Use a RTK GNSS receiver (TOP608BT) for Windows 10 / 11 Laptop

System requirements:

  • Windows 10 / 11 Laptop with Internet connection (Internet usually can be acquired by using a cell phone's wifi hotspot. Cell phones can be  3G, 4G LTE or 5G, only requiring 1-2 KB/second cellular bandwidth.)
  • RTK capable GNSS Receiver
  • NTRIP Server login info(which provide RTK correction data)
- NTRIP Server/Caster IP address or / full qualify domain name
- Port number
- userid
- password
  • NTRIP Client for Windows(For example, Lefebure NTRIP client)

 

NTRIP data flow diagram:

connect TOP608BT with RTK to a Windows 10 Laptop

 

Connection Instructions:

 

Section A:

Pair the bluetooth GNSS receiver (step 1 - 5).

1. On your Windows 10, go to  Start -> Settings -> Devices -> Bluetooth & other device, Click "Add Bluetooth or other device".

RTK GNSS Receiver Bluetooth paring on Windows 10

 

2. Click "Bluetooth - Mice, keyboards, pens, or audio and other kinds of Bluetooth devices".

RTK bluetooth GNSS receiver bluetooth

 

3. Windows will scan and find the available bluetooth devices. Please connect the RTK GNSS receiver(TOP608BT) usb plug to a power source(to a computer's usb port or a power bank charger). You will see the device "TOPGNSS" showing up on the screen. Click it and which will prompt for PIN. Please enter "1234" and click "Connect" button.

RTK bluetooth GNSS receiver - bluetooth pair code

 

4. Now, Windows connects to the RTK GNSS receiver via bluetooth. You will see "Your device is ready to go!" on the screen.

RTK bluetooth GNSS receiver - bluetooth
 
5. If you go to "Device Manager" --> "Ports (COM & LPT), and you will find the  "Standard Serial Over Bluetooth link (COMxx)" has been added. Which means
you have successfully paired the Bluetooth RTK GNSS receiver to your Windows 10 laptop.
Meanwhile, because the TOP608BT RTK GNSS receiver has dual interfaces(Bluetooth and USB). The usb interface will also be added automatically by Windows. It will be displayed as "USB Serial Device (COMxx)".
RTK GNSS Receiver - Windows Device Manager

 

Section B:

Install and configure NTRIP client. (step 6 - 12).

6. Download the NTRIPClient.exe file from lefebure.com.

http://lefebure.com/software/ntripclient/

Double-click and run the NTRIPClient.exe file. You will see the Lefefure NTRIP Client showing like the below screenshot. Please click the "Edit" button on the "Serial Port" row. 

Ntrip client setup
7. For Serial Port, please choose the "USB COM port" which shows on step 5 diagram.
For Baud Rate, please select 38400 . Then click "OK".
 Ntrip client setup
 
8. Click the "Edit" button on the NTRIP Stream row.
 NTRIP steam - RTK GNSS Receiver

 

 9. Select or Key in the below settings:

Protocol: NTRIP v1.0.
NTRIP Caster Setting:

Address: the NTRIP server / caster IP address / fully qualified domain name.
Port: the NTRIP server / Caster port number.
Username: from your NTRIP service provider.
Password: from your NTRIP service provider.

And press "OK" button.

 NTRIP Client Settings

For the above, you need a NTRIP caster login account to continue. If you do not already have one, please get one before going forward. Below are some NTRIP correction service resources. You can always get an NTRIP account from the source you prefer.

- Rtk2go (free service, world wide coverage)
- UNAVCO (free service, US coverage)
- A List of Public RTK Base Stations in the U.S.
 
10.  When done, press the “connect” button.  If the NTRIP configuration key is correctly, the NTRIP service provider will return a stream List. Select a mount point(stream) which is the closest to your current location. You can get the mount points from your NTRIP service provider's website.

NTRIP client

 

11. On the Lefebure NTRIP client main screen, there will be a progress bar showing the correction data(RTCM) is downloaded from NTRIP caster to the Windows 10 laptop. 

Press the "Connect" button on the "Serial Port" row, the correction data(RTCM) will be further downloaded to the RTK GNSS receiver from Windows 10 laptop through the USB port.

ntrip stream

 

12. If your RTK GNSS receiver is under an open sky area, in about a minute, you might see the Fix mode changed from “FloatRTK” to “RTK”. 

rtk fixed

 

Congratulations! Your RTK GNSS receiver has been successfully set up on your  Windows 10. You can start using it to provide high accuracy location data to the applications on the same machine.

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