How it works...

Network RTK — Is it worth it?

Lets consider a surveyor in the US as a typical example.

SmartNet North America offers a state level annual subscription for around $ 2,400. This means that anywhere, anytime within that service area, the Surveyor can receive RTK corrections for their rover with no need to ever setup their own base station.

$ 2,400 is not a small sum of money. But assume the Surveyor completes an average of 2-3 jobs per week for 50 weeks of the year using Network RTK this is a total of around 100 jobs per year.

The cost per job to receive Network RTK correction is therefore $ 24 per job. So the question for the Surveyor to answer is, can I save $ 24 per job by not using a base station? Consider the following.

Firstly, the surveyor saves time by not needing to do the following:

Researching a known point to setup the base station over.
Arranging a power-supply (e.g. batteries) for the base station.
Travelling to the base station location (which may not always be conveniently located next to the site where he is working).
Setting up the base-station.
Securing the base station (i.e. do not need to worry about it being stolen or knocked over).
Packing up the base station at the end of the job.

Secondly, the surveyor saves money by not needing to purchase:

A base station.
Base station accessories (radios, batteries, tripod, etc.).
Labor for the time spent doing the tasks listed earlier (which may also include to pay someone to simply sit by the base station to ensure it is not stolen)
Maintenance for the base station and accessories.

In the next section lets look, other advantages include:

The removal of some potential error sources (e.g. not needing to plumb a base station and measure its height).
Less equipment to move/transport. The list probably goes on. So lets look at an example of how using an RTK Network might benefit a surveyor.