Phantom 4 RTK Field Operation Guide
Use this guide as a reference for your Phantom 4 RTK field operations.
Pre-Flight Tasks
For a walkthrough of tasks that should be completed the day before your mission, please refer to our Pre-Flight Preparation - Phantom 4 RTK article.
Day of Flight
Follow these steps to ensure a successful mission.
Navigate to your CP, ensure it has not been tampered with or obstructed.
Set up and turn on your base station on your CP monument.
Use the bubble level to center your base station
Press and hold the center button on your base station to turn it on.
Turn on your controller. Make sure you are connected to Wifi if you need to plan your mission in the field so that basemaps are visible. Always plan your mission to fly over the base station.
Attach propellers, remove plastic camera cover, insert battery, and double check that the SD card has been inserted.
Turn on drone, wait for it to connect to the controller
Once drone is on, perform your compass calibration (only needs to be done before first flight on site)
At the main screen select “FLY”
Press the three dots in the top right corner of the UI
Select the drone tab at the top
Scroll down to “advanced settings”
Select “Calibrate Compass”. *Be sure NOT to select IMU calibration*
Follow rotation instructions
Connect to your RTK base station
At the main screen select “FLY”
Press the three dots in the top right corner of the UI
Select the “RTK” Tab
Turn on “RTK Positioning”
Turn on “Maintain RTK Positioning”
Choose “D-RTK 2 Mobile Station” as the RTK service type in the drop down menu
Select “Connect” and wait for the status to say Connection Success” in green
Scroll down and select “Advanced Settings”
Choose “GNSS Coordinate Input”
Input your Coordinates and select “Settings”
If this is your first time entering this CP, Make sure to add a name to the “notes” section so that you can select it in future flights.
Wait for the controller to say “RTK signal lost, back to GNSS mode”
Power cycle the drone (turn off, wait 5 seconds, turn back on)
Go back to the RTK tab and make sure your STD values are below 5cm
Conduct your mission
Check to see that your surroundings are clear around and directly above the takeoff location
At the main screen select “FLY”
Tap the notebook icon on the left hand side of the UI to open your mission directory
If you are starting a new mission, select “Plan”, if you are continuing a current mission, select “Executing”.
Select the mission you have created, make sure RTK is active in the top green bar, and select “invoke”
Select “Start”, agree to the disclaimer, and slide to execute.
The drone will automatically take off, so make sure your surroundings are clear.
Monitor your drone during flight
Maintain Line-of Sight at all times
Make sure your radio and image feed signal are above 2 bars
Tap the screen to toggle between the mission feed and camera feed
If you need to swap batteries, select and hold the “Return to Home” button on your controller.
The mission will complete and the drone will return to home and land.
Turn off your drone and swap batteries.
Turn your drone back on, wait for RTK to reconnect.
Go to the “Fly” page again, select the notebook, and choose “Executing” in the dropdown.
Find your most recent mission in progress, select it, and follow the prompts to continue the mission
Post Flight
Turn off all devices, remove all batteries, and replace the camera cover on your drone.
Remove the SD card and transfer photos to your computer
Clean/wipe off any dust or debris that may have accumulated on the drone
Put all equipment away and store in a room temperature environment. Extreme cold/hot temperatures are not good for your equipment, especially the batteries.