No, it isn’t Friday, yet! We just couldn’t wait a day to let you all know that the RTK Facet is back, and it has been overhauled, based on your feedback, to be much better than it already was. What’s different? Well, as you might be able to tell, it has received a brand new carrying case that was custom made for the Facet. This is very similar to the ones found with the RTK Surveyor, RTK Express, and RTK Express Plus kits. More importantly, and not easily seen, is that the battery holder inside the shell of the RTK Facet has been drastically improved, making the unit much more durable to explore the brobdingnagian wilds at no additional cost! We think it’s time to tell you all about the SparkFun RTK Facet, so let’s take a closer look!
Designed and manufactured in Boulder, Colorado, USA, the SparkFun RTK Facet is your one-stop shop for high precision geolocation and surveying needs. For basic users, it’s incredibly easy to get up and running; for advanced users, the RTK Facet is a flexible and powerful tool. With just a few minutes of setup, the RTK Facet is one of the fastest ways to take centimeter-grade measurements. By connecting your phone to the RTK Facet over Bluetooth®, your phone can act as the radio link to provide correction data as well as receive the NMEA output from the device. This is exactly how $10,000 surveying devices have been operating for the past decade – we just made it easier, smaller, and a lot more economical.
Under the hood of the SparkFun RTK Facet is an ESP32 WROOM connected to a ZED-F9P, as well as some peripheral hardware (LiPo fuel gauge, microSD, etc). Additionally, housed under the dome of the RTK Facet is a surveyor grade L1/L2 antenna. It is the same element found within our GNSS Multi-Band L1/L2 Surveying Antenna. The built-in antenna has an ARP of 61.4mm from the base to the measuring point of the L1 antenna and an ARP of 57.4mm to the measuring point of the L2 antenna. The RTK Facet is programmed in Arduino and can be tailored to fit whatever your needs may be.
This device can be used in four modes:
- GNSS Positioning (~30cm accuracy) – also known as ‘Rover’
- GNSS Positioning with RTK (1.4cm accuracy) – also known as ‘Rover with RTK Fix’
- GNSS Base Station
- GNSS Base Station NTRIP Server
In addition to supplying position data the RTK Facet is capable of logging NMEA, RAWX, and SFRBX for post processing, making it ideal for research and advanced positioning applications.
Did we mention that the RTK Facet is an open-source hardware product? This means that you can fully obtain, see, and even modify the electrical and mechanical design files. This allows for easier maintenance and repair over time.
To make it even easier to use or modify the RTK Facet, we’ve also made sure to write a fully in-depth guide to get you started! With this, you’ll be able to set up the RTK Facet in minutes to begin gathering millimeter-precise geospatial coordinates!
Of course, if you already have your own RTK Facet, we have you covered! The RTK Facet Carrying Case helps protect your valuable high-precision GNSS receiver from the harsh elements of the field. Custom slots are molded into the case for the RTK Facet receiver, a 915MHz radio + antenna, as well as a large open slot for power supplies, cables, and adapters. And no carrying case is complete without a handle and a snazzy SparkFun logo.
We were so happy with this new version of the RTK Facet that it caused us to go back to the drawing board and take a whole new look at GNSS. Make sure to check back in the next few weeks to see what we’ve learned and the new products we’ve created!
