your phone or PC to continue the configuration. You don’t need the USB keyboard or the HDMI/TV/monitor attached any more! Boot stage 1

The good news? You won’t need to go through all that again! And you’ll never have to see all that code scrolling by, if you’re lucky ! You can now proceed to “Configuring for your location”.

What to do if it goes wrong: