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Field checklists for RTK work

Short, printable checklists for an RTK drone flight, a rover and a base. Every line comes from FAA rules, a maker's manual or the NGS field guidelines, and the source is numbered next to it.

RTK drone pre-flight

Any RTK or PPK mapping drone. Network RTK or your own base.

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Before you leave

  • [1]
  • [2]
  • [2]
  • [3]
  • [4]
  • [5]
  • [5]
  • [5]
  • [6]

On site

  • [4]
  • [5]
  • [5]
  • [5]
  • [4]
  • [4]
  • [5]

RTK

  • [5]
  • [7]
  • [5]
  • [8]

After the flight

  • [5]
  • [6]

Sources

  1. [1] 14 CFR 107.41, Operation in certain airspace (authorization, e.g. LAANC)
  2. [2] 14 CFR 107.51, Operating limitations (400 ft, 3 mi visibility, cloud clearance)
  3. [3] 14 CFR Part 89, Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft
  4. [4] 14 CFR 107.49, Preflight familiarization, inspection, and actions
  5. [5] DJI Matrice 4 Series User Manual v1.0 (2025.01): Pre-Flight Checklist, Aircraft RTK, RTH, photo metadata
  6. [6] Pix4D: Number and distribution of GCPs
  7. [7] RTKdata docs: DJI Pilot 2 RTK setup (wait for a GNSS position before connecting, or the caster gets 0,0)
  8. [8] Emlid docs, Reach RS3: Averaging base position in FIX (placing the base)
How we picked these items

We kept only steps that a rule, a maker's manual or a federal guideline actually asks for. FAA items come from 14 CFR Part 107 and Part 89. Drone steps come from the DJI Matrice 4 Series manual. Rover and base steps come from the NGS User Guidelines for Single Base Real Time GNSS Positioning and Emlid's Reach RS3 docs. If your own receiver or drone manual says something different, follow your manual.

The DJI Pilot 2 list uses menu names from the Matrice 4 manual. Other DJI Enterprise drones that use DJI Pilot 2 have the same RTK menu, but check your model's manual.

Accuracy classes on the rover list

The rover list quotes two NGS accuracy classes. RT3 is typical for topo and stakeout work: about 0.04–0.06 m (1.6–2.4 in) horizontal. RT2 is tighter: about 0.02–0.04 m (0.8–1.6 in) horizontal, and asks for a repeat shot at a different time of day. NGS gives these as 95% confidence numbers measured from the base.

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